Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Also, nudibranches do not like a 50/50 mix of tank water and reef dip. They also do not survive being dumped down a sink....but I have not confirmed their death, just assume.
Squatch's Continuing Adventure with a 40g breeder
- Thread starter Squatch XXL
- Start date
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
I have had some advice about bayer advanced bug killer which I am prepping for. I will be setting up a 38g q-tank for treatment of my zoas. I alledgedly am closing on a house in 3 weeks, so hopefully I can get this issue fixed ASAP.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
This thread won't be active much longer. I will be "upgrading" to a slightly larger 85g tank in the next 3-4 weeks. I am in the middle of quarantine and treatment of the nudibranch infestation, and the corals most likely won't make it back to the current DT for anything other than as a temp hold.
The plan is to set up the 85g at the very soonest chance at the new place. I will have to construct a stand from 2x6 pine. The 85g will weight to much and take up too much space to be a living room DT, so it will be setup AGAIN in my upcoming man-cave in my new basement.
Earlier in this thread I had showcased a 38g tank that I had found at a thrift shop, and it will be my sump. My current DT 40g breeder will eventually be re-purposed either as a secondary DT in a living room OR will be converted into a q-tank OR a frag tank. I have not had time to plan (i.e. spend $$$$$) for the overflow, but again will be DIY.....Pre-made overflows cost much too much for what will take me a few hours to create.
The plan is to set up the 85g at the very soonest chance at the new place. I will have to construct a stand from 2x6 pine. The 85g will weight to much and take up too much space to be a living room DT, so it will be setup AGAIN in my upcoming man-cave in my new basement.
Earlier in this thread I had showcased a 38g tank that I had found at a thrift shop, and it will be my sump. My current DT 40g breeder will eventually be re-purposed either as a secondary DT in a living room OR will be converted into a q-tank OR a frag tank. I have not had time to plan (i.e. spend $$$$$) for the overflow, but again will be DIY.....Pre-made overflows cost much too much for what will take me a few hours to create.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Going to be moving in the next week or 2 for sure. My schedule is 8 hours at work, than 4 hours at the new house painting and fixing.
I have not seen the mantis shrimp since Wednesday. She is not out of the burrow much or far ever, but a molt would not surprise me. However seeing nothing is never a good sign. I may investigate further later tonight, but I really don't expect good news.
I have not seen the mantis shrimp since Wednesday. She is not out of the burrow much or far ever, but a molt would not surprise me. However seeing nothing is never a good sign. I may investigate further later tonight, but I really don't expect good news.
here hoping all is okay !
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
This morning I fished the end of a flexible tank draining tube into her burrow. Within a few inches she began beating on it, so she is alive. I suspect now a molt has happened, and hopefully I didn't mess with her too bad.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Last night I spotted what I believe to be the molted tail and legs. I let it sit because I know how much she likes/needs to eat it.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Yesterday it happened.
It has been busy, and lots has happened. Previously all my corals were infected, removed and treated. I used this as the event to merge my q-tank corals back into the display tank.
Planning and prep for a 40 gallon tank move is pretty simple on paper. I over-complicated it to great results. Since my old stand needed modified BEFORE I could use it again on account of floor slope, I decided to build a new one. Since this is a man cave project, it is purely functional. It is nothing special at all.
The tank bottom sits at 48" from the floor, and is at perfect eye level for me to enjoy while standing. All 2x4 were cut by hand with a miter box. All holes were drilled with a pilot bit, and all pieces are glued to the adjoining one. he top deck was cut with an arm saw w/3/4" ply (with a fancy veneer). I have yet to even sand anything, and I doubt I will. The "tallness" of the stand made me fearful for a tip-over, so I made some pads, and anchored it right to the studs in the wall.
I made one more mod to the stand, which was to make a "shelf" on the bottom that could hold the filters. I used 2x3" boards inside the frame, then used 1/2" mdf to top it. I had to use 2x3" so I could level the bottom shelf because the bottom of the frame is not due to room slope.
I had to think back, but I recall using Six 2x4s and Two 2x3s, and have about half a piece of each.
I did quite a bit of pre-planning for this event. It went without incident as planned. I insisted on keeping every bit of water for re-use, so I had a lot of buckets. I had a huge cooler on wheels for the rock. I had a large tub for all the things that get wet that plug into a wall. Sorry there are no home movies or any of that, because it was pure busy. Livestock spent about 3 hours in buckets. Live rock and substrate was about an hour in a tub. The mantis shrimp was quite simple to catch. She just was a doof and stayed right in the 3" pvc tube. I put a net on one end and gently emptied the pipe into a bucket. I was terrified that she would put up some sort of fight/flight response.
I have seen very little signs of stress. The Mantis has been quite a bit more active, and I think that she is just checking out the "new" rock pile. Tank has some cloudiness tonight yet, but i am not surprised. I also don't like a few things about my rock work, and will be altering this weekend.
The ONLY thing I forgot was super glue. I have already taken some frags back from an urchin AND a burrow building mantis.
Currently the conditions are slightly cloudy and 78 degrees. Pictures look like crap of the inside of the tank...just looks hazy. I will certainly get some in the coming weekend.
