125 Gallon 8 Month Birthday

[GregM779]

Well it's that time again, the 21st will be 8 months since I put the water in.
Updates on some of the fish I have taken out my dragon wrasse and loaned him to someone until I set up a FOWLR, he decided to kill 5 of my clams, my remaining clams are still alive but are missing their feet.
The flounder is also gone, I believe that my foxface stung him, for what reason I have no idea but I will have another one in my FOWLR down the road. I will post my fish list below, most of the larger ones will be transferred to the FOWLR so please don't flame me, I'm sure not everyone will read this first post so I'll have to repeat myself.
1 Foxface Rabbitfish
3 Chromis
2 True Percula Clowns
1 Gold-Striped Maroon Clown
1 Male Squampinis Anthias
1 Female Squampinis Anthias
1 Flame Angel
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Clown Tang
1 Blonde Naso Tang
1 Chevron Tang
2 Green Mandarins
1 Engineer Goby
1 Niger Trigger

As far as corals go there is too many to list. I was trying to go for a true mixed reef and not be dominant by one type. I think that I have a very good mixture of LPS, SPS, and softies.
Aquascaping is also very important to me and was one of the most time consuming parts of the project.
Let me know what you guys think.

Full Tank Shot
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Tank.jpg

Left Side
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Left-Side.jpg

Center
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Center.jpg

Right Side
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Right-Side.jpg

[GregM779]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Angle.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Side.jpg

[GregM779]

OK let's start with LPS

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412LPS.jpg

Blastos, Acans, and a Lobo
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412LPS2.jpg

Here's some Blastos

Blue
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blastos-Blue.jpg

Lime Green
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blastos-Lime-Green.jpg

Red/Green
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blastos-Red-Green.jpg

[GregM779]

Red Blastos
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blastos-Red.jpg

Bubble Coral
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Bubbles.jpg

2 Types of Frogspawn
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Frogspawns.jpg

Purple/Green Brain
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Purple-_-Green-Brain.jpg

Rainbow Brain
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Rainbow-Brain.jpg

[GregM779]

Purple Brain
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Purple-Brain.jpg

Orange Plate
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Plate-Coral.jpg

[GregM779]

Here's a couple of my clams, it's amazing how different they look from the top.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Clams.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Clams-Above.jpg

My Orange Scolymia
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Scolymia-Orange.jpg

2 Scolymias
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Scolymias.jpg

[GregM779]

How about some SPS now
First a blue-tipped acro
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blue-Tip-Acro.jpg

These two pieces are highlighter yellow
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Yellow-Acro2.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Yellow-Acro.jpg

Here's a green gem acro
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Green-Acro.jpg

[GregM779]

Here's a few softies,

First my Yellow leather, definitely one of my favorites.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Fiji-Leather.jpg

Green Ricordia
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Green-Ricordia.jpg

These 2 Ricordia rocks were started with one ric of each color.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Ricordia-Rock.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Ricordia-Rock-2.jpg

[GregM779]

Some Zoas and Rics
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Zoos_-Rics.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Zoos.jpg

I'll do some more pics in a minute when my Gallery let's me

[kase]

wow....kool tank.love all you fish but lil too much for the tank?let me know if you going let some that nice corals go....lol..love the tank

[GregM779]

Here's my 2" baby clown tang with my pair of true perculas, just 3 clowns hangin around
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Clowns-_-Clown-Tang.jpg

Here's the perculas without the flash by the torch they're hosting

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412True-Perculas_-Female-Anthi.jpg

One of my Green Mandarins

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Mandarin.jpg

Here's a couple pics of the fish eating nori
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Fish-1.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Fish-2.jpg

[GregM779]

Here's a couple of pics of my feather star, I know someone who has had success with these and I'm going to try it, I defintely do not reccomend anyone go out and get one of these.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Feather-Star.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Feather-Star_-Green-Styloph.jpg

[bonesnreb]

all i have to say is awsome..wish my tank looked like yours

[gus1225]

I'm soooo jealus. I love your yellow leather. They are my favorite.

[kevinrs]

that is soooo nice. great job with the tank.

[sean48183]

She is a real beauty. I was wondering if you went throught any problems like cyno, hair algae ,ich etc. to get to that masterpeice. My tank looks like crap and I was wondering if there is any hope for me or is it a lost cause.

[Micki]

How long have you had your feather star? and where did you get it? I love it!

[Nuhtty]

Great looking tank. Lot of fish, lot of corals but it doesnt have the overcrowded look that I have seen with many tanks. Good job!

[GregM779]

Thanks a lot guys for the comments, I tried to make the rockwork and coral placement as natural as possible, although you'll never find these different types of corals in the same ocean, you know what I mean.

Sean48183, This tank was actually not so bad, but I did have obstacles like algae, cyano almost every tank has in the beginning but can usually take care of itself. On this tank I run a 25 watt UV sterilizer so fish illness really isn't an issue other than the 2 previous flame angel I lost to cyanide.
In this hobby there are many learning stages, I guess we call this experience where everything just seems to go wrong. In my previous 55g after setting it all up my last fish introduced had brokklynella, killing all 7 of my fish and not letting me add fish for 7 weeks. I almost gave up the hobby, I'm glad that I didn't and I know that there are times where you just want to say screw it but that's why there are forums like this that will help you fix your problems and help you prevent them from happening again.

Micki, I picked it up last week, they've had green ones there for a little while but I wanted something special and I think I found it. That star is blood red and just gorgeous. They are a pain having to feed them often and with different food than the fish so we'll see if it's worth it or not.

Nuhtty, I have a lot of fish and corals but like you said it doesn't look like a LFS sale tank on shipment day. What's great about the tank is whenever you look at the tank you notice something different even if it's been there because there is just so much to lool at. As far as the fish I have no aggression issues not even with the clowns and it's really cool to watch the fish play and share nori together.

[Micki]

Originally posted by GregM779
Micki, I picked it up last week, they've had green ones there for a little while but I wanted something special and I think I found it. That star is blood red and just gorgeous. They are a pain having to feed them often and with different food than the fish so we'll see if it's worth it or not.


What does it eat?

[dgasmd]

Greg:

Simply awesome.:D :D

[GregM779]

I feed it phytoplankton, cyclopeeze, and daphnia, you can also feed them zooplex.

[Micki]

Do you hand feed or just add to the tank it's self?

[GregM779]

Thanks Alberto, you should come by and check out the progress some time, pictures never show a tank well as you know. You may want a piece of some of these new SPSs.

Micki, I already dose those normally but you have to direct feed the star.

[GregM779]

I took a few more pics today so I thought I would add on.

First is one of my starfish next to my blue spotted squamosa, a goniopora, and a madagascar leather frag I got yesterday.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Starfish_-Madagascar-Leathe.jpg

Here are some more SPS shots

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Green-Bird_s-Nest.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Orange-Monti-Dig.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Bird_s-Nest-_-Monti-Cap.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Green-Monti-Digi.jpg

[GregM779]

Here's some more LPS
First my Acan Lords, I have 2 different types


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Acan-Lords-Candycane.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Acan-Lords.jpg

Here are some more Blastos

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Flat-Red-Blastos.jpg

Here are some more hammers and zoas

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Hammers_Zoas.jpg

And a scroll coral

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Scroll-Coral.jpg

[tsquad]

suhWEET! Hopefully mine will look a fraction as good as yours in 8 months! Great job :thumbsup:

[Micki]

That first picture of the star isn't the feather star right? What kind is it?

[TheyCallMeFishy]

Wow, only 8 months old? Are you sure.... that is crazy. Really nice job with the tank, the true mixed tank is the most interesting in my opinion. And with only a year experience, you are doing extremely well, you must be a fast learner.

[The Grim Reefer]

Don't you know you can't raise clams and SPS in a 24" tall tank with only 150 watt halides:D:D:D

Nice tank.

[GregM779]

TheyCallMeFishy, thanks, it's defintiely been 8 months devoted the tank.

