Cali Kid Corals

Brandie's 210 Upgrade

Oh a side note, here are the blenny bottles that I got off ebay, that Johnny worked in to the rock scape for me! Can't wait until the blennies and gum drop gobies find them!

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Here is the return pump that I got for the 210. Thing is a monster! All the plumbing will be hard piped in sch 80 PVC (learned my lesson, hah!) I am just waiting on getting a list of mats together so we can order them through my step dad's supplier and only be charged once, LoL.

Based on Reef Central's substrate calculator, I needed 164lbs of substrate for a 2 inch sand bed in the 210. I have 168 lbs :D We also decided to go with black matte car vinyl for the backing of the tank. It was cheaper than getting a piece of acrylic. It also (in my opinion) looks just as good. Denzil's really good at installing it as well! :D

Skimmer is going to have to be my current Euro Reef. It's only a 180 but, there was a pump upgrade done along the lines. Not sure who did it or when, but instead of a Sedra 4100 pump on it (for 180 gallons) it has a Sedra 9000 pump on it (which is rated for 400 gallons). We have to put the pump in the sump before putting the display tank on top.... I won't be able to get a skimmer in otherwise, I don't have the clearance. I have decided that I will revisit the issue when we have to move again.

I'll post more pictures as I go along, but for now, this is about all I have! Hope you all enjoyed. :D

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Looks great. I applaud your energy to get all this done. I think I would have stopped at the 'move the 90'. That's going to be a great space for all the fishies!!

And as a bonus, Denzil will be able to get to his 40b project!! :)
 
Wow Brandie, things are moving right along. I'm sure you're very excited. An aquascaping suggestion: allow enough room for the fish to swim around all structures. You don't want them to merely swim back and forth. I know you're going to have many fish in there that will need plenty of swimming space.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Wow Brandie, things are moving right along. I'm sure you're very excited. An aquascaping suggestion: allow enough room for the fish to swim around all structures. You don't want them to merely swim back and forth. I know you're going to have many fish in there that will need plenty of swimming space.
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The pictures don't do the 'scape justice. I'll have to post a video but there is plenty of room around them and between them, and I have a little extra room to play with if I need to move some stuff around. :) We initially have 5 structures, but I hesitated at the lack of room that left for swimming so Johnny put that 5th structure as the top of the left pillar. Both of us were happier with it that way. :)

Thank you for the food for thought! We'll see final spacing once the tank gets on the stand, haha. ^.^
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Photos finally! Yay! The stand looks way better now and I love the aquascape you guys came up with. How much longer until it will have water?
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Unfortunately, maybe a week or so. We need to get the tank polished to get off the mineral stains, then I need to figure out what materials I need plumbing wise so I can let my step dad know. Then I get the supplies, and gotta plumb it, then fill it up for a leak test... LOL. 3 weeks hopefully... I wanted it to be by the end of this month, but I'm not going to rush it.

Johnny (jestersix) is the master of aquascape! I told him what I wanted out of the scape (ie, spots for fish to sleep, lots of sand bed showing, predominately LPS tank) and he saw the rock and he said "I just see how the rock fits together geometrically." It's like magic. I had lots of rock to choose from, he just took them and put them together amazingly. Can't sing high enough praises. I think this time around, that the 'scape was my favorite part LOL.
 
aqua-nut said:
Looks great. I applaud your energy to get all this done. I think I would have stopped at the 'move the 90'. That's going to be a great space for all the fishies!!

And as a bonus, Denzil will be able to get to his 40b project!! :)
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Haha trust me, I put the tank move off as long as I could. I was so worried about it, I lost sleep over it. It was only Jim's cool calm that made things easy, LOL.

I think Denzil will set up his frag tank first, but, we'll see ;)
 
Coral reefer said:
Sched 80 plumbing? Wow! Hope you are getting a good deal on it. That stuff is pretty expensive and adds up quickly. Not sure why you'd need it?
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Dad's a plumber and can get it through his suppliers. Learned lots after doing the 90, and there's things I want to change and do differently on the 210. There's also a certain lock line that we are looking for and it's a schedule 80 fitting. If I can get it, I don't see why not do it. It will also make thing easier when eventually we move into our own house and we can put stuff in the walls, etc. Gives my dad a chance to see it, help me build it out, and that way, when we plumb it in the future, he'll know exactly what we need and why we need it, LoL. Automatic water changes in our distant future! Haha
 
Here is a link to all the pics that Denzil took while Johnny was here! Hope you all enjoy ^.^

http://denzil.smugmug.com/Professional/J6-jestersix/210-Brandie/30130357_w3q5Pn#!i=2590650542&k=bCLft7p
 
jestersix said:
Wow, an actual complete photo journal of one of my builds. Sweet! Had a blast with this build...
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Thank you so very much for coming down and working on it! Sorry this post is a little late. = / But Denzil, myself and the pups had tons of fun too!

It's taking us a bit longer than planned but we are hoping to have the tank on the stand within the next week. Dad's already found some of the plumbing parts and is slowly getting what we need. Hopefully, I can start the plumbing as soon as the tank is on the stand!

:D
 
Thanks Johnny!!

Denzil's working on polishing the tank today with Cerium Oxide. We talked to Matt F. down at Aqua Exotic and told him all we used to get this stuff out, and how it didn't work. Turns out, he thought that the glass was etched from the hardwater sitting on it for so long down in Oakherst, so on his recommendation, I bought some cerium oxide, and Denzil's polishing all of it out...

IT'S WORKING!!! Wooohoo! Yay. So as soon as that's done, we will be getting it on to the stand, then we will be making a quick trip to Hollister to grab all the plumbing stuff. :) So we are getting there, not as fast as I'd hoped, but then again, I don't want to rush this upgrade. Wanna make sure I have it easy to maintain, and QUIET. Hehe :)

I'll keep ya'll posted and we'll make sure to post before and after pics :)
 
tr1gger said:
Oh awesome! Matt if def. a smart guy, thats for sure.
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Definitely. I was glad he had some insight as to why vinegar, baking soda, polishing compounds, two different muriatic solutions, CLR and Limeaway wasn't working... LOL apparently, he used to work with glass, so he knew what it sounded like, and what to suggest. Thank god it's working. If it wasn't so much, I wouldn't worry about it, but since there was a ton of it on the sides of the glass, it was easier for us to take care of it now, than to get it all set up, and realize it interfered with the view. In a tank this size, I'd rather be safer than sorry.
 
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Kind of hard to tell because of all the reflections, but that's ok, because reflections are awesome!! Definitely tons better. Hopefully the picture shows it, hehe. :D
 
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