Hypes Archipelago
 

Just wanted to share my tank build. Its been running for 6 months now. Its a shallow cube 24X24X9 holds a little over 22 gallons with a 18 gallon sump.
Tank is lighted by a 24" Giesemann T5/Halide Combo with a reefbrite led.Ive had plenty of setbacks with this tank but im still in the fight.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ype/Cube_2.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ype/lights.jpg

Livestock:
Green Chromis
Yellow tang(temporary resident)
Semi snowflake Clownfish
Hippocampus reidi seahorse
Talbot damsels
Yasha goby
Springers damsels
Cleaner shrimp
Sexy shrimp
Harlequin shrimp
Midas blenny




Some timeline shots..


http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ehype/Cube.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/...6c54c48b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/...9b6b4a9b_b.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...hype/FTS-1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/...a40ee103_b.jpg

Wow, that is an awesome tank!!

Thanks alot bassman!

Great looking tank, love the rimless. That light is an incredible combo! The red cap looks amazing.

Thank you ange.. i love the flexibility this light combo gives.

Cool idea for a tank! For 22 gallons you sure have a lot of real estate!

Thanks. i tried to keep the scape simple and open so theres more swimming room for the fish.

Yeah, it looks great with all that open space. I'd rather see that great looking white sand then a bunch of LR piled in there. Do you have pics of how you set up your overflow in the corner there?

That looks awesome. Really diggin that open look. I havent scaped my cube yet, but I think I know how I will now lol

The only pic i have of the overflow area..

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...ype/Cube_3.jpg

Thanks alot J...glad i could give you some ideas.

Nice Layout
 

Cool swim areas. What kind of issues did you encounter? Gear related? How do you like Pico vs. the ADA system you had going in terms of tank quality?

Wow man, this tank is absolutely stunning!! Love the rimless!

Well I had some major issues with cyano because of carbon dosing and it took over a month to get rid of it. I also had a major diatom outbreak that also took a while to get rid of.

I love the quality and build of both tanks but I would have to say the ADA has an edge in terms of quality but pico has the advantage of making custom builds.

Thanks alot cman..I appreciate it.

Custom Could Be Cool.
 

It would be nice to have an overflow put in the ADA 60 P, but I plan to hang a Remora Nano skimmer and PhosBan Reactor 150 on the back. Maybe even a CPR 2.5 gallon fuge if possible, don't want to overdo it though. I need to figure out the top/canopy though as our cats and birds may try to reach into the tank! You were dosing carbon? I planned on C-Balance two part dosing and reg water changes, hope that will do it. I need to read more about cyano and diatom.

you should look into a mame overflow that way you can add a sump without drilling the tank. I was dosing solid vodka which can lead to issues with cyano.

C-Balance?
 

Sprung book covered a bunch of the dosing topics, then towards end on that subject discussed chem 2 part that seemed easy compared to all other methods. May have eclipsed vodka too, I can't remember. Overflow would be nice, I looked at the CPR units but I'm a simple man, I got lost on the topic of having the return rate equal the outgoing rate.

I noticed your tank on NR, very nice!!

So what's so "very nice"?
1. Tank dimensions are awesome.
2. Aquascape is truly beautiful!
3. Clean!

Thanks so much bello i appreciate it.

Some pics of the livestock..

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/...282b6edffd.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/...5b4fc8d7dc.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/...63175ca664.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/...7fa802fa1c.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/...efc434542b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/...71bf416b94.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/...76a88ffd6a.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/...a3bfa2e5dc.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/...f490fdd9c0.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2443/...556f40f170.jpg

Wow, amazing pictures! What camera/lens combo are you using?

The clown is amazing, I love snowflakes. The yasha also looks awesome, along with the maxima/star pic! I had actually never heard of a few of those damsels before seeing your tank, beautiful additions.

Thanks alot ange. Im currently using canon t2i and most of those were taken witht the kit lens. The macro shots were taken with an old school tamron 90mm macro.

Your tank looks great!

But just a few points of constructive criticism id like to point out...

1- IMO, you have WAY too many fish in their. To keep them all long term simply isnt gonna happen.

2- with 2 MP10's and the return pump, you must have WAY too much flow for that seahorse?!?!? It too will die soon.

And again, this isnt meant to be an attack of anysort. Just my $0.02 of what im seeing.

thanks for the constructive criticism.

1-I agree its a bit overstocked but most of the fish are pretty small. The tang will be removed once it outgrows the tank. As fish outgrow the system or if there are any issues with aggression i have every intention of removing them.

2-Well the return pump is only pushing 160gph and the MP10's are dialed back considerably. The seahorse doesnt have any problems navigating the tank. Shes actually a year old already and has been in this system since the beginning. She eats very well twice a day and is in very good health. Thanks for the concern.