What would you do if you had the house to yourself for a year, and suddenly could make as bug a mess as possible?

[K7BMG]

Ok well I am going to be mean here.
So you currently live in a Condo.
I take it there's no basement with the condo.
So your tanks are currently in the living room or other public area?

If you had a nicely finished stand me thinks your wife might be a bit more cordial to tanks.

Just saying.

But before you hit with hate words I know what I am talking about.

So I can't have this in the house either. Its in my office in my shop LoL

 

[joseserrano]

My vote is 1, 2, or 4

 

[Smarkow]

Ok well I am going to be mean here.
So you currently live in a Condo.
I take it there's no basement with the condo.
So your tanks are currently in the living room or other public area?

If you had a nicely finished stand me thinks your wife might be a bit more cordial to tanks.

Just saying.

But before you hit with hate words I know what I am talking about.

So I can't have this in the house either. Its in my office in my shop LoL

Haha yep! Correct on all accounts.

Pre wife I built some magnetic wood paneling that I painted to match the walls. Did not brace it with trim or seal it, and over the course of a year it warped due to moisture and probably its own weight. So I pitched that and left it open.

When the wife came along, we just got some black curtains and skirted the tank. No pictures, but it was a nice blend of form/function that actually looked okay. Shortly thereafter, seeking a more permanent solution we trialed (and currently use) some white corrugated plastic sheeting. That has worked out best. I may do this for future tanks as well.

Don’t have a whole room shot handy, but we painted the wood white and the white corrugated plastic material gets pinned to the front of the stand.

 

[Smarkow]

Okay plumbing is done. I was post call today, so slept all morning and then when she got into town for the weekend we had a nice, COVID-19-Free, day. But as usual she started snoozing on the couch around 7:30pm and I got straight to work on the tank.

First off, bought one of these PVC pipe cutters at home depot on a whim, and all I have to say is WOW. It’s supposed to cut up to 2” PVC. It went through 1” PVC like butter, chunked through the 1.5” with just a little elbow grease. Did not need to cut any 2”. Here is the best part though - it also went through and cut the 3/4”, 1”, and 1 1/4” braided vinyl tubing so easily and smoothly.

 

[Smarkow]

Secondly, I promised this build would be a MESS... and here is the proof

 

[peteyspizza]

So basically I have ONE year to do whatever crazy tank I want...

Considering:
1) Planted marine tank with lots of inverts
2) NPS tank with deep sand bed and jawfish or garden eels
3) Lagoon with rock flower anemones and LPS
4) Industrial size Phytoplankton culture system and a tank full of filter feeders
5) predator tank with snowflake eel and soft corals on tunzee box wavemakers for sway
6) SPS frag system plumbed in
7) Clown Harem

I love all of these ideas. Help me decide which one to do?

Buy one or two bounce mushrooms and let them take over the whole tank... then sell them all! haha

 

[Smarkow]

Of course, in the middle of all this, I flip on the return pump (Neptune Cor-20) and nothing happens. Not even a sputter as it tries to start. Won’t bore you with all the details, the point is 1) the power brick was shot and 2) I always have a backup pump on hand.

Before the neptune Cor-20 came out I was a big fan of the Ecotech Vectra M1’s. Having used 2-3 of each of their pumps over the years I am more a fan of the Ecotech. Borrowing an adage from athletics, the best asset is availability, and I have found the Ecotech pumps to be more reliable. That said, I am also angry with Ecotech for recently heading in a direction away from apex integration. I feel that companies building their own *exclusive* ecosystems is the wrong direction for the hobby (even if it is good for their bottom line).

Therefore I bought a Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 wifi ready pump. I just wanted to give my dollar to another company since I’m not happy with either Ecotech’s practices or Neptune’s durability at the moment.

 

[Smarkow]

So finally, everything is plumbed together around 10:30pm and I start some leak tests, confirm final salinity and temperature matches amongst water compartments, and then flipped the return pump on again.

