125 Reef

[Thorium]

Hey everyone
Just wanted to show some pics of my reef. I see so many cool ones in this forum, just wanted to show mine. Transfered a lot of the corals out of my 72bow into my new 125 a couple days before Christmas. Its come along nicely. Got a couple of new little zoo frags and some other small sps frags the other day (white aqua-mend showing).
Center
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/tank32707.jpg
Right
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/right32707.jpg
Left
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/left32707.jpg

Reef On!

[Jamnman]

Very nice you have some excellent coloration.

[johnanddawn]

wow i love the green stag - can't wait till i have something that big

[Dan Thrash]

gorgeous tank!! i like the green stag too.

[Thorium]

Thanks Guys! Yeah, the slimer is my baby. My first SPS, it was about 3inches tall by about 2inches wide when I bought it in April 2003. I have fragged it countless times.

[fishdoc11]

Very nice:D

Love the huge slimer in the center as well.

Chris

[msuzuki126]

Stunning! TOTM for sure! :)

[Thorium]

Thanks fishdoc11 & msuzuki126
I forgot to post a pic of my old 72:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/DSC_0008.jpg
The 125 a few days after setup:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/newest.jpg

[MikeEe]

awesome tank..how are the seios mounted? magnet or suckers?

[msuzuki126]

What sizes are the seios too, are the big ones 2600s?

[msuzuki126]

Oh also, what's your lighting now? :)

[Thorium]

Thanks MikeEe, the SEIO's are mounted with magnets, I can't stand suction cups. They are the 2600's -msuzuki126. The lights are 250 watt DE Phoenix 14k running on PFO HQI ballasts.

[Brewen]

Great move awesome looking tank. What are your equipment specs?

[MikeEe]

awesome tank..how are the seios mounted? magnet or suckers?

[Dansin]

The new tank looks great but i think you might need a bigger one son. Love it.

[Dansin]

I ment soon.

[Thorium]

Thanks guys. The SEIO's are mounted with magnets, a new tank is no where near the horizon at least for a few more years. Aquacontroller jr, Euro-Reef RS-250, enaly ozone unit, JBJ arctica chiller, aquatic systems design calcium reactor, aqua UV, phosban reactor, gen-x mak4 return, two 820 SEIO's, two 2600 SEIO's, two 21watt T-5's for dusk/dawn effect (not on with halides). Heres a pic of the sump:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/SUMP.jpg

[Gundo5000]

Nice system indeed!

[Goodwood]

Dont get much better than that

[Cubman777]

what is that long polyped fellow on the lower left? Is it a softy of some type?

[Cubman777]

very lovely tank btw. Very healthy looking with nice coloration. I have the same lighting going on over my tank. I love the way the phoenix bulbs look.

NIce to see a mixed reef.

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

awesome tank you have there!

[tonyscoots84]

Tank looks great... really nice....

what are your parameters at?

[drummereef]

Killer tank, Thorium! :thumbsup: Can you post some more pics of the sump area? Looking for plumbing ideas for the Rubbermaid stock tanks. Is that a basement sump?

[Zach117]

Did you ever try and mount your seio's flowing the length of the tank? One thing i found with my 125 is that with my DSB, facing powerheads towards the front glass blows the sand to holy heck using three maximods, pretty close to those 2600s you are using. I recently moved them to flow lengthwise. Cool tank!

[Justin/TiV]

very nice...those acans look sweet mixed in there...

[purplereef]

Just wondering how many corals you have in the new tank?

[Thorium]

Fellow reefers,
Thanks for all the nice comments I cant believe the tank is generating this much interest. I see a couple of people have commented about liking this tank as a mixed reef. In my opinion I would not do a reef that was not mixed. When I scuba dive I see all kinds of corals mixed together on the reefs, its an explosion of species and color. To me a reef means just that, what we see on the reefs in the wild.

tonyscoots84: I think you are referring to the big brown thing, its an umbrella leather, that needs a trim it grows moderately fast.

drummereef: The rubbermaid/agrimaster stock tanks are perfect for use as a sump. They give you a huge amount of flexibility and space for the goodies. I will get some more pics up later. The tank is in the basement. My house has a finished basement and the tank is in my office, with the sump being in the "junk room" under the stairs. It really was the only place I was "allowed" to put it.

Zach117: The power heads did blow the sand around the first day, which kind of worried me for a few hours. But overnight the sand settled down and I really didn't have any issues after. I like them mounted on the back, lots of random chaotic flow.

Justin/TiV: I have been enjoying the acans as well. I think they are an unusually interesting coral. Lots of different colors all on one piece they are pretty amazing. Especially when you find them at a good price. The one near the lower center has a little bit of damage on it, but it was only $10!

purplereef: There are over 75 pieces with over 45 different species and 5 clams. I have room for a few more. :smokin:

Thanks again guys!

