55 gallon build...

[Mr Cob]

Well everything from the half circle is currently in this tank (which is my 55g sump with removed baffles)...

I'll be getting a new 55g hopefully today from Sherry.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/4965513976_79805d14a9_z.jpg

...and in this tub...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/4965079029_de4a455f5d.jpg

This weekend my man Jack came by and I put him to work as always! So he cut and applied my trim to the stand along with a couple of support pieces.

I picked up this stand and canopy from CL for $50 and it was in NASTY condition! So bad that I just had to get it.

So... I spent the last couple of days sanding it down and lastnight I stained it with the help of my lovely wife :)


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5011095856_e4e41a055f.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5011099508_d390f59fde.jpg
http://geo.yahoo.com/f?s=792600099&t=14b8c821cc8cd77cd78acdd660cc0f5b&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F46846988% 40N08%2F5011099508%2Fsizes%2Fz%2Fin%2Fphotostream% 2F&fl_ev=0&lang=en&intl=us

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5011491373_8612843412.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5011098298_109363e0e9.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5011101426_8cede66dc6.jpg

Wish I had some before pics but I don't...it was a light color and super glossy with tons of dents and scratches along with missing parts of nasty trim. The stand was not very structurally sound either.

...the holding tank got some upgrades!

[txav8r]

Man! That looks a lot better now that you stained it!

[Mr Cob]

Yeah...it was funny....I was not going to stain the inside but wifey knocked over the can of stain...lol and we quickly starting scooping it up and applying it to the inside of the stand....you can see the big spill puddle in the last pic. Worked out nice...glad she spilled it.

[justahobby]

Haha, she knew best. Looks great Jack .. er.. Rob! :D

[ballardjr2000]

Looking Great. two thumbs up.

[Mr Cob]

Added water lastnight....pics later.

Just adding pics of the following:

I got this: (thin rubber) to go in stand and under sump
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5039035107_0435471d99_m.jpg

With this to go under the stand:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5039539370_7b919e7509_m.jpg

[Mr Cob]

This crazy move is almost done...got the 55 set up this weekend.

Lights...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5048483523_3138e88959_z.jpg

Rubber liner mentioned the other day...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5049124326_0afbb8cab3.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5048501751_30815a41a1.jpg

Sump/refugium....
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5049130246_cd5626aea3_z.jpg


My son Josiah (JoJo) is pleased...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/5049134808_bec5745b45.jpg

Kind of just threw the corals in....still waiting for the cloud to break so I can see what the heck is going on in there and keeping my fingers crossed that the entire system doesn't go into a major cycle....hoping the fuge keeps up.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5048487339_a5b040ecd0_z.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Yes...it comes with doors....forgot to put those on...lol! I thought something was missing. Arghhh...it's never ending.

[txg8gxp]

looks good, you just need some more led's :)

[Mr Cob]

sure....bring some over :)

[txav8r]

Looking good Rob!

[Mr Cob]

Thanks, Jack....just glad it's up and I can move on to the next tank along with the endless things I need to do from this move.

The water was clear this morning....my RBTA looks bad and is in hiding. : ( Hope she pulls through. I pretty much lost ALL....no I DID lose all of my SPS.

[Mr Cob]

Well...between selling the half circle and moving my corals to a holding tank then having a skimmer drain part of my tank and now moving the corals yet again into the new place this is what's left...

ALL SPS is dead with the exception of a rapidly declining RTN'd Paletta Lovelli... (can also see one of my two types of green monster digi/monti...DEAD.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5056993831_4421e51283.jpg

I lost a total of about 30 various SPS colonies and frags. Fortunately I cashed out on a lot of my coral before venturing into this move but to my demise I kept my favorites. :(

Some shots:

(rainbow monti and green monster digi/monti on left....chilli pepper monti in the center...purple milli on right ALL dead)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5057464594_97eef866c2.jpg

ORA red planet that I grew from a baby frag I got from Clone for babysitting his corals awhile back...over a year ago :( Lost the entire colony... also have a declining yellow pagoda cup that has been growing nicely....got it from Justin, still hoping for it to pull through...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5056751451_821afd5ee5.jpg

Large frogspawn purple tips with neon green tentacles....lost pretty much all of it's color and is half it's normal size....I'm sure this one will be fine, just need to nurse it back...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5056825407_5ac512e5f8.jpg

Enough bad news...how about some good news now...

