Been away a while, changed the tank a bit. 240 cube pics.

[sonofgaladriel]

Hi Guys,
Well, the tank has gone through a few changes since I've been here last. I almost took it down entirely after a full tank SPS die off about a year ago and then again after wasting way too much money in risky anemones that croaked no matter what I did. Expensive lessons.
So, rather than throwing in the towel, I decided to go back to a simple softy tank, focusing on sinularias, lemnalias, sarcos, and such, with TONS of nice fish!
I changed my lighting too. I swapped out my two dual 250 watt HGI Oceanlight pendants for a single dual 400 watt SE Hamilton pendant.
I built the light box this weekend to hide the lights.
Well, what do you all think?
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/rightreefMedium.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/reeffrontMedium.jpg

[crescent1]

great looking setup, i too have recently lost some prize sps due to work schedule and lack of time, but love this hobby to much to quit just yet.

Youre ahead of the game with that tank, looks awsome.

[Bender]

Looks great. Would you happen to have any pics that are a little closer?

[MGB]

Looks good,
I loved your original tank and set up. If is not too painful what was the cause of the SPS meltdown and what advise would you give now in hindsight. Your tank was an inspiration to me, and others. Glad you hung in there.

MGB

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10124454#post10124454 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MGB
Looks good,
I loved your original tank and set up. If is not too painful what was the cause of the SPS meltdown and what advise would you give now in hindsight. Your tank was an inspiration to me, and others. Glad you hung in there.

MGB
Thank you very much MGB for the kind words.
Along with the SPS I had many large rose BTAs in the tank that would split about every 8 weeks or so. Well, one of my largest roses, about 16" in diameter, disappeared one day and I just thought it was hiding somewhere and cloning. Well, I forgot about it and after about 2 weeks I noted that the water was getting a bit cloudy and several of the SPS started bleaching and RTN'ing over night. Well, the large rose did not split, but must have died and caused a major ammonia spike that caused the old domino affect. I lost almost every SPS I had.

[erics3000]

Wow looks nice. I love your stand. Did you make that too? Can you get some closer pics? If you made the stand where did you get your wood?

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10124698#post10124698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by erics3000
Wow looks nice. I love your stand. Did you make that too? Can you get some closer pics? If you made the stand where did you get your wood?
Thank you. Yes, I made the stand. I had quite a long thread on here about two years ago in which the entire build was documented. It actually won 'Thread of the Month' back then.
I'll try to take some closer pics in the next few days.
The wood came from one of our local specialty lumber yards that deal with cabinet grade materials.

[marino420td]

Still one of the coolest tanks I have seen on this site.

Here is a link to the stand build thread. I used this stand as the inspiration for my 120.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=565476&highlight=240+cube

What K bulbs are you using now? I really like the color.

Also, do you still have the same amount of flow in the tank as you did for your sps?

[EnFuego]

Still looking great. As I said in the earlier thread, I love that stand, and the new matching light cover looks great too. Can't wait to see some close-up up pictures. You should get some colorful zoanthids and ricordeas in there as well.

[melev]

That continues to be a great looking tank. I like your new light box. I too would like to see the corals and fish up close if possible.

Sorry to hear about your SPS losses. I've been struggling with some myself, never happy with my own tank. I've been thinking I should just get rid of the majority of them and replace them with favias, moon corals, echinophyllias, etc... I love their look and they are far more forgiving.

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10125061#post10125061 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marino420td
Still one of the coolest tanks I have seen on this site.

Here is a link to the stand build thread. I used this stand as the inspiration for my 120.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=565476&highlight=240+cube

What K bulbs are you using now? I really like the color.

Also, do you still have the same amount of flow in the tank as you did for your sps?
Thanks for posting that link for me!
I am using Phoenix 14K SE bulbs now. I took down the two DE Oceanlight pendants and replaced them with a dual 400 watt Hamilton SE pendant

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10125237#post10125237 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnFuego
Still looking great. As I said in the earlier thread, I love that stand, and the new matching light cover looks great too. Can't wait to see some close-up up pictures. You should get some colorful zoanthids and ricordeas in there as well.
Thank you. I will try to get some close up pics, or maybe a video up tomorrow. I would love to add some zoos, but I'm heavily into angels and they would make a meal of them in no time.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10125758#post10125758 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
That continues to be a great looking tank. I like your new light box. I too would like to see the corals and fish up close if possible.

Sorry to hear about your SPS losses. I've been struggling with some myself, never happy with my own tank. I've been thinking I should just get rid of the majority of them and replace them with favias, moon corals, echinophyllias, etc... I love their look and they are far more forgiving.
Thank Melev!
I am really enjoying this 'softy/anemone' tank much more than when it was an SPS specific tank. No more worrying about RTN, STN, red bugs, acro eating flatworms, calcium reactor problems,...ect. ect....
It is so nice to just come home and enjoy the movement and texture along with the higher load of fish this tank can enjoy!

