Almost 11 foot long tank!

[t-bone2]

tattoo your tank and stand rocks I would not change or worry about a thing

[tattooreef]

Well i finally got my cal reactor in yesterday and we got it assembled last night so i guess tonight i have to build a shelf in the sump room for it to sit on and the bottle to sit under, i will post pics of it in the next couple of days. because it is a monster of a reactor (well at least for home use) i think we loaded a little over 20 lbs of media in it and it wasnt all the way packed full. i am looking forward to getting it installed and running

[tattooreef]

does anyone have alot of experience with cal reactors in particular the pacific coast brand i tried hooking my new one up last night and cant get it to draw water in, ??????? sometimes i hate new toys lol

[dismalorb]

I don't know too much about them either, but some pumps need to be primed. Did you prime the pump?

[tattooreef]

yes we primed the pump, and nothing. but on a brighter note i finally was able to contact someone at pacific coast and we got it all figured out and now i get to play with again and see if it will work out the way the explained it.

[erics3000]

Did you get the cr 140?

[spazz]

i dont think you have anythingto worry about. that stand is built better than most factory stands are built. most factory stands only use thin sheets of plywood to go between the front and back of the stand. this stand has very beefy cross braces. the glass does not need to touch the cross braces either. with most glass tanks, all the weight is on the sides of the glass not the bottom of the glass. an acrylic tank is the reverse of that. all the weight is on the bottom sheet and needs to be fully supported.
i have seen a couple of bare bottom glass tanks that have a white cover sheet undeer the tank so you cant see the sump and other equiptment.

by the way tatoo that tank is awesome! cant wait to see it full of corlas and fish. :beer:

[JCTewks]

there ya go...having Spazz chime in about the stand pretty much ends that question for all :):):) I think that Scott has all the merit he needs to put the doubters to rest :lol:

[tattooreef]

yes erics i got the cr140 dual chamber and now that i have tapped into my existing return lines and tied it into them it runs great!
spazz thanks for the compliment its nice to here that from someone who has as much merit in this industry, and there are quite a few corals in it in those pics but you have to stand sooooo far away to get a decent full tank shot that you can barely see them, and there have been quite a few more added since those were taken. and i am definately trying to reconfigure the my garage setup to try and make an appropriate space for the skimmer we were talking about, so as soon as i figure it out i will be givin you a shout.

[tattooreef]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc276/coreyzendner/10-22-07052.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc276/coreyzendner/10-22-07051.jpg

[tattooreef]

these were taken by coreyz a member of lmas(louisville marine aquaium society) at this months meeting which was at my house so we got some decent shots

[JCTewks]

WOW...Finally a full tank shot in the new house :lol:

are you running a surge tank on this? i may be dumb...but I thought I remember mention of one at the beginning of the thread...i'm too lazy and tired to go digging through the thread again :)

[tattooreef]

no i am not running a surge on this tank there wasnt a clean enough way for me to do it, i dont think there was ant mention of one that i can recall. and the last full tank shot was at the new house also along with the picsa of the sump room in its early stages but these tank shots were taken 10-21-07 so they are very recent.

[tattooreef]

not a whole lot of news to add on the system, except got rid of some very invasive mushroom and star polyp colonies and then added some new acro frags and peices of live rock to replace the blank spots and in doing so had a bit of a mishap. i got the rock from my lfs it was trade in rock out of someones system they had torn down and then sat at the store for a while so it was fully cured, therefor i did not quarantine it and could not find a place for one of the large peices in the display so naturally i just put it in the sump, about 30 minute later we heard a noise, didnt think much of it, then heard it again, then i noticed my water level was low in the display and no water rturning from the sump so jeremy and myself proceeded to disconect the return pump and tear it apart to find half of a medium sized snowflake eel lodged in the housing! well so to say my fish ate very fresh food last night. i will post pics later

[Jeremy Blaze]

Here is what we found when taking the pump apart!

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/eelinpump.jpg

[Pete_the_Puma]

First post in here,

Very nice tank !

Is that a HUGE Bristleworm? cant see well from the pic...

[Jeremy Blaze]

Its a moray eel! Read the post above the pic for the details.

[tattooreef]

thanks for the comment pete and welcome to the thread, and as jeremy said it is an eel, well at least what was left of him lol.

[tattooreef]

well i broke down today and ordered a large piece and some frags from reefer madness today. i ordered a large acropora samoensis, very bright blue and then a coule of frags (just for free shipping) lol. hopefully they will arive healthy as the temp has dropped here dramaticaly today. has anyone else here ordered from them? i hear great things about them so far i will post on it tomorrow.

