Tank of the Month - March 2007

[Skipper]

This month we are featuring John Tangeman's (drtango) beautiful reef aquarium:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/images/RChomepage.jpg (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/index.php)

More details can be found here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/index.php) or by clicking on the picture above.

Congratulations, John!


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<center><font color="#FFFFFF" size="-1">If you'd like to nominate a tank
for Tank of the Month, click <a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/newthread.php?s=&action=newthread&forumid=189" target="_blank"><font color="#FFFFFF">here</font></a>
or use the button to the right.</font></center>
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<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="27%"><img src="http://reefkeeping.com/images/nominate1.gif" border="0" title="Click here to nominate a Tank of the Month"> (http://reefcentral.com/forums/newthread.php?s=&action=newthread&forumid=189)
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[Ellery]

Congratulations John! You have an awesome system --- I'll hopefully meet you in person if you're coming to the Seneca Park Zoo event. It's great to finally meet all the people you chat with online.

[Misled]

Beautiful tank John. Love the way you hid the overflows and pipes!

[tom obrecht]

Another well deserved honor! Keep up the good work!

[Gary Majchrzak]

Congratulations! One of the most beautiful reef aquariums I've seen in person.

[KEEPERZ]

very nice-congrats-do you dose anything to your tank besides fish poop? :D

[805puffer]

nice looking tank, good job! if i may ask, what is that green coral on the very bottom of the tank, it kind of looks like grass? thanks

[blue20051]

delete

[SEAFLOWERS]

well deserved my friend, and I love the Angelfish, one of my favorites!

[drtango]

Thanks all!

Keeperz--I dose Kalk, Calcium reactor, water changes and fish poop--that's it. I briefly fooled around with prodibio, thinking I could make my skimmer work better with a higher bacterial load--made no difference as far as I could see.

1203 Custom--those are Green Star Polyps, growing all over the place. Looks nice on the bottom, royal pain when it creeps up the rock towards the SPS

John

[TropTrea]

While I'm personaly not a SPS buff when I look at some of the tanks like this one I do start getting that itch.

I realy like the degree of DIY here. In my mind if can Do It Yourself successfully that is a big advantage. I had seen to many DIY projects where someone wanted to bulid something for $100 instead of spending $150 for a ready made unit. However in the long run they enned up spending $300 and it never worked as good as the one they could have bought for $150.

Well I'm hoping on having my rebuild done in a few months provided money holds out. My big hope is that it wioll come out to look half as good as this unit and I'll be a happy camper. Personaly I'm threading into some uncarted territory for DIY projects on this one. But with seeing John's finished tank my hopes are building up fast.

Lets see more tanks with a high percentage successful DIY ideas.

[blide]

John,

Was there ever a time your SPS lacked in color? Did you notice any increase in coloration when the colonies grew larger? What about phosphate control?

Sorry for all the questions...

Oh and your tank is amazing. :)

[tared]

what a beautiful tank and after you reorganize, just out of shear indulgence i would love to see what you do with a larger tank.


thanks

[reef_research]

Great job!

just a few questions:

You mentioned you had a maxima and a blue lincknia starfish. Dont stars prey on clams?

How long, and when (relative to the tanks begining) did you have the tiger tailed cukes?

What are the biggest pro's/con's to having such a proportionally large sump?

Sorry for the questions,

[TropTrea]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9417385#post9417385 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef_research
Great job!


What are the biggest pro's/con's to having such a proportionally large sump?

Sorry for the questions,

I'm not John but I'm also planning on a large Sump system. As far as know the only drawback is cost wich is actually minimal compared to other items.

Pro's
First off the larger the total water column the more stable everything is and when you get changes they are usually much slower.

I'n my system I'm giong with a 70 galloon Refugium on a 120 gallon display tank. The refugium is a great ade in the consumption of different nitrogen molicules, and phosphates. Besides that it can be a great source of microganism to feed your system with.

I have read some older books where individuals had huge Refugiums/sumps and were successful even without protein skimmers.

[drtango]

Blide-I think I noticed and increase in color as the fish got bigger, and ate/pooped more. Big skimming and some GFO keeps phosphate down.

Reef-Research-agree with the above statements--the pro of having a larger water volume is huge, also plenty of room for skimmer and other stuff. Expense is minimal, as a big rubbermaid tub is pretty cheap, though you do need a more robust pump if your sump is in the basement.

The main Con is space--you need a basement or dedicated reef room for a sump this size.

John

[reef_research]

thanks!

