somebody help me please
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=23344
Printed Date: July 15 2026 at 11:54am
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Topic: somebody help me please
Posted By: fishman90G
Subject: somebody help me please
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 8:38pm
| ok so as you guys know im very interested in having a partial suspended reef on the right side of my tank. i went out today and spent $30 at home depot i actually was able to build the stand the way i saw it in my head now my problem is aquascaping. maybe it was the little man complex that made me buy almost all my rock BIG. ive got a 29lb piece of fiji that believe right now feels like 100lb lol. anyways i was wondering if anyone out there would be interested in helping me put this thing together. i can pay you if you want let me know how much or your more than welcome to volunteer i live in salem. or if maybe someone can tell me who would be a good candidate to do it like an aquarium maintanence guy or installer this has to happen either this weekend preferably or i can wait till the second weekend in febuary. please help im begging ya'll. thank you |
Replies:
Posted By: pa_reptileman_4
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 8:41pm
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you can always make the rock smaller byu smashing it. ------------- pitiful guppy tank. shane |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 8:48pm
| ive never done that im afraid id ruin a perfectly expensive piece of rock |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 8:53pm
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:05pm
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Smash up some rock into smaller pieces and zip tie it to the frame. "No pain no gain" ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:09pm
 ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:46pm
| i have no idea what im doing im so overwhelmed i guess i can try and break up the rock but i have absolutey no clue how you were able to hide the pvc so well are you also gluing your rock together as well as ties or just zip ties and are you drilling holes in the rock to put ties through or just wrapping the ties around the whole rock? |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:50pm
| also since i have my pics posted can you guys tell me if you think i might have a bit too much sand? i got a little carried away i am planning on taking some out in the future for my other tank id like to set up as a FO tank |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:51pm
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The sand level looks fine to me. Mike -------------  |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 10:54pm
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Sand is fine. I zip tied around the rock and then stacked the rock to hold the tied ones exactly where I wanted them. If you were closer I would come over. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 11:15pm
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anyone know of aymore articles on suspending a reef?
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Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 11:19pm
| right about now im wishing you were closer too its definitely gonna be an all nighter. im gonna try and break up some rock, especially my 29lb'r i was proud of finding lol wish me luck guys going to get an energy drink |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 11:22pm
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Good luck! The rock is pretty soft and you can use a chisel or screwdriver to focus the blow of the hammer so the rock breaks where you want.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 26 2008 at 11:23pm
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Good point Mike ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 12:50am
if you look at my tank(scroll up) the big green monster in front of the overflow is the last one i just broke up and oh my gooooooooosh that thing was good and hard. only about an inch or two was actually live rock the inner core was im safely assuming to be hard exoskeleton of the reef or something that thing took 4 blades on the sawzall a chizel a hammer and about an hour to break in quarters lol got a lot of frustration out on it though hehe
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 1:24am
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Keep us posted ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 4:07am
  
attempt numero dos ended at about 2:30 this morning please give me feedback i think im on the right track but it still doesnt seem right to me. id like to get a bottom dweller in there thus creating room with the suspended reef. would it possibly look better if i move the reef to the left side since i got the overflow on that side anyways? im a little worried about the room i have on that side since my tank is only 18" front to back. maybe im just to darn picky and should let it go the way it is. oh by the way i still have a couple 5lb'rs and another 10-12lb piece in my curing tub i couldnt fit them in and still have it looking like a natural reef. I ALSO HAVE ABOUT 10LBS OF RUBBLE FROM BREAKING ROCKS I HEARD IT WAS EXCELLENT FOR SUBSTRATE I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH, ANYONE WANNA BUY OR TRADE?