[Bax]

A moray eel in your return pump?

When you didn't even know one was there?

Now that's different!

[nynex]

Sorry Jeremy but I beg to differ...On your love of glasscages...

Glasscages are the worst tank maker out there..Look at the silicone job they did on
this..It looks god awful!!!As far as Tom goes, I think him and his wife were the 2
of most rude people I ever delt with!

Obviously you didnt do a search on here for glasscages to see all of the horror
storys..mine included. A tank that big from GC....I would be afraid..very afraid!

[chriscobb]

Very nice setup......I skipped through alot of the thread looking for the nice pics, but I do have to agree with a real early post that dealing with GC....I know Tom and have dealt with him quite a bit, that tank is suppose to be on a solid bottom stand and that there is suppose to be foam laid before the tank is set in place or it voids the warranty

[tattooreef]

nynex are you refering to the silicone on this tank or were you refering to the silicone on the overflow boxes in the early pics on here because those were put in after the tank was built and the pics were before it was cleaned up, also the overflows were since changed out to totaly different ones that look incredibly clean. and sorry for your misfortune with your tank but mine has been up and running for over 8 months now and it has even been moved once and everything is fine.
chriscobb thank you for the compliment on the setup but i am not concerned for the waranty i had my stand built the way i wanted it and thats, that . once again this thread leads back to this and after all the timing of people whining and complaining about it, it is still up and running strong. please people move on, look at the thousands of dollars in livestock or the lighting or anything else

[ckprax]

I just have to say WOW! Your tank looks great, the length is awesome. Also beautiful stand and canopy! Thanks for sharing it with us

[nynex]

Tattooreef I was talking about the tank! GC is known for their horrible silicone jobs in
their tank builds! One guy on here had his Glasscages 220 gal burst in his living
room. I just dont think I would trust glasscages with a tank that long...

Your overflows are fine though...

[llewoh05]

Well Tattooreef, that is a LONG tank. I Love it and it looks freakin awesome. Im not a big open water fan, but you really pulled it off. Love the detail work on the stand. But i do have to ask, how did you get the wife to sign off on the costs?

[tattooreef]

llewoh05 well the wife doesnt have too much to say about the way i spend my money, as i dont with hers either, we have found that keeping our finances seperate avoids any fights about it and she actually loves it and smiles when i talk of going bigger one day, and just laughs at how much i actuly do spend.
nynex i agree that some silicone spots on mine werent the best looking but they are definatly strong, and cleaned up fine.
ckprax thank you for the compliment and i am not normally a huge fan of open wter either but for the amount of fish i wanted, and also believe it or not there is about 560 lbs of rock and 750lbs of sand in the display alone. and thank both of you guys for compliments on the stand and canopy i designed to mimic old world carpentry and then it took my self a close friend (that is a contractor) and two of his crew almost a week to build.

[h20poloman2]

looking good, can't wait to see it with more fish. :) Love all that swim room

[erics3000]

I am pleased with my glass cages tank. The seams look pretty good. I think they are pretty fair for the price.

That is a nasty eel. AUghhgg.

[tattooreef]

yeah erics i know it was crazy. but thats just my luck! lol. and trust me ever since then my little skimmer has been humping overtime and it has been nasty! and yeah i totally agree with you about GC. i did receive my corals from reefermadness yesterday and have to say that they look phenominal i am nuhting but pleased with them except that they advertised the big samoensis i bought at 7.5 inches and it was a little under 7 and it looked like it had a fresh cutting taken off of it. but oh wellthe color is great and it is a healthy peice and looks good where i had taken some of the other stuff out of the tank.

[Jeremy Blaze]

I guess I need to come by and take some new pics! We need to sit down and look at skimmer options as well.

[tattooreef]

yes jeremy i agree, i am thinking HUGE skimmer. thats what i want for christmas! lol.

[tattooreef]

well just for updates i bought an E.T.S.S. commercial skimmer, it is the 1400 i beleive and it stands a little over 4 ft tall and will be running it with a german style iwaki high pressure pump. also i will be switching the barracuda on the closed loop to a hammerhead over the weekend and also adding VHO actinic suplementle so i do have a busy weekend ahead of me

[tattooreef]

oh yeah and i will be cutting into the closed loop to add some more outlets , how many i am not sure me and jeremy are still arguing over that lol. and we will post pics friday or monday .

