finally beginning my 480g 5'x5'x30" SPS Reef Tank

[thirschmann]

we should take bets to see who will be cashing in their food stamps for fish food first. We can all line up on the 1st and 15th to keep our habit going.

Than we have to explain to the welfare office how we can have a $800 utility bill yet still need their help.

"Will work for frags"

[yoboyjdizz]

Man this tank is going to be awsome.. You have some good fish choices. Even though your tank is large i doubt the clown tang will get along with a sohal tang if you do add one. I think you should give another emp a try. Its a risk with corals but if it works out for you would be a great addition!

[jnarowe]

and vlamingis look their best when they are small. When they get big, they get kind of ugly.

I am not sure I buy the whole Solaris thing. I have seen them twice in person now, and most recently at the NorthWestern Coral Farmers Market. They had a side-by-side display with halides (not sure how big) and PAR meters under each showing a much higher PAR for the Solaris. But really, the halide was brighter to my eye and others looking at it agreed. I know the two are not synonomous, but I still can't get by what my eyes tell me. I certainly wouldn't use it on a very deep tank.

You can forget a school of green chromis right now. It doesn't work. Check out this thread. I think they probably have a natural inclination to thin the herd in the wild too, to keep the bloodline strong.

There has been discussion regarding red spot cardinals and this thread has some of the scientific names. These are being kept in schools primarily in Japanese tanks as that is where they come from.

Here are some more links:

http://reeftuners.com/forums/index.p...art=#entry3415
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ghlight=apogon

http://saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/f.../Aparvulus.htm
http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng...n/parvulus.htm
http://test.water-frame.com/index.ht...5-rdi54157.htm

[cbui2]

i know when i purchased a 2" vlamingi 1 month ago, now he's 4" and eats all the food before everyone gets a chance. i am just getting him ready for my next ocean build 1400gal . electric cost down here is very reasonable, hopefully it will stay this way if not i will be parting out all my equipment and getting out this hobby for good . Tom its always better if you have sketches before posting anything up. you know your sketch skill will be a lot better then the pics you take

[MarineGirl411]

lol, I don't think you mens will be going broke. Don't put those vibes out there! When do we get to see some work done on this tank? ;-) If you all want to be nice though, if you are feeling giving, you could donate your old tanks to me when you upgrade! And your other various items =) Cause I know how it is....the tank can never be too big.

I'm saving for a 120 Tech! Nothing compared to yours! Can't wait to see it up and running. Eric your puppy is really cute! Is it a pit bull?

[cbui2]

MarineGirl411 just PM me your info and i will be more then happy to donate

[thirschmann]

yobojdizz - Thanks for the kind comments. Good fish choices... well help me strive for great. Maybe there is room for an idol in my tank.... j/k, I don't consider my self experienced enough for that fish yet, don't know if I ever will be. I do love the way they look though. Congrats on your success.



jonathan - I know there is a lot of criticism surround the solaris fixture and I don't really understand how they work. In my limited experience with the fixture I would say that they produce a very satisfactory amount of light and I must say that when I first put them on my 120 I wasn't solidly impressed by the look of the light in the tank... but that lasted about 10 minutes and I have to say that I really really like the way it looks now and I don't think I would go back to MH unless some shocking weakness of these fixtures comes out. Only time will tell.

red cardinals aye.. they look very interesting. I strive to keep very colorful and unique fish, not that I have total achieved that at all, but a small school of these guys (10 or so) would hardly impact my bioload and would certainly add to the diversity of my tank. Seems like I might have yet another school of fish to add to my tank. I'm really looking forward to have 2 small schools of anthias, I have always had a soft spot for those guys and have been successful at keeping them.



bart - Well I'll let you give me the results on your vlamingi in a few months when its time to stock my tank. Looking forward to see how he gets along but it sounds like he grows like crazy. I am already considering a bigger tank, I must be crazy.

Whoever gets out of the hobby first should agree to notify the other, so at least one of us gets out on top. Don't hold your breath though, don't see that happening EVER.

More Sketchup stuff is coming, you know you want it.



marinegirl411 - I am hoping to be back in two weeks exactly, if all goes well. And I really really hope it does. I would be more then happy to donate some surplus supplies to you once I am done setting up my tank, and god knows I have plenty of left over equipment from my old tank. A lot of it is promised to friends but PM me and I will let you know what I have when I get this wrapped up.

My previous tank was a Oceanic 120 tech and it is a GREAT tank. I hope you get years of enjoyment out of it. I put 2 tunze 6101's in there and the flow was amazing. Let me know if I can help with anything.

[Reefski's]

Vlamingi's at Atlantis Marine World Long Island NY.

just wow. you just have to have the right size tank. 20,000 gallons make them look small.

[thirschmann]

That's what I'm planning for my next tank ... I wish. That's awesome







Forgot to tag the direction of waterflow in the line. The top line is output and the bottom line is input to chiller. The process is water flows into manifold, then UV, then main chiller, then backup chiller, and back to the main sump.



Enjoy and as always please critise to your hearts content.

[pcostanzo]

Hey, How come mine didn't come out that good?



Ha Ha Ha...

[jnarowe]

Great drawings. About the RO tank...how will you mount it up high? On a stand of some kind?

I wish I had the links to the Japanese tanks full of the red spots. WHerevere I have looked the links are dead, but those tanks really showed them off in beautiful shoals.

