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Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium


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  1. #1
    CR Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    SE Michigan
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    41
    First Name
    Christy

    Smile Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    More coming soon!

    1-23-2011 ... The Beginning of the 20L

    As of this morning , I had my 20 gallon tall display tank set up with various low-end corals and a true perc (info and maint. schedule: skimmer, 150watt MH, HOB filter, no sump/refugium, coarse aragonite substrate, bi-monthly water changes). I've had big plans for this poor tank for quite some time, and today I finally got some time to follow through!

    Before teardown (notice all the CRAP in the tank- skimmer, heater, filter... YUCK!):

    165496 537557304487 79601136 31259020 986001 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    During teardown:

    166355 537557344407 79601136 31259022 888272 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Right now, all tank inhabitants are in a large Rubbermaid tub with HOB filter, powerhead, and heater:

    165155 537557374347 79601136 31259023 5434478 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    180002 537557409277 79601136 31259026 782228 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    168744 537557424247 79601136 31259027 6238730 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    168006 537557439217 79601136 31259028 7345394 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    168488 537557449197 79601136 31259029 5403233 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    I had help...

    164595 537557394307 79601136 31259024 6246878 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Now the new set-up: 20L display, 20 gallon tall sump/refugium containing ALL the tank uglies (skimmer, HOB filter, heater), 150 watt MH Sunpod HQI...

    Here's what I have as of this evening (1-23-2011):
    Assembled a new shelf- "Gorilla Shelf"- holds like 800# per level...

    164759 537557459177 79601136 31259030 1093076 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    I cleaned this thing really well and took the legs off- it's going to be suspended above the tank so I can adjust its height off the water. My last tank seemed to be a little "sunburnt" with MH lighting... but because the light was sitting on the tank with the legs, I couldn't adjust it!

    164771 537557479137 79601136 31259032 5593311 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    And one of my orchids finally re-bloomed!! Even after a battle with mealybugs...

    179639 537557469157 79601136 31259031 6561108 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium


    SO... now I just need to drill my display tank, plumb it, and re-transfer everything back to it. Yikes! I'm sure I'm going to have some sort of cycle, but I will be doing partial water changes along the way so as to not shock anything.

    I've been seriously considering ordering the 700gph complete overflow kit and 2 3/4" loc-line return kits from glass-holes.com... but I really don't want to drill my tank myself... for fear of destroying it!
    If anyone knows of any places near SE Michigan who drills tanks and/or has tank-plumbing equipment, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
    I've been browsing the For Sale/Trade thread for a while now, but no one seems to have a 20-30gallon drilled/plumbed tank. If you know of anyone selling one please let me know that too!!! I won't get to mess with my tank again until next weekend- but I'm sure everything will be fine in that Rubbermaid with heat, flow, light, etc... until then.

    Awesome.
    Thanks for reading.

    Christy

    More to come soon...

    2-5-2011 ... Melting Mushrooms and Tank Plumbing

    OK! So, since my last update I've had my 20 gallon long tank drilled and now I'm working on plumbing it to my 20 gallon tall sump (which does not yet have baffles). Another exciting thing: a fellow reefer gave me some sweet hairy mushrooms, some of which ended up melting for no obvious reason. I've taken some pics along the way:

    Here's a pic of the tank after drilling but prior to painting. I had to do some indoor spray painting (Krylon Fusion, glossy black) because it is flippin cold outside and I had no other options. So I taped and papered the whole tank and surrounding area (bath tub). Needless to say, the fan was running and I stumbled out of the room a little light-headed.

    181055 538077212587 79601136 31269466 578035 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Ken at Pet Connection drilled a 1" overflow and 3/4" return hole in my tank. I went home with appropriate bulkheads for each hole and a split Loc-Line return so as to spread the flow in a couple different directions in my tank.

    168303 538077257497 79601136 31269470 3926754 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    168091 538077242527 79601136 31269469 1047523 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    In the summer my tank temp can climb dangerously so I'm hoping the 258GPH pump that a fellow reefer gave to me will provide sufficient water movement through the split Loc-Line so I don't have to add powerheads (additional heat).

    167651 538077222567 79601136 31269467 3326345 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    167699 538077232547 79601136 31269468 5329739 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    I plan to run to Lowes and/or Home Depot in the morning and get some things... included in that list-o-things is a 1/2" threaded pvc piece that can be used to connect my return pump with the 3/4" line (via pvc size adapter) which will go to my 3/4" return bulkhead/Loc-Line complex. Lol... this is my first time doing any of this. Wish me luck... I've got lots of pvc cement and primer.... so I can't imagine things going too wrong...

    168139 538077267477 79601136 31269471 7650707 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    OK. Now for the hairy mushroom melt-fest.
    So these mushrooms were freshly removed from a well-established reef (the rock was gingerly chipped away from under their feet). They went straight from a sump to clean Ziploc bags and stayed in a temp-controlled environment the whole time (except when going to and from my car). Finally when I got home (about 2 hours after they were taken from their old owner's sump) the water in two of the three bags with these shrooms in them was cloudy and had a terrible smell. It was obvious that something was going very wrong... I think the combined stress of being removed from one tank, then transported in a chilly environment, caused some of them to melt.
    I did not add the smelly bag water to my current temporary tank (rubbermaid), but I did acclimate the shrooms to my tank by adding water then finally transferring the shrooms to a plastic dish so they could get fresh flow.