[erics3000]

Cant wait to see that skimmer

[tattooreef]

well i switched the pumps out and will be switching back to the berracuda for now as the hammerhead was too noisy for me as i am used to a completely silent tank in the display room, i think the pump may have been an older model or something. and also i got skimmer all plumbed in wich was a chore considering i had to drain 1 of the 2 sumps cut a new hole for a new bulkhead plumb it all in and let everything cure for the night and tonight i will refill the sump and turn it on for the first time. im all excited lol. i will post pics soon

[tattooreef]

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/3-1.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/4-1.jpg

[tattooreef]

not the greatest pics in the world but hey they came off my phone we will get some better ones soon, once it is up and running and producing some skimmate

[tattooreef]

just an up date the new skimmer is broke in and kicking some serious a** .i absolutely love it but one day will upgrade to one of spazz's volcano skimmers. other than that everything is doing great with the exception of the large acro i bought from reefermadness it croaked but they were awesome about giving credit for it though those guys are incredibly nice and professional

[tattooreef]

ok everyone with sps dominated tanks that tune in to this thread i am now having what i consider a big problem. as i last posted the large samoensis i purchased from reefermadness died and now a little more than a week later i have lost my other samoensis and am losing another nice acro that i have had for quite some time. my water parameters are absolutely perfect,and am now considering taking drastic measures and doing lugols dips on anything that doesnt look quite right, opinions , recomendations would be appreciated.

[sloburn]

Is that one of them there 55 gallon tanks they got a wal mart?

[JCTewks]

Try posting over in the SPS forum...soryy I don;t have any advice. Have you checked for redbugs or AEFW?

[tattooreef]

sloburn no its not from walmart. its a 40 breeder from a yard sale! lol.
JCTewks thanks i will definately try that , and yes i checked for red bugs, none at all and what is AEFW?

[Jeremy Blaze]

AEFW, Acropora eating flatworms.

FWIW< I have never seen either in your system. Trust me, I look and I'd let you know!

[tattooreef]

i know you would jeremy. thats why you are one of the few people i let touch my tanks. i did start a thread on the sps forum about this as well, so far no hits but i am keeping my fingers crossed.

[RayAllen]

I also bought a Glass Cages tank and was happy with it. The silicone job was fine. Not to mention I know several local reefers with them that are also happy. Great Tank!

[tattooreef]

thanks rayallen i always love to hear what people think of my system

[tattooreef]

not much to update right now, except i will be adding a frag tank into my sump room this weekend it will be a 30 breeder that we drilled 2 holes into last night. i went with that tank for the fact that i dont plan on needing too much space for frags and the footprint of the tank is almost the perfect size for what i want , i also set up a quarantine tank last night to house the couple new large acroporas, and the 22 peice frag pack the were ordered from reefermadness yesterday and arrived this morning i will post pics of the new corals in the quarantine system either tonight or tomorrow and will post some updated shots of the sump room this weekend or the beginning of the week.

[tattooreef]

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0357.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0355.jpg
quarantine
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0359.jpg
these things are why i dont have as much time as id like for the tank, building these from scratch is very time consuming
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0353.jpg

[Bax]

Nice bikes!

Cool frag tank too!

[erics3000]

looking good.

.Making me want to get a roadstar to play with...

[tattooreef]

thanks bax and eric. i do enjoy the bikes both riding them and building them, the bike business is slowly taking off and along with the tattoo shop going full strength i wear myself out most of the time, but somehow seem to always find time for my little tank project too!

[tattooreef]

not a lot to post on my tank lately just kinda sitting back watching everything settle in and color up, that and i have been building a new reef at the tattoo shop wich will make 2 in there now the new one i have been building is a 60 hex that we drilled and put a custom overflow box in, that has bulkheads drilled into it for custom return lines that run down to the bottom of the tank with lockline coming out of them. it will house a single species of coral a huge blue stag that the gys at reefermadness will be getting in for me(hopefully real soon) and either a single species of fish or maybe two or three species at most. the drain is ran into an adjacent closet to the tank where it feeds into a 100g rubbermaid, the closet used to be for med supplies for the tattoo shop so inturn i had to build a whaole new closet for that stuff. isnt it funny how our tanks start taking priority over everything. lol. the tank will be lit with one 400w 20k xm either in a lumenarc reflector or i will turn the entire canopy into a reflector(by the way building a canopy with a swinging door for a hex tank sucks). i know its not the tank this thread is for but it has turned out really cool and just wanted to bring it up. considering it is on a custom stand and canopy i hand built for the simple reason i have never seen a canopy on a hex or a cool stand either

[Jeremy Blaze]

Start a thread for it!

