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  #51  
Old 05/28/2005, 10:41 PM
GregM779 GregM779 is offline
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I found the coolest table acro at a LFS yesterday. I moved my blue tipped acro from the top tight of the tank to make a good spot for this piece.

  #52  
Old 05/28/2005, 11:20 PM
Dubbin1 Dubbin1 is offline
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Holy crap, all of that in only 8 months??? Someone has the BIG bucks
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Clownfish DO NOT host anemones/corals. It is the anemone/coral that is the host.
  #53  
Old 05/29/2005, 12:00 AM
RevHtree RevHtree is offline
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Man what an awesome tank.........Thanks for inspiring me. I want sps, but I was getting the opinion that you had to have an all sps tank or mostly all. Not anymore! That is exactly the tank that I want.

Thanks again....WOW!

PS. Seriously hands down one of the most beauitful tanks I have ever seen!!
  #54  
Old 05/29/2005, 12:39 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Okay, so you have got my attention. First impression is how clean things look & how healthy the corals look. Overall, your tank looks a bit too yellowish, but it's understandable why you opted to get better growth rates with the 10K's. I would probably make the same choice.

I hope you don't mind if I try & analyze your tank & try to learn something from you. I have tons of question, but will not bombard you with them all at once.

Part I- Why so clean?:
Your sand looks so clean, sorta the clean & clear you find when you first setup a tank. Is the sand 8mo old too? You have so many fish & one would think that it would be close to impossible for such a scenario (at least for most reefers). What is the secret? Where does all the fish poop go?

How often & how much water do you change out?
Do you run carbon or phosphate removal?
Do you siphon out your sand or rocks? Do you turkey blast?
Do you have a cleanup crew & what sorts/kinds?


Thanks for your time.
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90g AGA/RR/BB, 30g sump, Aquactinics 2x250 (XM20K)/2x54 T5 (AB & B+), Eheim 1262 Return, Deltec AP600, Tunze 6060 & Osmolator 3155, Homemade 2 part
  #55  
Old 05/30/2005, 08:32 AM
GregM779 GregM779 is offline
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Thanks for the comments,

Dubbin1, it's not just money that makes a nice tank, I know a lot of rich people with tanks I would be ashamed of and I am definitely not rich my any means.

RefferNOOB, If your new to the hobby get into SPS a little down the road and definitely do it slowly, they are a lot more touchy than other types of coral. The main things that you have to be careful of when doing a mixed reef is placement and water quality. If you put some kind of LPS near SPS and it stings it, like a torch, that SPS is most likely a goner. They also require very clean water which is hard o do when you start adding fish, that's why you see a lot of awesome SPS tanks almost lifeless fish wise.

FastUno, I bought an aquarium to have fish originally and they will always be my priority.
First the 10ks are not as yellow in real like they are actually very white. I went with these not only for the growth rate but I do like seeing the actual colors of things in the tank, also I can take pictures without everything being blue. I do agree everything looks better under more false lighting, like 20ks but I think that they are too dull and blue.
The sand was put in on day 1. I do agree that most told me even when I posted 5 months ago that my tank was going to crash because of my bioload. I think a lot has to do with the over 200lbs of LR that has matured enough to be able to handle it, I also think that my refugium was one of the best things that I could have added and has helped a lot.
I've done 2 water changes since setup both were 24 gallons each.

I run carbon maybe for a week every month, my UV handles the water clarity and my refugium handles the phosphates.

I don't siphon or turkey blast, My flow handles it and also my 4 tangs, foxface, and flame angel, pick at every rock all day long, that is also partly why I have no algae.

Cleanup crew is about 35 turbo snails, 2 Mexican turbo snails, 15 red leg hermit crabs, and a tiger goby for the sand. I find that diamond gobies do a better job cleaning the sand but tend to jump out a lot.

I think that was everything you listed.
  #56  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:22 AM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Only 2 water changes since the setup...wow! I have tried that for a month (i.e. no water changes) & saw an impact on the quality of water, so back to water changing I went.

Do you actually see the poop on or in your sand? Does it just get mixed in your sand & build up over time? I only have small fish (5 of them no bigger than 3 inches) & see stuff that I have to siphon out.

Is your live rock cultured? What kind & where from?

Part 2- Skimmer, so what gives?
Most people would have gone for the ER, or Deltecs, or MR. You seem to have gone for the unheard of Kent Marine Nautilus Nautilus Protein Skimmer. Do you know a secret that we don't? How does it seem to handle it's job? How many cups do you get a day/week & how often do you have to fiddle with it?
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  #57  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:56 AM
RevHtree RevHtree is offline
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Quote:
RefferNOOB, If your new to the hobby get into SPS a little down the road and definitely do it slowly, they are a lot more touchy than other types of coral. The main things that you have to be careful of when doing a mixed reef is placement and water quality. If you put some kind of LPS near SPS and it stings it, like a torch, that SPS is most likely a goner. They also require very clean water which is hard o do when you start adding fish, that's why you see a lot of awesome SPS tanks almost lifeless fish wise.
Actually my name is a little misleading. I have had a reef tank for about 14 months now. I now have a prop tank, and do my own fragging and trading...woo hoo..

I have never had a water issue. I just upgraded my fuge to an old 20g wet/dry that I converted. I have 25+ corals, and only a few fish in my 125.

I consider most people reefer noobs until they get a few years under their belt.
  #58  
Old 05/30/2005, 11:00 AM
RevHtree RevHtree is offline
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PS. I already have a few peices of sps including montipora digita and plate monti and a couple others.

No acropora yet though....that's where I am heading. I hope to upgrade my lights within a few weeks. I am going with (3) 250w 14k MH's with CF supliments.
  #59  
Old 05/30/2005, 04:25 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by ReeferNOOB
PS. I already have a few peices of sps including montipora digita and plate monti and a couple others.

No acropora yet though....that's where I am heading. I hope to upgrade my lights within a few weeks. I am going with (3) 250w 14k MH's with CF supliments.
I have a 125 with 40 gal. sump and 10 gal fuge. I have 3x250 10k MH and 4x65 pc actinic. I have a little of everything in my tank. SPS LPS Softies, anemones, LOTS of fish. And the lighting seems to do great!
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  #60  
Old 05/30/2005, 05:05 PM
GregM779 GregM779 is offline
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Yeh only 2 changes, I would do more if would improve anything. Some find it necessary to do more than others depending on their system.
I definitely see th fish take a poop but it never sits on the ground, there aren't many dead spots on the ground at least flow wise and the cleanup crew takes care of the rest. Nassarius snails are great for that.
My rock is was mostly live when I bought it, I bought very little LR because I find it weaker than LR. I purchased it over time all from about 6 different LFSs, until I had the shape that I wanted. I have Fiji, Haitian, and Atlantic LR in there.
About the skimmer, there is definitely no secret about that. It isn't a great skimmer by any means. I got it with the system when I bought it and was planning to upgrade. If I ever find any reason to improve a part it will be this. Until then I'll wait.

RefferNOOB, sorry.
Acros are definitely more touchy than other SPS. Your lights sound good, just keep your water in check and give them a good amount of indirect flow. I started with a Birdnest and think that they are one of the easiers to keep, also try and stay away from wild colonies, they are a lot less hardy.
  #61  
Old 05/30/2005, 05:25 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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I still have problems with flow. I can't seem to get it right. I have plenty. I even keep the flow turned down most of time, but if I have them pointing too hight then I get red slime, if it's pointing too low, I get sand storms... I don't know what to do!
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Click the red house for my 125 progress!
  #62  
Old 05/30/2005, 06:29 PM
NexDog NexDog is offline
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Just when I think a 150 or 180g is not big enough I see a stunning tank like this handling a huge bioload (I too like to load a tank). Is your fuge part of the sump or is it separate and if so, how is it plubed into the system?
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340g In-Wall Envision Tank and 150g Sump (fuge and grow-out).
  #63  
Old 05/30/2005, 07:42 PM
Chaotic Reefer4u Chaotic Reefer4u is offline
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gotta love that yellow leather for sure!
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Live everyday as if it was your last, take time to smell the flowers,
enjoy all things living, never take anything for granted, you just never know when your number might be up...
  #64  
Old 05/30/2005, 08:34 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Going back to Part I, what type of sand do you have? Did you buy it as live sand? Did you seed it?

Were your rocks filled with life? Or was it the ordinary coralline & some algae that was on there? Do you prefer porous rocks or non-porous type? How do you feel about porous rocks, such as these http://www.hirocks.com/Our_Products.html
Yes, you would have to seed those.

