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#51
09/09/2004, 10:29 PM
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Congratulations. Do you ever sell any ricordia frags. I would love to take a couple off your hands.
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7 gallon minibow |
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#52
09/09/2004, 10:37 PM
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Outstanding, makes me think I don't need the new 140 I'm planning?
 You guys truly make the smaller tanks "Larger then Life" Do you run a chiller? Is there a framework supporting the rock, or is it just well placed rock? Rich  75g Reef Cycle Phase #2 |
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#53
09/09/2004, 11:51 PM
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Great tank!
I also live in NOVA (at least some of the time), and was wondering what you consider your favorite LFS. I actually use the many petcos in our area because they have such inexpensive livestock, but I've found that "Super Pets" (in Annandale) and "Marine Scene" (Herndon) have some very nice more expensive fish/corals. |
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#54
09/10/2004, 12:05 AM
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Great job, one of my favorte TOTM. You have quite a fish load, is there any agression between tangs and the angel?
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Don |
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#55
09/10/2004, 12:16 AM
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Very impressive to say the least.Its gives us newbies something to look forward too.
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#56
09/10/2004, 01:54 AM
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that is one of the coolest tanks i have ever seen but i count 15 fish. i like stocked tanks(my 30g will have 7 fish) but i'm suprised no-one has commented on this. not the slightest bit of offence meaned by this but i think that it is good to see someone else with a highly stocked tank
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#58
09/10/2004, 08:32 AM
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Just wondering how much does it cost you for electricity monthly
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#59
09/10/2004, 09:20 AM
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Beautiful tank and incredible photographs. I'm more than impressed. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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"A billion here, a billion there, sooner or later it adds up to real money." - Everett Dirksen, U.S. Senator (deceased) |
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#64
09/10/2004, 02:09 PM
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Congratulations!!! That is a beautiful tank.....
I was wondering if you could explain a little more in depth on the plumbing around the circulation of the main tank as well as the Neilsen and Ca reactors. am interested in a simular set up (sort of) but am tryign to get ideas on how to go about it Thanks Chris |
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#65
09/10/2004, 02:30 PM
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Congratulations!!! That is a beautiful tank.....
I was wondering if you could explain a little more in depth on the plumbing around the circulation of the main tank as well as the Neilsen and Ca reactors. am interested in a simular set up (sort of) but am tryign to get ideas on how to go about it Thanks Chris |
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#66
09/10/2004, 03:41 PM
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Thanks again everyone for the compliments… I am back in town and will get some new pics together for everyone to view.
Fuzed, regarding my tomini tang, he has been very accepting of other fish. Originally he did bother the flame hawk for a while, but that subsided a long while back. We all know that while each species has its general tendencies, each fish is an individual. My local buddy Ckuhndog has since gotten one and he may be able to chime in again with his experiences. I got this fish from Liveaquaria.com when he was on sale for just $55, and they have them in stock right now for just $79. This is a good price for this rare fish that isn’t available very often. This fish as I said looks spectacular in person and is a great alternative to the standard koles. Fishykid, while I’ve put a lot of money into the tank I’m always hunting for the best prices with the best quality. It’s tough to say specifically, but let’s just say it’s been a lot! Danano thanks for the compliments from Singapore… keep doing the great work with the T5s! Zebrazoma there is no need to clean the sand… Reefkeeper I will post more pics of the tomini tang soon… Drblank… the algae growth isn’t really a problem and is by no means excessive. For that reason I’ve stayed away from the phosphate removing medias. Whenever I show it to visitors they think it’s no big deal, however I tend to be a perfectionist and am always thinking how to better the tank every day. It’s been doing well enough that I don’t want to rock the boat… Ffighter17 the pH of my systems in this small apartment has always run on the lower side, and I stopped worrying about it long ago. Air does not circulate much from outside. When I leave the windows open in the apartment the pH gradually rises on all tanks within hours. I originally thought this a myth but have seen it with my own eyes. My view on pH is that it is not a problem by itself, as my tanks have done well even with the low pH readings. However, usually