Woo Hoo!! just found this forum.

[CAreefer]

Hey all, glad to see we have our own club page. I am in Paso and need to do some serious fragging to make room. If you have any out of the ordinary SPS, post a pick here and I will do the same if you see anything that grabs your fancy in my tank.

http://www.careefer.homestead.com/Full_Tank_10_04_b.JPG

CAReefer

[yellowsnow33]

I have been reseaching up grading to metal hylides and I was wondering if any suggestions on may tank.http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/80701mini-fish_050.jpg

[CAreefer]

How deep is your tank? What do you want to keep? All the basic questions. If you are only interested in softies and LPS, VHO are just fine. If your tank is 20"-24" deep you will need 250 watters, 1 for every 2 feet of tank length. 25" or deeper, you will probably need 400 watters. 400's are lots of heat and lots of money to run. I would go with Double ended bulbs (HQI) in the Sunlight Supply Reef Optix III pendants and the Sunlight Supply magnetic HQI ballast. Bulb temp is your personal preferance. I like the BLV 10k's with VHO actinic supplement. The Hamilton 14k's arent bad, kinda blue but half the price. The Ushio 10k is a great overall bulb, but pretty yellow to me.

HTH
CAReefer

[yellowsnow33]

Hey thank you for the info! I will make the jump up to hylides in about 5 months. then I would love to get some nice pieces of acropora.I hope your offer will still stand then!

[wakesetter]

glad you found the forum. I have a bunch of nice acro's to frag. Some nice purples and blues. I will have pinkish efflo ready soon and a nice pink hyacinthis (sp?) that I can get a small peice off of.

Here some pics of my tanks. All the pics are really old and the corals are grown in now, but you get teh idea. I would love to do some trading with you. Is there anything special you are looking for?
I am looking for any acro's in blues pinks and purples as well as blue or purple rim caps.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7975tank1.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7975P1010111__Custom_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7975P1010147__Custom_.JPG

[wakesetter]

top pic is a 90 middle is a 400 before fish were added (I need to find digi camera and update) the bottom tank is part of a 180. The coral to the right of the foxface is the nice pink hyacinthis and the blue acro above the foxface is a beautiful blue and green peice. I don't know the names of most of my corals. I never really paid attention and most weren't named when I bought them.

[spoon671]

WooHoo! I JUST found this forum too!

CAreefer, let me know if you are fagging anything, I'll pay good money for good frags.

See ya...

[snoll]

Count me in down the road a bit. Just getting the cubes up but I am just up the road in Salinas from you. Maybe we can compare notes sometime?

[Brewen]

Hey like some just found the forum. Location Santa Maria. On the cusp of taking down my 80 gal w/20 gal sump and setting up an 120gal 30 gal sump. Switching from LPS, mushrooms ( which I think are to a degree like weeds in my tank, if I would have known they would have reproduced so fast and so well I would have never bought the few mushrooms rocks I did). Going from 2-175mh w/2 vho's to 2-pfo 250HQI minipendent w/4-54 wt t5 blues. Setting up for an acro tank. Last weekend welded a tube steel stand for the tank having LINE-X coating the stand this weekend for protection from salt and water. My neighbor is building me a false wood stand that will slip over the steel stand to make it look like the tank is on a wood stand. He will be starting on the wood hood on monday or so ( I am a sheetmetal worker HVAC I have no skills with wood or the tools so I am grateful for the neighbors help).
I am also not going back to the ecosystem mud sump that I have run for the last 3 years. I am now going to the bare sump w 2- protein skimmer in it. The AquaC Urchin skimmer I have and the Precision Marine Bullet protein skimmer the Bullet-1. The tank was bought at Wet Pets in AG to what I needed 48"/24"/24" w/over flows in each corner. The bottom of the over flows drilled w/1.75"drain holes and 1"return holes( the size is with bulk head size actual hole size 2.38/1.5). I am looking for a lg water turn over for the acros. The return pumps are a mag 12 and a mag 18, the 12 will have less travel and elbows the 18 more pipe to travel and a few more 90's hoping to get 1000 gph with each pump. Will be drilling the over flows with 2 .75" supply outlets in each overflow for directional water movement in the tank, one will be hooked to a spray bar low and behind my live rock forcing water movement to the front of the tank not allowing anything to settle there. Inside the over flows the return pumps will be hooked to a Squid wave maker then from there to each .75" return in the tank. Not sure how this is going to work with each of the 4 return jet pulsing the spray being one of them. I am new to the squid wave maker cross your fingers, but I do like the thought of it being hidden in the over flow and it controlling the 4 outlets into the tank. As soon as I can set the money aside I would like to add 2 tunze 6100 w/controller.
I have a few acro frags at this point but I think the 175mh just not bright enough do not get me wrong they are growing great at this time but will do better with brighter lights. The frags did o.k. till I added a KR2 calcium reactor then POW the difference in the whole tank once it stabled. One of the best buys I made a ca reactor.
I recived the box from marine depot yesterday with check valves bulkheads and jets all the items home depot does not carry,yep you guessed it now to home depot today for the rest of the plumbing.
Well enough of my rambling a bit excited about the whole set up. If any advice or questions please contact me, thanks for your time Brewen

[snoll]

Hi Brewen, sounds like a nice setp you have going. I am interested in your tube steel stand. I have been trying to get some small stands made for 2 35 gl cubes and cant seem to find a welder. Have you ever made a just a steel stand for anyone else? Would you be interested in talking?

[wakesetter]

I have a guy that makes steel stands in Oceano which is about 15 miles north of Santa Maria. He does really nice work and can have them powder coated as well. Let me know if you are interested and I will get his number to you.

[snoll]

Wakesetter, please send the number straight away. I have been trying for 6 months to get someone to do this and I have run our of options. Thanks for the help!

[Brewen]

snoll I hope wakesetter can help you out. The place I built the stand was kind of a one time thing. I have around 8 current welding crets but no welder, all belonging to the company that I work for. Lets put it this way I had to change my first born's name to the company I work for name lol I think he is getting used to being called Smith MEP. Thanks for your interests. Brewen

[wakesetter]

call Oceano Iron Works at 473-2161. The owner was my neighbor and his name is Jeff. He has made stands for me for a 400 and a 150 and they are very well done.

Mike

[snoll]

Thanks Mike. I will give him a call asap. And thanks for the help. I will let you know how it goes.