here you go Jack

[geoxman]

Hi everyone it has been almost 1 year since I posted pictures of my old tank and I just thought I would update. This tank was set up in Feb of last year and most everything was combined from my 29 and the old black tank

My old tank was virtually the same as the one that I have now except it had a few things that really bugged my.
1. Lack of flow-I do not like to see powerheads or cords so a PH was not an option
2.I hated my old overflow design, it left too much from the top of the tank to the water level.
3. un polished acrylic top of the aquarium
4. lighting.

So the tank is 38X38x11 all black acrylic top down view aquarium. The old one was 36x36x12 all black acrylic top down view aquarium.
With my design of the new one the water level is 1/8 of an inch from the top of the aquarium, so it almost looks like it will over flow. The old one had about 2 inches from the top rim-which i hated

The new one is lit by (2) 250 DE Helios HQI 20K bulbs and PFO HQI ballasts
The old tank had 1 400w lumenarc mini with an XM 20K SE and run on an M59.

The old tank had a mag 12 with two seio 620's that were visable as well as the plumbing, which I hated.

They new one is powered with a mag 24 and the plumbing makes it almost impossible to detect. I also am running (2) Seio 1500 which are also pretty well hidden. The best way to spot any of the flow is too look for bare spots.

The new one also has a custom overflow box built on the rear of the tank. The old one had dual internal overflows, which I hated.

Since I knew the flow was going to be great I also got rid of almost all of my ricordia that I had in the previous tank. I have a few but they never expand because of the flow.

In June I went on a reverse lighting schedule and soon after that SH*& hit the fan at work, medical, and family issues. I kept up on the maintenance, a water change once a month, feed the croals and fish, dose two part but I never saw the tank or paid any real attention to it as there were other problems to take care of. During that time I also unhooked my Octo 200 and threw in an aquac remora with a MJ 1200 because it had a drain plug and I did not want to put forth the effort of cleaning a skimmer. During that time I almost if ever was active on RC or my local club--kind of the summer blues

Around the first part of Nov I was debating on shutting everything down because I really did not give a crap and I had not seen the tank in 6-7 months. Out of the blue one day I fired it up during the day and this is pretty much what I got.

The growth was incredible and it was very visable as to what the more dominant polyps were. The Indo and the Solomon stuff had taken over almost everything in their path.

I lost many of slow growing polyps because they were over taken. I also lost a few due to being knocked to the substrate or behind rocks.

I have since pulled the skimmer.
I feed the corals the the "pappone" (sp) twice a week as well as chromaplex and SC reef plus. I dose two part and have a 35 gl fuge in the sump that is lit 24/7

Ca is always 480
Alk is 10dkh
Iodine I run high 0.08-9 mg/l
Nitrate-I never check
Mg-1450

I run carbon about 5 days out of the month.
2 weeks ago I also started dosing C--Thanks Pufferpunk!

Pictures are very hard to take because of the lights as well as the flow. I have many of corals less then 1/2 inch under the water and if I shut off the main for pictures, they would be in air and it would not make for good pictures

Good luck with your tank and it is great to see new names on this forum!

Full tank view in Sepia
[IMG][/IMG]

Full tank view in color
[IMG][/IMG]

full left view
[IMG][/IMG]

front left view
[IMG][/IMG]

right rear view



rear left
[IMG][/IMG]

more rear

[IMG][/IMG]

rear right
[IMG][/IMG]

[geoxman]

front left
[IMG][/IMG]
front down
[IMG][/IMG]

a few close ups which are difficult with the current






Some blues being over taken by EE they are climbing up the wall just to survive--pretty cool fight or flight






more blues


Sorry if i doubled pics. I will try and post more later.

[geoxman]

more.
The clam being eaten by zoas

[Arsenal11]

Wow! Very nice

[dphins]

Cool tank.

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

SWEEEEEEEEET !!!!!

[Grace's Dad]

Very cool, how big is that clam in the center?

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

2 weeks ago I also started dosing C--Thanks Pufferpunk!


Do you have a ORP meter ?

If so have you notice anything after dosing ?

John

[sirreal63]

Dang Phil!!!! it has done very well in the past year. My little 58 will never be that nicely grown in. I am thinking of a mushroom tank but will have enough zoa's in it to keep it lively looking.

I am impressed, now if we could get you into a clear tank.

[geoxman]

Thanks every one
Jack never! I had one of those old fashion out dated tanks years ago, this is almost 08----get with the times!!!!!!

DST do not have an ORP meter but for the past week things have gotten very vibrant. There is a thread in the zoa forum that is worth the read as well on a few of the other reef sites.
I have seen 0 adverse effect and only +. It is still very early to tell but how harmful can C really be? It is on a lot of the coral food that I feed/use to feed. Just keep an eye on PH and a buffer will be needed not just two part. IMHO

The clam is pretty close to 15 inches when open if not bigger

[biz50]

nices tank

[Reefer Wannabe]

Very nice. Can't wait to see it in person.

[TWINPEAKS]

What is C?

[geoxman]

Vitamin C

wannabe,
I will call you tonight. Is early AM good for you?

[Baron]

Sweet tank! I like the look down but it is kind of hard to enjoy from across the room on the couch.

[geoxman]

That is why I stand in front of it most nights with a beer in hand and look down and enjoy! My tank requires exercise, as with most conventional tanks there is none. I must burn endless calories standing for hours-that is the justification for the beer, I think so. LOL
Thanks
PL

[kraash]

That is a sweet set up, I really like the big clam in the center. How many different types of zoanthids do you have?

I too burn calories when I look at my tank, 12oz curls

[geoxman]

kraash-thanks much and your set up is spectacular! I have been viewing your pictures for the past many days and it is awesome.

As far as how many? I have no idea--hundreds of different morphs/colors, I guess? I gave up on the flavor of the month a long time ago and when I went under ground I lost ALL interest in the naming thing. I just look at my tank now and say to myself "wow that polyp looks cool, or, the color is getting better on this one" etc.. I do enjoy collecting them and I always look for new and different ones but I could care less about names or how many different ones I have, as they will change from one tank to another.

I do find it interesting how certain ones react to tank environment VS what part of the world they came from. Light, flow, nutrients etc... that part is very fascinating and always fun to insure the polyp does best in captivity.

What is in the bottom of one of your first pictures-are those ricordia?? The huge green thing?? beautiful tank!

good luck!
PL

[Reefer Wannabe]

Originally posted by geoxman
Vitamin C

wannabe,
I will call you tonight. Is early AM good for you?

Uhhh...guess it depends on how early? Give me a ring

[mjpelikan]

amazing tank!

[Reggae Fish]

Lookin nice phil. That tank would not fly here at my home. 2 young kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats...need I say more

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

geoxman can you give me a link to one of the threads talking about Vitamin C dosing .I had them and now can't find them .I have been dosing for a couple weeks myself and did read most of the threads I could find . They seem to be by pufferpunk .

Here is what I have found

My tank looks great with Vitamin C dosing . My zoas I was having a problem with all are coming back to life and opening up again . I did lose some but not as many as most .

Last night when I got home my ORP reading was 319

After dosing ORP reading was 101 is this a problem I don't know . I am worried about the quick change in ORP readings and what it might cause if anything at all .

Thoughts ?

John

[geoxman]

http://www.athiel.com/lib2/pguide/vitami1.html

http://www.kentmarine.com/saltwater/...s/marine-c.htm



I just keep an eye on my PH and will add a small amount of buffer, not two part, and everything stays the same with very little fluctuation. You can also shoot me a PM with your # and I can call.
PL

[Schplitter]

That's sweet. The black makes the colors stand out even more... Any tips on how to get the zoas to spread? Mine are mostly sitting there looking good...

BK

[geoxman]

feed uber and skim less is the key! If you have enough biological/plant/carbon filtration you should be OK. Zoos do not like water that has been stripped down IMHO. I have more than 200lbs of LR and sand in my system. good luck!