Progress so far

[rdeis]

Here's the state of things after my adventures in the DIY and Sickness forums- seems to be going well.

[rdeis]

Closeup on the "good" fish

[rdeis]

And a look into the sick bay..

[ChloroPhil]

That's going to be a great tank once everything grows in/up. I like the vertical aspect and how you enhanced it with your wood and plant selection.

I also applaud your use of red/orange based fish. Too many people are put down because of the public opinion that bright fish clash too much with the plants. BAH!

[jules]

Looks good...I also like the height.
And yes the PB's are a lovely contrast with plants.

[ReMY]

Hey Jules!
Very nice looking tank! I love that shape too. How big is it and how old are the discus in there?

:thumbsup:

[rdeis]

Thanks, all! I really wanted an extra tall tank, but wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. The vals in the back left have grown at least 2" in the last week! My previous tank was a 15 Hex- also a tall layout- that worked great with both angels and discus (not at the same time).

I was originally hesitant to get the orange fish, favoring yellow/blue over red, but these two were so beautiful that I couldn't resist. The isolation tank has one PB and three turks waiting to go in, and I'll finish it out with 2 yellows. That will be a bit large of a school, I think, but the fish are small yet and we can cull them when they grow up. (Or, better yet, hope for a spawning pair and pull them out to breed!)

I don't know the ages, but the nice PBs (breeder actually called them "Tangerine Pearl," with I suppose is a PB with very little striation and pepper) are about 2" in body, and the cobalt is maybe 1.5. His eye is much larger than the tangerines', though, so I think he may be older and somewhat stunted. I'm still new at this. The turks are closer to 1", and the PB is also around 1.5.

I, or rather my wife, is feeding a mix of frozen mysis, bloodworms, discus chow and flake 4 times a day in hopes of helping them grow up large and pretty. They're all getting very chubby.

[rdeis]

Total water volume including the sump is right about 60 gallons.

Dimensions are basicly this: http://www.tenecor.com/pentagonreef.php, only the short sides are 12" instead of 7" and it's 30" deep. I wanted to go 36" deep, but that required thicker material (and a lot more $$). Turns out to be good that we stayed with 30", as I can barely reach the bottom even now. (-:

We also have window screen blocking the overflow box- the zebras we seasoned the filter with kept getting back there and were a real pain to net out!

I'm running a RUGF, fed by the sump return, along the back sides only. The front sloped "beach" area with no plants also has no filtration under it. Most of the food collects there or in the cave to the right front, which makes it easy to clean. I planned it that way, but wasn't sure it would work...

[hooha]

nice setup, keep us updated as the tank matures!