My 27 Gallon People Eater Paradise

[BirmanReefGirl]

So a few of you may remember that I won the 27 gallon Starphire frag tank at the last Mars swap (sorry about that ). I had originally debated about it becoming a little reef tank, as it seemed wasteful to me to use such pretty glass just for frags. However, I maaaaay have gone a little stir crazy on some of the zoa and paly collecting in the interim of getting this tank set up, and I found that more and more I was looking forward to having a "safe" tank in which to keep all of my pretties. And as Thomas seems bent on collecting more tanks before we get that 135 set up, it seems that this one is destined to become my little slice of Z&P heaven. I thought you all might like to share the journey with me

The first day:

The cats are generally interested in everything we do, especially when we bring new items into the house that they can sit in. This tank proved to be no exception:


We decided to move the tank into my room until a more suitable final home could be found. Hoping that the screen on top would discourage any further cat investigation, we left it unsupervised. That was a mistake. It was less than an hour before this happened:



Yes, Kanji fell through the netting. Even better, he wasn't sure how to get himself out! We made sure to properly document his shame.

[BirmanReefGirl]

So, after a few days and much debate, we decided that the new tank was a bit too small for the open wall in my room (and that another, bigger tank would have to go there - where is the smiley for general insanity?). It moved back out to the front room to hang out by the current 40 gallon tank (which is serving as the interim tank until the 135 gets set up). The cats liked this prospect very much:


Not only was it a great place to nap, but once the top was covered to prevent any possibility of accidental scratches, we had inadvertently presented them with a wonderful observation deck:

[hnnhflns]

I love the new observation point!
I am excited to see this new Z&P tank. Keep us updated! Let Chris or I know if you guys need any help with the setup.

[BengalReefer]

Maybe if I allow enough cat hair into the tank it can bundle up and act as a filter pad

[MillerR.]

I'm forever scoping cat hair out of my tank with the fish net!

[BirmanReefGirl]

So the tank stayed in that state for the last few months, without much else going on (aside from a few too many coral purchases on my end, perhaps). We got the Reef Radiance DM-165p+ with 120 optics and the DM5e refuge light Reef Radiance on Chris's recommendation. The cats helped unpack:



That's almost all of the cat photos I promise. This is a tank thread after all. Anyway, other than the lights purchase, there was very little progress until just recently, as Thomas is finally out of school for the summer. In the last two weekends, the tank has made big strides:

Plumbing finished:



You may notice there's a different sump than the one the tank came with. The prize one was a little too small to fit the skimmer we had, so Thomas built another one.

Water test:



The new sump:



And at the end of last week, AT LAST, rock and sand!



Thankfully we've been keeping some live rock going since....sometime last summer, August I think, so there was only a 2-3 day mini cycle. I finally was able to put in all my PE's this weekend!

[BirmanReefGirl]

I promise to get a better full tank shot once I retrieve my DSLR from work, but I am not a patient person, so for now:







Happy PE's front and center!

[hnnhflns]

I LOVE IT!

The tank is beautiful and I love the colonies of Z&P hanging out in the sand!

[Apisto]

Nice set-up. Looks great. You sure have some inquisitive helpers there. I would be tempted to put some stronger netting on top or we'll be treated to a pic of one of them doing the breaststroke in your tank.

[BirmanReefGirl]

Thanks guys! I can't wait to get some proper photos going. Also to keep adding to my collection, but don't tell Thomas that!

Neil, as for the netting - they seem pretty interested in watching the fish, but so far the only time one fell in is when we had *just* started putting water in the 40. I came home from work at lunch to puddles everywhere and a very wet formerly fluffy cat!

[Apisto]

Originally Posted by BirmanReefGirl

Thanks guys! I can't wait to get some proper photos going. Also to keep adding to my collection, but don't tell Thomas that!

Neil, as for the netting - they seem pretty interested in watching the fish, but so far the only time one fell in is when we had *just* started putting water in the 40. I came home from work at lunch to puddles everywhere and a very wet formerly fluffy cat!

To reference Disney, "That Darn Cat"!

[robert s b.]

Looks good!

[robert s b.]

What are you going to do with the other sump? Are you willing to sell or trade for coral? I'm interested if you are.

[BirmanReefGirl]

PM sent

[BirmanReefGirl]

Originally Posted by Apisto

To reference Disney, "That Darn Cat"!

I loved that movie! They're all interested in different things in the 40 - Kanji likes the royal gramma (and the longnose butterfly when we had one). Kailani likes the snowflake. Tuna likes to try to drink the water.

[BirmanReefGirl]

Started playing with the camera tonight. The tank has come a long way! I may have gone slightly more stir crazy and added a lot more zoas - now I just need to be patient and wait for them to grow! Anyway, a few photos for you all:









Laughing at myself a bit, because I just realized all the closeups I did were PE's....of course! Ah well, have a bonus Lepto:



And a full tank shot:

[Apisto]

Looking very good and very nice photos

[BirmanReefGirl]

Thanks Neil! I still need to work on getting the colors more accurate, but it's a start

[BirmanReefGirl]

I really need to update this with some new photos! Didn't take any for a long time because I didn't want to show all of them before the tank tour, and then I had an outbreak of amphipods chewing on all of my zoas' skirts

Thankfully, I only lost a couple fairly common frags. Things are healing and looking a lot better, and the tank is just packed! I need to move things off of frag racks and glue them to rocks so my little garden can flourish. So until I get pictures up, I'll leave you with some photos of my birthday present to myself (who is not actually in this tank, but he IS Hawaiian, so he can make a guest appearance in this thread with all the PE's!):

[generaltoaster]

Oh my goodness he is precious!

[pigtaru]

awesome guy. Great growth too. Love the close ups man. Keep it up.

[BirmanReefGirl]

Well I have some pretty crappy news. Found my beautiful little eel dead today. I thought it was weird that he didn't come out this morning, as he's been super social. Best Thomas and I can guess is that he swam into a powerhead (which he had shown no indication of doing) or he climbed up out of the water and into the overflow, then into the pipes.

I'm pretty sickened right now. He was easily my favorite and I had been waiting so long to get him. This just sucks.

RIP little guy.

[Tweakes182]

Thats sad I am sorry to hear that. We had a rock fall on an eel once it was a sad day.

[rockryno]

I have a Bengal too! Love them

[BirmanReefGirl]

Beautiful! Love those rosettes. Where is yours from?