Grim reefer, don't tell my Clams or SPS otherwise they may stop.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by GregM779
TheyCallMeFishy, thanks, it's defintiely been 8 months devoted the tank.

Grim reefer, don't tell my Clams or SPS otherwise they may stop.

Just keep telling the clams and SPS they are mushrooms and they'll be fine.

[GregM779]

tsquad, yours is coming along quite nicely, I'm sure it will turn out great.

Micki, I can't remember the name of that star, I have 2 in my tank and love them. I'll find out for you and post later.

[Micki]

Originally posted by GregM779
tsquad, yours is coming along quite nicely, I'm sure it will turn out great.

Micki, I can't remember the name of that star, I have 2 in my tank and love them. I'll find out for you and post later.

Ok, that will be great! Thanks!

[taketz]

Nice looking tank. Looks like you got the best of all worlds, eh?


~

[SunnyX]

Your tank is a work of art.

Color, design and structure were well planned.

Another great example of what a reef can be with careful planning and a dedicated hobbiest.

[JENnKerry]

Gorgeous tank!

[sean48183]

How long have you had the niger in there and has he been pretty restrained?

[kenny77]

Very nice tank!! i like the varaity of coral you have

[guitar_lord]

simply amazing.... congrats

[illnino]

beautiful tank. does that trigger ever nip at anything??

[reefarchitect]

I've been fortunate enough to see this tank in person and I will attest that the pictures do it no justice! This is one of the nicest reeftanks I've ever seen, in person or on-line! Greg deserves it though, he's a great guy and puts alot into his tank.

Keep up the great work.

p.s. if you ever get a baby on that yellow leather, I want first dibbs!

[The Grim Reefer]

So greg, How high off the water you running those halides?

I am now running 10K 150's myself and the corals seem really happy even though there is quite a bit less PAR than with my old lights. I don't have as powerful actinics as you but we can fix that:)

[lessans]

GregM779, I absolutely love your Naso tang. They're my most favorite fish.

[GregM779]

Thanks for the comments!

It's defintitely a dedication although some may say an obsession.

Thanks Armando, I may frag soon, my girlfriend wants a piece for her new tank also!

I've hade the Niger Trigger about 2 months now, perfect citizen, hasn't even eaten snails or crabs.

My lights are about 5 inches above my water surface I have a coralife fixture and right now am using the legs that cam with it.

[tsquad]

Greg, what sort of flow do you have in the tank? I have about 1200gph from my return, and 800gph coming from my powerheads. I'm saving for a Tunze 6100 w/ controller...that would put me at about 5100gph, or about 38x turnover. What's your flow like?

[GregM779]

Tyler, I run a mag 18 for my return which is 1800GPH, a SEIO 1100 which is 1100GPH, and a maxijet 1140 which does about 250GPH. 3150GPH Total. I probably turn over about 25x an hour if you add all of my water up from my tank, sump, and fuge and then subtract all of my rock. It's not only how much flow you have it's also how you use it, I have a lot of LPS and they don't like a lot of direct flow.

[guitar_lord]

Is the niger aggressive towards the other tankmates??
I love triggers, but am terrified of putting one in my tank.

[GregM779]

Mine is not at all but every fish has their own personality. There are a few triggers that are considered reef safe for the most part like my Niger, and the Blue Throat. I love the way a clown trigger looks but I've heard too many horror stories to even get one for a FOWLR, then again many people keep those just fine also.

[GregM779]

Micki, the starfish is some kind of Fromia species. I'm not sure of the exact name. I have 2 and one of my friends have one but those are the only 3 that I've seen.

[GregM779]

I found the coolest table acro at a LFS yesterday. I moved my blue tipped acro from the top tight of the tank to make a good spot for this piece.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Table-Acro.jpg

[Dubbin1]

Holy crap, all of that in only 8 months??? Someone has the BIG bucks :D

[RevHtree]

Man what an awesome tank.........Thanks for inspiring me. I want sps, but I was getting the opinion that you had to have an all sps tank or mostly all. Not anymore! That is exactly the tank that I want.

Thanks again....WOW!

PS. Seriously hands down one of the most beauitful tanks I have ever seen!!

[FastUno]

Okay, so you have got my attention. First impression is how clean things look & how healthy the corals look. Overall, your tank looks a bit too yellowish, but it's understandable why you opted to get better growth rates with the 10K's. I would probably make the same choice.

I hope you don't mind if I try & analyze your tank & try to learn something from you. I have tons of question, but will not bombard you with them all at once.

Part I- Why so clean?:
Your sand looks so clean, sorta the clean & clear you find when you first setup a tank. Is the sand 8mo old too? You have so many fish & one would think that it would be close to impossible for such a scenario (at least for most reefers). What is the secret? Where does all the fish poop go?

How often & how much water do you change out?
Do you run carbon or phosphate removal?
Do you siphon out your sand or rocks? Do you turkey blast?
Do you have a cleanup crew & what sorts/kinds?


Thanks for your time.

[GregM779]

Thanks for the comments,

Dubbin1, it's not just money that makes a nice tank, I know a lot of rich people with tanks I would be ashamed of and I am definitely not rich my any means.

RefferNOOB, If your new to the hobby get into SPS a little down the road and definitely do it slowly, they are a lot more touchy than other types of coral. The main things that you have to be careful of when doing a mixed reef is placement and water quality. If you put some kind of LPS near SPS and it stings it, like a torch, that SPS is most likely a goner. They also require very clean water which is hard o do when you start adding fish, that's why you see a lot of awesome SPS tanks almost lifeless fish wise.

FastUno, I bought an aquarium to have fish originally and they will always be my priority.
First the 10ks are not as yellow in real like they are actually very white. I went with these not only for the growth rate but I do like seeing the actual colors of things in the tank, also I can take pictures without everything being blue. I do agree everything looks better under more false lighting, like 20ks but I think that they are too dull and blue.
The sand was put in on day 1. I do agree that most told me even when I posted 5 months ago that my tank was going to crash because of my bioload. I think a lot has to do with the over 200lbs of LR that has matured enough to be able to handle it, I also think that my refugium was one of the best things that I could have added and has helped a lot.
I've done 2 water changes since setup both were 24 gallons each.

I run carbon maybe for a week every month, my UV handles the water clarity and my refugium handles the phosphates.

I don't siphon or turkey blast, My flow handles it and also my 4 tangs, foxface, and flame angel, pick at every rock all day long, that is also partly why I have no algae.

Cleanup crew is about 35 turbo snails, 2 Mexican turbo snails, 15 red leg hermit crabs, and a tiger goby for the sand. I find that diamond gobies do a better job cleaning the sand but tend to jump out a lot.

I think that was everything you listed.

[FastUno]

Only 2 water changes since the setup...wow! I have tried that for a month (i.e. no water changes) & saw an impact on the quality of water, so back to water changing I went.

Do you actually see the poop on or in your sand? Does it just get mixed in your sand & build up over time? I only have small fish (5 of them no bigger than 3 inches) & see stuff that I have to siphon out.

Is your live rock cultured? What kind & where from?

Part 2- Skimmer, so what gives?
Most people would have gone for the ER, or Deltecs, or MR. You seem to have gone for the unheard of Kent Marine Nautilus Nautilus Protein Skimmer. Do you know a secret that we don't? How does it seem to handle it's job? How many cups do you get a day/week & how often do you have to fiddle with it?

[RevHtree]

RefferNOOB, If your new to the hobby get into SPS a little down the road and definitely do it slowly, they are a lot more touchy than other types of coral. The main things that you have to be careful of when doing a mixed reef is placement and water quality. If you put some kind of LPS near SPS and it stings it, like a torch, that SPS is most likely a goner. They also require very clean water which is hard o do when you start adding fish, that's why you see a lot of awesome SPS tanks almost lifeless fish wise.

Actually my name is a little misleading. I have had a reef tank for about 14 months now. I now have a prop tank, and do my own fragging and trading...woo hoo..

