This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: [url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=9039992#post9039992[/url]

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9038733#post9038733 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tvarg [/i]
[B]At the shop this individual was informed that the fish were picked out by me to be sent to Sanjay. Reefers in South Florida are Tuff. Sanjay’s right what’s a little more trouble. [/B][/QUOTE]

If he was really interested he would have paid for them!

Congrats on your first split.

Not sure if I like this split !! I liked having it all in one place.

sanjay.

Sanjay
 

Gorgeous reef tank ... How many LBS of Live rock you think is in the tank ? looks like you don't have any refuge with any macro algae are you going to use one?

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9041126#post9041126 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay [/i]
[B]Not sure if I like this split !! I liked having it all in one place.

sanjay. [/B][/QUOTE]

Not to mention that it now shows up as having a grand total of 4 replies :( :)

Yes, but with 164040 views!

congrats on your split

So sorry for the split.

Great tank, keep posting pics :)

Sanjay, look at it this way, now you have two. You know what they say "One nibble is never enough".

Well with two threads on the 500 gallon tank perhaps that is a hit for Sanjay to start building a second 500 gaqllon tank.

;)
Dennis

Congrats on a sweet looking tank and on a split!

Re: Sanjay
 

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9049636#post9049636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom [/i]
[B]Gorgeous reef tank ... How many LBS of Live rock you think is in the tank ? looks like you don't have any refuge with any macro algae are you going to use one? [/B][/QUOTE]

I ordered 6, 44 lb boxes, and lost some as rubble. So best guess would be about 240 usable pounds. I have 4 large peices that are not directly in the tank (in the sump and overflow box.. about 30 lbs) so there is 220-230 lbs directly in the main tank.

Right now I am not planning on a refugium with macro algae, but that could change. I have room to put one in if needed.

sanjay.

pics for the split?

Re: Re: Sanjay
 

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9052128#post9052128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay [/i]
[B]I ordered 6, 44 lb boxes, and lost some as rubble. So best guess would be about 240 usable pounds. I have 4 large peices that are not directly in the tank (in the sump and overflow box.. about 30 lbs) so there is 220-230 lbs directly in the main tank.

Right now I am not planning on a refugium with macro algae, but that could change. I have room to put one in if needed.

sanjay. [/B][/QUOTE]
1/2 LBS a live rock to a gallon.... wow and we all try to go with at list 1 to 2 lbs a gallon in our reef tanks :) I have about 2 lbs a gallon of live rock in my 13 year old reef tank but i will get a new tank sometimes next year or two and i will try to go with lower amount of rock. All my fish getting very big and i can see is getting cramped in there some of the fish are is old as the tank is. I really like to open space you have on your tank .
Stay healthy .:D

I have about 750 lbs. in my 1,200g system. I got a lot of advice from other tank owners not to over do it with rock, because it will get too crowded and there won't be enough room for coral growth. I would love to have a pillar or two, but my hope is that it will be corals heads! :)

Jonathan, you're too busy to take pics of your tank but you have plenty of time to be on the computer. :lol:

precisely. see you understand me. I also have time to drink beer, but no time to do my bookkeeping. I have time to watch UFC, but no time to work in my store. Believe me, I am on the edge of getting a new camera, but I just can't pull the trigger.

I have been contemplating, planning, and negotiating an entirely new POS & integrated web cart system for our store, but it is so complicated that my time is being sponged up non-stop. Since my stroke, decision making (executive function) has been very poor and eats up most of my time. The system upgrade will be $40 - $50K with a fair amount of uncertainty in installation costs, so it's a fairly big issue for me to deal with.

And I am on the PC because I can't do much else. The cleaning ladies are here tearing through the house and I am hiding in my office. They scare me.

One of the reasons of being able to get away with lower amounts of rock is the fact that I have almost 300 lbs of sand with lots of surface area for bacteria to colonize. Further the use of pillars for landscaping does not require as much rock as the old "build a mound of rock" method.

sanjay.

Good point Sanjay. I also have about 400 lbs of sand in a RDSB. I never really found any scientifically based info. to support the 1.5 to 2.0 lb. per gallon rule of thumb anyway.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9054119#post9054119 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe [/i]
[B]precisely. see you understand me. I also have time to drink beer, but no time to do my bookkeeping. [/B][/QUOTE]

Here is a guy who has his priorities straight.:D :D :D

sanjay.

How about some updated pics for the first page of the split? :)

As I'm, working on my 120 gallon set up my planns are constantly changing as I see some great ideas here and from a few additional sites.

For the Rock work I'm thinking of going with about 60lbs of live rock and 120 lbs of Base Rock. I like the piller system that Sanjay used and now wonder if going with the pillar system will mean I need this much rock? Then with the rock work I also like loads of caves and arches. Also with the concrete bases I probably will need less sand even though I do intend to have a DSB.

My question now though is since Southdown Play Sand is no longer available what would be my best bet for the substrate. I have heard of people going to silica sand designed for sand blasting but do I realy want to introduce silica to my tank? Wouldn't a calcium based sand be a lot safer and also give me some added buffering ability?

This leads me to the multiple products by CarabSea. My though is to use use a fine gain materal in the front half and a slightly coarser in the rear half. But with all there products what is too fine or too coarse, and what does every one else recommend?

Dennis




[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9054136#post9054136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay [/i]
[B]One of the reasons of being able to get away with lower amounts of rock is the fact that I have almost 300 lbs of sand with lots of surface area for bacteria to colonize. Further the use of pillars for landscaping does not require as much rock as the old "build a mound of rock" method.

sanjay. [/B][/QUOTE]

dennis, for my 120 i used 240 lbs of caribsea 'aragonite select', sugar fine grain, plus 30 lbs of the same grain sized aragalive. this gave me an average 6" DSB in the display and fuge (10" x 18"). i went to a large-but-otherwise-useless-for-marine LFS and said, this is what i want, can you get it, and they came back to me with an excellent price. overall it was under $300 for all the substrate.

The only thing I dont like about substituting LR with sand is that sand can be disturbed, and often is, so its biological potential can vary wildly. That anaerobic zone you had one week could be undone by a fish or crab the next.

Overall though, I dont see a problem with using less LR. Its use should be in relation to the load in the tank and the water flow around it. Live rock that is less in volume, but has more water flow throughout its pores will do a much better job of filtering water than a tank that is stuffed with so much LR that waterflow doesnt even touch half of it. And its not like Sanjay is planning on a school of a dozen yellow tangs or something. By some standards, his load it low. He has alot of wide open spaces... so his 300g is more like a 150g from the standpoint of whats inside of it.

I hope to do this on my next tank as well. 48x30x18, a 115g, but with only about 80 lbs of LR arranged on aragacrete pilllars (to keep them off the sand). The pillars will elevate and magnify the appearance of what I have, but I suspect the elimination of 'dead-pockets' as well as the increased flow from all angles around the LR will increase its performance.