So let’s assume water starts in the sump.
It goes up the return pump into the 210 gallon display via a single 3/4” return (never going without dual returns again, but also not going to get upset over mistakes from 5y ago)
The water is heavily circulated in the display by a Tunze wavebox (love these), two of the maxspect gyre XF 280s, and two Ecotech MP-40s. From the display, the water drains down through a synergy reef shadow with one return going straight into the cryptic zone (an elevated part of the sump system) and the other return goes through some 1 1/4 vinyl tubing to the NEW 75 gallon planted display (it is ultimately split into two 3/4 returns). To be clear, this is entirely gravity fed. The water from the 75 gallon planted tank ultimately also overflows into the cryptic section.
From the cryptic section, two 2” elbow overflows feed into the lowest part of the sump.

Doing good. Will see if I wake up to any nasty wet floors.

Pictures when it is light out tomorrow,
thanks for following!

 

[Smarkow]

Buy one or two bounce mushrooms and let them take over the whole tank... then sell them all! haha

Nice to see the economists in the room with their suggestions ;Bookworm

In truth, the wife has always wanted one. Will probably get her one when I sign the big kid contract next year. Though I will 100% have to lie about the price

 

[peteyspizza]

@Smarkow
Hey, whatever helps finance the hobby.
Gotta ask the LFS if they'll honor this! haha

 

[creativeballance]

Secondly, I promised this build would be a MESS... and here is the proof

3/10.
I dont see stuff all over the floor and every other flat surface.

 

[Smarkow]

Okay so my wife woke up this morning and was like, “wow, the water cleared up really nice. Tank looks great. So this is my predator tank now.” (Lack of question marks is intentional)

So we went to the LFS, ostensibly looking for a clown or humu humu trigger or a snowflake eel or...

...a puffer...

So I’m looking in the frag tank and at some wrasse. My wife saw this guy from across the room and screamed in delight. Said “oh he looks just like a puppy” and the owner was like “yes, that’s a dog face puffer” and before I could even look over I knew what we would be bringing home.

So this is Cujo

We got his some clam half-shells

And this is the back of my wife’s head as she tries to go nose-to-nose to Cujo

So this is now somehow a predator/macro/LPS tank?

I honestly have no clue what this build is anymore. But the Mrs. is happy so WIN

 

[Smarkow]

So any advice at all on stocking would be appreciated.

She likes triggers, eels, sharks, tangs. The more grey/brown the better lol

Any compatibility issues I should think of right off the bat?

 

[creativeballance]

So any advice at all on stocking would be appreciated.

She likes triggers, eels, sharks, tangs. The more grey/brown the better lol

Any compatibility issues I should think of right off the bat?

Yeah. Probably wont be a good idea to put any damsels in there.

 

[Smarkow]

Idk, he is kinda shy and those things are really mean lol

 

[Paulie069]

Okay so my wife recently moved to Cincinnati, where she will be working for the next 5 years, but I still have a year left on my contract before I can join her. She loves the hobby and is super supportive, but our 210 display in the living room has been her limit for now.

Recent photo of my setup

So while I will be spending weekends that I am not working in Cinci with my wife, I will have the condo all to myself, other than two roommates, who also love the hobby.

So basically I have ONE year to do whatever crazy tank I want...

Considering:
1) Planted marine tank with lots of inverts
2) NPS tank with deep sand bed and jawfish or garden eels
3) Lagoon with rock flower anemones and LPS
4) Industrial size Phytoplankton culture system and a tank full of filter feeders
5) predator tank with snowflake eel and soft corals on tunzee box wavemakers for sway
6) SPS frag system plumbed in
7) Clown Harem

I love all of these ideas. Help me decide which one to do?

Just remember you have to move in a year it goes faster than you think whatever you do you have to undo

 

[Smarkow]

Yeah for sure. I don’t know if I will be able realistically to move the glass 210 given what it might cost...