I have never had a water issue. I just upgraded my fuge to an old 20g wet/dry that I converted. I have 25+ corals, and only a few fish in my 125.

I consider most people reefer noobs until they get a few years under their belt.

[RevHtree]

PS. I already have a few peices of sps including montipora digita and plate monti and a couple others.

No acropora yet though....that's where I am heading. I hope to upgrade my lights within a few weeks. I am going with (3) 250w 14k MH's with CF supliments.

[Micki]

Originally posted by ReeferNOOB
PS. I already have a few peices of sps including montipora digita and plate monti and a couple others.

No acropora yet though....that's where I am heading. I hope to upgrade my lights within a few weeks. I am going with (3) 250w 14k MH's with CF supliments.

I have a 125 with 40 gal. sump and 10 gal fuge. I have 3x250 10k MH and 4x65 pc actinic. I have a little of everything in my tank. SPS LPS Softies, anemones, LOTS of fish. And the lighting seems to do great!

[GregM779]

Yeh only 2 changes, I would do more if would improve anything. Some find it necessary to do more than others depending on their system.
I definitely see th fish take a poop but it never sits on the ground, there aren't many dead spots on the ground at least flow wise and the cleanup crew takes care of the rest. Nassarius snails are great for that.
My rock is was mostly live when I bought it, I bought very little LR because I find it weaker than LR. I purchased it over time all from about 6 different LFSs, until I had the shape that I wanted. I have Fiji, Haitian, and Atlantic LR in there.
About the skimmer, there is definitely no secret about that. It isn't a great skimmer by any means. I got it with the system when I bought it and was planning to upgrade. If I ever find any reason to improve a part it will be this. Until then I'll wait.

RefferNOOB, sorry.
Acros are definitely more touchy than other SPS. Your lights sound good, just keep your water in check and give them a good amount of indirect flow. I started with a Birdnest and think that they are one of the easiers to keep, also try and stay away from wild colonies, they are a lot less hardy.

[Micki]

I still have problems with flow. I can't seem to get it right. I have plenty. I even keep the flow turned down most of time, but if I have them pointing too hight then I get red slime, if it's pointing too low, I get sand storms... I don't know what to do!

[NexDog]

Just when I think a 150 or 180g is not big enough I see a stunning tank like this handling a huge bioload (I too like to load a tank). Is your fuge part of the sump or is it separate and if so, how is it plubed into the system?

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

gotta love that yellow leather for sure!

[FastUno]

Going back to Part I, what type of sand do you have? Did you buy it as live sand? Did you seed it?

Were your rocks filled with life? Or was it the ordinary coralline & some algae that was on there? Do you prefer porous rocks or non-porous type? How do you feel about porous rocks, such as these http://www.hirocks.com/Our_Products.html
Yes, you would have to seed those.

Personally, I am beginning to doubt the necessity of loads of rocks. If anything I see them as problematic over time, because they have the ability to trap unwanted particles (no different than the undergravel filter). Regardless of how much flow you have, with all those rocks piled up I see them as potential deitrus traps. I am loosing the faith on rocks, help me regain it back.

[GregM779]

Micki, I PMed you an article about Cyano but most likely the way to fix it in your case would be to get nutrients out of the water. You can add more coral, a refugium, or feed less.

NexDog, I would love to have a 180, that extra depth would be great and I could aquascape so much better, I definitely like the depth of the 180 rather than the height of the 150.
The refugium has water pumped to it from my sump a drain is drilled a little higher and used as a gravity return from my refugium to my sump, very simple.

ChAoTiCrEeFeR4U, I think that is actually my favorite coral in the tank, I got him when he was a wee boy and have raised him since.

FastUno, it's about 150lbs of Live Aragonite Sand, All was bought live because I didn't want to have to wait on the sand.
The rocks were live but had no coralline. I use a coralline stimulator which a lot of people don't believe in but has obviously worked for me.
I think you need a mixture of both to be successful the porous rock should have things in it to clean I eventually. The rocks on the link are alright, you will just have to wait longer for them to catch up to whatever bioload you put in go slower also you lose selection of shapes.
I think the amount of rock that I have helps make my tank more successful and breaks down the detritus.

[Micki]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GregM779
[B]Micki, I PMed you an article about Cyano but most likely the way to fix it in your case would be to get nutrients out of the water. You can add more coral, a refugium, or feed less.[QUOTE]

I got the pm and read the article. I have a fuge and it's full of macro and cheato. My coral population is pretty high, but I probably over feed....

[FastUno]

150lbs of Live Aragonite Sand
Is this the kind you buy in a bag, such as Aragalive?

Micki, he has many fish & must feed a good deal. There is something else that is key to the nutrient export. I had a fuge filled with life & had cyano problems too with my older 55g tank. Ever since I bought a better skimmer & added clam, those days are over.

GregM779, can you tell us what you have in the fuge. Any pics?

[Micki]

I have a great skimmer ASM G3. I also have a clam, but it's small. What would the clam do for the cyno?

[FastUno]

BTW, I also took my fuge off at the same time that I bought the skimmer. I noticed that a lot of crap was getting trapped in the fuge, causing build up in the DSB very quickly.

I bet you that if you remove the fuge your problems will go away.

[FastUno]

Not the Cyano, it will aid in the filtration & export of nutrients.

[Micki]

Originally posted by FastUno
BTW, I also took my fuge off at the same time that I bought the skimmer. I noticed that a lot of crap was getting trapped in the fuge, causing build up in the DSB very quickly.

I bet you that if you remove the fuge your problems will go away.

You don't have a fuge now?

[GregM779]

Micki, Your tank has just been setup correct? I thought I read your thread on it. You may just need to give your system time to mature. A small clam will do nothing, clams over 3" will help lower nutrients and some even lower nitrates.

FastUno, I think that is exactly what I used, it has a little bit of water in the sealed bag. In the fuge I had Chaeto, caulerpa, a little LR, the substrate is half miracle mud and half Ken'ts refugium sediment. I would take a pic but my house was robbed Wednesday and my camera was one of the things that they took. I also think that his tank and fuge are young and he shouldn't have a buildup of anything yet.

[FastUno]

Nope, after taking it apart I saw all the crap that was in there & it scared me.

My first line of business was to buy clams until the skimmer came in, then finally hooked up the skimmer & got rid of the fuge. Now I have a sump with NOTHING in there just glass, my skimmer, heater, return pump. I just recently added a filter sock with carbon to further make improvements.

[FastUno]

I don't have as many corals as Greg has though, his tank is very inspirational.
http://www.pbase.com/fastuno/image/43721781.jpg

[Micki]

Beautiful tank... What is the blue coral near the middle of the tank?

[GregM779]

FastUno, your tank looks very nice. Whay fish are in there? I see that you are a BB believer, is that why there are so many questions about my sand being clean??

[FastUno]

Well, that coral is actually a green leather, but there are hints of blue since my T5's have blue+ bulbs that are very powerful.

I started with a 26g tank w/some LR & aragalive sand & barely had a cycle. I had a deep sand bed, but still I could see all the fish crap on top. When I mixed the sand or siphoned it was fine. I never had any problems with the 26g tank, probably because I was doing 5g water changes weekly.
Problems started with my 55g w/shallow sand bed (using the sand from 26g). I got none of the benefits of DSB & none from BB. Stuff always kept piling up & nowhere to go. With the 55g I had nightmares, besides the lighting issues from my intense T5 system.
Now I am on track with my 90g, but I am looking to always make improvements. I also setup an experimental 26g (old tank) with DSB.

[FastUno]

Fish that are in my tank are:
-Ambon damsel
-Blue velvet damsel
-Hawk fish
-Maroon
-Blenny

& a clown tang in my experimental tank

[GregM779]

Wow, you have a lot of fish that tend to be aggressive. I really like that clam in the bottom middle.

[FastUno]

Yea, I guess that happens when you let family members pick your fish. I would only keep the hawk & the blenny & replace the others if it were totally up to me.