Personally, I am beginning to doubt the necessity of loads of rocks. If anything I see them as problematic over time, because they have the ability to trap unwanted particles (no different than the undergravel filter). Regardless of how much flow you have, with all those rocks piled up I see them as potential deitrus traps. I am loosing the faith on rocks, help me regain it back.
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  #65  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:20 PM
GregM779 GregM779 is offline
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Micki, I PMed you an article about Cyano but most likely the way to fix it in your case would be to get nutrients out of the water. You can add more coral, a refugium, or feed less.

NexDog, I would love to have a 180, that extra depth would be great and I could aquascape so much better, I definitely like the depth of the 180 rather than the height of the 150.
The refugium has water pumped to it from my sump a drain is drilled a little higher and used as a gravity return from my refugium to my sump, very simple.

ChAoTiCrEeFeR4U, I think that is actually my favorite coral in the tank, I got him when he was a wee boy and have raised him since.

FastUno, it's about 150lbs of Live Aragonite Sand, All was bought live because I didn't want to have to wait on the sand.
The rocks were live but had no coralline. I use a coralline stimulator which a lot of people don't believe in but has obviously worked for me.
I think you need a mixture of both to be successful the porous rock should have things in it to clean I eventually. The rocks on the link are alright, you will just have to wait longer for them to catch up to whatever bioload you put in go slower also you lose selection of shapes.
I think the amount of rock that I have helps make my tank more successful and breaks down the detritus.
  #66  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:24 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by GregM779
[B]Micki, I PMed you an article about Cyano but most likely the way to fix it in your case would be to get nutrients out of the water. You can add more coral, a refugium, or feed less.[QUOTE]

I got the pm and read the article. I have a fuge and it's full of macro and cheato. My coral population is pretty high, but I probably over feed....
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Click the red house for my 125 progress!
  #67  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:38 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Quote:
150lbs of Live Aragonite Sand
Is this the kind you buy in a bag, such as Aragalive?

Micki, he has many fish & must feed a good deal. There is something else that is key to the nutrient export. I had a fuge filled with life & had cyano problems too with my older 55g tank. Ever since I bought a better skimmer & added clam, those days are over.

GregM779, can you tell us what you have in the fuge. Any pics?
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  #68  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:43 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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I have a great skimmer ASM G3. I also have a clam, but it's small. What would the clam do for the cyno?
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Western Ohio Reef Club

Click the red house for my 125 progress!
  #69  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:44 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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BTW, I also took my fuge off at the same time that I bought the skimmer. I noticed that a lot of crap was getting trapped in the fuge, causing build up in the DSB very quickly.

I bet you that if you remove the fuge your problems will go away.
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  #70  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:45 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Not the Cyano, it will aid in the filtration & export of nutrients.
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  #71  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:48 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by FastUno
BTW, I also took my fuge off at the same time that I bought the skimmer. I noticed that a lot of crap was getting trapped in the fuge, causing build up in the DSB very quickly.

I bet you that if you remove the fuge your problems will go away.
You don't have a fuge now?
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Micki...

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Click the red house for my 125 progress!
  #72  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:51 PM
GregM779 GregM779 is offline
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Micki, Your tank has just been setup correct? I thought I read your thread on it. You may just need to give your system time to mature. A small clam will do nothing, clams over 3" will help lower nutrients and some even lower nitrates.

FastUno, I think that is exactly what I used, it has a little bit of water in the sealed bag. In the fuge I had Chaeto, caulerpa, a little LR, the substrate is half miracle mud and half Ken'ts refugium sediment. I would take a pic but my house was robbed Wednesday and my camera was one of the things that they took. I also think that his tank and fuge are young and he shouldn't have a buildup of anything yet.
  #73  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:51 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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Nope, after taking it apart I saw all the crap that was in there & it scared me.

My first line of business was to buy clams until the skimmer came in, then finally hooked up the skimmer & got rid of the fuge. Now I have a sump with NOTHING in there just glass, my skimmer, heater, return pump. I just recently added a filter sock with carbon to further make improvements.
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  #74  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:53 PM
FastUno FastUno is offline
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I don't have as many corals as Greg has though, his tank is very inspirational.
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  #75  
Old 05/30/2005, 10:55 PM
Micki Micki is offline
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Beautiful tank... What is the blue coral near the middle of the tank?
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Micki...

Western Ohio Reef Club

Click the red house for my 125 progress!
 

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