# Marine Madness



## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Well.. ill be getting my new tank in a week or so... pretty excited!!

Its a 4ft tank with cabinet and hood, the cabinet is one big cupboard which will house my filtration tank (sump) with deepsandbed and microalge and heaters, pumps, skimmer, timers, auto topoff. I'll be drilling the tank for the overflow and return.. and also installing a closed loop system for flow! 

This isnt setting up a fishtank.. its building a masterpiece!!

Ill start off with just liverock and fish, and once sorted be adding corals, clams, maybe an anemone and building it up to be a full Reef  Its been a long time coming this tank.. so I cant wait, but even when I get my tank its going to be a good few months to get it all sorted and set up :? 

Anyhow, ill update here with my progress


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

Nice one cant wait to see the pics and the finished work :wink:


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

wow sounds like a cool project


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

Sounds great, i aint really been a fan of marine fish as i find them really hard to keep, takes alot of hard work and dedication to keep it all runing so i hope that all goes well and as Penny said "carn't wait to see the pics"


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Well I got the new tank ordered today! pretty excited!!

Now I will be waiting for upto 6 weeks for the tank to be made :shock:  . The tank is being specialy made to my specifications.. which means that I will not have to drill the tank myself *phew*


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

lol good luck and hope the tank arrives ok, and post pics when it arives


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

yeah i gotta say im very interested in this project kinda got me thinking.........
only problem is im running outa room ill be sleepin in the garden soon


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

lol Natt, hope the tank gets to yours safe and sound & that your marine project all goes to plan!


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

steer clear of nems and corals, nems have a habit of moving and stinging anything in thier path, plus the lighting and water requirements for them are worse than corals, what you planning on lighting with t5`s or halides ?? best oif luck with it anyway


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Yeah as I said 'maybe' an anemone.. they do require a mature tank and I wouldn't realy be looking to add one for the first 6 - 8 months. Although they move about when first added they rarely move once they get thier foot in, as long as they have the right parameters and are happy 

My lighting will be 5 x T5 (55w) so it will be fine for anything I want to keep, with the right positioning.  

I got a call from the tank people, they are putting my tank together now and had questions about the holes etc I wanted.. I am also receiving all sorts of kit.. including my Deltec skimmer, I just know that all this plumbing im going to have to do is going to do my head in :shock:  all good fun though.


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

> I just know that all this plumbing im going to have to do is going to do my head in all good fun though.


as long as you remember that when you got water everywhere lol
only kidding im sure itll all go 'swimmingly' :wink:


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

LOL thanks natty :shock: 

Well the tank is ready for delivery, I got the call today.. not sure when I can get time off next week yet though :?


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2005)

Thats great news about the tank t-bo not so good the news of not knowing when you will get it though.
Hope it all works out great for you mate and keep us posted on the progress


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

might be worth looking at power compacts over the nem, look into the daylight blue tube, i have one over some of my stuff and its made a hell of a diff to the growth rates


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

I thought id update with my progress, my tank is due to be delivered on Wednesday.. I got time of work so all was well. I thought this would be a good time to get my RO/DI water purifier installed (yes plumbing).

This is what I was installing:









In the next picture is the drain, it has to be fitted to a waste pipe.. but as you can see the only place I could get to with a drill was below a water line.. obviously it poured with water when it was drilled, but I was expecting that and it was quickly mopped up.. unfortunately this clamp sprung a massive leek due to me not fitting this funny foam thingy!! 









After id fixed the previous leek I hung the water unit and fixed the feed supply which can be seen at the back of the next pic with a red tube going in. When I turned the unit on, that fitting exploded with jets of high powered water.. leek number two. I was supplied with this thread tape, so thought maybe I should use some on this fitting  I taped it up, pushed down the widgits and that and tightened with a monkey grip and bingo, no water 









Here is the unit installed, unfortunately I had a bad leek from the white filter tube on the top where a seal was wonky....









Basically after the 3 leeks its all going _swimmingly_  I cant wait till I get to the main plumbing :shock: 

Next job was to move the existing fishtank.. uhhh, back breaker :? .. anyway here is him in his new position... looking all spanking  I measured him tonight, hes just under 9 inches head to tail! we reccon he must be well over 8 years old too :shock:  









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Sorry for the massive post :shock:


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

Sorry to hear about all the leaks but thats a gr8 fini, nice work :wink:  oh yea and im loving that goldfish, i want him, i want him, i want him :lol:


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

lol i love it,i cant wait for the next installment of adventures of a plumber  :wink:


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2005)

Well the way i see it is get a _*cowboy*_ to do the job and what else would you expect but for leaks to spring up all over the place.Looks like you finally did a great job t-bo and look forward to more essays on the plumbing.Now when you are ready i have a few jobs that you can do for me :wink: :lol:


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## nicky (Jul 13, 2005)

wow t-bo that all looks so complicated it sounds like it's going to be fantastic..and that goldfish looks very proud of his spanking clean tank....