[erics3000]

If you start it put a link in your thread to it

[tattooreef]

i do think i a going to do a thread on it but i think i am going to wait until its done and just do it all at once, considering i havnt taken pics of it the whole build, i will have to start takng some now

[tattooreef]

just a quick update i did get the frag tank up and running very simple and clean little setup i will post pics of it tomorrow , right now it is full of softies for one of the reefs at my shop, but very soon it will be getting a lighting upgrade and start filling it with sps and lps .

[tattooreef]

im sorry i havnt posted pics of the frag tank yet i will asap, and one other thing i am adding 4 modded maxijets into the display this weekend, and will probly be running them through my aquacontroller, to create a wave like pattern. i will using the eco mods on the maxijet 1200s any one had good or bad luck with these?

[tattooreef]

well the modded maxijets are in the tank and absolutely awesome! i also am having a humidity problem in my garage so tomorow my contractor will be coming to put in 2 ventilaton fans , one from the actual sump room going through the brick wall on the exterior of the house wich will run 24/7 and another on the opposite side of the garage that will be on a switch and any time i see any condensation on the garage door i can simply switch on and vent the entire room out. any thoughts on this feel free to post thanks guys

[tattooreef]

well the ventilation is in and works phenomenally only negative thing that i have noticed is more than usual water evap. but i will take that over mold in my garage. i will be updating with lots of pics in the next couple days

[JCTewks]

Thanks for keeping this thread going! Looking forward to ssing how the tank is growing, and all of the new additions "D

[tattooreef]

yeah JC it has been growing quite a bit and there have been quite a few additions to it as for as trying to rid out all of the softies and replace with sps. and as far as keeping it going i think some people have just lost interest because i havent had time to take a ton of pics lately.

[erics3000]

I am still watchin..Just lurkin lately..SUper busy...

I am looking forward to your updates to.. I might need to do something in my garage for ventalation and heat this summer. I dont know if i want to close it off because I am a tight wad with space in my garage. The way you closed it of didnt look to complicated, but I am curious about heat. Livin in FL that scares me a little.

[tattooreef]

well eric the whole heat thing will be well helped with a ventilation fan especially if you close the sump space off as i did and then add a vent fan right to the room like i did, then i added a second one on a switch in open area of the garage. and trust me i am stingy with my garage space as well, so i figured closing the sump area off was the only way i could share my garage space with my bike building and my sump

[erics3000]

Yeah maybe I need to check into closing it off like you..

[tattooreef]

trust me if you closed it off you could do work out there worry free of getting any contaminates into your system as well. Wich is one of the main reasons i did it to mine

[erics3000]

I try not to start my bike in the garge and am cautious about spraying chemiclas. It does sound better and better..

[tattooreef]

with it closed off the way i have mine i have no worries about starting bikes welding or even painting in my garage as it is set up as a fully functional bike shop. although when painting i do take a few extra precautions. and as you can see i have no ill effects from anything

[tattooreef]

i havent posted in over a month so i thought i would check in. corals have taken off like wild fire lately i will be taking some new updated pictures soon and posting them i have quite a few new corals that have been in for a while now and all the old ones look phenominal.

[Jeremy Blaze]

And the bottom has not cracked!

[JCTewks]

LOL

[tattooreef]

ok jeremy dont be startin trouble ! lol

[reef_only]

Hi tattooreef,

I saw you are using ETSS skimmer too, my skimmer works great but when ever I clean my main display tank my skimmer loses skimmate right away; even I tried to do it very gently and hard to believe it could affect the pressure in the skimmer chamber for killing the skimmate. Do you experience the same problem? or know what might the cause to my skimmer?

Thank you!

[BigReef]

Try wearing gloves when you work in the tank. The oil from your skin will cause the bubbles to stick together and make the foam head collapse.

[reef_only]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12337393#post12337393 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigReef
Try wearing gloves when you work in the tank. The oil from your skin will cause the bubbles to stick together and make the foam head collapse.

Thanks I'll try with gloves; I think what you said makes sense; what happened was very strange to me.

[tattooreef]

i do experience the same thing as you, i even experience it right after a heavy feeding and anything like that , i honestly dont worry too much about as the skimmer is so efficient any way .

[Jeremy Blaze]

Yep, common with down draft skimmers.

[reef_only]

I scratched my head and was very curious what made it happen like that and thought it could be because of my setup. I tried to fix it; but nothing seems to fix the problem including wearing gloves like suggested but it didn't help neither. But I agree with you, with these kind of skimmers you tend to have more than enough skimmate most of the time anyway. It's good to know it is common.