You mentioned you had a maxima and a blue lincknia starfish. Dont stars prey on clams?

How long, and when (relative to the tanks begining) did you have the tiger tailed cukes?

thank you,

[Skipper]

Hey reef-research... No, linckia starfish do not prey on clams.

[taflaw]

Congratulations! Your reef is amazing!!!

[drtango]

Skipper is right-on, blue linckia are likely herbivores. Actually, I've never even seen it go for leftover food like a serpent star.

The cukes have been in the tank since day 1, they came from my previous system with a DSB. Seems like they don't miss the sand at all...

John

[blueplanet]

Hi John,
awesome sight! beautiful!
Some specific questions if u don't mind:
1. How high is your cabinet, tank and canopy?
2. What's dimension of your tank & sump?

m plannning a new set up (upgrade). your experience certainly helps. :).

[Rokdog]

Now thats a beautiful tank

[meschaefer]

Beautifull tank. I love the way you hid the overflows.

[MiddletonMark]

Beautiful tank, I've admired it for a few years now.

Congratulations :thumbsup:

[cwemde]

Impressive corals. Incredible color. The Emperor Angel is indeed a unique addition to a reef system. Congratulations.

[fishtk75]

John,
What are the lights timed for each time?
Also what is pumping the limewater to the tank for makeup water?
The SPS you have you said you never feed the SPS directly.
That you do that you feed the fish a lot! then generally feed them a generous tablespoon of Formula One large marine pellets daily, along with a playing card sized piece of Nori. An autofeeder sprinkles some Spectrum pellets during the workday.

Do you feed anything more for the corals?
Add any trace elements?

And how does everyone feed?

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9415526#post9415526 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drtango
those are Green Star Polyps, growing all over the place. Looks nice on the bottom, royal pain when it creeps up the rock towards the SPS Enviable setup, very nice! How do you deal with the GSP encroachment on your more valued corals?

[Subliminal]

Awesome tank, man!

[volivier]

I hope my frags grow into your tank when they grow up! LOL Makes me rethink my DSB, how did you decide to go bare bottom? If I could get those results I'd take my tank apart and remove the sand.

[drtango]

Blueplanet- Entire setup is 6 feet 9 inches tall, the stand is about 40 inches. Tank is a standard 180--72 x 24 x 24. Sump is rubbermaid trough--I'd guess about 30 X 50

Fishtk75--side halides are on 11-8, middle halide 11:30-9, actinics 8-10. I use an inexpensive aqua-medic peristaltic dosing pump to drip Kalk. No trace elements are dosed, I do change about 15 gallons weekly. I don't feed the SPS; I think the light, flow and whatever they can get from the water column via fish waste (fragments of food from eating, bacteria etc from poop) is enough.

Dudester- The GSP are a real pain. I'll peel them, hit 'em with kalk paste, or if I'm really mad kalk paste + lye (careful with that!). They're pretty, but grow like a weed.

Volivier--I decided to go bare bottom after two previous bad experiences with a DSB. Seemed like the bed "filled up" after a few years and started releasing organics. Nothing scientific to back this up, but I thought it might be better to remove the organics rather than leaving them in the bed to break down. I couldn't figure out where the waste goes--even the tiny sand bed critters leave waste. My previous DSB's stunk horribly when I tore the tanks down. I'm sure there are folks out there who can maintain a DSB long term, I'm just not one of them!

Thanks all for your nice feedback and interest.

John

[volivier]

when you went barebottom, did you have any issues with a nitrate rise? i had to did into my refugium for a wrasse that'd took a ride through the overflow, and it made my nitrates go from zero to I don't remember how much, but it raised the nitrates.

[Elliott]

Congratulations on a job well done, absolutely beautiful. It's inspiring to see someone create such an amazing reef and use a no nonsense "simplistic" approach. Although simple by design it's certainly a complex and well thought out system. Yours is one of the most deserving tank of month selections I have seen.

[blueplanet]

John,
Many thanks. Beautiful tank. Your knowledge is impressive too.
I share your approach of keeping things simpler: as such, I normally do not feed my SPS as I have large fish like you. Fish/food wastes and whatever seems to sustain & grow them well.

[blueplanet]

Volivier,
IF I may volunteer my humble personal experience. I have no regreat of movin' from DSB to BB. Nitrate is manageable with strong circulation & skimming.
plus: if you are more SPS dominated - BB is good. If other inverts, some sand bad may be better ... so depends on your tank and what you keep inside too.
Cheers!