My neon green Palau Nepthea leather looks great...even better than in the half circle...I'm thinking it prefers the T5 bulbs over the MH that it was under before.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5056990415_48544a2f1d.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5056773255_4180dce5e4.jpg

Zoas are all adjusting well and starting to color back up....
here's a few...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5056793487_f12eafd8b7.jpg

FTS....ok....me and narrow don't get along. I'm use to having 24" tanks.....so this little 55g was a bit of a challenge for me in regards to rockscaping....I finally gave up and one of these days will try to do something creative with it...lol
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5057615948_f6632fe120_z.jpg


I have no plans to mess with SPS for awhile. I do plan to hang onto this tank and make it my softy/lps tank.

I may try some NPS corals since this is one of the first tanks I have ever had that a step stool is not needed...I can reach everything. Pretty cool....so spot feeding would not be as much of a challenge as I'm used to dealing with.

[Mr Cob]

OH!!!! BIG LOSS.....the green based RBTA that I waited to get for almost two years from Bill....shriveled up into a little tic-tac.......ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would have been happy if just it and my Onyx clowns from GCReef made it!

So....I'm currently looking for a RBTA. green base. You can see one of my clowns in the FTS looking a little lost. :( I feel so bad for them....they just chill near the koralias now.

[aquasport24]

Sorry to hear that Rob, i've been on that road before. The good thing is Bill's RBTA had split alot lately so hopefully you can get another from Bill sooner than before.

[txg8gxp]

O no...that sucks. sorry to hear about the coral.. This hobby can be sad at times for sure.

[aquasport24]

BTW, did you run any carbon in the holding tank?

[FireWater]

Rob, when you are ready for some sps again I still have a few of mine left that we traded out a while back. You know you are welcome to whatever we can frag. I will pm with a list later...........

[Mr Cob]

O no...that sucks. sorry to hear about the coral.. This hobby can be sad at times for sure.

Thanks.


BTW, did you run any carbon in the holding tank?

No, I did not...I was over skimming though and wet. I'm running carbon now but no skimmer....large refugium though and lots of liverock. I think it will be fine since I do not plan to go SPS with this tank.


Rob, when you are ready for some sps again I still have a few of mine left that we traded out a while back. You know you are welcome to whatever we can frag. I will pm with a list later...........

Thanks, John.

[RayAllen]

Rob Sorry for your loss, but I have to say the 55g is looking good. Been a long time since I owned a standard 55g.

[Mr Cob]

Rob Sorry for your loss, but I have to say the 55g is looking good. Been a long time since I owned a standard 55g.

Thanks, Ray...I have to say that I'm enjoying it despite all my losses and the challenge of "narrow"...either I'm good at adapting to my circumstance or just extremely optimistic...lol

I'm looking forward to building my stock up again once I see everyone happy....gonna shy away from SPS for the time being though. Plan to go heavy on acans once I see my current acans happy.

ANyways...thx for commenting....something rewarding about F5 and seeing a new post...lol

[FireWater]

Thanks, Ray...I have to say that I'm enjoying it despite all my losses and the challenge of "narrow"...either I'm good at adapting to my circumstance or just extremely optimistic...lol

Plus, with a smaller footprint all the colors stand out.

[justahobby]

Ohh Bummer dude! I wish I hadn't clicked on this thread!!!!! ... !!!!!!!!.....!!!!!

Sadly, the red planet did a RTN in my tank a couple months ago or I would offer a replacement.

[allan]

Hey rob,

Didn't realize you lost your sps... I'm not getting any more until I figure out what happened to mine.

Anyway, the Ora red planet that I got from you has turned into a colony in it's own right. If you want I can snap off a branch for you.

[Mr Cob]

Plus, with a smaller footprint all the colors stand out.