Greg you have only a 10g fuge for your big 125g tank, I don't think it's enough to make an impact. So the hidden secret, I don't believe, is your fuge. I had a 10g fuge for my 55 & it was loaded & teaming with life. From shrimp to pods, bristle stars, to chaeto, red algae, to maidens hair, to other stuff I have not seen before. I mean it was loaded.

[hckycoz]

greg can i ask you what lighting you are using. is there any specific brand or anything. i am about to buy my 125g tank and have high hopes it will look like yours someday

[melev]

Very nice tank.

I think your starfish is commonly referred to as a Basket Starfish, but I admit that I didn't google "feather starfish".

[Micki]

Originally posted by melev
I think your starfish is commonly referred to as a Basket Starfish, but I admit that I didn't google "feather starfish".

I would like to get a starfish, so I have done a lot of research. From what I have read, feather and basket are two different kind of starfish. I think Greg has a feather. :)

[GregM779]

FastUno, I was going to go with a 20g but there really is barely any difference in foot space between that and my 10g. Since that is the deciding factor in a refugium I decided to go with the 10g to leave it more open under my stand. I added it on after the system was running for a few months and have noticed it easier to take care of the tank, I really do think that it helps and works with all of that LR and LS. Maybe you didn't have the right macro or substrate in your fuge. A refugium is just a glass box, if you have a 400g refugium with the wrong stuff inside it won't help a bit.

hckycoz, Lighting is very important as I'm sure everyone agrees. I use a coralife fixture. It has 3 150w HQI MHs, 4 96w PC Actinics, and 4 1w moonlights. I really do like everything about this fixture. After I hosted a reef meeting at my hose 2 other members who were looking at this light bought it (the 36" version). Here's a link to hellolights a RC sponsor, I didn't buy it from them but you will at least know what it is.
Coralife 72" Aqualight Pro (http://www.hellolights.com/72aqualightpro.html)


Melev, Thank you, I love your tanks and write ups also.
This is a feather star, I would post a link to a googled site but it's a sales site so it would probably be removed.

[melev]

I'll go google it myself. ;) Thanks for the corrrection!

EDIT: A big difference I see.
http://www.seasky.org/reeflife/sea2d1.html

[OCDP]

you sure did do a great job and then some. its stunning! thats the only word for this tank.

[shealygg]

Greg...

Beautiful Tank!!! I'm thinkin' June or July Tank of the Month for sure!

Greg

[Micki]

Originally posted by shealygg
Greg...

Beautiful Tank!!! I'm thinkin' June or July Tank of the Month for sure!

Greg You're still around??? :D

Good to see ya! :)

[shealygg]

I'm real sneaky like! :)

[GregM779]

OCDP, Thank you

Originally posted by shealygg
Greg...

Beautiful Tank!!! I'm thinkin' June or July Tank of the Month for sure!

Greg

That would be awesome and a great honor but we leave that to the powers above.

[melev]

<b>shealygg - </b> If you want to nominate a tank for TOTM, you need to PM Skipper with a link to the person's thread or images, and let him know you think the tank is worthy.

[Micki]

Cool! Go for it Greg Shealygg... :)

[FastUno]

I agree, this is TOTM material.

Part 3- The Lights:
Have you seen major growth in your corals, enough to give credit to your fixtures? Do you think that you will ever need more lights, or is the 3x150 w/the PC's more than you think you will ever need? Any regret of not getting 250W MH's or do you consider getting them down the road?

How much heat do you think they put out, in terms of raising your tank temp X amount of degrees & do the built in fans do a good job in lowering heat output?

[hckycoz]

Do you run a chiller on your unit I'd love to know

[GregM779]

Fastuno, I love my light fixture, I really do.
My corals grow steadily and retain their color. If I had 250w bulbs would my SPS grow quicker? Of course. Would my LPS be as happy? I don't think so.
These 150w HQI DE bulbs are sometimes compared to 250w mogul bulbs. All of my SPS are healthy and have really started to color up.
I think the coolest part of this future is the moonlights. It has 4 1 watt bulbs and the colors just glow at night.
hckycoz this answers your question,
As far as heat goes, I live in South Florida and run my tank without a chiller. Everyone that I know with a tank my size runs a chiller. My fixture runs so cool that I can actually tap the UV glass shields directly under the MH bulbs or hold my hand directly under them.
Coralife also has given me great service. One of my bulbs started turning yellow and the fixture is still under warranty, I called them, they had me send them a receipt, and a brand new bulb came to me in the mail. Very quick and easy to deal with.

[hckycoz]

i have been really lookin at that fixture for a while and now with your advice and insight i will for sure

[FastUno]

Greg, how are the shimmer lines with that fixture, are they pronounced?

That would be the perfect fixture had the PC's been T5's with the right reflectors. You would save on electricity, it would bring down the heat output some more, & we would get greater color pop with the blue+'s that the T5's have to offer. You might have considered an actinic in the mix if this was possible. Those that are blue freaks could even get away with running a 10K MH bulb, without much compromise.

T5's 4*39W= 156W versus
PC 4*96W = 384W

If Coralife ever comes out with a MH/T5 combo fixture, count me in. Do you know if they ever plan to? Who can we speak to?

[hckycoz]

what temperature are the bulbs you run greg?

[GregM779]

FastUno, it's kind of funny I was actually going to write that the only big improvement that they could have made was by putting in the T5s. It would definitely save on electrical. As far as the PCs go Coralife makes the truest blue actinic that I know of.
The fixtures are actually made by
ESU Web (http://www.esuweb.com)
You can try contacting them there for your suggestion.

hckycoz, They are 10ks, look at page 3 post 5.

[shealygg]

Alrighty there Greg. It now is officially in the hands of the powers that be. I took Melev's advice and nominated you to Skipper. So, as far as voting goes, you have at least one vote! :):) Good luck...and if you win, I think the rule is that the person that nominated you gets 10 frags of his choice from your tank (and one fish) :lol: Good luck!

Greg

[GregM779]

Woo Hoo, 1 vote down, 94,411 to go.
It's cool that you guys think I'm worthy. Thank's for PMing him and letting him know also. I think I have quite a few postitive feedbacks on this thread and no complaints.
shealygg, I would give you the frags and fish but then it would look like a bribe and we don't want that.:D

[shealygg]

Who don't want that? All I did was nominate you....what some people call bribes, others refer to as rewards or finders fees! :)

[melev]

Originally posted by shealygg
Who don't want that? All I did was nominate you....what some people call bribes, others refer to as rewards or finders fees! :)

:lol:

[GregM779]

I've had a few people PM and e-mail about the refugium so I thought I would post it. It's a standard 10g tank with a 34w retrofit PC light. The bulb is a 6700k/10k. I run the light 24/7 and suggest that anyone growing Caulerpa does to prevent it from going sexual.
The Substrate is half miracle mud and half Kent's Marine Refugium Biosediment. There is Caulerpa and Chaeto in there for macroalgae. You can't see the rock because of the algae but there is a large flat very porous piece covering almost the entire back wall for pods. That is a coral skeleton in there also for pods.
I believe that a refugium is a very important piece to complete a system it helps to keep things more stable, assist in nutrient export and also to farm pods.
The way that this one works is that water is pumped through the lear tube into the Refugium from the sump. The Drain is drilled higher so when water reaches a certain point it returns back into the sump directly next to the main return pump and into the display. Very simple. You never want to use 2 pumps because if one fail you will have a flood. The refugim also has to be elevated high enough so that the drin tube is higher than the sump for the gravity to get it.



Here's the refugium from the front.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Refugium.jpg

Here's the side

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Refugium-Side.jpg

And here's the pipes that run between the sump and refugium

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Refugium-Pipes.jpg

[GregM779]

On a side note I borrowed my dad's camera today and was able to get a decent pic of my ORA Chip's Coral. It was one of my first SPSs and started as a tiny frag. The colors have changed so much, It is kind of greenish body with purple tips and very long polyps.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412ORA-Chip_s-Coral.jpg

[hckycoz]

Do you un blue actencis (SP) on your fixture?