[drtango]

Blueplanet said it well--the key to barebottom is high flow and agressive wet skimming to get the organics out before they break down.

I also agree that for a softie/LPS display, barebottom may not be the best setup. I had fields of Xenia that melted away in the sandless system. My few LPS are doing "ok", but not thriving as the SPS are.

John

[MO Will]

Hi John

I love the tank and the simplistic approach

What type of shopvac do you use to vacuum detritus - I would have thought that a shopvac would suck too much water to be helpful

Also - do you try to route the flow somehow to try to get all of the detritus to end up in one place?

Thanks

Will

[Hop]

Just wanted to say congrats! Love the tank. I really like the stock selection and look forward to seeing more of it down the road!

[drtango]

Will-

I have one of the smaller 3 gallon shop vacs from Lowes.

I reduced the fittings with junk from my "plumbing bin" to 1/2 inch. I have a "T" fitting in the suction line so I can use my thumb to control the suction and break siphon when the vac gets full.

Works like a charm!

John

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9444665#post9444665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drtango
Will-

I have one of the smaller 3 gallon shop vacs from Lowes.

I reduced the fittings with junk from my "plumbing bin" to 1/2 inch. I have a "T" fitting in the suction line so I can use my thumb to control the suction and break siphon when the vac gets full.

Works like a charm!

John Crazy as it sounds, John, we need a photo of your shop vac plumbing mod. That's exactly what I've been needing, but alas I lack the plumber's creativity!

[afishfanatic]

John, Your tank is increible! I have one question. Do you know the name of the sps coral that white base, green polyps, and purle tios? It is in the last row of corals posted and is in the middle column next to the green mille. Also the name of the picture is: tn_IMG_3884_JPG.jpg

Thanks!

[powderbluetangy]

john

how much kalk do u put in that 40 gal bucket & how often do you stir it during the week?

doesnt kalk topoff go bad if its exposed to the air for an extended period of time?

great tank!!

[Skipper]

powderbluetangy: a quote from Randy Holmes-Farley's article...

"Summary

Limewater can lose potency by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air, forming insoluble calcium carbonate. Since calcium carbonate is not an effective supplement of calcium and alkalinity in reef aquaria, the limewater can become less useful through this process. The rate at which this happens in large containers, such as plastic trashcans with loose fitting lids, is much less than many aquarists expect. There is, in fact, little degradation under typical use conditions. Consequently, the dosing of limewater from such large still reservoirs can be just as effective as dosing using any other scheme, and may have substantial advantages. These advantages include simplicity of the system and the ability to use organic acids such as vinegar to boost the potency. The use of a reactor to dose limewater has the advantage of requiring less space, but does not have the oft-stated advantage of eliminating degradation by atmospheric carbon dioxide that is reported to plague delivery from reservoirs."

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.php

[powderbluetangy]

excellent, thank you skipper... looks like a 40gal trashcan will be added to my system :)

[acrouse]

John-congratulations on tank of the month. Impressive how simplicity = elegance in your tank. Beautiful coloration and arrangement of corals.

I am interested in how you like the automatic fish feeder and what brand you are using? Any major malfunctions with it?

thanks
jolene

[jgarey]

Your tank is just beautiful!!!
If you don't mind me asking, what was the name of the company on the internet that you got your canopy and stand from? I have a 125 reef and need to get a taller stand and and new canopy. Yours is really nice. Thanks for any info.

Jennifer
:rollface:

[fishtk75]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9438408#post9438408 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drtango
Blueplanet- Entire setup is 6 feet 9 inches tall, the stand is about 40 inches. Tank is a standard 180--72 x 24 x 24. Sump is rubbermaid trough--I'd guess about 30 X 50

Fishtk75--side halides are on 11-8, middle halide 11:30-9, actinics 8-10. I use an inexpensive aqua-medic peristaltic dosing pump to drip Kalk. No trace elements are dosed, I do change about 15 gallons weekly. I don't feed the SPS; I think the light, flow and whatever they can get from the water column via fish waste (fragments of food from eating, bacteria etc from poop) is enough.

Dudester- The GSP are a real pain. I'll peel them, hit 'em with kalk paste, or if I'm really mad kalk paste + lye (careful with that!). They're pretty, but grow like a weed.

Volivier--I decided to go bare bottom after two previous bad experiences with a DSB. Seemed like the bed "filled up" after a few years and started releasing organics. Nothing scientific to back this up, but I thought it might be better to remove the organics rather than leaving them in the bed to break down. I couldn't figure out where the waste goes--even the tiny sand bed critters leave waste. My previous DSB's stunk horribly when I tore the tanks down. I'm sure there are folks out there who can maintain a DSB long term, I'm just not one of them!

Thanks all for your nice feedback and interest.

John

Thank you John

[uscharalph]

Very Nice!! Someday......

[frezel]

first i would like to say WOW awesome tank, i have been in reef keeping about 12 years now and really got interested in your use of kalkwasser, i plan on setting up my ro unit to direct feed into a trashcan and an JBJ top off to fed my sump, i wanted to dose kalk to see what results i can get, but have a few questions after trying to mux a batch at home myself,

1. after mixing the kalk in a 5 gallon bucket (6tsp to 5 gallons ro/di) only the top half of the water went clear and the lower half remained cloudy, is this normal, or does the kalk water go clear throughout.

2. i am assuming the kalk settles out to the bottom of the bucket and the water is saturated to its max? if thats the case is it ok to dose the cloudy limewater (drip) into the sump?

i understand the principles ( i think) but just am unfamiliar with the actual process, is there a specific amount u add to your trashcan? or do u just dump abunch in and stir and let settle out and than use whats left.

Also does your pump in trashcan sit on bottom? does it have some type of tube that goes to top of can to shipon clear water..

Please help, and thanks in advance, in the mean time ill be sitting here drooling at your tank :P

[gman0526]

Very nice indeed :D Congrats!!!

"As easy as falling off a log.."

[kmagyar]

John has the right amount of dedication and love for the hobby. I have to say, he has been a true inspiration for me over the years. Remember this John?

His 92 corner which has been replaced by his current 180; This is from several years back.

http://users.adelphia.net/~kmagyar/rcthreads/Jtangeman_front.JPG

http://users.adelphia.net/~kmagyar/rcthreads/Jtangeman_left.JPG

http://users.adelphia.net/~kmagyar/rcthreads/Jtangeman_right.JPG

Thanks for years of inspiration for many people and many more to come. Are the future plans still brewing John?

Keith

[fishtk75]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9459943#post9459943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by frezel
first i would like to say WOW awesome tank, i have been in reef keeping about 12 years now and really got interested in your use of kalkwasser, i plan on setting up my ro unit to direct feed into a trashcan and an JBJ top off to fed my sump, i wanted to dose kalk to see what results i can get, but have a few questions after trying to mux a batch at home myself,

1. after mixing the kalk in a 5 gallon bucket (6tsp to 5 gallons ro/di) only the top half of the water went clear and the lower half remained cloudy, is this normal, or does the kalk water go clear throughout.

2. i am assuming the kalk settles out to the bottom of the bucket and the water is saturated to its max? if thats the case is it ok to dose the cloudy limewater (drip) into the sump?

i understand the principles ( i think) but just am unfamiliar with the actual process, is there a specific amount u add to your trashcan? or do u just dump abunch in and stir and let settle out and than use whats left.

Also does your pump in trashcan sit on bottom? does it have some type of tube that goes to top of can to shipon clear water..

Please help, and thanks in advance, in the mean time ill be sitting here drooling at your tank :P

Frezel,
I am not this John but I will help.
Kalk is clear on top is normal that is how it mixes and chalk at the bottom. Never dump cloudy limewater only the clear mixed the cloudy is too strong and will burn with high PH. on top. I put 1 tsp to gallon to start if you see calcium drop put 1/2 tsp more a gallon and never go over two tsps to a gallon its too much.
The pump he did not say but I use one once to mix up the new limewater with the old and then let it sit and dose the clear then.

Here what to read from the reef chemistry fourm.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

there is alot about limewater there.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.htm

[drtango]

Thanks everybody for your kind words!

Dudester--will try to get a pic, but basically I took off the hose and used various ever decreasing pieces of vinyl hose to make the connection

afishfanatic--no idea what that one is...open to suggestions

powderbluetangy--ditto what Skipper/Randy said

acrouse--it's a cheap-o battery powered unit from Petsmart, no
problems over several months so far..

frezel--I dump about 5-6 heaping tablespoons of Kalk in, dump in
RO water and forget it. I use an Aquamedic peristaltic
dosing pump with the intake tubing at the very bottom
of the can, just above the sludge. I don't worry at all
about clear or milky. The dosing pump is linked to a float
switch in the sump. Randys articles posted above are
very helpful to review...

Keith---great pics! Glad you still have some. The little green colony on the left is now the giant tabling green milli! Too bad I lost many/most of those corals in the "great recession" I blamed on the DSB. Bigger tank is in the early stages of negotiation, may have to wait until we get another one through college....



Thanks again all..

John

[drtango]

Sorry jgarey, missed your question

This is the place, I ordered a custom stand and am quite happy with the result. It comes in a couple of large boxes, all you need to do is screw it together and paint/finish. Very nice quality wood and finish work.


http://stores.ebay.com/Dayton-Cabinets

[Lion_Babe]

Awesome tank, John!

[coqui1pr]

John you have a beautiful tank simply amazing.What salt are you using for your water changes?

Nestor

[THEKIDSTA1]

DO YOU EVER GET BLEACHING...I MEAN I HAVE SPS...AND EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT THEN BAM!!!...AN ACRO STARTS TO BEALCH...THEN STOPS LEAVING ME ONE OR TWO STALKS....WHAT GIVES???

[THEKIDSTA1]

BTW I ONLY DOSE KALK, NO CALCIUM REACTOR. I DO HAVE A YELLOW SLEEPER GOBY WHO SUCKS UP SAND ALL DAY LONG AND CREATES A SAND CLOUD..I WANT TO GET RID OF HIM BECAUSE HE HAS DISPLACED ALL OF MY SAND FROM THE REAR OF MY TANK TO THE FRONT...HE SPITS OUT THE SAND THRU HIS GILLS....LITTLE CHIT....

[drtango]

Nestor-

I use a mix of Instant Ocean and Oceanic---More IO if I want my alk higher, more Oceanic for Calcium and Magnesium. I find that, in general, 80% IO and 20% Oceanic keeps my tank well balanced and my wallet happy. I did try Tropic Marin Pro for a bucket or two, didn't notice any difference.

THEKIDSTA1

Of course I've had a bleaching event, but truthfully not (yet) in my current system. Maybe the sleeper goby is stirring up some sand nastiness....

John

[THEKIDSTA1]

thanks John, i get frustrated when some of my sps are fine then i see a speck of whiteness and the enevitable bleaching...its frustrating when you buy a coral for $65, and it bleaches...i think i will start with frags and let them grow...it will hurt less on me and my wallet.
lastly, what did you do to stop the bleaching???....could it be the nasty stuff floating in the water after the sleeper goby stirs up the sand??? or water quality?...everything sems to be fine, alk is a bit high, but stable, mag is ok and calcium is 450-500...amonia 0 ect....
i cant wait till my tank looks like yours with all of the stonies!!!!!!

[ljsreptiles]

Incredible looking tank!

[drtango]

THEKIDSTA1

I've found, as have others, that wild caught SPS are MUCH more prone to bleaching than captive grown frags.

I'd suggest obtaining frags from well established, captive grown colonies. ORA is an excellent source for hardy, fast growing frags, as is your local reef club.

John

[Jerry's_Reef]

A very beautiful field of SPS corals. I especially like the way some of them are flat on top.

[MSAreef]

Hi John, Absolutley lovely. Definitely a setup to aspire to. I was just wondering how you keep the back glass so clean. Do you scrape it off often? That must be a challenge to do without damaging any of the corals.

[drtango]

MSAreef-

Thanks for the kind words. I use a Hammerhead magnet. Several of the tabling corals need to be periodically hacked back to allow passage of the magnet...

John

[nosh]

Amazing tank!

[AquaPython]

a beautiful tank!
can someone tell me what this coral is and where to get it?
this is one of the most beautiful things i have ever laid eyes on!
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/images/IMG_1381.JPG

[Skipper]

I think that's the Pachysersis rugosa.

[drtango]

Once again, Skipper is right on.

I love this coral as well---I'm lucky that mine took on a green flourescent coloration. My wife actually picked this out at a LFS years ago, it was browned out and sickly, but she thought it was "pretty". I've got it in a high flow area on the bottom, and each year it gets more bizarre looking.

These corals do turn up at the LFS periodically, but are often brown. If you see one, take a chance--mine has been extremely hardy.

Side note--"pachy" is the latin derivation, I think, for elephant----thus the common coral name "Elephant skin coral"

John

[mattsilvester]

Hey Dr. Tango

Just wanted to say well done, what a great tank. I am setting up a 240 at the moment, and absolutely love your (relatively) low tech approach.

