Stuff It in the Corner She Said

[koa25]

Well... I came across a good deal on a great tank. Decided to jump on it after working out a deal. A little downsizing to make my life a little easier. and I feel like a can set it and forget it. Let it do its thing and grow stuff out. Swung through and swooped it up Sunday morning and spent Sunday day breaking down my 125 and moving it over to the new corner tank I snagged. But had to do some serious cleaning under the tank from spills and such. I didn’t want to start a mold farm on the carpet under the tank. It looked like a horrible aquatic war zone in my family room as the festivities ensued. Wouldn't have been able to pull it off as smoothly as I had without the help of Alex at Phenomenal Aquatics and SinisterLou. Greatly appreciated with the assistance guys. After cleaning i replaced the vinyl covering the back walls. Then set it in place and started the filling process.
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tossed my AI on it just to light it while i messed with the MH's on got them off of my old canopy. Was pretty well stirred up.
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After messing around with the rock work and a couple of beers and short attention span. I got the rock to a point were I was happy with it. I am going to take a couple of the pieces out of the foreground to free up some real estate in the sand. And I am going to start gluing pieces to rock to allowing them a sturdy home to grow on.
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Filled it with my livestock from the 125 and sat back to enjoy the view before rushing to take a shower and go to bed for 2 hours before going to work. Gotta love it. Totally worth it. Love the tank. Thanks, Randy.
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[allan]

Ah, the fresh build... that's three large tanks you own now, yes?

I hope your place is close to the beach, little friend, to prevent having to buy too much salt. :)

[koa25]

ha ha. Yeah. Trying to give the 125 the boot. Wasn't happy with the 125 anymore. Your 190 is sitting in the garage all cleaned and pretty. Still working on the stand. I am going to reseal it and I am curently (and slowly) collecting everything I'll need to get it going. Everything on the 125 just shifted to the 92. so no additional cost was assumed for this build. And it was such a pretty corner. I am really happy with it. And it freed up a lot of room on the wall. Which i like.

[Big_Pun]

looks good !!

[allan]

That 125 would make an excellent frag tank. ;)

[Big_Pun]

That 125 would make an excellent frag tank. ;)

omg Allan and his frag dreams!!!

[ElChicano]

Welcome to the world of corner tanks. Sweet looking set up

[koa25]

You know, Allan. The thought did cross my mind. Not going to lie. Trying to make life easier right now though. If you'd like a large frag tank? It's all yours ha ha. Thanks, Hugo. I'm actually a big fan of them. Looking forward to seeing yours progress. I cheated and just transferred a tank ha ha.

[SinisterLou]

Came out good, I didn't think everything was going to fit

[koa25]

I have 1 or 2 pieces of rock too many up at front. But like how it came out. Slopping from the back forward and a couple peces in the center. Appreciate the help Lou. BBQ and beers soon.

[mkengr45]

daaaang...looks good

[mkengr45]

I've alway been a sucker for unique shaped tanks. I always loved that tank and am sure you will love it.

[koa25]

Yeah. I'm already in love with it. Love they way it aquascapes. Looks amazing. I put the xm 20k bulbs i got from rob on it and it looks great. Thanks again man.

[koa25]

I'm busting out my nice camera after i finish cleaning up my family room.

[Zack]

Hey Mike, not to thread jack but how are you liking those XM 20ks? I'm looking to order some for my tank in a week or say and would love an opinion.

[koa25]

How dare you thread jack me!? Just kidding. They are nice. Very blue. I've tried them before on my old ballasts and they weren't too nice. But with my new ballasts they rock. Everything is colored up very well. Kind of worried about the growth. The cheapo bulbs i had hefore were a 10k look and growth was crazy nice. So i guess I'll have to wait and see.

[koa25]

In the beginning FTS
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[Zack]

What's the full specs on lighting?

