Vacation: Return of the Content

Was on Vacation last week...back to the grind today.

Destin/Ft Walton Beach is a fantastic area to vacation in.  Beautiful beaches...absolutely breathtaking.

After we got back, my favorite local fish store (Reef Shac), was running an anniversary sale on Tangs.  So I picked up my first tang ever, a Tomini Tang.  I originally went in for a yellow tang and some peppermint shrimp but upgraded to the Tomini.  A very beautiful fish with bright orange fins.

He'll be right at home in the 125 when I get it operational.

Right now the 125 build is stalled out.  I still need to clean it out and finish buffing it.  Seems the buffer picked up some crushed coral that was still in it and left skirl marks on the side.  So I'll be washing it out and buffing it back out then washing it out some more.  Planning on getting the cleaning and buffing done this week.

Equipment-wise I'll be stocking the following:

5' long 125 gallon acrylic tank, center overflow

Black acrylic stand and DIY wood canopy

Eshopps Sump

2x 250w Eheim Jager Heaters

Waveline DC10000ii return pump

Existing skimmer, Euro Reef...will be upgrading to a beefier Bubblemagus Curve at some point.

Maxspect Gyre XF130 circulation pump (I'm getting one for the 65 gallon this week, and that'll be used on the 125 when complete...might add a 2nd one depending on how it shakes out).

4 ft long 6 bulb T5 fixture on a timer.  2 channels and moon lights.  Cheap box, but I'll be dropping ATI bulbs in it.  For starters I'll continue using my Photon 24 in conjunction with my china blackbox LEDs until I get this fixture and bulbs.

Plumbing will have four 1/2" returns for that monstrous DC10000ii pump.  Planning on building a 1.5" diameter manifold and splitting off my returns from that.  The way the stand is built, i'll be building a small stand for the sump to keep any pressure off of the cross supports from the weight of the sump.

I've picked up about 60 lbs of nice Marco Rock a few months ago from a LFS (on sale and i got to hand pick it), so the left side will be rock pile reef.  The right side will be frags.  I intend on taking dry shelf rock and cutting into shelves, then mounting it up on some rock with rods so that I can pop off the shelves when I need to.  I'll drill rows of holes in the shelves for frag plugs.  This will look more natural looking, and be easier for my cleanup crew to navigate than egg crate.

I'll post up some pictures later (probably with the next update).  I have most of the equipment already, just being held up by the buffing and plumbing.