Regards

Matt

[AquaPython]

dr tango,
this is exactly why i like it. i have seen this coral in one LFS many times in tan-brownish color frags the size of coffee plates. I always liked the texture and it had gone under a different common name. i have tried to ask if people have had any luck or pictures with it in the past, and never gotten any results.
are you saying this piece was that color when you got it, and turned flourescent green in your tank?
also, any chance of you ever fragging it ? :)

[mattsilvester]

I am still in amazment about how simple your system is.

As someone that is currently gearing up for an SPS system, with a few big fish - not at all disimilar to your fish - I am getting quite nervous about managing everthing...... but your tank gives me some inspiration :-)

So basically you feed well, you top up with kalk, you have a calcium reactor, and you do weekly 15 gal water changes.......... together with heavy skimming and good water flow, and that is more or less it? No refugium either?!?!?!?

I must say, well done, you are an inspiration to us all! You give me hope!

Thanks for sharing,, and once again well done on TOTM!
Regards,

Matt

[drtango]

AquaPython--

Yes, it was quite brown, sort of an "olive drab" when I got it. Have not really fragged it much as it's very hard to reach. If I manage to break off a chunk during a tank cleaning mishap I'll let you know..

Matt-

Yes, that's about it. Basically I'm exporting nutrients "up front" by removing as much as I can before it settles and breaks down. Simplistically, a barebottom system is like flushing a toilet---and a DSB/refugium system is more like a septic tank with a leach field. Both work, both can go horribly wrong, it's a matter of choice, though I personally have had much better success with SPS in my current system.

Thanks for the kind words

John

[mattsilvester]

John,

I prefer the concept of bare bottom, personally. However, my newest tank has a 2" brace running the length of the tank at the top and bottom - its the bottom bit that worries me. If I were to put a starboard tye substance on the bottom, then I would end up with a 1/4" void under it - and I think it would look awful it the the board was cut to 20" wide to allow for a 2" gap at the front and back........

Bare bottom and just glass....... I;d be sort of worried if a rock fell or something that it would chip / crack the bare glass.

Hence, I am planning to go ahead with a thin scattering of sand on the bottom ..... initialyl I tohught 1", but now I am thinking a half inch.......

Cheers,

Matt

[TropTrea]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9548285#post9548285 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattsilvester
John,

Bare bottom and just glass....... I;d be sort of worried if a rock fell or something that it would chip / crack the bare glass.

Cheers,

Matt

Yes having beedn in the business of selling larger tanks as well as custom building them I must admot thaqt there are rare ocassions or returns.

1. case of return is someone put the tank on an un-even surface and the unequal presure on the glass caused a side or the bottom to crack.

2. I have not seen this with tempered glass but tanks with none tempered bottoms will crack when a heavey object like live rock is droped on them. This is one reason why I never had even one bare bottomed tank out of over 100 when I ran my pet store.

Now what I have seen done frequently is the use florescent light grills spaced off the bottom which protects the tank bottom from falling objects plus with forced water circulation under the plate blows out and dirt that wantys to settle on the bottom. The only big draw back here Algea control on the bottom as well as grate.

Dennis


Dennis

[volivier]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9526794#post9526794 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Skipper™
I think that's the Pachysersis rugosa.

wow, it is very pretty, i'd have guessed a monti cap with that grew in strange formation. LOL I've seen the elephant coral i've seen are ugly, guess i'll take a chance next time i see one.

[sweetcheeks]

This is my very first post EVER, and of course I think your tank is beautiful.
Mostly, I wanted to thank you for your statement on the spouses and:
"the art of negotiation, creative budgeting and, most importantly, taking advantage of any opportunity to upgrade our systems"
because this is so true. And I thought that I was literally crazy about my tanks. Now I realize: I AM, but there is a support group for people like me! Thanks Dr Tango.

[CJ]

Congratulations, John. I have been rather inactive on this board for some time due mostly to health problems. Your tank is an inspiration and rekindled my interest. It has to be one of the most beautiful tank of the month in a long time.

Is the big beautiful blue coral, top center, the ORA Blue Tort Staghorn?

[drtango]

sweetcheeks--

Welcome to Reef Central! You'll find this board is one giant support group for our mutual obsession!

CJ-

Yes, that's the ORA Blue Tort. Gorgeous, hardy coral!

Thank you both for the kind words.

John

[Gary Majchrzak]

John- I see you've been very busy answering questions about your beautiful aquarium :)
One question- I'm trying to find info regarding the PAR of Reeflux 10k's run on eballasts. You wouldn't happen to have any links/data offhand, would you?