[koa25]

Just two XM 250watt MHs in lumen max reflectors powered by magnetic ballasts i got from big_pun. Not sure the model. But they power the lights perfectly. No additional lighting. Ordering some rapid leds for supplemental lighting next week. Have the perfect color i wanted in this tank. So I'm happy.

[Zack]

What color led's did you pick up? Tank looks awesome and very blue, excited to see more of this!

[koa25]

I am doing a 36" royal blue. And a 24" magenta and yellow combo. Going to try and simulate sunrise/sunset. Appreciate it man. Going to be ordering some nice sps next week to stick in here as well.

[Zack]

By 36'' blue do you mean a 36'' heatsink with leds? If not, can you post what kits your ordering?

[350gt]

Looks good.....


Looking forward to the progress

[koa25]

By 36'' blue do you mean a 36'' heatsink with leds? If not, can you post what kits your ordering?

Yeah. Sorry. 36" heatsink. It will have 18 leds on it total with wide lenses. Don't need penetration. Just the color. Same with the magenta Nd yellows. 24" heat sink with 12 leds. 8 magenta and 4 yellow. May change to 9 and 3. Not sure. Still figuring thT out.

Thanks Tony. I'll be sure to update.

[SinisterLou]

Where you ordering sps from?

[koa25]

I'm looking at a couple different sites right now. If you want to get in on it let me know. I'll send ya the main place i am looking at.

[mkengr45]

If your doing an sps order I'd be interested too...looking for millis I don't have.

[Zack]

Did the aisol ever start working again?

[350gt]

What was wrong with the sol?

[koa25]

Update shot. Started getting things in permanent places
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[koa25]

Didn't see the questions about the AI. But i had it over the tank and it randomly stop working. Didn't get wet or anything. Just stopped. Controller works. Plugged it into my comp. Powered up and updated easy enough. Power supply has a green light. But the light just doesn't turn on.

[Big_Pun]

Didn't see the questions about the AI. But i had it over the tank and it randomly stop working. Didn't get wet or anything. Just stopped. Controller works. Plugged it into my comp. Powered up and updated easy enough. Power supply has a green light. But the light just doesn't turn on.

if it was metal hilade this would easy fast fix!! lol hahaha

[koa25]

Very true. Very quick diagnosis. Expensive either way though. I run MHs on my tank and T5s on the 40. Only running leds for moonlights and soon to be supplementary lighting.

[allan]

Man, mike, that really looks good.


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[350gt]

MIKE I hope it was nothing serious........

Hope this wasnt what we talked about either that one night.....

and the layout looks real good on the tank.....

[koa25]

Appreciate it, Allan. I'm slowly learning how to make my tanks better and better. Been learning and stealing ideas from other members after seeing their tanks. But of course adding my own touch.

[hobogato]

really starting to look nice mike

[koa25]

Thanks Ace. I'm still amazed by your tank. I would like to do a tank with a natural look like yours does so well.

Tony, I have no idea. I am going to take it apart and see what is up with it. Most likely contact AI about it. See if they can help out.

[350gt]

Cool hope it all works out...

[koa25]

Having a little issue with Nitrates. When i had my 125 running, i had a nice fuge that kept my nitrates below 20ppm. With the corner i don't have any room for a fuge below. I am thinking about running biopellets to remedy this. EcoBak pellets to be specific. Thoughts? experiences? I do two 5% water changes a week. One on wednesday and one on sunday. Maybe not enough or maybe i am over feeding. But my fish aren't as fat as i'd like them so i don't think that is the issue. Should i finally go down the biopellet road?

[Big_Pun]

love bio pellets, been using them almost 2 years and no issues. ran Eco bak until last month now I'm using dr Tim's. I still have to run gfo for phos but, with combo of waste away and Eco balance it's worked well. I haven't done a water change since week before Christmas.

[koa25]

Do you have any xenia or kenya? i don't want to starve out my filter feeders. But i know my SPS growth is a little stunted.