[purplereef]

Wow 75 pieces. How long was the 75 up and running? TOTM all the way!!!

[cristhiam]

Wow amazing, how far are the MH lights from the water level?

[Thorium]

Thanks Purplereef!
The 72 was up from March 03 until December 06. I never expected to outgrow that tank, since I bought everything pretty small. Most of the corals started as little frags since I didnt even think I could keep those alive. Then something started to happen, the frags grew. Just about any piece that wasn't a frag was no bigger than a softball at most. There has been a lot of maturing, coloring, and growth in my tanks. I think I found a secret. ;)

[Thorium]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9589920#post9589920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cristhiam
Wow amazing, how far are the MH lights from the water level?

Thanks
The halides are about 8 inches off the water surface.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/lights.jpg

[Cubman777]

quick question, what are those white things over the overflows, and what are they for?

[Thorium]

Those are my patent pending overflow caps :). They are just kitty litter box tops that I found if I cut in half are perfect covers for the AGA overflows. They serve as a wrasse barrier and prevent algae from growing in the overflows.

[Goodwood]

I like the overflow caps, I use a gutter guard cage to keep mine in. My canopy is open on the back. Nice work with everything, you should be very proud.

[Thorium]

Thanks Goodwood, I like the caps because they block light and prevent the algea in the overflow from getting crazy.

The tank parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: ~425ppm
Alkalinity: ~3.0meq/L
Temperature: 80.0(F)
pH: ~8.0
Magnesium: ~1350ppm
Phosphate: less than .03ppm
Nitrate: ~5ppm

The parameters fluctuate a little, but these are the averages over the long term.

Here is a birds eye view of my sump. It is a pretty simple layout, nothing too fancy.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/Thorium79/birdseyesump.jpg

[tom obrecht]

Hey Thorium...great looking tank!! It just dawned on me who you are. Heck I talked to you last week at the WRS mtg. Sorry I'm slow...too many new names and faces since I'm fairly new to town. Hope we can hook up sometime so I can see that tank in all its glory in person!

[Thorium]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9594085#post9594085 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tom obrecht
Hey Thorium...great looking tank!! It just dawned on me who you are. Heck I talked to you last week at the WRS mtg. Sorry I'm slow...too many new names and faces since I'm fairly new to town. Hope we can hook up sometime so I can see that tank in all its glory in person!

Hey Tom

Thanks -yeah, I remember talking to you as well with prugs. You'll have to stop by sometime to check it out. I'm co-hosting a meeting with nait002 in June, hopefully you get a chance to stop by before that.

[drummereef]

Thanks for the pics of the sump, Thorium. Can you explain the 2 salt buckets in the sump? Obviously one is a fuge, but is the other a bubble trap?

[boggs32]

wow, this is amazing! I'm in awe!

[dailydriven911]

Awesome tank! I'm currently working on an in-wall 75 gal sps tank and I hope it looks half as good as your 125!

[Justin/TiV]

sweet. I can't wait till one day I have a room dedicated to all my equipment. the house I'm in It's all around and behind my tank.

[Thorium]

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the nice comments! The buckets are bubble traps. Very simple design -a small bucket with some drilled holes on the sides nears the bottom, placed in a larger bucket with live rock in it with holes drilled in the bottom of the bucket. Seems to work so I kept it.

It worked out well that there was a walk in closet now "junk room" we use that was behind the tank. The wall to the right of the sump separates the tank and sump area. Its not that big of an area but better than the space I was allocated before, namely the room under tank in the stand. That sucked! So, this time around I was able to get some more space directly behind the tank and put in a stock tank for the sump. Worked out great, these things are perfect for sumps.

[JVHam]

I have the same CA reactor. Are you using the gen-x media? What ph are you running the reactor?
I am using knop media and 6.4ph. I am having an issue keeping my ca above 375.

[steve414]

Looks really good Josh! Thanks for the pics.

[Thorium]

Thanks Steve

JVHam:
I use schuran media. The controller keeps the pH @ 6.7 to 6.5. The effluent does not drip out, but stream out. When I was counting the drip rate I could not get above 400. When I decided to let it stream out, I am able to maintain 425ish.

[Cubman777]

I think that I am going to copy your overflow guard design. My blenny always ends up in mine (god knows why). I too get algae in there. Some aptasia too. Do you think that the elimination of light will help to erradicate them?

[Thorium]

I can honestly say that I don't have any algae in those overflows. I think blocking the light helps a lot. My Scott's fairy was in my overflows twice. I had to do something. I wanted to do something about the algae as well, so I thought about putting some kind of cap to keep fish and light out. Thats how that thought process evolved in placing lids on those overflows. I don't know about the aptasia though, it might work for those?