Plan right now is to build the new tank in new house over the next 6-9 months and then gradually move things down once it is cycled. Then will tear down the build here. I’ll bring all of the sub 100 gallon tanks down myself.

This way the 210 itself doesn’t dictate our lives. Can move it or give it away.

 

[LRT]

Epic. This thread makes me feel kinda normal.

 

[Zionas]

I would have a giga tank of 10,000+ gallons xD, for a start.

It is the year 2035, Zionas’ (Andy’s) 15th year into the saltwater hobby. The 39-year old Zionas wins the lottery and becomes a multi-millionaire overnight. By now, development and urbanization in Asia has made purchasing Western-style, suburban style houses increasingly common and affordable.

He starts off with a “basic”, 30,000 gallon mixed reef softies and LPS tank, but as a reefer with 15 years of experience and a lot more resources at his disposal due to advances in the hobby in Asian countries over the last decade and a half, he plans to set up another tank that’s SPS only.

Supply chains to Asia have also greatly diversified in the species available, and the state of the hobby in East Asia in 2035 is about on par with the West.

For his 30,000 gallon mixed reef tank, he does:

x2 Ocellaris Clownfish

x2 Pink Skunk / Orange Skunk Clownfish

x1 Desjardini Sailfin Tang

x5 Yellow Tangs

x1 Purple Tang

x1 Blue Hippo Tang

x1 Naso Tang

x1 Vlamingii Tang

x1 Sohal Tang

x1 Chocolate Mimic Tang

x1 Orange Shoulder Tang

x6 Lemon Butterflyfish

x10 Schooling Bannerfish

x10 Yellow Pyramid Butterflyfish

x1 Maculosus Angelfish

x1 King Angelfish

x1 Koran Angelfish

x1 Annularis Angelfish

x1 Clarion Angelfish

x1 Queen Angelfish

x3 Watanabei’s Angelfish

x1 Lamarck’s Angelfish

x3 Spot Breast Angelfish

x3 Bellus Angelfish

x2 Red Sea Lyretail Angelfish

x1 One Spot Fox Face / Magnificent Fox Face

x20 Pajama Cardinalfish

x20 Yellow Striped Cardinalfish

x1 Marine Betta

x1 Two Bar Soap Fish

x1 Snow Flake Moray Eel

x1 Grey Face Moray Eel

x1 Golden Dwarf Moray Eel

x1 Antennata Lionfish

x1 Zebra Lionfish

x1 Yellow Watchman Goby

x1 Black Nose Goby

x1 Orange Spotted Goby

x1 Wheeler’s Goby

x1 Randall’s Goby

x1 Pink Bar Goby

x20 Azure Damselfish

x20 Talbot’s Damselfish

x6 Atlantic Porkfish

x1 Royal Gramma

x1 Black Cap Basslet

x1 Swiss Guard Basslet

x1 Swales Basslet

x6 Yellow Assessors

x6 Australian Stripeys

x4 Two Line Monocle Bream

x2 (pair) Blue Throat Triggers

x2 (pair) Crosshatch Triggers

x3 (harem) Flame Angelfish

x3 (harem) Joculator Angelfish

x3 (harem) Coral Beauty Angelfish

Flashback: It is the year 2020. In the midst of the global coronavirus, this new reefer is still learning with nothing to account for in terms of having a tank. Not yet.


Corals:

Softies-
Rhodactis

Discosoma

Ricordea

GSPs

Clove Polyps

Kenya Tree

Pulsing Xenia

Christmas Tree

Colt Coral

Toadstool

Finger

Devil’s Hand



LPS:

All the Brain corals

All the Euphyllia

Bubble Corals

Duncans

Meteor Cyphastrea

Pavona

Tongue Coral

Galaxea

And more.




A Sea Horse Tank.

A mangrove tank with Gobies and Cardinals.

A predator tank with groupers and other species of Roundheads and Hawkfish.

A brackish tank with Monos, Scats, Puffers.

An SPS only tank.

An NPS tank.


