So this build started almost a year ago. Last summer I took a vacation for 10 days. I asked our housesitter to top off but didn't ask her to dose since I manually dose and was just afraid she'd get it wrong. The result? A couple of SPS colonies lost along with a clam and some LPS including my rainbow acan. I was bummed. Some of those coral I had since they were nubs and the SPS which were my first pieces were doing really well which made me happy. So after I got over the disappointment I decided this couldn't happen again. I decided that I needed to automate as much as I can since I still planned on going out of town and didn't want to unnecessarily lose any more livestock.
So the original plan was to add a sump to my current tank ( http://www.socalireefs.com/forums/s...t-of-many-reefs&highlight=first+of+many+reefs ) and get a contoller, dosing pump, and ATO. And once I started getting things together I decided to add a clam refugium. I'm a clam fiend. I don't know what it is about them but I love 'em. I once saw a presentation by Scott Fellman at SCRK and he showed a clam refugium and from that point I was sold. So I decided to not sell a 24x24x10 that I had and use that as my clam fuge on a new stand with my current tank next to it and the sump inside. So I started slowly gathering all the gear, patiently waiting for the appropriate gear to be on sale so I could take advantage. And once I started doing that I quickly saw that it would likely be easier to deal with 1 big system than 2 smaller systems...after all, volume would add stability and the space would be there for a nice clam bed. And so began my search for a 4x2x2 that I luckily got a great deal on through someone at RC. So here I go....
This is the tank...lovely, huh? It's sitting in my backyard waiting for me to clean it up but it shouldn't be hard considering the army size vinegar bottle I got from Costco. It has a 1.5" overflow and a 3/4" return. The previous owner said I could take the braces off and go rimless but I figure they were put there for a reason.
The stand looked like a pile of wood nailed together so I took the skin off but kept the frame. The frame was actually in good condition so I just decided to reskin it and add some additional support. I've been working on the reskin for at least a week now.
I got these rocks from Riblet. Ever since the first RAP I went to I've been mesmerized by Cerameco structures. I luckily saw his sale post first and hit him up immediately. 10 minutes later I was handing over cash (very generous deal BTW...great dude) and loading up my rock in the whip. This is how I plan on aquascaping with the big column off center. The space on the sand will be my clam garden. It looks much better in 3D than in this pic. I'm sure I'll play with it a bit but I'm liking this so far.
Here's a diagonal view from what will be the front left. The two most common vantage points will be the front and front left. Mostly I took the pics to remind myself of how I want them situated once I put them in the tank.
So the original plan was to add a sump to my current tank ( http://www.socalireefs.com/forums/s...t-of-many-reefs&highlight=first+of+many+reefs ) and get a contoller, dosing pump, and ATO. And once I started getting things together I decided to add a clam refugium. I'm a clam fiend. I don't know what it is about them but I love 'em. I once saw a presentation by Scott Fellman at SCRK and he showed a clam refugium and from that point I was sold. So I decided to not sell a 24x24x10 that I had and use that as my clam fuge on a new stand with my current tank next to it and the sump inside. So I started slowly gathering all the gear, patiently waiting for the appropriate gear to be on sale so I could take advantage. And once I started doing that I quickly saw that it would likely be easier to deal with 1 big system than 2 smaller systems...after all, volume would add stability and the space would be there for a nice clam bed. And so began my search for a 4x2x2 that I luckily got a great deal on through someone at RC. So here I go....
This is the tank...lovely, huh? It's sitting in my backyard waiting for me to clean it up but it shouldn't be hard considering the army size vinegar bottle I got from Costco. It has a 1.5" overflow and a 3/4" return. The previous owner said I could take the braces off and go rimless but I figure they were put there for a reason.
The stand looked like a pile of wood nailed together so I took the skin off but kept the frame. The frame was actually in good condition so I just decided to reskin it and add some additional support. I've been working on the reskin for at least a week now.
I got these rocks from Riblet. Ever since the first RAP I went to I've been mesmerized by Cerameco structures. I luckily saw his sale post first and hit him up immediately. 10 minutes later I was handing over cash (very generous deal BTW...great dude) and loading up my rock in the whip. This is how I plan on aquascaping with the big column off center. The space on the sand will be my clam garden. It looks much better in 3D than in this pic. I'm sure I'll play with it a bit but I'm liking this so far.
Here's a diagonal view from what will be the front left. The two most common vantage points will be the front and front left. Mostly I took the pics to remind myself of how I want them situated once I put them in the tank.