[GregM779]

I run my actinics for about 13hrs a day and my MHs about 6 hrs.


Here are some Purple People Eaters I came across tonight.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412PPEs-1.jpg

[rm41400]

very nice!

[shealygg]

Do you have any pics of the other end of your sump...where the water comes back in from the tank? I'm interested to see how yours is compared to mine as I believe we have the same type sump. Thanks!
Greg

[GregM779]

Ok, here's the sump, a little dirty but at least the skimmers clean:)
I'm going to start replacing the bioballs with LR soon, I have no reason to but the reasoning makes sense and I would rather avoid the problem than have to deal with it. I'm going to do that very slowly.
I have 4 pumps in the sump, a small rio that goes to the refugium, a mag 18 for my main return, a mag 7 for my skimmer, and a mag 5 to my UV.
I'm glad I have the Sealife Systems 200 model otherwise I don't know how it would all fit.
My UV is behind the stand where you can't see it.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Sump.jpg

[GregM779]

On a lighter note, I was able to get a few decent pics of the fish today and haven't posted many on this thread.


Here's my Blonde Naso Tang hanging out with my Foxface Rabbitfish, they love to hang out together a lot.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blonde-Naso.jpg


Here's my Chevron Tang and one of my True Percula Clownish.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Chevron-Tang.jpg


Here's a pic of the Flame Angel

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Flame-Angel.jpg


And my Niger Trigger, sorry the flash made him kind of bright.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Niger-Trigger.jpg

[shealygg]

Whew....you've got it goin' on in that sump!! You could lose a small child in there amongst all that stuff! :lol:

What's the purpose of the small fan behind the skimmer? Just general cooling, or do you have it to cool something specific? And, BTW, thanks for the pic of the whole sump.

[GSerg2]

I didn't read the whole post so please excuse me if this has been asked. Have you had trouble with the trigger? I always thought they would eat corals.

[GregM779]

shealygg, Yeah, it's definitely packed, I could eliminate one pump for the UV and do it inline but I like being able to take it out if needed easily.
The small fan is my $7 "chiller" from walmart. It's a clip-on fan that is on a timer. I run it from about a half hour before the halides kick on until about an hour after they go off, just to help compensate for the little heat that they do put out. You'd be amazed how much a little fan blowing directly over your sump can help.

GSerg, Triggers are somewhat tricky Niger Triggers are about 50/50 in reef tanks about being really agressive or not. Mine is very laid back but does like to bite the hairs out of my arm when my hand is in the tank.
There are a few others that you will see in reefs like blue throats. I would never throw a clown trigger in a reef but I have seen a few picasso triggers in reefs, that's a little too daring for me.
If you do a search I know I've seen about 100 threads on this same subject.

[GSerg2]

Thanks for the info and by the way, that is a BEAUTIFUL tank!! I can only hope that my tank comes close to that someday.

[GregM779]

Thanks,

Since I started the thread I upgrade my RC account and can now post higher res photos so I thought I would post the big tank shots again. It's a great thing to upgrade you account, you get room for more picture, can post higher res pics, get the search tool always, and you get to support this grea site for $2 a month.


Full Tank

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Tank_94_.jpg


Left Side

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Left-Side_95_.jpg


Center


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Center_96_.jpg



Right Side


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Right-Side_97_.jpg


Full Tank Angle


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Angle_98_.jpg

[shealygg]

Wow, Greg....the new pics you posted make your tank look even better than it did! Being a premium member is great! Plus, you'll need those higher res pictures when your tank gets TOM next month! :smokin: Plus, they can't hold that against you now! :lol:

I like your chiller idea, too. Did you notice a big increase to your power bill when you fired up your light system?

[GregM779]

Thanks, one can only hope. I forgot one other thing about the sponsoring is the spell checker, so much easier than having to read over your posts twice every time.

That fixture doesn't make a dramatic difference at all in electric, as said before the only real energy saving thing that they could have added would to have put in T5s rather than PCs but I'm sure there is a reason why they didn't

[FastUno]

Yes, as it was said. With your latest shots the tank looks even better.

How often & what do you feed exactly?

[GregM779]

FastUno, I'll respond to the PM later, haven't had time this weekend.
I feed quite a bit actually, I like fat, happy fish and since a couple aren't totally reef safe I like to keep them that way.
Usually every day I put in a cube of mysis, a cube of prime reef and a good chunk of frozen cyclopeeze. I also give about 1/5th of a sheet of sushi wrap every other day. Every once in a while I will give them some spectrum or fresh seafood from publix.
For the corals, I fee them about twice a week with mysis, daphnia, and cyclopeeze, I use a syringe to feed them with the pumps off.
I don't know if you would consider it feeding but I add DT's phytoplankton twice a week.

[hckycoz]

greg do you know where and how much you paid for the tank or did you diy it and how much did that cost ya

[fishman805]

Greg,

Loved the full tank shot... I'm glad to see that you're haveing such success using the same lighting that I've got on my 150... Some folks said that I would not have enough light ... You've proved them wrong...

[reefarchitect]

Greg,

Here's a shot of the tank. Keep in mind it's only 2 months old.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/87111Picture_062__Custom___Custom_.jpg

See ya soon

[GregM779]

hckycoz, I don't know the exact amount but here's what I know of.
I got the tank, sump, stand, protein skimmer, UV filter and pumps for $1200 used.
I bought the light seperate for about $900 new
I added the refugium, about $200 for everything including what's inside of it.
There's over 250lbs of LR in there...
About 150 lbs of LS...
Corals and fish I can't even gues but it is way up there.

fishman805, yeh the light is awesome, your LPS on the bottom will do well. Obviously if the rest of your tank is setup right the lights will be able to handle it. I love the moonlights also.

Armando, wow what a difference already, your going at Greg speed. The coralline is really taking off too. Any luck in Orlando? I just got your message. Is that a new wrasse?

[reefarchitect]

Orlando was good,

Picked up a bright orange monti cap, a green encrusting monti. Some pink pocillipora, and some blue ridge. Also got: baby blue, solid green, orange and purple w/green skirt zoos. About 10 - 11 small frags in total. It was worth the trip.

Thanks for the compliment and I'll see you/talk to you soon.

[GregM779]

I definitely think I'm going to have to start a reefer's anonymous in my area, it's obviously rubbing off on the people around me. Sounds like some nice finds.

Here's a pic of the tiger goby, don't have a camera right now and it isn't the best shot but oh well.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Tiger-Goby.jpg

[FastUno]

I have finally reached a conclusion as to why your tank is such a success.

[melev]

Originally posted by FastUno
I have finally reached a conclusion as to why your tank is such a success.

And......? ;) That's it? You leave us all here to guess what it might be?

[GregM779]

What is your conclusion?

[GregM779]

Fastuno, alright the suspense was cool at first but you have to let us know your analysis results.

[fishman805]

Originally posted by FastUno
I have finally reached a conclusion as to why your tank is such a success.

He really doesn't have a clue.......

[FastUno]

Cliffhangers, gotta love them. Now, you didn't think I did that on purpose did you? Actually, I was going to PM you directly & hopefully have some sort of discussion. I was trying to avoid a feeding frenzy, but I guess if you guys twist my arm hard enough I would give in. Plus I have been really busy lately & not enough time to type all this up.

There are 2 main objectives we as reefers try to accomplish. One is to provide the necessary environment for our aquatic friends through additions (salt, CA, ALK, MG, Iodine, proper lighting...etc). The second objective is keeping the baddies out (ammonia, phosphates, N02, NO3...etc.). I am sure that most would agree that it's more difficult to control the latter.

Looking at this beautiful tank it's quite evident that things are going well. We receive reports of things growing, evidence that at least the essential elements necessary for growth have been met. So, we will not focus on this. Instead, and what is more intriguing about this situation, is why nutrient export seems to be greater than import.