low pH is a side effect of something else wrong in the aquarium that is causing problems. I refill the Nilsen reactor every week with kalk, and the first few days the daily fluctuations are about 7.9 to 8.1 or 8.2, and by the end of the week the pH bottoms out at around 7.7. Without the Nilsen though these readings would be even lower. After vacations I’ve seen the tank bottom out as low as 7.55 with no ill effects. These readings are with a calibrated Pinpoint monitor, but I originally would test in disbelief with test kits and verify it. The calcium reactor is pretty cranked now with this small system and that is no doubt a major contributor… Rjwilson even since dropping the phyto I’ve always had a huge pod population, although now it is recovering after doing the Interceptor treatment for red bugs. In most healthy reef tanks there will be plenty of pods to go around without worrying about specifically feeding them… The fact that there are pods shows that the cycle of life does fine in the tank without additional feedings of phyto, so this is more money to keep in the wallet for me. Cliffrouse I will keep you in mind in the future when I need to thin out the rics. With rics though it’s all about buying from a respected source as they are not all alike and they are just unnecessarily expensive to buy WYSIWYG. I like etropicals.com and blowfishaquatics.com for these. Many of the blue rics you see are from etropicals.com and were less than $7 a polyp and are still that price NOW! I have ordered a lot from etropicals and liveaquaria and am always happy with the quality. Add that with the 14 day guarantee and free shipping over $175 and you’re set! Richfavinger thanks for the compliments. I always shoot for a natural look that doesn’t look like a “wall of rock�, and I always try and make the tank look larger than it is, so those compliments are especially appreciated. As I said in my article, people concentrate too much on “levels� and the like and too little on the design of their aquascaping. There is no framework supporting the rock, it is just all carefully placed. I run no chiller thanks to the design of the system. The 4 inch fans contribute, but more than anything having two aquariums on one system that alternate lighting cycles really helps. I plan on doing this with the 180 combined with a larger frag system, although on that I’ll still probably need a small chiller. We’ll see… Rtcpenguin by far my favorite LFS is Roozens. I’ve bought many of my corals there and a few fish, although you need to have a good eye for healthy fish and get them “off the boat� when they come in. They do retail and wholesale, and I have seen so many LFS in the area buying their fish there at close to the same prices that we pay. The bottom line is that they bring in livestock DIRECT from around the globe that avoids cherry picking, so many of the things you see in my tank are from there at normal non-cherry picked prices. Most of my fish I buy online now though, due to the guarantee and superior quality. Regardless of how healthy fish sometimes look, many die for unapparent reasons and it’s nice to know they are guaranteed. Also, companies will sell you only the best and healthiest if they know they have to replace it if it dies. Poseidon, everyone gets along great, except for the cardinals that are always fighting for breeding rights… Thunil you bring up a good point. Not all 65 gallon tanks would be able to support this fish load, but mine does. There are two reasons a tank could be overstocked IMO. One is by territory. Everyone gets along fine there so no worries. The second is through bioload. Between my 100 pounds of live rock, Euroreef skimmer, refugium, filter sock, and water changes I am able to keep levels not only within check, but good enough to keep sps. Also, number of fish is never a good determinate of bioload. There are clownfish breeders who keep hundreds of clownfish in 10 gallon tanks when they are small. I also stocked this tank knowing I would have the 180 up when the new house is built. There is a difference between stocking a tank and stocking a tank for the long term, as is evidenced by the clownfish example above. However, this does not justify those that say, “If I have problems I’ll just buy a larger tank.� Just because I keep these fish does not mean every 65 gallon tank can handle the bioload. With all of this said it’s obvious that in recent years the ability to handle higher bioloads in saltwater aquariums has risen. The old days of a few fish in a tank aquascaped with dead coral skeletons are long behind. Also, those starting in the hobby should keep much less of a bioload than the system can potentially handle to help when the unavoidable mistakes we have all made arise. As we continue to advance in the hobby you’ll see more tanks with higher loads of fish. Another important point is that, for example, one five inch fish will add much more biolaod than five one inch fish. Also, certain types of fish contribute much more than others. Oh yeah, the tiger goby is just really neat I think too! I love fish I’ve never seen that don’t cost an arm and a leg… Fishykid my electricity averages about $120 a month for the apartment, although there are times when they don’t read the meter and bill us for an “estimate� which is around $50. We then suffer when the bill comes when they catch up in reading the meter and it is significantly more. It all works out the same though now that I’ve spoken with the company and understand why we get varying bills despite the tanks consuming the same monthly. Leishman you crazy Brit, my internet is down at work so I have no access to the images. At the latest they will be up on Monday… they would also get up faster if I didn’t have local reefers asking for help with their new 250 gallon tanks… oh wait that’s you!  