Yes and I can see them all..lol


Ohh Bummer dude! I wish I hadn't clicked on this thread!!!!! ... !!!!!!!!.....!!!!!

Sadly, the red planet did a RTN in my tank a couple months ago or I would offer a replacement.

Yeah....it's all good though...something refreshing about starting over.


Hey rob,

Didn't realize you lost your sps... I'm not getting any more until I figure out what happened to mine.

Anyway, the Ora red planet that I got from you has turned into a colony in it's own right. If you want I can snap off a branch for you.

Thanks, Allan....it was one of my favorite corals so I'd definitely take you up on that especially since you have the same lineage. I would like to wait though until I get the 85g going as that system will have a solid skimmer among other things and will be more equipped for SPS.

[jrsatx20]

did u ever clear the stand

[Europhyllia]

Sorry this happened but honestly it still looks fantastic! Even with some losses!

[lakers10]

Tank looks nice

[allan]

You got it rob.

[Mr Cob]

did u ever clear the stand

Yes. Thanks for hooking me up with the coating. I have a ton left if you need any.

Thanks everyone, I re-arranged the corals lastnight and some of the rockwork. I think it looks better. Still nothing special though. I'll post some pics this weekend. I'm starting to wish I would have taken the time to foam this one since I have a lot of corals leaned up on the back glass.

[Mr Cob]

Took some pics tonight...

FTS:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5080034136_fdc6597327_z.jpg

Center
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/5080038220_747bb63fcb_z.jpg


Left
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/5080052994_8befd4c9b4_z.jpg


left side
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5080128634_b0aea7c686_z.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Clowns chillin in their new home... :( but :)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5079529837_f585ea9fc6.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5080125114_b7249e862c.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/5080045552_7bca914d4e.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/5079449215_3c476a5459.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5079542489_c2d00a9fd7.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/5080132666_f2d10b35a3.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/5079543821_ec01758f94.jpg

[Mr Cob]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/5080126000_17e1c8461d.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5080127462_1c0af75443.jpg

...and I lost one of my two chromis but my large peppermint shrimp found him... :( seen below enjoying a nice meal.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/5080030974_3fb8a1b377.jpg

[Mr Cob]

My green Hydnopora made it :) You can see it in a few pics up above. It's the only SPS that made it of the 30 colonies I had.

[Mr Cob]

Here's a top down shot of my Kryptonite candy cane mother colony after I chopped it up. My bam bam zoas have been choking it out so I cut the heads out and left the ones that had zoas growing on them. I'm curious to see what happens between the two colonies.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1256/5100235635_46b5eaf9a2.jpg

Another cool top down shot....
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1197/5100835730_7991ed0665.jpg

and another...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/5100826732_d61955e279.jpg

top downs are fun....
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5100837642_a75c8481d6.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Hosting frog spawn...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1345/5100245709_2a1b2e3b1f.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1142/5100870628_c2199d9f33.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1086/5100856410_1ed1e03294.jpg

[ballardjr2000]

Jealous but awesome

[hobogato]

looks great rob

[Mr Cob]

thanks guys...I took those with an acrylic viewer box and my cell.

I miss SPS but I think I will keep this tank soft and LPS.

My nuclear greens took a hit and look pretty bad. All are washed out and dingy looking, thinking they miss the MH. My Tyree War Coral also took a hit but I think is coming back. Yellow Pagoda Cup is slowly coming back as well.

Picking up a RBTA tonight so I'm pretty stoked about that.

[txg8gxp]

The rock work looks awesome, tons of depth.

[txg8gxp]

Let me know if you want to go with some sps agian. I have a few frags cut.

[Mr Cob]

The rock work looks awesome, tons of depth.

Ok...now that's pleasant to hear. Definitely not an easy footprint to play with on a standard 55g. I changed it up so many times. I had originally wanted to foam the back but opted not to because of, well, time and I did not want to take anymore of the depth away.


Let me know if you want to go with some sps agian. I have a few frags cut.

Thanks man. The 85g is cycling and I will probably start collecting SPS frags to grow out in a month or so while preparing the future tank for the 55g residents.