This is super ambitious, and I don’t think I’d be able to achieve this in my lifetime. But it can be fun to imagine. xD

 

[Smarkow]

I would have a giga tank of 10,000+ gallons xD, for a start.

It is the year 2035, Zionas’ (Andy’s) 15th year into the saltwater hobby. The 39-year old Zionas wins the lottery and becomes a multi-millionaire overnight. By now, development and urbanization in Asia has made purchasing Western-style, suburban style houses increasingly common and affordable.

He starts off with a “basic”, 30,000 gallon mixed reef softies and LPS tank, but as a reefer with 15 years of experience and a lot more resources at his disposal due to advances in the hobby in Asian countries over the last decade and a half, he plans to set up another tank that’s SPS only.

Supply chains to Asia have also greatly diversified in the species available, and the state of the hobby in East Asia in 2035 is about on par with the West.

For his 30,000 gallon mixed reef tank, he does:

x2 Ocellaris Clownfish

x2 Pink Skunk / Orange Skunk Clownfish

x1 Desjardini Sailfin Tang

x5 Yellow Tangs

x1 Purple Tang

x1 Blue Hippo Tang

x1 Naso Tang

x1 Vlamingii Tang

x1 Sohal Tang

x1 Chocolate Mimic Tang

x1 Orange Shoulder Tang

x6 Lemon Butterflyfish

x10 Schooling Bannerfish

x10 Yellow Pyramid Butterflyfish

x1 Maculosus Angelfish

x1 King Angelfish

x1 Koran Angelfish

x1 Annularis Angelfish

x1 Clarion Angelfish

x1 Queen Angelfish

x3 Watanabei’s Angelfish

x1 Lamarck’s Angelfish

x3 Spot Breast Angelfish

x3 Bellus Angelfish

x2 Red Sea Lyretail Angelfish

x1 One Spot Fox Face / Magnificent Fox Face

x20 Pajama Cardinalfish

x20 Yellow Striped Cardinalfish

x1 Marine Betta

x1 Two Bar Soap Fish

x1 Snow Flake Moray Eel

x1 Grey Face Moray Eel

x1 Golden Dwarf Moray Eel

x1 Antennata Lionfish

x1 Zebra Lionfish

x1 Yellow Watchman Goby

x1 Black Nose Goby

x1 Orange Spotted Goby

x1 Wheeler’s Goby

x1 Randall’s Goby

x1 Pink Bar Goby

x20 Azure Damselfish

x20 Talbot’s Damselfish

x6 Atlantic Porkfish

x1 Royal Gramma

x1 Black Cap Basslet

x1 Swiss Guard Basslet

x1 Swales Basslet

x6 Yellow Assessors

x6 Australian Stripeys

x4 Two Line Monocle Bream

x2 (pair) Blue Throat Triggers

x2 (pair) Crosshatch Triggers

x3 (harem) Flame Angelfish

x3 (harem) Joculator Angelfish

x3 (harem) Coral Beauty Angelfish

Flashback: It is the year 2020. In the midst of the global coronavirus, this new reefer is still learning with nothing to account for in terms of having a tank. Not yet.


Corals:

Softies-
Rhodactis

Discosoma

Ricordea

GSPs

Clove Polyps

Kenya Tree

Pulsing Xenia

Christmas Tree

Colt Coral

Toadstool

Finger

Devil’s Hand



LPS:

All the Brain corals

All the Euphyllia

Bubble Corals

Duncans

Meteor Cyphastrea

Pavona

Tongue Coral

Galaxea

And more.




A Sea Horse Tank.

A mangrove tank with Gobies and Cardinals.

A predator tank with groupers and other species of Roundheads and Hawkfish.

A brackish tank with Monos, Scats, Puffers.

An SPS only tank.

An NPS tank.


This is super ambitious, and I don’t think I’d be able to achieve this in my lifetime. But it can be fun to imagine. xD

I am going to read everything you write from this moment, going forward