Let’s briefly list the causes of Nutrient Import:
1) fair stock of corals
2) the fuge (oh yes, do you think that all the biological growth in there contributes nothing at all?) Think of all the pod skin shedding, their defecation, slews of the plants you are growing...etc).
3) the lights, a big potential contributor to imports, especially when all the necessary trace elements are present (photosynthetic life)
4) the fish & feedings (the biggest contributors to our problems).

Nutrient Export:
1) The 150LB of "live" sand. Look at the pic below, anything look familiar (is that fiji pink)? Tank was at the 5mo mark & never any problems. I barely had a cycle using that aragalive sand & it seemed to have done wonders (I think I only used a 30lb bag in there). One thing that I did notice though was that poop would sit on top of the sand, perhaps because I did not have the proper sand stirrers. When I stirred the sand myself things were great & detritus no longer appeared on the surface. I have never seen anything major in terms of multicellular life in that sand, but it must have been teaming with bacteria. I have heard of similar reports from others using this same product.
(don’t nag me about the content, I know. Also, tank was lit my 96W T5 only)
http://www.pbase.com/fastuno/image/32596229.jpg

2) The 200lb of live rock. If you take notice you see that your rock is piled in this mountain, giving shelter & shade. You have a great deal of corals on top of the rocks, further shading portions of your rock work. You are using relatively low light (although enough) for relatively shorter periods of time. (this will make more sense in a bit).
3) skimmer (no comment)
4) the fuge (in particular the caulerpa, one of the best macro nutrient exporters). But I don’t think you have enough to make a true impact in your tank, so I won’t focus on this. If anything your system is surely benefiting from the occasional feedings bestowed from the fuge.
5) the transient carbon filtration (pollutants)


Did I miss anything?

[FastUno]

The answer to your success is BACTERIA. Bacteria seeded in your sand & possibly spreading to your rocks & the bacteria from your rocks (possibly spreading to your sand). Check that bag of aragalive & see what the shelf life is. That long without any light & in darkness? Your system is dominated by bacteria & not photosynthetic micro & macro life (other than your corals & macros in fuge). You have setup a perfect environment for the bacteria to dominate, consume your nutrients, & any passing photosynthetic life. The bacteria don’t produce their own fuel, it must consume it from something else that produces it or has it stored already. I think it’s the photosynthetic micro/macro life, that if left unchecked, causes the most problems. Giving off phosphates & other nutrients, this in turn leads to a cycle.

Want some more proof, then check out some of the other threads on Aragalive & see what others are saying about cycle times & life in the bag of sand. Check out the thread on rock cooking, where reefers place their rocks in a dark bin, with nothing more than water & a circulating pump, only to have the rocks come out clean. The bacteria eventually consume pretty much all visible matter.

Not satisfied with my little 26g depicted above, I at one point decided to move all the contents from the 26g into a 55g & add 384W of lights. I had less rocks per given area, less sand per area, more light per inch, & HELL all the way. The photosynthetic life took over & was not long before chaos ensued. I had implemented the exact opposite recipe of what you currently have & what I had in the smaller tank.

One thing that does not escape in this explanation, is what happens to all the bacteria then? You did say that had plenty of fish that constantly picked on your rock, did you not? You have a cleanup crew too? They probably keep them in check & the cycle continues.

Have you stirred your sand lately? When stirring the new aragalive sand, not much happens (no massive clouds…etc). Can you do us a favor & stir now? That will probably build up over time & overpower your friends, your foes…the bacteria.

[GregM779]

Alright, now we have a good conversation.
I definitely agree that we can contribute some of the success back to the basics known by almost all RCers. Bacteria which comes from Live Sand and Live Rock. I don't know if it has anything to do with the amount of light being blocked by it. When I posted pics of my tank at the 3 month mark I had much less rock and coral, still a large amount of coral for that young of a tank and a very high fish load. Most said that my tank was doomed to crash....yada, yada, yada.
I am a real fan of aragalive sand and believe that does help in the grand scheme, another reason I don't think I will ever go BB. I read tons of posts of people searching for Southdown or other play sand in hopes to make it LS. I understand that it will all change but is it really worth the risk, wait, and money?
Live Rock is already known as the best filter available if put together correctly. I have a ton of rock but it is not just piled in there. I've carefully stacked it leaving room for a fish to enter the back of the tank on one side and exit 6 feet later on the other side or anywhere in between. This creates tons of flow in between my rocks and even along the sandbed in the back.
The fish are also a great contribution in themselves. My tangs, foxface, and flame angel keep the rocks immaculate making sure nothing settles or builds up. My tiger goby works on the sandbed keeping it stirred (I may add a diamond goby also, they seem to do a better job).

[GregM779]

As far as the skimmer goes there is definitely room for improvement. It is able to keep up when used with the other forms of filtration but normally would not be able to keep up with a tank load like mine. I do believe that the fuge, even though it is a 10g, does make a dramatic difference at least for tank stability. Nutrient export is occuring frequently making me weed out half of the fuge about every 2 weeks. I was going to go with a 20g but there is hardly any difference in foot space so decided against it.
Maybe the tank has grown a resistance towards a hugh bioload because it gotten used to it. If you think about it, if I always have a high bioload and feed a lot then the bacteria has to be there to handle it. People who have tons of problems after their tanksitter has overfed the tank for a week, the tank has just gone through a shock.

[GregM779]

As far as my lighting schedule until about 6-7 weeks ago I ran my halides 10hrs a day, the main reason for cutback was because of fellow reefers seeing better coloring with a 5-6 hr MH lighting schedule.
While we're talking about all of this we can't leave out my UV. I've heard so many bad things in posts about them but hae yet to here any actual proof. I have run mine since day one and if we contribute some of my success to bacteria then obviously it seems as though it doesn't have a downside. Also my pair of mandarins are happy meaning that it doesn't have a huge effect on pods.
The main reason that I don't do water changes is the fact that there is no real benefit to me past the 4 days that the corals look better.

[FastUno]

Have you added the fish all at once, or did you add the fish slowly? Reefers stress the importance of going slowly, but I have a feeling you added most of your fish at once? Did the rocks & sand come before most of the fish? I would think so.

You have a very good strategy in getting live sand & rock. In that 26g tank I did not want to order LR online, because I knew a large portion of the life would not make it. What I did instead was to acquire it from the LFS in buckets of water w/an aerator & as a result I had a SUPER FAST cycle, just a tiny blip on the radar. I could not believe it, I had success at my first real reef.
Where did you obtain your rock from, online? How was it packaged?

The UV debate is a mystery. I would think that it would be great for removing ich, disease, & pathogens, but would make the assumption that it would add to the nutrient imports. Being that things grow, duplicate, absorb energy & then after cell lysis that energy is released into the tank as nutrients. Maybe your UV is acting like a feeding machine for the bacteria, at least the ones not in your water column. The ones in the sand & on the rocks.

I noticed something very interesting in my tank recently. As you know I have a BB, with what I consider a decent amount of flow & a cleanup crew (astreas, turbo, & hermits). I am sure I can use a little more flow, but that is another story. When I first started out with my 90g BB, after transferring items from my 55g, I noticed a lot of detritus build up over time. I was forced to siphon it out every 2 weeks or so. This sort of confused me, because I was told with a good flow that the problem should not happen. It's quite understandable how it might come to be given all the crevices, rocks, & dead flow areas, & spaces for things to easily ge stuck & hidden in. Now I am noticing less & less poop appear on the BB. My tank has reached this state where I can now feed frozen mysis & squid everyday, so it seems, with no ill effects. The water looks amazingly clear & gorgeous. Part of the poop seems to disappear magically. All else being the same, the only thing I did was to start using a filter sock about 3-4 weeks ago & I added a clam.



Did you do the sand stir test for us?

[FastUno]

BTW, I think the light blocking does have something to do with it. The more surface area of light you provide, the more opportunity for the photosynthesizers to take over (again given the proper elements). The less total lighted surface area, the more room for bacteria to take over & keep the former in check.

Nutrients will be released at all levels, low to high. It's a matter of which set of living things get to it first. With your setup you are giving the bacteria the advantage.

