Tabasco's 45g cube build-finally!

Tabasco1 · Apr 13, 2011

UPDATE! haha, not huge, but enough to get my stoke on!

I received my RODI filter last week so I am in the water making business now!

I put my order in to F&S for Red Sea Coral Pro salt, a full test kit run from Red Sea (didn't feel like it was necessary to get Salifert until I am set up and keeping more delicate stuff), an Amonia badge for the LR curing station, 2 titanium heaters, food and some Selcon.

Got the shipping notice, will all be here on Friday. So this weekend I can set up my rock station and order rock next week. Whoot Whoot!

fsu1dolfan · Apr 13, 2011

Tabasco1 said:
UPDATE! haha, not huge, but enough to get my stoke on!

I received my RODI filter last week so I am in the water making business now!

I put my order in to F&S for Red Sea Coral Pro salt, a full test kit run from Red Sea (didn't feel like it was necessary to get Salifert until I am set up and keeping more delicate stuff), an Amonia badge for the LR curing station, 2 titanium heaters, food and some Selcon.

Got the shipping notice, will all be here on Friday. So this weekend I can set up my rock station and order rock next week. Whoot Whoot!

Nice looks like you are moving right along with your equipment...so i know a coral/livestock order is coming up. Do we get a sneak peep into what you are thinking of??

Tabasco1 · Apr 13, 2011

Tee hee... i have a call in to Sustainable Reefs to source a mated pair of either sharknose or neon blue gobies. I am planning to start off with that pair for sure. Then the 3rd fish in the first round will either be a firefish, carnary or Midas blenny... leaning toward Midas as you know. Very exciting. I am hoping to put that order in next week too. But that might be for the week after.

fsu1dolfan · Apr 13, 2011

Tabasco1 said:
Tee hee... i have a call in to Sustainable Reefs to source a mated pair of either sharknose or neon blue gobies. I am planning to start off with that pair for sure. Then the 3rd fish in the first round will either be a firefish, carnary or Midas blenny... leaning toward Midas as you know. Very exciting. I am hoping to put that order in next week too. But that might be for the week after.

Good call on neon gobies. Only downside is the short lifespan so dont get too attached. I had a pair for a year and one of them died on me. They have great personality and always try to eat more than they can chew...its hilarious to watch them swim around with a big chuck of mysis in their mouth LOL.

kingfisherfleshy · Apr 13, 2011

Cleaner gobies?

I have never seen those in a tank, that might be cool.

Good luck with whichever blenny you go with! I dont mean to sway you either way, just giving you my .02 on the midas blenny. One of the things I hate the most on forums is telling people how to stock their tanks! :P

CJO · Apr 13, 2011

Cool.. and pretty soon, pictures?!

CJ

Tabasco1 · Apr 13, 2011

kingfisherfleshy said:
Cleaner gobies?

I have never seen those in a tank, that might be cool.

Good luck with whichever blenny you go with! I dont mean to sway you either way, just giving you my .02 on the midas blenny. One of the things I hate the most on forums is telling people how to stock their tanks! :P

Yep! cleaner gobies. I had a neon blue one in my fowlr set up many years ago and he had so much character for a small fish. Every time I worked in the tank he climbed all over my arm and cleaned me. I have been reading up on them that they are fairly reliable spawners so I want a mated pair to spawn and provide some super fresh tasty snacks for the tank!

Don't worry about swaying, I was putting it out there for input and while not a TON of response it was 100% for the midas. Quite honestly reading that the canary was venemous was enough to put a big ? mark in my mind.

Should have enough going on next week for some pics. I am going with LR from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Rock is shipped overnight and arrives in bags, supposed to have more "live" life. I will definately let you know how that goes.

Tabasco1 · Apr 20, 2011

Baby steps!

So last night I finished my rock curing station. Sounds so technical, really it is a plastic bin with an egg crate plenum set up on pvc pipes for flow underneath and a protein skimmer. I am ordering rock today from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Very excited. I will have to pick it up from the airport on Sat.

xmetalfan99 · Apr 20, 2011

Where did you get your hands on a tech? I tried to get a tech 70 when oceanic first stopped making them and that didn't happen. I work at a LFS too so i called around to multiple suppliers and other dealers. Not a single one had it.

I can't wait to see how you go about with the rock.

