onefish2fish's 46gallon bowfront

[onefish2fish]

added eggcrate then 60lbs ocean direct live sand and had some cloudiness

didnt seem to clear up

threw on a fluval 304 (its off now) and got great results

my original aqua scape, i changed it around alittle bit since, as i add more to the tank ill post more pictures to show the changes its about 50-60lbs well established live rock

and a cool neon sponge which i was told was common but i like it (picture sucks tho)

 

[onefish2fish]

thought id give an update, bear with me im no photographer

life from my one of my powerheads

FTS the heater will be going in the sump

Sump under it

sheets up some pretty thick plexi

my new project, 85gal its a 5foot long custom built guy with 1/2 inch thick glass

i may be able to do this guy rimless because the glass is so thick, what do you guys think? its 1/2 inch

 

[Hawkeye]

looks nice. The whites stuff - don't know what that is - might have been a sponge or tunicate but whatever it is - looks bleached/dead.

Btw - all of my blue-leg hermits in my old 55 hated the "top hat" homes they had but they all LOVED cerith shells. So uh---if you suddenly find your cerith missing - you'll know why.

The 85 looks fantastic! Are you going to drill some bulkheads for an overflow?

 

[onefish2fish]

yea i think its a q-tip sponge? or atleast ive heard of people calling them that because of obvious reasons..but im not 100% on that

yea the blue hermits always seen to be switching shells .. thank god i only have a few of them and a bunch of shells litering my tank for them to choose from..hopefully they dont be $h*t heads lol

as for the 85 im not really sure what im going to do with it. im going to paint the back prob. black but maybe dark blue.. i think ill just use the overflow box i have its rated 1200gph so it will move some water.. i would prob. like to drill it but the overflow box will just save some trouble..then build a decent stand.. pick up some t5s ( hopefully 8 bulb but we'll see ) and get more rock and go from there..
its going to be a couple month project.. then slowly tranfer the contents of my 46 bowfront out and in and use the same sump that im building for the 46 now (its a 45gal)

 

[onefish2fish]

another update.
i found a randalli pistol shrimp at absolutly fish a few days back, got him in the tank and the little $@%@$^&#(&@*!@* ( lol ) found liking to the back corner.. his burrow is dug out where you cant see anything . .unless there's a trick to get him to move spots without ripping out all the rock to catch him ( def. not doing that ) im hoping when i eventually set the 85 up he finds a nice spot out front..
i also got a orange spot watchman goby to be his pal and theres no sign of pairing up shrimp stays in his corner and goby stays in a little cave like place for his residence. . hopefully they find eachother and be friends .. ;D
and then i got a blood red cleaner shrimp because i liked them more then the skunks.. im now kicking myself because i never knew they were a deepwater species and like to hide in the darkness of the rocks.. im sure once he gets used to eating he'll be out and about in daylight..

and today i picked up 2 clowns from aquatic obsessions . . 1 black and 1 of the small misbar orange guys hoping that the size difference will better my chances of them pairing up
anyways my tanks still pretty new so ill be posting more as things come, and hopefully more pictures soon!

 

[Hawkeye]

we want pictures.... ;D

 

[onefish2fish]

its alive!

sump, is it half empty or half full?

spray bar

plumbing

a bunch of carnies

FTS, waters alittle low because i was in the process of "fillin' an gettin' religous"

 

[Hawkeye]

Those clowns look cool! They are so tiny in that FTS.

what kind of crab is that ? looks like a hitcher mithrax? or did you purchase that?

 

[onefish2fish]

the orange clown is def. tiny and im 95% sure its just a red emerald crab, which i purchased.

 

[Hawkeye]

oh ok - I didn't realize they sold red emerald crabs.

The scientific name for the emerald crab is Mithrax sculptus - so mithrax = emerald. ;D Sorry I should have italicized it as it should be in latin.

They are actually rather common in gulf of mexico live rock. Had i known I could have sold some I would have.

 

[onefish2fish]

yea i didnt know they sold red emeralds either, that would be a ruby crab right? ;D

it does however look exactly like the green guy i got except this ones bigger and he doesnt seem to be bothering anything- yet atleast

 

[Hawkeye]

i've asked dr. ron the question and he said that red or green - they are the same crab.

The only issue though is that as crabs grow - they can be a little bit risky since when presented with a buffet of bubble algae or a buffet of tasty escargot - which do you think the crab will prefer? ;D

 

[onefish2fish]

thats true. ive heard of them nipping corals to but so far havnt had a bad experience but they def. watch them shove whatever they pick up into their mouth lol they dont even look they just reach out, grab and pile it in..
maybe if they get too big or become a problem ill fuge em/trade em/sell em/give em away im sure ill find something i can do but as for now they dont seem to bother a thing.

 

[Hawkeye]

hey jon i forgot to ask you about your plumbing. What is the spraybar for - is that in the Display? Always interested in new ideas.

Also I assume the plumbing shot was sideways? Did you get all your pvc from lowes/hd or someplace else?

 

[onefish2fish]

yea the spray bar is in the display as the return, 11 holes drilled in it total (9 out front and 2 on either ends) it seems to be working ok, atleast for now until i can rig something else up.
everything is from either homedepot or lowes. another thing that was done was unions were put on in multiple locations for easier removal of pipe sections for cleaning,repair,additions and any sort of maintnance required.. and yes the plumbing picture came out sideways.. whoops.

 

[Hawkeye]

ok I was just curious about the spray bar.

The tank is coming along - that looks like coralline growing on the back of the tank already.

 

[onefish2fish]

a new update.. more rock and corals ..

and my skunk cleaner gomez put no pics of him because cameras not so great

 

[mikem]

Looking good Jon.

 

[onefish2fish]

thanks mike and thanks once more for the help