[GregM779]

Don't have much time to respond, just wanted to post that my flame angel went to the dark side today, I noticed a couple of blastos not doing too well this week, which is unheard of in my tank, yesterday I noticed a montipora digitata branch not looking too hot and today I found large blastos almost entirely eaten, another monti digi totally closed up, hopefully not eaten, a bite mark in one of my PPEs, and other LPS just don't look too happy. I hid in the kitchen and watched the tank through a mirror and sure enough not 2 minutes later he began picking away. This really sucks.

[GregM779]

Well that was not fun. I just finished putting the reef back together after starting to catch the flame angel at about 7pm yesterday, about 10hrs total. I'm known for my fish catching skills but this guy was way too smart. I had a friend come over from my reef club to help me out and we planned to get him to one side take out some rock and use a tank seperator. He would not go on that side at all so we started taking stuff out. About 50 corals and 100lbs of rick later we were able to get him on the left side, used the seperator and took out that rock. Here's a pic of what it looked like. Sorry about the pic I had to take it with a camera phone.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412ATT00171.jpg

[GregM779]

OK, back to our conversation. At the beginning I set it up with the sand and maybe 50lbs of LR. About 2 weeks later I took the 20lbs of LR I had in my old 55g and my 8 fish and put them in the new tank. I never really had a cycle. Over time I've added the rock whenever I found pieces that I liked. All LR was bought locally, it was usually wrapped in newspaper but I don't live far from my LFSs. When adding fish I've done 4 or 5 at a time. I think it is better to space out the fish giving time for the bacteria to catch up but when it's very stable you have more room to play.
I think with a high bioload a tank grows a tolerance. If there's is nothing for the bacteria to eat it doesn't matter how much LR or LS you have. Someone with 100lbs of LR and a chromi for a year may crash their tank if they added 3 fish at once.
I definitely did a sand stir last night catching that stupid fish.

[FastUno]

I know exacly what you mean, I had one of those bastards. It was tagged the day it touched my pocillipora.
http://www.pbase.com/fastuno/image/35074811.jpg

The tank storm, I told you it will be cloudy. New Aragalive does not produce that much cloudiness, the particles are not fine enough for major cloudiness. That is all the poop that is being built up over time & will continue to build up. Did we not pay attention to Bomber's quote? "Sandbeds operate like wormholes and the excess nutrients and detritus are transported to a sister galaxy".:D

I get similar cloudiness when I blast my rocks, that is why I was beginning to question it. I am in the mental development stage of building up a sand free & rock free tank, the Bare Blank Tank. Only need a mega skimmer & your good.

[GregM779]

Sorry about the pic but the tank wasn't cloudy at all. It just looks that way with the crappy camera.

[reefarchitect]

I will attest that the amount of detritus was minimal at best. The picture makes it look alot worse than it was. I was expecting it to be much cloudier with all of those fish after 9 months, it was pretty clean. As the rocks were removed from the water, they didn't leave a puff of cloudiness behind. Overall it was pretty clean.

[FastUno]

Can you give us some more pics after everything settles.

[GregM779]

I'll post a pic when I have someone with a camera come over. My house was robbed a few weeks ago and one thing they took was my camera.
There really wasn't a dust storm at all, even with all of that rock movement.

[fishman805]

Dang sorry to hear about the break-in....

[GregM779]

Yeh, the robbery sucked about 12k worth of electronics at around 1:30 in the afternoon.

[GregM779]

So does anyone want to rate my thread??

[melev]

If you have to ask, we can't comply. :p This should happen via free will. :D

[GregM779]

True...my bad

[melev]

For showing humility, two people must now rate your thread. Step up, people. :D

[FastUno]

Thread has been rated, free will has prevailed.

[FastUno]

So where are all the stars?

[melev]

:lol: I think he's going to need a lot more Free Will.

[FastUno]

I guess your right, best of luck! Might surprise us with TOTM in July, you never know.

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. You stated that you started off with 1 of each rics & they have divided into many. Did you intervene to make this happen (i.e. direct feed)? Did you splice them yourself? That is some really fast & amazing growth.

[GregM779]

I let them split on their own. I've lost a few prize yumas from trying to frag them and them letting go of their rock to get lost in the tank. If you have a small, low flow tank they're easy to frag but otherwise you may lose them.

[FastUno]

Have you ever had rics or yumas vanish on you because of your lights, maybe too much light? I had such an experience & have heard the same thing from someone else. This other local reefer said that you should shade them to the extreme to prevent this, place them direcly under a shaded rock.

Do you direct feed your rics?

[GregM779]

As far as light goes, I've had them from the sandbed to the top with SPS, it may depend on which color ric it is and if you acclimate them. Yumas love light, I got some nice purple yumas this week. I direct feed a lot in my tank but not really my rics, I have too many.

[GregM779]

It really sucks not having a camera, I've done quite a few nice improvements to the reef and I can't post them.

[richfavinger]

You make me cry...
I miss my 125 as I had to give it up when I trashed my lighting system for it, and could not afford to get a new one for a 6' tank. But any how I setup my 75 for now, and got a kicking lighting system for it. I may setup a large tank again some day.

Truly a wonderful 125, A+ man...
TOTM, you got my vote.

Rich :D

[shealygg]

Dude...you got stars now!!! Congrats!!! And, by the way, I'm now the proud owner of a light system like yours! Can't wait to get it set up.

[GregM779]

Thanks Rich, at least you still have a 75g, that's a pretty good size.
I do love 6 foot long tanks though, I wish I did I have a little more depth to play with for aquascaping but the length and height are great for me. You can PM Skipper if you truly think I'm worthy of TOTM.

[GregM779]

shealygg, have you hooked it up yet? I think Coralife should sponsor me but then again I only recommend it because it's and awesome product. I think the moonlights are the coolest part but can never get a good pic. Throw something bright under them tonight and tell me what you think.

[shealygg]

As hard as it is, I probably won't be hooking them up for a little while. I'm battling ich at the moment and have been for about 2 weeks. I've already lost a CB B'fly which instigated this whole mess. Now I'm trying to save my clown and two tangs, but I haven't been able to trap the tangs to get them to the QT. I want to get all of that mess squared away before doing anything different to the tank. My next purchase is more than likely going to be a UV Sterilizer...Happy Father's Day! :lol:

I can't remember w/out looking back at the thread, but...what K are you running on the 150s? The original 10Ks or something bluer (14K or 20K)?

[GregM779]

What are you trying to copy me? Getting a UV too?
J/K
Yeh, it makes sense to square away the problems first.

I run 10ks, I think 20ks are too dull and blue especially for pictures. I also like the ability to see the real color of a coral and switch on the actinics to brighten them up. 10k also gives you better growth and sometimes coloration. I contacted coralife a few weeks ago about something and asked about 14k bulbs, they said that they would come out sometime this year hopefully. I haven't decided if I will change or not.

[shealygg]

Do you have to use their bulbs? Dumb question, but why could you not use any 150w HQI bulb? I haven't really gotten far enough into this fixture yet to know what type replacements will work. I was just assuming that this new Phoenix 14K HQI that everyone's raving about would work.

[GregM779]

That should be perfectly fine, I was just telling you what I knew. What bulbs did you go with? I would love to see the phoenix 14ks in action but don't know of anyone near me, you really can't tell by pics. The color could also change running on different ballasts.

[shealygg]

I have the 10's that came with it, and I believe my LFS guy has ordered me some 20's, which may be way too blue. If so, there's always the "for sale" forum to start posting in.

[fishman805]

For those of you who'd like to see what the moon lights look like on the Coralife Pro... Here's a pic of my 72" setup over my 150 gal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/fishman805/IMG_1584.jpg

[shealygg]

Wow...that's a pretty good bit of light. Do you leave them on all night, or do you time them off at a certain point?

[Grimstalk]

Originally posted by FastUno
Greg, how are the shimmer lines with that fixture, are they pronounced?

