# Up date on my Marine (loads of pics beware)



## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Well, its time for the next installment.. ive not been around realy for the last 4 days or so because ive been setting up the tank.. took Thu and Fri off work and got down to it! 

As for the plumbing I wont know till tomorrow if that is all good or leeky, the fact of the matter is though that it will probably be a re-run of the Water Purifier Leak Fest = http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=13644#13644 i'll let you know tomorrow :shock: 

So... I got my tank, fitted the bulk head tank connectors etc









Then I had to make a glass box overflow (was slightly tricky) 









I got an old fishtank cleaned up for my sump, and turned it from this









To this









Then I got the back of the tank painted, about 5 coats!









Once it was in place and filling.. the tank is already pulling in the pussy as you can see









This is the tank pretty much how it looks now, but with a bit more water









Ive had some pretty cool stuff on the rock, including mini starfish, snails, shimp things, button polyps, a soft coral, and a rock covered in fanworms! I keep staring at the tank and seeing new things 'moving' 









Ohh and ive also received about 4 evil aiptasia anemones! :? i'll be killing those shortly! (this is the best shot I could get of one atm)









Anyhow.. im sure there will be updates very soon now that im getting nearly there.... i'll be leaving adding fish for as long as I can manage though!


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## gillsboy (Jun 8, 2005)

cool lookin


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## Luke (May 19, 2005)

*Very nice* :wink:


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

no protien skimmer ??? personally i think you should be running one from the start


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

treeboa, If you look closley at the six picture you can see a Deltec AP600 hidden behind the sump, it will get turned on tomorrow (forgiving leaks) when ive got the RO/DI water to complete the 'fill'


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

ah right thought that was your return system/pump, take it then you have not considered the internal skimmer sitting in the sump in case of `misshaps`, what are you doing a dsb or mm based sump ?? or am i wrong in the assumption that its external, pics not that clear


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Yeah I was going to use the Deltec in the sump, but it was too tall to fit! :? there was no way I was buying any other skimmer though.. I think the Deltecs are the best. In the tall compartment of the sump im having a DSB and macroalgae, in the wide compartment ill have live rock rubble and it can be a grow out area if needed... im not decided on what lighting ill use down there yet, maybe a compact.


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

interesting that i speak to peeps who use what are basic power saver bulbs over thier sumps, lot cheaper to boot, what i do read though is they are timed to reverse light to the tank, one thing i would consider doing is fan cooling the cabinet, easy to do using a mat stat and a power dropper controling pc case fans, i dont use a sump due to the fact i would not have the jewel tank drilled, as a point of interest for you, even with the wiers i have heard stories of snails scaling the wiers and clogging up the outlets, personall i would be tempted to add a matrix over the top of the boxes as a belt and braces approach, i notice also you have not `piped` the drains, if you find the noise levels a bit ott you can mod them quite easily so that air also feeds into the drop pipes to keep them quiet


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

have to get yourself one of these loverly things lolol


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

wow all this looks er really complicated  
good luck with keeping your house dry mate :wink:


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## ReptileResort (Jul 25, 2005)

lol enit hope you have water damage on your house insurance lol really cool pics though


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## Andyman (May 16, 2005)

What happend to the goldfish  i liked him :lol: thats looking brilliant m8, how big did you say the tank was again?


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Ahh the gold fish is alright.. he ended geting a new tank out of this that was 3" taller!  (the tanks 4ft)

Sorry to dissapoint those who wanted a flood.. the tank is full and there isnt a drip to be seen!


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

treeboa said:


> as a point of interest for you, even with the wiers i have heard stories of snails scaling the wiers and clogging up the outlets, personall i would be tempted to add a matrix over the top of the boxes as a belt and braces approach, i notice also you have not `piped` the drains, if you find the noise levels a bit ott you can mod them quite easily so that air also feeds into the drop pipes to keep them quiet


Yeah I was more worried about fish jumping over the edge of the weir to be honest.. its 32mm pipe so I doubt it could be clogged easy, plus I have the sump set up so as not to cause an over flow incase of blockage. I was thinking of using egg crate to cover the top, do you know where I can get small(ish) pieces?

About the drains, yeah I modded them.. needed to to get the flow through more than anything, but also makes it nice and quiet!


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## Deadbait (Apr 9, 2005)

looking good mr T. id love a marine tank, but they seem like such hard work and im not sure if id have the time or space to do a proper job of it at the mo  
and i must admit, i was among those who wanted a flood :roll: 

bet you've had fun doing it all up though 8)


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## nicky (Jul 13, 2005)

looks great t-bo..


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

friggin cats eaten your fish mate


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## treeboa (May 4, 2005)

go to a lighting store. apparently the egg crate we use is also a deflector in some floury lighting things , sure someone will have a small bit for sale


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Yeah id heard they were used for lighting covers.. i'll have to try find a local shop.

On a side note, im so excited I could almost piss  Ive seen lots of new life, including a very weird swimming blob.. but tonight when I was staring into the tank I saw a piece of rock moving, within a large piece of rock.. I got close and investigated but could only think that the current was moving it. I was still sat there and looking at this rock to see if its moving again and I see this creature underneath it, with what I can only describe as tentacles! its about 3/4 of an inch and seems quite shy :shock: I ran to get the camera, and when I came back I saw it had moved but kept just peeking out of another hole.. I dont know what else it could be but an octopus? it definitely isnt a crab, its no fish and I dont think its a mantis shrimp.. all my rock is like Swiss cheese, hes got loads of places to hide. I'll be turning off the lights a bit early tonight, ive been out and bought some prawns to see what I can see  i'll try to take pics asap!


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

lol who needs to buy fish with al this going on :wink: 
seriously looking good though i didnt realise quite how much was involved in these marine set ups ..i might just get an aquarium screensaver for now


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*And before you know it Nath you'll have your own marine tank :wink: *


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## Lofty (Oct 15, 2005)

t-bo said:


> I was still sat there and looking at this rock to see if its moving again and I see this creature underneath it, with what I can only describe as tentacles! its about 3/4 of an inch and seems quite shy :shock: I ran to get the camera, and when I came back I saw it had moved but kept just peeking out of another hole.. I dont know what else it could be but an octopus? it definitely isnt a crab, its no fish and I dont think its a mantis shrimp.. all my rock is like Swiss cheese, hes got loads of places to hide. I'll be turning off the lights a bit early tonight, ive been out and bought some prawns to see what I can see  i'll try to take pics asap!


Are the tentacles clear? Could be a spaghetti worm, i had 4 or 5 come on my live rock


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

it turned out to be a crab with legs like a Teddy Bear Crab (very hairy white legs) from where I was sitting seeing these things moving from within a hole it didnt look like anything id seen before  Im glad its not 'coz oit would have played hell with my livestock  turns out there are two of these crabs.. Although im fairly sure they are safe, I reccon i'll be setting some traps before they get too big and putting them in the sump, better safe than sorry.

(i'll be adding pics soon, the tanks coming together nicely)


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