[tattooreef]

just a quick update every one with the new shop build i have been doing and adding an 8 footer in there as well i have had little time to take care of my big baby at home, but i did con jeremyblaze into stoping over last night and taking a ton of pics that within a day or so either he or myself will get posted for you guys . and by the way i do have another build thread started on here in the large tank forum under tattoo studio 240, 365 total volume .

[Jeremy Blaze]

Hold on to your seats! Its time for photo overload!

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00272.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00281.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00288.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00303.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00325.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00334.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00337.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00339.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00343.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00348.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00374.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00392.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00393.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00395.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00387.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

Feel free to comment on my photography! Just got my camera last week, so I am still learning.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/DSC00366.jpg

[tattooreef]

thanks to jeremy for helping me out and posting pics of some of my corals in the tank , there a a lot more that we will post in time , and definitely need to get you guys some updated full tank shots

[patmack]

What do you think of the quality of this tank? Jermey do you have any pics of your tank?

[tattooreef]

patmack this is my tank jeremy just helped me out by starting the thread and by helping me upkeep some pics and stuff in here. i love the quality of the tank i cannot complain one ounce, other than the weight of moving it! lol. overall it has been an awesome tank with plenty of bracing and the glass is awesome super clear without being scratched real easy. i think over the year and a half that i have had it, it maybe has 1 or two tiny scratches in it, and i have even torn it down and moved it once.

[patmack]

Thats good to hear that it is a good quality tank. I thought it was your thread, I Just wanted to know if you guys had any pics of jeremy's tank.

[patmack]

I just looked at the pics of your bikes Those are SWEET!! My dad just built a bobber from the frame up it is a LOT of work.

[tattooreef]

i am sure jeremy does have threads on here somewhere and i am sure as soon as he sees this he will post some links to them. and yeah the bikes are a lot of work, that is my other "job" when i am not tattooing i build and paint custom bikes for clients on a personal level, i do not mass produce parts or anything like that each bike is built individualy for each client and no 2 of my bikes are ever the same. i usualy spend 3 to 4 months on each one. considering i do all the design , all the fabrication, all the welding , all the tear down , all the paint work , all of the wiring, all of the assembly, the only 2 things i do not do is building the engines( which i only use the best ) and the chroming as i do not want the huge hassle of setting up the dip stations. so i am completely involved in every step, almost hurts my feelings everytime i gota hand one over to the client at the end. and beleive it or not i actualy build these for people at a very affordable rate

[TriGa22]

Do you have a recent FTS?

[tbittner]

I'd love to see a FTS too.

[tattooreef]

i will get the glass nice and clean and have jeremy take some new FTs this week for you guys

[tbittner]

Thanks! I look forward to it. And isn't it fun cleaning that much glass??? :lol:

(I have a 120x36 front pane :) )

[tattooreef]

oh yeah just loads of fun !

[tattooreef]

sorry for the delay on the new FTS i have been very busy with the tank at the new shop breaking and trying to replace it, also i have kept jeremy busy helping me out as well. we will get som more posted very soon. on another note the tank and all inhabitants are doing absolutely awesome. except for 1 coral unexplainably dieing for no reason whatsoever although it did not affect anything else, thank god, because with all the stuff going on at the new shop i dont think i could have done anything to help or stop the situation.

[tbittner]

What coral was it?

[tattooreef]

it was a med sized colony that i was never sure of the name of, the weird thing is that it was in the system for over a year

[tbittner]

I've had that happen too. A coral that seems thrilled with it's location for a year, and within a couple of days, *poof*, it's gone. And everything else seems happy, nothing changed water wise, at least nothing that I can test for...

Obviously something changed. I actually suspect that two soft corals grew enough that they got close enough to each other so they started war and released toxins into the water, and some of it got on the coral that died. At least that is my theory.

[tattooreef]

well i finally had the chance to get back to work on my baby now that my new shop is open and running, unfortunately during the few months of killing myself working on the new shop and the new tank there this one got neglected a bit, and i did lose a couple of corals and a couple of fish, due to water perameters getting out of wack, but all is well now and the lost fish have been getting replaced along with a few new additions, of the biggest copperbands i have personally seen, a , powder brown tang, a kole tang and a gold spot rabbit fish

[BuddhaKiss]

I notice in some of the latest pics, you've got some juicy aiptasia...planning on trying to get rid of them? Btw great looking tank! I always get jealous looking at these mega tanks cuz I'm too poor, but it gives me something to aspire to one day.

