GoToSleep's 700g Build Thread (& complete remodel)

How are you doing with a clean up crew? A tank that size can probably handle 2-4 Emerald Crabs. They never stop cleaning the algae off rocks. They don't live very long maybe 6 months to a year from my experience so maybe 4 to start would be good IMO.

 

That's a good thought. I was already planning a (reef safe) trigger fish or two for the main tank. I hadn't yet considered a trigger for the 40 gal with the puffer. It would be nice to have another very personable fish in there but I'm worried that most of the triggers will out grow a 40 breeder.

Excellent idea if I could ever get them out of the main tank.

I was thinking about a fuzzy dwarf lion. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a Bali dwarf as well.

 

...just curious - how is the puffer as well as the anemone that needed a bit of TLC and healing time?

forgive the shameless hint - but i would love to see a pic of them.

I have to believe your main tank is looking wonderful. Must have been quite the focal point for your holiday guests.

 

My CUC in the main tank is doing a great job except that the hermits have a bad habit of knocking over my corals and it's a PITA to get them repositioned in a tank this big. Because of this I am reluctant to add anymore buldozing crabs to the equation.

Sadly, I don't have any CUC in the 30 and the 40 breeder tanks yet and it really shows .

 

Turbo snails knock over stuff in my tank. They're pretty strong.

 

Yesterday was a very busy day for me working on the tank. I had about 20 things to get done and I finished 2 and a half .

One of the first tasks was to lower the standpipes in my 30 gal tank. Unfortunately, as I was working in the rather confined space, my shirt snagged the reflector of the 175W MH over the tank and in a million to one shot, managed to twist the fixture off of its mount and drop it into the tank. The results were predictable. The bulb shattered the moment i touched the water.





The bulb turned off for about a minute but then lit up again so I think that I managaed to grab the assembly before the energized wires ever hit the water (in other words, I think that the outer glass envelope of the bulb is the only thing that got wet). Either way, it was a bit of a production for me to ge the ballast unplugged as it involved going out to the garrage, retrieving a large ladder, climbing up and removing an access panal near the ceiling and finally unplugging the ballast.

The offshoot of this is that until I get out to pick up another bulb, there wasn't any light over the tank with the anemone. I was planning on moving him to the main tank this week anyway so this seemed like a great time to so it. the anemone was looking good and its foot looked completely fine. I added several inches of sand to a corner of the display tank hoping that this would give the nem a happy place to stay. Some of you may be able to imagine how much fun it is to try to get five pounds of sand to the bottom of a 4 foot deep tank without spreading a cloud of sand throughout the entire display. Anyway, I figured out a way to get it done with a minimum of mess and I put the anemone in. I had him right on target to where I wanted it positioned up until the very last moment when the anemone drifted to the left up under a huge mountain of live rock. I can't even see it now so it's in the hands of fate. I have a live anemone somewhere in a 550gal tank full of corals. Right now I'm not sure if it will move out into the open on its own (perphaps leaving a path of destruction in its wake) or if it will remain in the shade and die from lack of light. Either way, there's nothing I can do about it at this point and I'll just chalk it up as a learing experience.

So... I don't have any pictures of the anemone and mey never see him again, and I only have crummy pictures of the puffer since the bulb over his tank is out of commission but here are 2 pictures that I just snapped.





Lack of a CUC is clearly evidenced here.

 

I'm still working like a slave to get things ready. Our big holiday party is on New Year's Day every year. We usually have a few hundred folks over and there is an insane amount of preparation that goes into it.

 

you could put another puffer in with the puffer

 

I'm excited to report after a bit of work yesterday and some more today... I have my Profilux II upgraded to a Profilux 3 eX. The final hurdle today was getting the the new P3 to connect to my laptop via USB. I got some great help from the GHL Support Forum and it works great now. It's wonderful to be able to get my old desktop out of the aquarium room. The new P3 software has a very familiar look but now is a lot easier to use. Getting my light schedule programmed took me less than half the time that it did with the P II. I still have a bit of work ahead of me as I get some additional sensors installed and calibrated but it will be really nice to just plug in the laptop whenever I want to tweak things. It will actually allow me to do things like remotely turn off the socket supplying power to a MH fixture that drops into the tank... no more having to fetch a ladder and a screw driver.

 

Anyone interested in a video?