Also, don't chillers require specific flow rates? so the main would require more than the backup right? Will you use an automated valve to lower the flow if the main breaks down? Or perhaps I am misunderstanding the purpose of the backup chiller? And won't the UV be heating the water above system temp? So will the chillers be reacting to that higher incoming temp. or the system temp?

[thirschmann]

pcostanzp... hahah, looks like the jungle jim is coming along great. Keep at it.


jonathan - Thanks, I will be fabricating a stand for the RO tank, not sure waht I want yet, I have to see the tank before I know what I'm going to do with it.

If you could find a picture that would be great. Some of those japanese tanks are truelly amazing. Would like to see that.

Chillers require a general flow rate. The 1hp requires 20-35gpm and the 1.5hp requires 25-45gpm, so I'm shooting for 30gpm with room for some fluctuations. The UV is rated for max 6000gph so I'm set on that end. The UV will be warming up the water slightly but the temp probe for the chiller will be in the sump so the fluctuations in water temp leaving the UV shouldn't affect the chiller performance. btw, I plan on adding a by pass for the UV so that I can take it offline if its not neccessary or for maintance without have to shut down the flow to the chiller. The same goes for the main chiller and the backup.

[jnarowe]

Found 'em in my thread on RF!!!













Sorry for the visual hi-jack but you asked ofr it! Beautiful mixed reefs don't ya think?? I love these fish and want 40 - 50 for my tank.

[thirschmann]

now I'm really interested. Thanks for posting those pictures.

I really really like the look of those shoals of fish. What considerations do I need to make for them, is there anything on my existing fish list that would eat or kill these little guys. I would like to shoot for 20 of them, I counted on the picture and there are close to 40 in that school.

Decisions decisions decisions... great looking little school. Makes the entire tank look bigger.

[jnarowe]

Hard to estimate predation. I added 12 black mollies to my display about 3 weeks ago and none are left. I did see the maroon clown grab one and feed it to a GBTA, but before they were all gone, I did find fry in the sump.

I am going to get another dozen and put them in the fuge this time. Last time I did that, they all died off too, but I think it was a heat issue.

Makes the entire tank look bigger.

This is exactly what I mean vs. a vlamingi. While you don't tend to develop an emotional attachment to these small fish, they do bring more realism to a tank.

[zoomin]

That tank looks way bigger than the 110 x 100 x 55 mm size it's listed as.

Must be some kind of coral bonsai work going on there that creates an optical illusion

Anyone know what species of fish those little schooling guys are?

[jnarowe]

zoomin: Links are above in one of my posts.

[zoomin]

thanks - hadn't read the full thread.

[cbui2]

ok Tom those drawings are just amazing. i thought the manifold supposed to be above the main display.

[yoboyjdizz]

Thanks, though i wouldn't call it success wait a couple more years.. Nice drawings very clean setup plan! Can't wait to see that monster skimmer in action.

Jonathan - Every time i see your tank mine dosen't satisfy me anymore haha .. you have done one hell of a job!

[jnarowe]

yoboyjdizz: Thanks. It's a mess right now as I have been having medical issues, but I will get it back on track. You don't see me messing with Moorish Idols though do you?!?!?!

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread!

[thirschmann]

jonathan - I think a good mix of large to small fish will help put things into perspective nicely in my tank. Thanks for the suggestions. In the case of those little red cardinals, do you have an suggestions as to how to calculate bioload for those little guys. By length, 20 of them should equal the 1 20" fish, approximately. But I believe one huge fish would produce significantly more waste then all those little guys. Am I right so assume this? Just want to make sure I keep everything balanced.


Thanks Bart, I appreciate that. As the manifold does not feed the display tank, I don't think it matters if it is above the display or not. It is located below the refugium but the feed line to the refugium will only be 2" below the top of the tank, so the siphon should break before it pulls a dangerous quantity of water. This is the only part of hte manifold system that would be able to back siphon so I think I wil be ok.
Thanks for the props.

yobojdizz - Thanks for hte positive comments, I'm looking forward to putting that skimmer through its paces as well. I'm looking forward to seeing your future success with the idol. Once again, very cool fish.

[thirschmann]

This is Ron Burgundy checking in for channel 5 news.


jonathan - I think a good mix of large to small fish will help put things into perspective nicely in my tank. Thanks for the suggestions. In the case of those little red cardinals, do you have an suggestions as to how to calculate bioload for those little guys. By length, 20 of them should equal the 1 20" fish, approximately. But I believe one huge fish would produce significantly more waste then all those little guys. Am I right so assume this? Just want to make sure I keep everything balanced.


Thanks Bart, I appreciate that. As the manifold does not feed the display tank, I don't think it matters if it is above the display or not. It is located below the refugium but the feed line to the refugium will only be 2" below the top of the tank, so the siphon should break before it pulls a dangerous quantity of water. This is the only part of hte manifold system that would be able to back siphon so I think I wil be ok.
Thanks for the props.


yobojdizz - Thanks for hte positive comments, I'm looking forward to putting that skimmer through its paces as well. I'm looking forward to seeing your future success with the idol. Once again, very cool fish.



Stay classy San Diego...

[jnarowe]

I would tend to make a similar assumption, but I do not know if it is correct. I think asking in a fish related forum would be a good idea.

[cbui2]

Jonathan you can't give up now