[tattooreef]

yes buddhakiss i am currently working on getting rid of the aptasia, along with adding the huge copperband i have been getting inthe tank and doing some kalkwasser injections. and dont be jealous of the tank just plan and save for a long time and you will have a "mega tank" as well, trust me mine didnt happen overnight i planned this tank for years and years

[tattooreef]

yes buddhakiss i am currently working on getting rid of the aptasia, along with adding the huge copperband i have been getting inthe tank and doing some kalkwasser injections. and dont be jealous of the tank just plan and save for a long time and you will have a "mega tank" as well, trust me mine didnt happen overnight i planned this tank for years and years

[garrettm85]

I am loveing how this thing has changed and progressed. It will be amazing to see how the corals grow and color up in a 11ft presentation like this!

GJ and keep the pics coming.

Garrett

[Jeremy Blaze]

We need to get some new new pics! Get that glass clean and I'll take some pics.

[tattooreef]

no problem jeremy i will clean it and we can take some shots tonight if you are down for that. we also need to get some good pics of the shop tank

[Reeftanks6]

Great looking tanks!!!

[tattooreef]

thanks for the compliment i do need to post some new pics of both of them i will try today or tomorrow

[tattooreef]

just a quick update , since i havent been on here in a while the tank is doing great other than my nonstop fight to rid the tank of aptasia. i do have some new inhabitants , wich of them my favorite is my achilles tang, i will be trying to update both of my threads asap with some nice pics

[JCTewks]

Your tank is definitely large enough to house a copper banded butterfly, which will take care of your aptaisa problem :)

[tattooreef]

i have an absolutely huge copperband who will not touch the aptasia , so i tried to add another smaller one into the system who after just 20 minutes was killed by the large one

[JCTewks]

Maybe you should "move on" the large one and replace it with a small one. The large ones are just too big to get in all the nooks and crannies to get the aptaisa.

[erics3000]

Glad all is good. I am still fighting aptaisa myslef. I bought a coper band before we had fires around my home and lost power and he didn,t make the transfer.

i got a good idea from John, he said I could try and fill up a qt tank with a lot of aptasia and try and make sure he eats aptasia before I release him in the display.

I think I am going to try this soon and get another one

. Good luck...

I have question about your skimmer. Now that you are skimming do you think your corals have noticed a difference, I know you did the move and then out in a skimmer so hard ot compare but I am sure you have some feelings with being skimmer less and now running a skimmer.

[tattooreef]

i would say with all the sps and all the fish i have in that system that i did notice a difference with some of the corals. now i am still running the system at work skimmerless but i do have a 12 inch deep sand bed in the fuge on that one and it is all softies. and i do plan on keeping that one wothout a skimmer unless when i get it fully stocked the fuge cant keep up , then and only then will i add a small one.
and the only problem with the copperband idea is that i already have the huge one in the display that will kill and has killed a smaller one.

[JCTewks]

what I was saying was get the big killer CBB out of the display, and replace it with a smaller, gentler CBB :D

[tattooreef]

i would love to tewks but have you ever tried to catch a fish in an 11 ft display with around 5 to 6 hundred pounds of rock?!!! lol. i am actualy starting to gain control over them( wich means a lot of time spent standing on a chair with a syringe and a cup of kalkwasser lol. by the way jeremyblaze took a bunch of nice shots of the display the other night , now we just gota hold our breath and see if he posts them!!!!

[tattooreef]

i would love to tewks but have you ever tried to catch a fish in an 11 ft display with around 5 to 6 hundred pounds of rock?!!! lol. i am actualy starting to gain control over them( wich means a lot of time spent standing on a chair with a syringe and a cup of kalkwasser lol. by the way jeremyblaze took a bunch of nice shots of the display the other night , now we just gota hold our breath and see if he posts them!!!!

[13threefmaniac]

Just read through the whole thread.. the post move rockscape is awesome and i love the size of your colonies. We want pics!!!

Btw..... nice rides!!

[Jeremy Blaze]

Pics
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture071.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture073.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture098.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

more
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture099.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture100.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture101.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

and more
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture108.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture109.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/clownj1988/Picture110.jpg

[tangers]

Looks sweet. I love that length!

[tcmfish]

Great tank!! But may I suggest some nori for those fishes. They are pretty skinny!

[PaulieWalnuts]

looks sweet!

[tattooreef]

thanks all, the coloration of everything is a little off, as it is getting time to change bulbs again, and about the nori, and the fish looking skinny , some of it is in the pics as most of the fish stay pretty fat , they have thinned a little since the power outages out here, i lost all of the fresh seafood mix that i make for them and have been eating flake , but i am making them a new batch tonight.