    167103 538077042927 79601136 31269452 42067 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    166643 538077052907 79601136 31269453 7124761 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    167379 538077062887 79601136 31269454 8306722 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    The mushrooms looked really rough- some had gaping mouths and some had already began melting/disintegrating. It was so weird... I was worried it was going to pollute everything else I had so I threw some new carbon in my filter and did partial water changes after they were in my tank for a few hours.

    After a day, a few of the mushrooms had melted away (I changed out the carbon a few times) and the rest began to look a little bit better.

    168167 538077092827 79601136 31269457 6884004 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Right after lights came on, Day 2 after bringing them home:
    179383 538077082847 79601136 31269456 7378920 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    168191 538077112787 79601136 31269458 808417 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    167307 538077132747 79601136 31269460 7840600 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    One last mushroom melted on day 3:
    180635 538077122767 79601136 31269459 1706371 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    The whole time these things were disintegrating, I was reading about doing a quick iodine/betadine dip... which could have helped treat whatever bacterium that was causing them to melt. Because the mushrooms were showing improvement, I opted to do some water changes and keep fresh activated charcoal in the filter.

    167051 538077177657 79601136 31269463 4191776 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    181839 538077187637 79601136 31269464 995709 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Things finally started looking "good" for the remaining shrooms:
    180071 538077142727 79601136 31269461 1268075 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    No more melting... yet they were still pretty tore up from harvesting from their previous tank:
    168055 538077162687 79601136 31269462 1575987 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    181771 538077202607 79601136 31269465 6308332 n - Fishbutt's 20L Reeforium

    Hopefully by the next time I post, I'll have a successfully-plumbed and cycled tank, healthy healed mushrooms, and about $20 million from winning the lotto.
    Fingers are crossed.
    Last edited by Fishbutt; 02-06-2011 at 12:06 AM.

  2. #2
    Seph - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Default

    Keep an eye on your helper - he or she might just be looking for a snack. LOL! Looking good though. Keep up the good work.

  3. #3
    MizTanks - Reefkeeper
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    Awards Photo of the Month - October 2012 Photo of the Month Post and Reply Award - Winner of the first PAR Contest. Monthly Giveaway Winner

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    It's a monsterly bad crab oh my! Similar to the Gorilla crab. Lol-def keep an eye on your corals though.
    I feel for ya on the tear down what a pain but can't wait to see what ya gonna do with it
    There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com

  4. #4
    CR Member
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    Pet Connection in Livonia will drill for you. They are a sponsor here as well.

    GL

  5. #5
    CR Member
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    coming along nicely. Should look great when it's done. Check with fish doctors in Trenton, there is a guy at the Ypsi store that drills tanks, and I'm sure they can get that done for you also and it's a little closer for ya. Can't wait to see it when its done. The orchid looks cool also, I had one for a long time and would keep coming back like that

  6. #6
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Looks great...If you're interested, you could join the nano contest with your remade reef. You'd just need to go with a 10 gallon sump...

  7. #7
    Sir Patrick - Reefkeeper A2 Club Coordinator
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    Looking forward to pics after the transfer is complete!

  8. #8
    CR Member
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    Thanks for the comments everyone. I look forward to getting some time this coming weekend to whip my new system into shape. I intend to contact Reefsolutions concerning their drilling and plumbing of my 20L. I've heard they do a good job and will drill the tank and plumb it for a reasonable price. Does anyone have any experience with them?? I figure it'd be a lot easier than having to order stuff from Glass-holes, having it shipped, then attempting to drill and plumb my tank myself.

    Quote Originally Posted by MizTanks View Post
    It's a monsterly bad crab oh my! Similar to the Gorilla crab. Lol-def keep an eye on your corals though.
    I feel for ya on the tear down what a pain but can't wait to see what ya gonna do with it
    OMG! Isn't the crab an emerald crab?????? I SWEAR TO GOD I THOUGHT IT WAS EATING MY MUSHROOMS AND ZOAS!!!! Like... my PPE's DISAPPEARED and a couple other small zoa frags VANISHED... omg... So is it not an emerald crab??
    I will banish it to my sump when its up and running.... arghhhh.

  9. #9
    CR Member
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    Christy

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    Quote Originally Posted by jimsflies View Post
    Looks great...If you're interested, you could join the nano contest with your remade reef. You'd just need to go with a 10 gallon sump...
    Hi Jim. I would join the nano contest... but I want to stick with my 20gallon tall sump so I can submerge my skimmer. Thanks for the idea though!

    Christy

  10. #10
    Sir Patrick - Reefkeeper A2 Club Coordinator
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    Looks like an emerald crab to me. If ya catch it swipping polyps, banish it to the sump. They can be hit or miss on the reef safness. They can develop a taste cor coral, but dont always.

    Keep an eye on it.

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