[mattsilvester]

John,

Do you think your methodology could be applied to a tank with a shallow sand bed? Apart from the sand, my system is going to be pretty simlar to yours:

Skimmer - Deltec 1060s (rated for 530 gals)
1000 gals/hr going through the sump (on a 250 gal system) - not a big sump like yours though.
4 or 5 Tunze streams in the display giving a total of 40-50 tank volumes/hr circulation
I am also rigging up an automatic water chage system, and plan on doing a 5% water change weekly.
I also plan on having a similar stocking plan to yours, and plan on feeding generously.

Is the concept of having a shallow sand in total oposition to your methedology?

Thanks

Matt

[drtango]

Hi Gary-

Sanjay reviewed the bulb a while back--

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2005/feature.html

It's also plugged in at the lighting archive site, bulb manufacturer is Coralvue, lamp name Reeflux 10k.


http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/index.htm


Matt-

I think a SSB would be fine as long as you vacuum it well at the time of a water change. Maybe Gary can chime in as that's exactly what he is doing....

John

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanx for those links, John.
Matt- My current aquarium is 1/2 (glass) barebottom and 1/2 SSB.
I stir. My critters stir.
With a DSB you don't want to stir. With a BB you don't need to stir.
This is John's thread and I don't want to hijack it, (so I won't post here again on the subject), but I will briefly say that SSB, DSB and BB aquariums can all "work", but each have different requirements and limitations.

[mattsilvester]

Hey Dennis - sorry buddy, I missed your post about the barebottom issue. I'd be honest, I definitely would not go for the egg crate on the bottom - wouldn't like the look of it.

It'll either be starboard (which I doubt), bare glass (which I'm I'm nervous of) or shallow sand bed (which I'm worried will become a shallow sand storm).

Cheers,

Matt

[mattsilvester]

You Right Garry. Sorry for hi-jakcing John. Enough said on the BB / DSB / SSB - forgot its a TOTM thread for a min - the sand debate can rage on elsewhere ;-)

Suffice to say your tank has made me re-think a few things - so thanks for that, and well done again.

Regards,

Matt

[drtango]

No worries Matt-

You might consider a VERY shallow SB with larger, heavier grained substrate which will hold better in flow and be easily stirred/vacuumed.

One of the most amazing reefs I've ever seen can be found here--this fellow removes/replaces his sandbed continuously with water changes.

www.oregonreef.com

His sand removal/cleaning routine can be found under "Feeding and Maintenance"

John

[NanoCube-boy]

Drtango, Awsome tank man. 180 gallons much be huge. I loved your SPS and large Imp. Angel you have. Suprise you keep the angel though.

Did you ever have problem about your angels nibbling on your corals?
Like does it get to the point to wipe out your SPS colonies?
Or it only nibble a small amount just to keep the sps from over growing?
What is this?
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/images/tn_IMG_1431_JPG.jpg

[drtango]

NanoCube-boy-

An occasional nibble, nothing major. I keep everybody well fed which I think helps.

The gadget in question is an OceansMotions wavemaking device, a rotating drum that sends flow through various ports. Read more here...

www.oceansmotions.com

John

[TropTrea]

I have seen the egg crate system used in ways that it did not distract from the beauty of the tank. Mid sized peices of base rock and live rock were completly covering the egg crates and they were completly out of site.

Under the egg crate a UG filter was also installed with a maxijet pump pulling any accumiatated debrie out from under the egg crate and into the filteration system loop.

Now form personal experience I prefer the Deep To Middle dept sand bases. 4" to 6" of fine sand has never given me an issue provided you do keep an antropd population to keep the sand base stirred up.

Dennis



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9557826#post9557826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattsilvester
Hey Dennis - sorry buddy, I missed your post about the barebottom issue. I'd be honest, I definitely would not go for the egg crate on the bottom - wouldn't like the look of it.

It'll either be starboard (which I doubt), bare glass (which I'm I'm nervous of) or shallow sand bed (which I'm worried will become a shallow sand storm).

Cheers,

Matt

[NanoCube-boy]

Drtango, I see what you meant on the wave maker, it looks like and awesome device.

[uscharalph]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9559231#post9559231 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drtango
No worries Matt-

You might consider a VERY shallow SB with larger, heavier grained substrate which will hold better in flow and be easily stirred/vacuumed.

One of the most amazing reefs I've ever seen can be found here--this fellow removes/replaces his sandbed continuously with water changes.

www.oregonreef.com

His sand removal/cleaning routine can be found under "Feeding and Maintenance"

John

That's a pretty cool site!!