[JCTewks]

Everything's really starting to fill in, the aquascape is looking really good...there's lots of room for those acro's and monti's to grow into.

[erics3000]

looking good...

[Bax]

The tank looks awesome!

[tattooreef]

once again thanks evryone , and nice to see some familiar avatars lol

[tattooreef]

well just a quick teaser, since i have relocated homes last year i have never really been happy with the dark stain on the wood on the stand and canopy as it just looked a little to dark and ominous in the new living room considering that even though the house is much larger the living room is smaller. so over the last few evenings the stand and canopy have been getting a face lift. i will be posting some new pics in a few days so there will be new FTS for every one to enjoy!

[erics3000]

COOOLLLLLL

[tattooreef]

as promised
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0570.jpg

[tattooreef]

and another, sorry for the mess in the pics , the wife was cleanin carpets and had everything piled up!
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w307/christetrick77/IMG_0569.jpg

[fewskillz]

Love the new stand finish. Awesome tank, I love the length. I can't wait to have my own house so I can upgrade my 125. 6' just isnt enough for all the cool tangs in the world.

[PaulieWalnuts]

that is sweet...i set up a 110 and was thinking how cool it would be to have the entire wall that size so its cool so see that long of a tank

[Jeremy Blaze]

I think the white makes the tank look bigger!

[tattooreef]

thanks for the positive comments guys , and yeah jeremy i do agree with you i think ity make it look bigger as well , plus it helped open up the whole room more

[CharChar15]

looks awesome. great work!

[tattooreef]

thanks charchar15 , a quick little update , as many of you know , it is virtualy impossible to be happy with our tanks, so i have decided to try to make some modifications wich include more flow , one way or another , and to add lots more rock , or to actualy make a couple cool structures of fake rock to fill the display in some. that way i can add more coral! lol. any suggestions about flow , please let me know

[xXReefXx]

wow look very nice!!

[tattooreef]

well it has been quite a while since i have posted anything, but here we go , as you can read a couple posts back i wasnt happy with the flow so tonight the closed loop will be re plumbed using an oceans motions 4way , the way i have it planned out ought to create a nice wave pattern for more randomized flow throughout the system. i am very excited about this, because of the fact that i think it may help get a lot better growth out of every thing. plus it will look cool!

[tonyf]

Hey Tat', I've checked out your thread from beginning to end ... man, it has turned out great. So what lighting do you have over it now? Re adding more to it ... sometimes less is more, YKWIM. There's something special about a big tank with plenty of open swimming space :)

Now about flow ... a few Vortechs at each each end blowing anti-cyclical. I'm planning to toss out my TS48 kit and go solely with Vortech in a 'gyra' setup.

Tone :)

[khaosinc]

Just found this thread.. and very impressive.

Can't wait to see the new pics.

next time I'm back that way I will have to check out the tattoo shop as well.. I'm sure I have room somewhere..

[tattooreef]

thanks guys.
tonyf, i am running 3- 400w xm 20k's and 2- 250w xm 20k's , and i am currently in the middle of plumbing in an oceans motions 4way, on the closed loop powered by a reeflo barracuda.
khaosinc you are more than welcome to check out the shop anytime, just stopin and ask for chris. did you find the thread for the shop tank on here, it is under tattooshop 240 365 total volume , or something like that , i cant remember. hahaha

[tattooreef]

quick update i finally finisheshed plumbing the oceans motions , god why did no one warn me that they are a pain in the @$$ to hook up on an existing tank, actually my plans just didnt work out like three diferent times , and then the fourth time it just leaked like a siv out of the back two outlets , of course it couldnt have been the two easy ones to get to. but got that all redone and it is now running like a champ, for now i have a version 3 drum , but i think i may swith to the version 1 drum, with each outlet having two 1-1/4 inch outlets in the tank. i will try to post pics tomorow

[InsaneClownFish]

I thought my tank was long. Great tank.

[khaosinc]

can't wait for new pics.

[SeaIsle]

I flipped to the end of this thread saw the tank and had to read through the setup. Very nice the stand and canopy look great and I have to agree i think the white makes it look bigger.

[sdfish]

tattooreef -

my self and a friend also have GC tanks. he has a 300g fish only and i have a 35.5" tall 170g reef. i was wondering if you had overflow problems like we both had with our tanks. it seemed that the covers were made to tall and when we ran our return pumps full bore the water would touch the euro bracing we both had to get in an cut about a half inch off the box covers. did you expierence this as well?? And I LOVE the tank looks awsome!!