[koa25]

What setup would you recommend as well? I will eventually be using a lot of my equipment on Allan's old 190 so i need something that will be able to handle both settings.

[Big_Pun]

look at recent pics of my tank on the right side panel nesr mp-40 i have a wall of xenia growing up it, i have gsp, shrooms and kenyi tree with no problems. i like octopus bio pellete reactor with cone at bottom, but the biggest on so you can take it with you on next tank, i run a sicce 1.5 on it. if you go start with 1/4 let them go 2 weeks the add another 1/4 dosage and see how your tank does with half. i still run a pretty good fuge that grows nicely.

[mkengr45]

My old lady still misses that corner tank. I've thought about going the bio pellet route lately too. My new tank does not have room for a fuge underneath either...something about those odd shaped tanks. I always love the unique shapes but they never seem to have the space I'd like underneath.

[koa25]

Awesome Chris, Thanks. I stopped by ER yesterday and bugged them about a good BP reactor. They only had a SMR1 in stock and no ECOBAK in stock. So i am probably going to order some from them here soon. Might go with the SMR1 as well cause if the tinted housing to limit light exposure. I don't run a light in my sump area right now but plan to on the next tank. So that is a nice addition.

Sorry to steal you tank, Bro. I'm quite happy with it ha ha. I can imagine the half circle is a pain as well. what is the radius on that bad boy?

[Big_Pun]

i ran the smr1 and didn't like it as the pellets dissolve they get small enough to get stuck in plate and other stuff also. I ran a few other and the octo is the best has a screen up top and union fitting to make cleaning so easy.

[mkengr45]

The 144 half circle has 29" radius, so 58" across the back....the real kicker is the dam thing is 29" tall too, and when you are short and fat it makes it really difficult to work on. If I remember correctly the Oceanic corner tanks are a 34" radius. I've had the smaller 54 gallon corner tank too with the stainless steel canopy and stand trim, sweet tanks.

[koa25]

Was taking a look at my tank tonight. Look back and found a pic of my red planet when i first got it from sinisterlou last February frag swap. A nice little chunk.
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Through all the moving and tank changes it is still going strong. It has grown all over the back wall on my corner and isn't moving any time soon. Great polyp extension and color. Love this guy. 18852

Also i bought this guy as a possible rose milli from PAs 12 frag deals. It stayed a pinkish red until i started dosing my tank. It is now the coolest red, green and blue coloring. I always get some of the coolest finds sometimes from the random frags from PA.
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Anyone have a idea? I know not the best pics. Just curious.

[reefreak]

Seen this tank today and man it is awesome!

[SinisterLou]

Wow Mike that looks bad ash

[koa25]

Appreciate it. You need to come and check out the tank before i have to start tearing it down man. I need to come check yours out as well. Your little red planet is all grown up buddy ha ha.

[ducati996]

Nice

[koa25]

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Updated shot.

[fixedwing]

Looks awesome Mike. Did you take the plunge into the Bio Pellet world? I'm setting up a new tank and I've been considering purchasing a unit, but honestly I don't know much about the systems.

[koa25]

Appreciate it. Kind of happy where they tank is at right now. Things are happy and growing. I didn't setup a reactor on this tank. I figured by the time i set it up and the pellets kick in and start working, I'd have to start breaking the tank down any ways. But oddly the nitrate problem fixed itself. I'm sitting at about 10ppm. Nothing horrible. Didn't change anything. So not sure what happened. Ha ha. I did buy a reactor that i plan on setting up on a fowlr. It is a next smr1 xl. It's a beastly reactor. Will hold a lot of pellets. I've heard good things about them. Especially cause the acrylic is tinted and won't start growing algae as quickly as clear reactors would. The only thing i dont like about it is the bottom where the flow comes out. I've read having a upside down cone dispersion will help evenly distribute the up flow to stir the pellets better.

[Southern Flame]

Looks great mike :)