Tabasco1 · Apr 21, 2011

I got it off CL actually! Really sweet deal. I got it for $300 and it is in cherry condition. The guy even shrink wrapped it for me so it wouldn't scratch on the drive home. I got the stand, tank, light, timers, fluval 305 (which i will use on the 20g qt), nets, water changing equipment, lots of filter media, digital thermometer, mag float... I can't remember what else but a few more extras. I was super stoked.

Tabasco1 · Apr 21, 2011

All right! Game time! Rock flies into Eagle tomorrow. And then I will update with lots of pics. Including build of the rock curing station and 20g stand for the qt. Very exciting stuff people. hhahah.

Ordered 20lbs of live rock straight from the ocean full of critters to sort through. I will be adding about 50 lbs of dry rock to that in about 3 weeks after I have gotten all the bad stuff I don't want out so that it doesn't get onto the dry rock and multiply my problems.

Projects on hold right now:
building the sump for the DT-measured wrong so need to adjust the length by 1/2", no worries though I will get that fixed up in the next couple weeks while getting my rock ready.
cleaning and preparing my old sand-I have 10lbs of live sand coming with the live rock to see the old sand with

fsu1dolfan · Apr 21, 2011

Nice update Tabasco - sounds like it will be a busy day tomorrow...looking forward to seeing your pics and critters!!

Tabasco1 · Apr 21, 2011

Yep, busy day indeed. I had originally planned for the shipment to come in on sat. and take Monday off for a 3 day weekend, but since I live in a small town with a small airport grrrrr, the cargo shipping office is closed on Sat. So I will shift my 3 day weekend to Fri. Sat. Sun. :) Just would have liked the extra day to prepare.

xmetalfan99 · Apr 21, 2011

Tabasco1 said:
Yep, busy day indeed. I had originally planned for the shipment to come in on sat. and take Monday off for a 3 day weekend, but since I live in a small town with a small airport grrrrr, the cargo shipping office is closed on Sat. So I will shift my 3 day weekend to Fri. Sat. Sun. :) Just would have liked the extra day to prepare.

A 3 day weekend is a 3 day weekend to me. You are definatey going to get some cool hitchhikers with fresh rock. Lets hope you get all the bad ones out before you put them in your tank.

fsu1dolfan · Apr 25, 2011

Tabasco1 said:
Yep, busy day indeed. I had originally planned for the shipment to come in on sat. and take Monday off for a 3 day weekend, but since I live in a small town with a small airport grrrrr, the cargo shipping office is closed on Sat. So I will shift my 3 day weekend to Fri. Sat. Sun. :) Just would have liked the extra day to prepare.

Hey Tabasco - Checking in to see how things went this weekend with the new rock and the DIY cover you wanted to work on...still no link in your sig tisk tisk :tongue:

CJO · Apr 25, 2011

+1.. and pics.. we want pics!

CJ

xmetalfan99 · Apr 25, 2011

CJO said:
+1.. and pics.. we want pics!

CJ

+2. How did the aquascaping go? No matter what you will want to change it later on anyway. Everyone always does, so just post some photos and make us happy.

Tabasco1 · Apr 25, 2011

SO BUMMED!!! Freakin Good Friday derailed my shipment. hahah. Dang travellers that want to be with their families for holidays. hahah. I was hoping it would be able to get shipped today, but doesn't look good for our hero. My schedule doesn't work with Tues. or Wed. So I think we are looking at Thurs. Which is killing me.

I feel like I am all dressed up to go to the dance with nobody to go with ahaha.

Tabasco1 · Apr 25, 2011

Trust me I have the underwater camera ready to go for the hitchhikers extraudanaire! Good and bad... hopefully more good than bad.

It did allow me to tweak my curing station some and get that all dialed.

fsu1dolfan · Apr 25, 2011

Tabasco1 said:
SO BUMMED!!! Freakin Good Friday derailed my shipment. hahah. Dang travellers that want to be with their families for holidays. hahah. I was hoping it would be able to get shipped today, but doesn't look good for our hero. My schedule doesn't work with Tues. or Wed. So I think we are looking at Thurs. Which is killing me.

I feel like I am all dressed up to go to the dance with nobody to go with ahaha.

lol - about the dance comment. Sorry to hear about the shipping issues...figured the Easter bunny gets in the way!