[Jeremy Blaze]

We built the overflows in the tank, glasscages did not.

[tattooreef]

thanks for answering jeremy, yeah , what he said! lol

[tattooreef]

insaneclownfish i also have an 8 foot tank as well it is located in the wall behind the reception area at my tattoo studio, there are pics of it on here as well in the large tank forum under tattoo studio 240g 365g total volume , i will try to post a link when i get time , or if jeremy reads this he will probably do it for me knowing him.
khaosinc i am still cleaning everything up after all the craziness of installing , and i will get those pics asap
to everyone else thanks for the kind words once again

[sdfish]

oh ok thanks.. i would have done the same had i known now what i do.. how do you like your e.t.s.s skimmer?

[tattooreef]

i love the e.t.s.s. skimmer , as long as i keep it clean. lol that baby turns up some fowl stuff

[sdfish]

i was looking into them and went in another direction. you ever hear of a MRC skimmer? my buddy with the 300 went from a e.t.s.s to a mrc and says the mrc performs alot better?

[Jeremy Blaze]

I will give my opinions on them.


ETSS are a good design. The Beckett style injector does great for skimming large volumes of water.

The design does have some draw backs. They are very sensitive to water level. if the drain is under water and the water level changes it will change the level in the sikimmer. Set the level to high, and you will end up with gallons of reef tea in the collector. If you set it a little lower, it will make a nice thick skimate.

The design also takes a large powerful pump. They need some pressure, so energy use may be more.


MRC has some very popular skimmers out there as well.

Skimmer design and theroy keeps changing. Probably more in the last 2 years than in the whole time we have been keeping salt water tanks.

I think any of the good ones that are out there are more than enough for most tanks.

[sdfish]

i do agree with you . i my self am making my own skimmer its like the mrc mr6 series skimmer. like you said one draw back is i will need i reeflo hammer head to run it bit on the spendy side. but my current skimmer just is not cutting it for me its a ASM g4

ps i would love to see your zoa tank. any pics?

[tonyf]

Do a twin recirculating beckett ... DIY built for me by a friend and run by a Laguna Maxflo PowerJet 16000 and fed with an Eden 152 to keep the water level constant.

Check it out:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/tfendt/Reef%20General/20080115ROsystem.jpg


Tone :)

[MSX-Jeff]

Updates??

[BigTuna321]

^^^^ +1 ^^^^

[tattooreef]

as far as updates , nothing really new and exciting to report, tank is running well, evrything is growing well, i have noticed an increase in growth since adding the ocean motion. the only thing that has really changed is i took out the frag tank in the room in the garage and just built a nice med size rack at one end of the tank. my camera crapped out on me so i will get a new one soon , or try to talk jeremyblaze in to coming by and taking some new pics for us.

[BigMike75]

Yes, take some more pics or I might have to come check it out......

[obiwanthegoby]

Yea, we need some new pics!!!

Those corals I got from you earlier this year are doing pretty good. The tank has had its own set of issues but the corals marched on through the muck... lol

[jmccown]

Well, I bought this tank from tattooreef this past weekend. I will probably be starting my own thread on my re-build of it in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

[MSX-Jeff]

Please post a link to your thread on this monster when you start it Jason! :)

[tattooreef]

i will try to post some pics of the teardown soon, and be starting a thread for my new little giant, not nearly as long , but taller with a full wall set of cabinetry and bookshelves. going simple but high tech with the new one!!!!!! , and yeah jmccown cant wait to see it. although i am still alittle heart broke that its gone.
end of one era, the beginning of another!!

[Jared J]

Well, I bought this tank from tattooreef this past weekend. I will probably be starting my own thread on my re-build of it in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Nice! How much? :)

[tattooreef]

now now, price isnt something, to be discussed on a public forum. we will just say , he got a good deal , and i know my tank has a good new home

[Jared J]

haha.....

[Jeremy Blaze]

wasn't it priced in the for sale forum?

[tattooreef]

always a smart@$$

[bhovinga]

Wow, cool tank!

[Colione]

whoa! That tank is crazy.

I love it.

[jmccown]

Got the tank cleaned up, fresh coat of paint on the stand and canopy and last night I got the most painstaking part out of the way I spent 3 hours under my house bracing my floor where the tank will be to support the weight of the tank. I built a 12 foot beam out of 2x8's and then constructed four piers under the brace. Should be plenty, it will be on a weight bearing wall anyhow.