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Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 4:13am
| I also wanted to let you guys know how much i love glass compared to acrylic as many times as a couple rocks rolled off and lightly hit the glass, if it were acrylic id be searching for a new tank. gotta love glass |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 9:16am
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it's looking good, maybe glue some of the rock rubble to the pvc frame to break up the lines, also remember that the corraline algae will in time cover everything. I could come over as soon as my back has recovered from rolling my brothers snowmobile yesterday. |
Posted By: john hill
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 11:03am
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that looks nice i did almost the same thing in my tank i live in spanish fork so if you need any thing just give me a call 372 4965 john sorry i am so late but didnt see this yesterday ------------- out with the large and in with the nano |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 11:25am
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Its looking good. As Brian said the Coraline will take over and camouflage the white over time. Otherwise you need to take it back out and glue/zip tie pieces to the side. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 12:33pm
| i just wanted to say thank you all for the support. bbeck and john i just might take you up on those offers but it will have to be next weekend or the one after that for sure. i really started thinking about the coralline algae covering the pvc last night thats kinda why i gave up. i put some of the base rock on top only because if fit nicely it doesnt really look too nice, but whatever the coralline doesnt cover should have softies or sps or maybe even a littl lps . ill keep you guys posted i think im gonna try and re do it tomorrow while the kids are at school |
Posted By: john hill
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 1:31pm
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just let me know i am working in salem on the new high school so i can stop by after work if you ned help ------------- out with the large and in with the nano |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 27 2008 at 8:40pm
| ya ill deifinetly let you know john i live up at the relief mine so its a little outa your way though. im gonna wait atleast for a couple days before attempting number 3, i gotta let my hands get back to normal from being pruned lol. |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 12:30am
| well since i have your guys attention im working on another problem....my lighting. i was think i purchasing 2 new 250w MH double ended with 10K off an ebay store for around $250 for both. its all new equipment so im not worried about "refurbushed" stuff. my question is if i did get those would i be ok with just getting another 48" shoplight at wal mart and then have 4 40w actinics? or is there another way to get that much light for lps (if i decide in the near future) for cheaper. |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 8:57am
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2 250 watt MH will be fine, as for "extra" lighting you will probably want power compact or t5HO lighting, (i am running one 55 watt PC atintic light) best option there is to go look at lighting setups and then decide from there what you like. it really all depends on what color temp the bulbs are for the main lighting. |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 11:44am
| well as far as color temps ive been really studying the lighting shawn has at aquatica and 10k on the halides with a hint of actinic really to moe looks as close to real daylight as ive seen. i want this to work so bad. my first tank was a 40G acrylic with a skilter filter and 192w power compact and i couldnt keep anything alove except fish, snails and macro. so this time i want to do it right and want it too look sooooo cool.his frag tank in the back has exactly what i want, the pc/mh combo unfortunately to get one that i feel will last a while is about a grand. i did see one on ebay for 380 but the light isnt even UL listed because they used lesser quality everything probably including the lightbulbs. ill have to check out the prices of both of those as a retro. thank you guys so much for your input. |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 1:29pm
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one other thing, I ran my 90 for 6 months on one 250 watt Mh light, so you do not need all of your lighting all at once. the tank will do fine while you add to your lighting. Also, I was able to have clams, and sps, lps under that one light, they will grow faster under more, but will grow under less, in fact stacey's work nano tank has one 70 watt HQI light and sps and lps are doing fine in that tank. |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 1:39pm
| well i am planning on gettin the corals fairly quickly. im probably gonna start with some sps im afraid to get xenia as beautiful as it is ive seen it totally take over tanks if not kept under control (ie. fragging ) did you have any corals with just the one light? would it look weird if i just used one 250w over the suspended reef and lit the rest of the tank with pc's or vho? |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 1:53pm
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you would want the more light demanding corals closest to the light, Xenia is very easy to frag, and tends to grow in spurts, also look for the silver tipped zenia, it grows slower, I have seen many tanks with just one mh on one side, and the atintics on the other, it looks good. also don't forget the VHO lights, they have been around for a long time, they are very good light sources. One of these days I plan on replacing the compact florescent with VHO lights. they are not the newest thing out there and because of that don't have the high price tag as with the newest T5 lights, (although t5's are nice) |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 2:16pm
| i though VHO was brighter than T5's im gonna try and sell my 36" PC and IWAKI pump so if interested let me know anyone |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 2:24pm
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I am not sure how the VHO vs T5 compare as far as lumens go, they also make VHO with a internal reflector, for selling those items I would recommend posting in the for sale area. |
Posted By: john hill
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 5:04pm
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i run one 250 hqi 10 with t5hos and i really like the look ------------- out with the large and in with the nano |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 7:13pm
| well i can see i got homwork to do on products and pricing ill keep you guys posted. as far as the tank goes im gonna try another thing with the rock on left. im gonna see if i can build from the left side of the suspended reef and in front of the overflow then go up ill post pics tonight when im done |
Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 11:28pm
OK GUYS HERES ATTEMPT NUMBER THREE THESE FISH GOTTA BE SCARED OUTA THEIR MIND. OH I SMASHED ANOTHER ROCK AND I FOUND A WHITE W/BROWN STRIPED HERMIT CRAB AND IT WAS A LITTLE BIGGER THAN A SILVER DOLLAR. IT WAS SO COOL I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO GET A PIC FOR YA'LL SORRY HE'S OK I COULDNT GET HIM OFF THE ROCK SO I DUNKED THE ROCK IN THE WATER JUST A LITTLE BIT AND HE PRACTICALLY JUMPED OFF. OK HERE WE GO.................. 
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Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 28 2008 at 11:30pm
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 12:30am
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I like it very much, Well done!!!! ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 7:36am
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That looks great!
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: john hill
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 7:46am
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yes looking good ------------- out with the large and in with the nano |
Posted By: bbeck4x4
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 8:01am
looking great
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Posted By: fishman90G
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 12:24pm
| thank you guys for all the suppport i think im gonna keep it like this for a while i gotta still glue a couple "losse" pieces and then glue the rubble to the frame but i thought it looked good and i made a lot for table top area for corals and such |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 30 2008 at 9:22pm
That's not a Hermit crab. Hermits live in snail shells. It may be a rock crab which is not a good thing. Watch for missing stuff. There is an easy way to catch the crab when the time comes, just ask here. If the crab is as big as a silver dollar the time is fast approaching. If you follow the advice you get from the best hobbyists here you will be able to keep almost anything alive. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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fishman90G wrote: