Skimmerless 40G Breeder ~ Specs & Pics. - Page 3

drummereef · #51 09/16/2006, 02:02 AM

I hope my 40 can grow up to look like yours someday! Great looking tank!

nigel · #52 09/16/2006, 09:36 AM

Nice to see a tank without a full scientific lab attach to it. Simple still works

Aquabucket · #53 09/20/2006, 01:17 AM

As promised here are some recent pics taken after the tank move and re-aquascaping. Special thanks go to a fellow reef club member mako65 for coming over with his camera and taking some pics for me.

Full tank shot: (It will look a lot better once the new coral frags along the top grow in.)

Room shot: (Going to be changing the lighting of the coral shelf above the tank to blue)

Mid tank shot:

Hot pink and red Echinophyllia: (My latest addition)

Viet Nam tri-color zoos:

Red Lobophyllia:

Derasa clam:

Candy cane:

Branching hammer:

Thats it for now, I'll be posting some more macro shots tomorrow. Hope you all like the pics and I look forward to your comments!

SMS76 · #54 09/20/2006, 08:03 AM

Very nice. What do you use for flow?

Aquabucket · #55 09/20/2006, 09:45 AM

Thanks SMS76!

I get 1440 gph from 4 powerheads and an AquaClear HOB. The powerheads are located on each side and the back corners. The HOB is located dead center. The 2 powerheads in the corners face forward like the HOB and are modified lift tube powerheads for under gravel filters. They give out a wide stream of flow like the HOB. The other 2 powerheads send flow across the tank from each side.

KalimanMX · #56 09/20/2006, 09:59 AM

Really nice tank!! Just two questions
Is that clam under T5? How long it has been there?

2fishy · #57 09/20/2006, 12:55 PM

What an awesome tank!!! I really like the blue background, and now I think I might have to change mine!

Do you have an open top?

Aquabucket · #58 09/20/2006, 01:53 PM

Thanks for the comments guys!

KalimanMX ~ yes the Derasa is under T-5s and has been since it was a 2" baby. I have had it now for just under 2 years.

2fishy ~ The tank is covered by white acrylic panels. You can see the front panel in the second picture. It is placed on an angle to allow air to pass through. 2 cooling fans are fixed to the light to allow more air flow.

Aquabucket · #59 09/20/2006, 10:43 PM

Here are some macro shots.

Echinophyllia:

Merulina:

Lobophyllia:

Tricolor zoos:

Yellow-lined cardinal:

Orange-tail blue damsel:

Special thanks again go to mako56 for stopping by with his camera and snapping some nice pics with his Cannon 350D camera.

MrSpiffy · #60 09/21/2006, 09:22 AM

Sweet pics! What kind of camera are you using?

I've got a 40G Breeder I plan to set up eventually. I agree with drummereef, I want my tank to look as good as yours. I even planned to set it up for softies and lps! How's that hammer coral? Do its sweepers sting anything around it? Or can you control sweeper extension using lower flow, like galaxea?

Aquabucket · #61 09/21/2006, 11:41 AM

Cannon 350D on the last page. 3 mega pixel Sony Maciva on the first pages.

The branching hammers don't send out sweepers all that much. Like galaxia lower flow can help with preventing really long ones.

Good luck on your 40 breeder!

My tank will probably look "complete" in about 6 months when the corals at the top grow in.

mako56 · #62 09/21/2006, 03:25 PM

Just a little correction and it makes a little difference the camera is a Canon 20D. Just in case anyone cares.

The tank looks awsome in person the pics are cool but I was impressed with how you can have such a nice tank without costing you a arm, a leg and half your brain.

Aquabucket · #63 09/21/2006, 07:23 PM

Sorry about the mix-up. I must say though that is one impressive camera and I really appreciate your taking the time to stop by! I could have fun with that camera for days!

Aquabucket · #64 09/25/2006, 05:28 PM

One last pic for awhile. You can see one of the softie frags up top. Should look nice once it grows in. We'll see how everything looks a few months from now.

Left side:

ykh · #65 10/08/2006, 04:38 PM

Very nice looking 40 gal tank, keep up your good work! I'm setting one up myself...

hahnmeister · #66 10/08/2006, 09:29 PM

Galaxea, and some other LPS I have observed, dont seem to change their sweeper extension with low or high flow so much for me. They seem to be able to sense what other corals are around them... maybe something in the water, or through the use of some sweepers used as scouts. If they find other corals then they may or may not decide to turn into a hydra ball and start sending sweepers out. With mine, I can only place them and pray, but after some time... slow flow or fast, as other corals grow in throughout the tank, they start sending out sweepers it seems. In the last tank that I had to remove one from (a 6" ball that was bright green with the blue/white tips), as the corals grew closer, it started sending out more sweepers until one day I came home to see it had a sweeper reaching almost 20" across the tank attached to an acro! They love high flow though, but I have tried lower flow to see if it prevents the sweepers. It works for a while, but I think that it merely adds stress to the coral and that might be the only reason it stops sweeping, after a few months... the sweepers have come back out.

The only method I have found to prevent Galaxea and some other LPS from sending out the sweepers is to keep some other corals near them that sting back worse. BTA anemones for example, seem to do the trick. That 6" ball was moved to another newer tank in a spot where it was away from almost everything else, but under constant direct flow. Over time, the coral frags I was growing out got closer and closer as the tank filled... and out came the sweepers. So I had to remove the frags. But an odd thing happened... A BTA anemone decided to set up shop near the Galaxea on another rock facing it. One day I saw the sweepers still out, but the anemone had caught a few sweepers. That was the last day to date that that Galaxea has sent out sweepers.

Kind of a 'Fight fire with Fire' thing. Some researchers have suggested that LPS can sense what other corals are near by, and not just through sweepers, but perhaps they can 'sniff them out'. I once had a bubble coral pack up and almost die from being downstream from a Galaxea that never touched it. I moved it around a corner and it came right back to life. I also had a brain coral (lobo) that decided to go all out on a rock of ricordeas upstream from it. I came home one day and the brain coral had a mess of something coming from it that looked like Spiderman had attacked the rock. The ricordeas on the rock were all melted. I think Galaxea are kind of like boxers. They will try to pick a fight if they sense there is something else there, but if they try and there is nothing there, they stop. If they try, and find something, then they seem to keep it up because the 'fight is on'. The only things that seem to work are to keep them away from other corals, or keep corals with enough sting near them so that the Galaxea knows it cant win. The anemone worked great though. One round KO.

Freaky LPS.

MrSpiffy · #67 10/08/2006, 10:32 PM

From what I understand, you can always pinch/cut off the sweepers from corals like galaxea. I doubt that'd prevent them from coming back again, though. And you'd DEFINITELY want to do that while wearing gloves! (unless you're NUTS!) I'm not sure how quickly sweepers grow back, though. A month? A week? Anyone even tried removing sweepers before?

I LOVE the look of a nice galaxea. But if I can't keep peace in the tank while it's there, I'm concerned I may not ever get to keep such a neat looking coral.

GSMguy · #68 11/05/2006, 01:01 PM

my frogspawn can sense there is some xenia behind it it only puts sweepers out in that direction

jimbo045 · #69 11/05/2006, 01:30 PM

Your set up is very nice looking. JD

motoxracing782 · #70 11/05/2006, 01:54 PM

very nice set up, im thinking of doing a 40brd also. thanks for the preview of what mine could be!

mmd · #71 02/07/2007, 06:49 PM

so whats been happening with this tank ?

Aquabucket · #72 03/13/2007, 02:07 PM

Things are going very well. The upper corals are growing in nicely. I am going to try to post some pictures soon. Thanks for asking!

Aquabucket · #73 04/02/2007, 01:47 PM

Here are a few updated pics for you. The tank past the 1 year mark back in December. Several of the corals in it I have had for 2-3 years though.

Right Side:

Left Side:

Mid shot:

Actinics:

More pics coming soon!

nebraskareef · #74 04/02/2007, 02:37 PM

Still looking good!

Thanks for the update.

MrSpiffy · #75 04/02/2007, 03:23 PM

Is that a Fox coral in the "left side" picture sitting on top of the small rock in the bottom-middle of the photo? If not, what is it? If it is, how do you like it?