However in the meantime, I found this nearing the end of her molt. It is the only piece that I grabbed from what she tossed from the tank....I did find both dactyls when I was clearing out the substrate....they are still in there somewheres.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Moving period is complicated lol. We bought the place last month and are finally all in. We had a major delay in moving things when we discovered that the sewage line was destroyed by a tree. That put a week long "hold" on everything.
I got a good snapshot of my rockwork. I estimate that I have 70lbs+ right now as I keep adding pieces as I bulk up. The plan is to move this beast into the 80 gallon, but I still got some work to finish before that happens.
Congrats on the new home ! 
and the tanks looking great !
and the tanks looking great !
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
A few things went wrong with my new initial setup. I LOVE setting up a tank. It is a blast to do with no livestock And/or during cycle..... However I made a HUGE booboo, because I was on borrowed time... If you look in the photo that I posted, you will notice the significant outline of 3" white pvc in the right 1/3rd of the tank. This was a failure of my brain during the re-setup......When the burrow was spray painted, I made sure I had a clean end, and a black painted end to soften the look of white plastic. The older setup photos show the lack of obvious pipe ends.....Well when I made the length shorter (via hacksaw) I somehow missed the clean/paint ends and built to the pipe and back to the wall.
I spent 3 hours today re-arranging things to hide and change the layout of the tank. I wanted more "front yard", and stacked against the back glass eggcrate. It leans back quite nice, is quite filling and looks great....and it hides the lame white pipe. I will be honest, I hate it. It looks like a square. However, it looks like a square that was cut out of a decent tank. I have already tried to test "Gorilla Glue Super glue" cyanoacrylic on my collection of zoas, so they are all mounted in the bottom half of the column.
My wife and I were talking about this thread the other day, and the cooler that held the live rock. There is no way that it weighed less than 100 lbs as we rolled it around. If I used pukani it would be like 37.5 lbs.....However I can say that Its a fair estimate that I am at 100lbs+. My agrocrete is dense enough that the mantis cannot break it, and the base rock is basic florida dry rock.
I was happy enough at the end of the day with the look and stability to start affixing zoas. I had an issue over the last few days with zoas going missing....only to find them relocated. I am testing gorilla brand VS urchin. Previously, I only used Super glue gel, and was quite happy. I felt it was worth a non scientific test.
I spent 3 hours today re-arranging things to hide and change the layout of the tank. I wanted more "front yard", and stacked against the back glass eggcrate. It leans back quite nice, is quite filling and looks great....and it hides the lame white pipe. I will be honest, I hate it. It looks like a square. However, it looks like a square that was cut out of a decent tank. I have already tried to test "Gorilla Glue Super glue" cyanoacrylic on my collection of zoas, so they are all mounted in the bottom half of the column.
My wife and I were talking about this thread the other day, and the cooler that held the live rock. There is no way that it weighed less than 100 lbs as we rolled it around. If I used pukani it would be like 37.5 lbs.....However I can say that Its a fair estimate that I am at 100lbs+. My agrocrete is dense enough that the mantis cannot break it, and the base rock is basic florida dry rock.
I was happy enough at the end of the day with the look and stability to start affixing zoas. I had an issue over the last few days with zoas going missing....only to find them relocated. I am testing gorilla brand VS urchin. Previously, I only used Super glue gel, and was quite happy. I felt it was worth a non scientific test.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
After the dust has settled.
Also I have a free 40 Breeder stand available for pickup right now! Central PA area
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
Not as impressive as "super glue" brand. It seems like I need to use more AND have to hold it in place longer. I also noticed more than a few times that it skinned over faster AND required just about every piece to have a second layer of glue added. It cures into a bright white, versus the super glue brand which is slightly clear.
I will stick with super glue brand in the future.
Thanks. It is starting to grow on me...but the real winner is the Mantis. She seems to love all the new places to hide and scurry about.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
So I think I figured out the youtube:
I do enjoy how she just waltzes back to her den with it. You can hear me trying not to laugh at the end of it. She seems to wander about more with the new rock setup. It is quite enjoyable to see her watching me on the internet.
I do enjoy how she just waltzes back to her den with it. You can hear me trying not to laugh at the end of it. She seems to wander about more with the new rock setup. It is quite enjoyable to see her watching me on the internet.
Great Vid ! She is sooooo Cool !!! 
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Good work buddy. You've been busy for sure.
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
I decided this afternoon that I will probably keep this tank as-is, while I fill up the 80 gallon with new rock etc.
I have been furious the last few weeks at the amount of sounds that my return pipes make. Luckily I have pair...wish I had 3. I did some testing and found that IF one of the two returns is off, the other can handle flow IF it goes full siphon.
So, I put a valve on my "Primary" return, and throttled it back to run full siphon. The other return is producing a small trickle.
So the overhead changes allowed for me to change the sump. The "primary" line is now only flowing with water, so I can run its PVC return under the surface of the water and aim it right at the heater.
The secondary line has a mix of air and water from a durso, and I got sick of the bubbles. I made a baffle so that "bubbles" are contained in the return pipe. Water gets out and bubbles remain.
Eventually I plan to upgrade to a protein skimmer that is made by some sort of name brand. I plan to run the primary return to the skimmer pump, as well as have an open end for more flow from the sump.
I can't wait to get this 80 gallon moving, but it is a few months away. It will be set in a wall, so that it is visible in our family room...but not in the room. That will be a diy writeup in itself.
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