50 Gallon Garage Tank (Image and Video Heavy!)

[TheNoteBooker]

It's been a few years since I started keeping salt water and I wanted to show you all the tank I recently turned my 20 gallon into.

Livestock: Pair of mated and once spawned(and failed) Clownfish, about 75 hermits, and a Peppermint shrimp.
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0416.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0416.jpg.html)

First we start our wonderful tour in this little corner: Few Stalks of Caulerpa Cupressoides, a tiny amount of Barbata (Can you spot it?),
Fern Codium that didn't really get through shipping well, three softballs of Cheato in the back corner, and a small Red Grape kelp. The pod activity in this corner is dizzying.
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0440.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0440.jpg.html)

Next we have a stalk of Gracilaria and our wonderful Purple Gorgonian. The polyps have closed up the time the photo was taken.
In the back you can see a single leaf of Fern Caulerpa. Reef2go just calls it a "Fern Plant"
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0443.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0443.jpg.html)
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0442.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0442.jpg.html)

Here we have... I don't know what to be honest. The pods all love it, the peanut worm that lives under it loves it, I love it. Best guess is some sort of sponge?
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0439.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0439.jpg.html)

More Gracilaria, the rest of the Ferns, A shaving Brush, and a Halimedia.
Oh, and that's not a bleached birdsnest it's supposed to be a Coralline algae cluster says reef2go, but shipping does it's number and most of whatever Coralline that WAS on there was either dead or didn't exist in the first place
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0444.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0444.jpg.html)

Red War Coral with a hermit trying to clean off some dead shipping tissue:
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0434.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0434.jpg.html)

What's supposed to be an ORANGE tri-color Floridia Ricordia,
but it's new so we'll see how it grows.
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0436.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0436.jpg.html)

Something living in the rock:
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0454.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0454.jpg.html)http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0455.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/DSC_0455.jpg.html)

[TheNoteBooker]

(Slightly Noisy) Video of various parts of the tank. I was hoping that the thing living in the rock would do something for the video, but no luck...:
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/th_DSC_0456.mp4 (http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/DSC_0456.mp4)

Yeah, this tank is a wildfire waiting to happen with all the Caulerpa and Grape.
I wouldn't mind it too much. I know, I know, Clean my glass! Well, the asterinas are handling the job pretty well and the pods love it too, so why deprive them of their simple pleasures? :D


A friend and I are planning on building a custom sump within the next few weeks as well. I've come up with a little plan I'd love to get some input on as well.
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/TheNoteBooker/IMG_0075.jpg (http://s699.photobucket.com/user/TheNoteBooker/media/IMG_0075.jpg.html)
The water comes down into the tubing and splits in two, trickling into the first compartment.
It then gently flows over a DSB that's blacked out permanently.
The water then enters into a refugium and flows into the return pump section which could house even more equipment.

The design comes out of a weird necessity for the inlet and return to be in the center because of the way the cabinet is built.

Would love everyone's opinion on the tank so far!
More pictures on demand. Will attempt to use filters and "macro" lens.