[NanoCube-boy]

That site is awesome.

[drtango]

We're straying off topic, but I just saw that that amazing tank just crashed, from a simple but huge mistake---all SPS were lost!!!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1080179

[onefin]

Beautiful.

[trenfrow]

I am currently working on a canopy for a 120 gal tank. Would it be possible to see more detailed photos of the design. Anything would help. Thanks

[TropTrea]

Well I'm not John but if you don't mind my input perhaps I can shead a little light here.

A good working system is a matter of balance. On one end of the spectrum you have your deep sand bed, live rock, refugium, skimmer and other filterating systems then on the other end of the spectrum you have your load of live stock especialy corals and fish.

For a healthy system you need to keep both ends of the spectrum equally balanced. So if you increase the fish load you will need to increase something on the filteration side.

Now the filteration side is another balanced system in itself. Each system performs more than one function in the removal of the impurities of the water. Some systems are better at removing the Nitrogen ions, others the Phosphates, Proteins etc. However most filter types have the ability to filter out a small amount of one thing and a large amount of something else. Therefore a single filter type could work however it would be very ineffecient.

Not getting into particulars lets say we haqve three tyes of filter I, II, and III. We are removing 3 undesirables namely A, B and C. For each of these we need to remove 200 parts. So we make a chart on the combination

I II III Total
A 10 40 150 200
B 20 170 10 200
C 100 30 20 200

Now say we reduce the size of Filter II in half we get an imbalance.

I II III Total
A 10 20 150 180
B 20 65 10 95
C 100 15 20 185

Now we have created an imbalance which we need to compensate with anoither filter and in this case we will Filter 1 and make it 5.25 times as large as is was prior. The results now will be.

I II III Total
A 52.5 20 150 222.5
B 105 65 10 200
C 525 15 20 560

We are now getting enough filteration however the size and cost of Filter I has increased about 5.25 times and we have more filteration capabilities of impurity C then we realy need.

So hopefully you understand where I look at this as a balance issue. But also keep in mind that dependent upon your load compared to the next persons load your filtering needs will vary. Therefore what might work for John might be completly different than what works for Charlie.

Dennis






<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9557385#post9557385 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattsilvester
John,

Do you think your methodology could be applied to a tank with a shallow sand bed? Apart from the sand, my system is going to be pretty simlar to yours:

Skimmer - Deltec 1060s (rated for 530 gals)
1000 gals/hr going through the sump (on a 250 gal system) - not a big sump like yours though.
4 or 5 Tunze streams in the display giving a total of 40-50 tank volumes/hr circulation
I am also rigging up an automatic water chage system, and plan on doing a 5% water change weekly.
I also plan on having a similar stocking plan to yours, and plan on feeding generously.

Is the concept of having a shallow sand in total oposition to your methedology?

Thanks

Matt

[northbay-reefer]

Skipper congrat on yout Tank of the month, very beautiful tank and great job.

I notice that you are running two pumps in series, maybe some one has asked this question already, but after scanning through the thread I didnt see any. My question is why did you decided to use two pumps inseries beside the redundancy, and does it increase flows over all ? TIA

[mattsilvester]

Generally speaking, running two pumps in series will double the pressure - running them in parallel will double their flow rate...... assuming they are identicle pumps of course, and assuming they are at zero head.

Dunno if this is the reason here or not........

[northbay-reefer]

Darn sorry I missspelled identical :D :D am hoping that since I have my sump in the garage, running two pumps in series will help with the head loss

[mattsilvester]

Yes it would, although you are better off with an outright bigger pump.

[drtango]

I'm running two pumps in series for two reasons--increased head pressure to run the eductors upstairs--and redundancy. If there's a brief power outage and I'm not home, the chances of both pumps not starting is much less than one or the other freezing. Each alone has enough pressure to get water, and thus heat, upstairs.

Just heard a talk by Sanjay Joshi on system design as it relates to probability of failure, and he actually brought up the fact that two smaller pumps are probably better than one big one, particularly for sump return. If your closed loop fails, no big deal, but if you cant get water back from the sump, where most of us keep heaters, you could have big problems in a small amount of time.

Just my 2 cents

John

[Gary Majchrzak]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/images/IMG_1431.JPG
Hi again, John. I'm determined to discover the secret of your success :D
What 'Oceans Motions' device are you running? Has it been modified in any way to accomodate the use of penductors on your returns?

[edwinn]

niceeeeeeeee do you use calcium reactor,or just kalk.