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Well, I took the afternoon today to take delivery of my tank... it didnt arrive till 6:30 and when it did there was this old looking bald guy standing there. I live in a maisonette two floors up and was told it would be delivered to the door :?  Anyhow we got there in the end.. I dont know who out of the two of us was most unfit 

Heres a lil pic, this isnt the final resting place for the tank. I put my protein skimmer in the pic as I had been a bit worried about it being too tall for the cabinet... and found out today that it was indeed too tall. Not a problem.. just means more, ahherm, 'fabrication'  










Now the fun can realy begin


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

lookin good


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

It looks so small in that pic.. I cant get over how huge it looks everytime I walk past  I hope the floor doesnt cave in :shock:


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

lol there would b a few more leaks for u to fix if it did :lol:


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2005)

Wow that tank must have cost a small fortune and by the time you have it the way you want it then it will have cost you an arm and a leg.

Looks great though and cant wait to see the finished item


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

Thats a nice looking tank, carn't wait to see it in full settup


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

i recently went to see a long time marine fishkeeper, in 25 years hes never used anything but tapwater, untill recently hes never used a skimmer and as to monthly water changes, "why" was his reply, he has a load of fish in the system, and corals, all he does is top up via the tap when needed, adds trace elements and kalk when needed, and fish, well try a pair of big sailfin tangs, couple of adult wrasse, a load of clowns plus stuff i cant remember, i wish i had taken a pic with my phone now, hes only just gone over to those new fangled halide lights, tanks full of softies and thriving that are "old" a nem thats near the top thats big enough to host all the clowns, live rock seems to be the big key in this

just to make you sick, i went to buy some stuff off him, a 3*2*2 acrylic tank and stand, prob 40kg live rock, fludised bed filter, prism skimmer he does not use arcadia twin 150 watt 1400 k unit,2 150 watt heaterstats,2 rotating head powerheads and the live sand bed, how much, well how does £200 sound, i was well happy, the halide bulbs are two months old


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

*You Jammy begger*

Why cant i get deals like that


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

must be the treeboa charm that did it, all i have to do now is wait for the reading to go stable and cross feed with the rio 180, what to put in the new bath is the problem


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

Well congrats on a great deal and im sure you will sonn think of something to fill it up with.May i suggest that you start of with water though :lol:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)




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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)




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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

dunno what this one is but its always near the tank


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

Those tanks look great treeboa.See the finding nemo craze hit you as well lol.The dog looks like it is just soooooooo chilled out laying there


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

> treeboa
> well how does £200 sound


I hope you checked the equipment before buying them at that price! If there in gr8 nic i just want to strangle you lol all the money we pay for equipment and you manage to fish out all the bargains!Gr8 pics btw :wink:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

tbh the live rock alone was worth what i payed for it, local its £13 a kilo, this stuff was supposed to be 20kg, its closer to 40 or more, i see it for sale at £10 a kilo on the other forums so even if i take it half way and accept 30 kg i am quids in and yes its real live rock, not ocean rock thats been in some tank for a week, the arcadia pro units above my rio 180 and working, as is the rest of the stuff, somewhere in the rock is supposed to ne a sand nem, aint seen it yet but i have found a few fighting conch`s and some tube worms, nitrates are high with the long trip home and the abuse moving the rock, soon as they are down i will turn on the cross feeds and that will give me a total water capacity closer to 90 gallons, that coupled with the total live rock of the combined systems should really (hopefully) give me good water conditions

finding nemo lol, tbh i got them for my wife who named them pinky and perky, shes not looking after them so i put them in the rio, her loss, you will be saying my regals part the plot as well lolol, now what can i get for the other tank when its ready, mermaid mmm hello baby can i make you wet :twisted:


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*And you know you want to swap your marine tank with the nemo's for my icckle one  dont you mike :wink: *


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

ooo whats this little one you want to swop :twisted: ouch no ooo ahh kin ell nails aaaaaahhhhhhhh me eyes


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

well thats it, nemos better than monty, see what hes done to his toys


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

*ROFLMAO*@Treeboa


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*Awwwwwwwww bless him tell him i still love him *


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

lol yeah my dogs destroy most of their toys in seconds :roll:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

he manages to keep them for weeks, then goes on a destroying spree, this morn it was ooo the dickheads have left a coke bottle on the floor, mm i love coke, what a mess, he chews the cap off, laps it up then kills the bottle, i walked down to shredded coke bottle and him looking sheepish " honest dad was not me, that bloody mouse did it"


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*Awwwwwwwwwww leave that poor dog alone your always on his case :wink: *


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

right tease time then :lol:


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*I shall have my own soon*


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

well if you look after them anything like the treeboas i know they will be a credit to you


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*Well let me look after yours for a bit until i get mine and i'll show ya :wink: *


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Sounds like you got a good deal there treeboa! like the pics too


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

LMFAO i wouldn't treeboa, Penny will get to attached, and want yours instead of buying her own :lol:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

well she keeps threatening to pinch my monty :shock:


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*He will be mine, he will he will* :wink:


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

lmao


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

Your in for it now treeboa LMAO


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

nah shes a pussy cat, me frightened, lolol me and the dog moved address last night, we now live care of her maj for the next 10 years


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

treeboa said:


> nah shes a pussy cat, me frightened, lolol me and the dog moved address last night, we now live care of her maj for the next 10 years


*And you know it* :wink:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

me and the rufty toughty dog will repel all boarders :lol:


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