[sabodish]

still one of my favorite tanks regardless of whats in it. im sorry to hear about your RBTA collapse, as it seems i am following in your footsteps on my cube....all sps and i added a RBTA last month. hopefully mine wont suffer the same fate.

what fish do ya have in there now? did you lose any of the oringinal fish during the meltdown?

[LesMartin]

Sorry to hear about the SPS but glad to see you've not given up entirely. It's one of my favourite tanks. As it's now a LPS/Anemone tank which anemones do you still have/plan on keeping ?

[nattydread]

That is my dream tank, who made it?

Any othe rinfo on it?

[Mahlhavoc]

Aquatic Systems Design made the tank, and it is beathtaking in person. PM me or Sean if you want more information.

This is the same place that made my 450 Gallon. There simply is nobody better to make an Acrylic tank out there IMO. Not only that, but his prices are nice too. Cal reactors, Skimmers, etc. and the guy takes his time and does it to your specs and right the first time.


Here is my tank

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l105/Mahlhavoc/100_0728.jpg

And the Calc reactor

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l105/Mahlhavoc/Aquarium001.jpg

Hurry up with those pics and video Sean!

[ReefingBuddha]

nice tank man... 6'x6' w/ chameleon bearing trees coming next?

[sonofgaladriel]

Here's a short, poor quality video, of the reef I took this morning.
I added some food to bring out most of the fish.
As you can see, nothing too special in terms of corals and such, but it is pretty and relaxing, which is what this hobby should be about.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/th_MOV05017.jpg (http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/?action=view&current=MOV05017.flv)

[sabodish]

that top down pic is awesome...

do those flagfins pick on anything? i SO want to put one in my tank!

[nattydread]

That is awesome, open top. Your ahead of the times, I have a feeling we will be seeing more of these designs, at least when i get my new house, you will.

Thanks, Mahlhavoc and nice freakin setup, Ill bring my mask and fins over sometime!

[marino420td]

Yeah, the topdown view is awesome. I would spend hours looking into that tank with the pumps off.

When you switched to softies, did you buy mature corals or have they just grown to their current size?

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10150741#post10150741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marino420td
Yeah, the topdown view is awesome. I would spend hours looking into that tank with the pumps off.

When you switched to softies, did you buy mature corals or have they just grown to their current size?
I love the topdown view the most too. Its like looking into a tidepool.
I purchased most of the corals as small/medium size corals and they have grown quite fast. Only a few were purchased as larger size corals.

[jnarowe]

Yeah, I seriously considered making my tank a top-down but decided against it due to size, noise, and light issues. And I can always get on top of mine anyway!

Is that a Watanabe? How is it behaving?

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10160400#post10160400 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe

Is that a Watanabe? How is it behaving?
Yep, this was actually my female Watanabe that changed over to a male! My male jumped out of the tank about a year ago and the female changed over within weeks. It was amazing to see. She, I mean He, is doing well. However, he has been in the tank so long that he has established the entire tank as his territory and he messes with any new fish, regardless of species or size, and I'm beginning to think I need to find a larger home for him. I'm probably going to sell him and buy a smaller male to replace him.

[jnarowe]

they are very cool fish. I was wondering about its agressiveness. I have a buddy with a pair in a 90g along with a pair of scribbles, and I am just waiting to see how they mature.

The watanabe is a beautiful fish. They seem to be shy for a while when first introduced, but during a tank swap, I noticed that their behavior has changed dramatically since the "territories" were erased during the move.

[chrisqueenz]

Look very good!

[nss9400]

looks awsome!

[ScubaDiver93]

dude thats a great tank. looks amazing

[Bebo77]

Hey Sean.. nice to see you are still around....


any close up pics of the tank?

[Absolute Reef]

To be honest, that's really one neat cube u've got there.

[GSMguy]

all the nems are gone?

[sonofgaladriel]

Thanks guys!
Bebo- I'll post a video tomorrow showing off the inhabitants.
GSMguy- I lost my magnifica a few months back. Don't know what happened. I sold off my blue gigantea and the giant red hadonni. They were getting too big and I was afraid of losing one of my prize fish. The red carpet ate my helfrichi and mystery wrasse, both within a week, so it had to go before my black tang or baby regal angel were next :)
I'm currently looking for more small to XL ritteri though.
Thanks again all for the compliments.
I'll post a video soon.

[GSMguy]

either way you cut it that tank is awsome

[sonofgaladriel]

Here's the video I took about a week ago.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/th_MOV05017.jpg (http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/sonofgaladriel/?action=view&current=MOV05017.flv)