JK by the way…Atram thanks… that 10 gallon had 180 gallons of ideas in it as I always say. The funny thing was that I thought that would hold me over until our house was built Moga, are you a WAMAS member? My view on tangs is different than most of the tang police… Most people group all tangs into one group requiring a certain size tank, but I divide them up by genus and sometimes species as some are vastly different. Those of the genus Zebrasoma (yellows, scopas, black) are much more suited to smaller aquariums. I would not keep these permanently in a three foot tank when larger, but these are much more suited to small confines than some other tangs. The bristletooth tangs of the genus Ctenochaetus like my tomini are the same. However, those in the genus Acanthurus (Achilles, powder blue, clown, shoal) are much more mobile and require much larger systems IMO. On the species level some of these are VERY nasty like the shoal and the clown even when given enough space. Look at 64Ivy’s 500 gallon that is ruled by his sohal. I have always loved clown tangs, but I have reservations about adding one of these to even the future 500 gallon for that reason. Even when these guys are small they should be kept in larger tanks IMO… I could go on and on about this but I am always very concerned about the welfare of my animals, and for that reason I would not have these two tangs in my tank if I didn’t think they were well cared for. I feel most sorry for the tangs left in LFS tanks with nothing to graze on and nowhere to hide. My guys display natural behavior and are fat and healthy… Chris I will elaborate on the plumbing later to help you out… Thanks again all for the kind words as they mean a lot. This hobby is exciting in so many ways and there is no telling what the future will bring. First hand accounts are the best form of knowledge and this board has them on every aspect thanks to reefers like all of us. Pictures will be coming…
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- John Attention to detail! Just say NO to detritus What is recommended to the novice and what experienced reefers do are two different things. |
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#67
09/10/2004, 03:50 PM
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WOW great tank and it looks very natural too. Keep up the good work.
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"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there." ---Yogi Berra |
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#69
09/10/2004, 04:33 PM
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Auckland many of the photos as mentioned were taken by my good bud Robie Sayan (Robz), but I'm not sure what camera he has, although it's an expensive one! However, all of the photos from my nano thread were taken by me using the same model camera that Robie used when his tank was TOTM... the Nikon Coolpix 990. I have also used the newer yet not so expensive Nikon Coolpix 4300 (around $400) on some of the photos in the article. The Nikon Coolpix line is well known for its abitilty to take great macro shots and I am looking into buying another one soon. They also make great underwater enclosures for these guys for those who scubadive.
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- John Attention to detail! Just say NO to detritus What is recommended to the novice and what experienced reefers do are two different things. |
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#71
09/10/2004, 04:48 PM
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Thanks Mike... it's a tough search, although I have always heard good things about The Marine Center's regals. I was ready to order from them before finding mine. Also, Liveaquaria has small Red Seas available now which they almost never have. As I've mentioned Liveaquaria really does ship nice fish although I'd write them and ask them if they get their regals feeding first.
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- John Attention to detail! Just say NO to detritus What is recommended to the novice and what experienced reefers do are two different things. |
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#72
09/10/2004, 04:48 PM
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Quote:
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#73
09/10/2004, 04:52 PM
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And I was impressed with the 10! Can't wait to see the 500.
Congrats |
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#74
09/10/2004, 04:52 PM
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Yeah you know I really think this fish in particular is benefitting from better collection and shipping methods... auckland where are the specimens coming from that you're talking about?
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- John Attention to detail! Just say NO to detritus What is recommended to the novice and what experienced reefers do are two different things. |
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#75
09/10/2004, 04:54 PM
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Carl while I know the 500 will require more work than the 10, I really don't think any tank will be as complicated as that little 10 was...
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- John Attention to detail! Just say NO to detritus What is recommended to the novice and what experienced reefers do are two different things. |
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