That would be the perfect fixture had the PC's been T5's with the right reflectors. You would save on electricity, it would bring down the heat output some more, & we would get greater color pop with the blue+'s that the T5's have to offer. You might have considered an actinic in the mix if this was possible. Those that are blue freaks could even get away with running a 10K MH bulb, without much compromise.

T5's 4*39W= 156W versus
PC 4*96W = 384W

If Coralife ever comes out with a MH/T5 combo fixture, count me in. Do you know if they ever plan to? Who can we speak to?

I have the 48" x2 150W MH x 2 96W PC fixture myself and am quite happy with it...altough, I would prefer T5 lights instead of the PC. I've always found PC lights lacking on the actinic side.

Nonetheless, my corals are growing very well. Given my tank is 70 gallons I found the fixture a perfect fit for SPS (top level of reef) and LPS and some lower light corals.

I think next time I will try the 14.5K bulb by Giesmann, I'm finding that the 10K are a very white light and the blue doesn't come out as much in the acro's. 20K is just too blue for me. Has anyone tried the 14.5K 150W HQI MH?

[GregM779]

I run mine almost all night, I think it's totally dark for 2 hours.

[fishman805]

Originally posted by shealygg
Wow...that's a pretty good bit of light. Do you leave them on all night, or do you time them off at a certain point?

Mine stay on all the time..... They don't use alot of energy and are not noticed until night time.... they give a very nice shimmer effect at night... my brittle star comes out at night right under one of them ... It's pretty cool ...

[Cosper]

That tank is incredible! Good job with that.. if my office reef takes off and does well; i'll be doing a large setup such as that! I am already in the process of clearing out my "junk" half of the garage for filtration!

[fishman805]

Good luck with that ....

[GregM779]

Thanks Cosper, larger systems are usually easier to take care of also.

[Cosper]

You're right...that has been my experience exactly with fish only tanks.

Originally posted by GregM779
Thanks Cosper, larger systems are usually easier to take care of also.

[GregM779]

Well being cameraless after being robbed has sucked but I was able to borrow my brother's digital SLR for a few days. Here are some pics that I took and I'll post some more over the net few days.
On a sad note, I found my trigger on the ground today, I left my eggcrate off of the tank for the last couple of days thinking that I didn't have any fish that were prone to jump left. The eggcrate now stays on for good.
What do you guys think I should get another niger trigger or a blue throat trigger?

A New Purple Acro:eek1:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Purple-Acro.jpg


My Blonde Babe

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Blonde-Naso_Angle.jpg


My pair of True percs and Blonde Naso

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412True-Percs_-Blonde-Naso.jpg


My Marshall Islands piece

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Marshall-Island-SPS.jpg

[GregM779]

2 Scolymias and my purple brain


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Scolymias_-Purple-Brain.jpg


Pink and Green Yumas

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Pink-Green-Yuma.jpg


Purple Yumas

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Purple-Yumas.jpg

Orange Monti Cap

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Orange-Monti-Cap.jpg


And a full angle shot

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Angle-061905.jpg

[reefarchitect]

Purple acro placement is right on; tank is amazing. Sorry to hear about the trigger!

[GregM779]

Thanks Armando, here's a shot from the front.
I wanted to do something a little different with it, rather than just have it sticking straight up.



http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Left-Side-061905.jpg

[FastUno]

Glad to see that you back up & running, truly amazing. Hope you get TOTM.

Do you ever direct feed any of your brain corals? What do you think they eat in your tank?

[GregM779]

Tanks, FastUno.
I feed the corals 1-2 times a week. I use mysis, daphnia, and cyclopeeze in a syringe. I feed the Blastos, Acan Lords, Scolymias, Brains, Cup Corals, Plate Coral, Sun Corals, hammers, frogspawn, trumpets, and lobophylia.
They all eat light also except the suncorals so feeding isn't really necessary

[fishman805]

Great job putting the tank back together Greg.... I'm planning a trip up to Atlanta in about 3 weeks to spend some of my "Fathers Day" money to "Restart" populating my tank... Right now I have (1) pulsing xenia... lol... So I have a looong way to go to get where you're at.... Wish me luck...

[Snake~eyes]

what are the dimensions of your tank?

thanks

[fishman805]

Mines a 150gal. 72" X 22" X 18.5" . Here's how it looks right now...Not the best shot... I caught some reflection from a nearby window...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/fishman805/117-1750_IMG.jpg

[fishman805]

By the way Greg, when you feed the nori to your fish ... Is there anything that you do to it before putting it in the water on the clip..??? Or do you just put it in..?? My wife picked me up some sushi nori the other day ... I'm trying to find a shop that has a clip ( may have to order one on-line ) but until I start feeding it to my Tangs I just wanted to know what, if anything, I have to do to it...

[FastUno]

When you direct feed your corals, with so many fish, do you find that the fish pick off the food. Sometimes the corals may not be getting as much as expected due to this.

[hckycoz]

greg you said that you would upgrade your skimmer. what would you go with?

[GregM779]

fishman, The rockwork looks nice! Major potential when you get some coral. That isn't an aptasia on the left is it? I don't do anything special with the nori except break it in half and put it in 2 clips on opposite sides of teh tank. Good Luck!

Snake~Eyes, I don't know if you were talking to me but mine are 72, 18, 20.

FastUno, of course the fish eat some, I turn off all of the pumps and fog out the tank spot feeding. I turn the pumps back on and the skimmer takes out the leftovers. I also do it late at night when the fish are less active.

hckycoz, I haven't decided, it will be a little while for me but I here a lot of good things about ASM skimmers from local reefers.

[tsquad]

Greg, how fast does your leather grow?

[fishman805]

Originally posted by GregM779
fishman, The rockwork looks nice! Major potential when you get some coral. That isn't an aptasia on the left is it? I don't do anything special with the nori except break it in half and put it in 2 clips on opposite sides of teh tank. Good Luck!

.

Greg

No partner that's not an aptasia.... it's my Condy anemone.... Thanks for the good remark on the rockwork ... that's 230lbs of the stuff and the coraline is really building up .... I'm chomping at the bit to start populating this thing .... But after a bad 1st start, I'm going to take my time and do it slowly.... Can't afford to throw any maore hard earned cash down the drain ...

[GregM779]

tsquad, new avatar?
My leather has grown crazy fast, it was about a fifth of that size when I got it about 6 months ago. It has a 12" diameter now.

fishman805, whew, I was worried for a minute, couldn't tell for sure. Take your time and always go for quality pieces rather than quantity.

[tsquad]

Originally posted by GregM779
tsquad, new avatar?
My leather has grown crazy fast, it was about a fifth of that size when I got it about 6 months ago. It has a 12' diameter now.

Yup, :rollface: didn't cut it anymore. Slick is the man! My Devil's Hand is growing kinda slow. At first I didn't think it was growing at all, but I moved it today, to see if it would like a new spot, and it has been growing in the back all along. A whole new flap thing. It should start to kick off soon, it's base is getting fatter too.

[GregM779]

um, pic...

[tsquad]

My sister took the camera again :(
I'll have pics soon I hope. I'm mounting an assault on the valonia. Turns out it came back in greater numbers, though smaller bubbles, after a brief intermission. Here is my plan basically:

I have a huge tarp and three 40g tubs. Complete manual removal sometime within the next month of the little demons. 1st tub = tank water/place to keep rocks when they are taken out. 2nd tub = place to clean/rinse algae off. 3rd tub = replacement water. Then all the remainders will be dealt with by my infantry emeralds

[GregM779]

tsquad, good luck.

I finally got a pic of how green my monti cap is on the top left.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Green-Monti-Cap.jpg

[GregM779]

I need your guys opinion. I want to replace my trigger and I was thinking blue throat but what if I got a harlequin tusk instead? What do you guys think?

[fishman805]

Originally posted by GregM779


fishman805, whew, I was worried for a minute, couldn't tell for sure. Take your time and always go for quality pieces rather than quantity.

You can't tell from the far away shot of the anemone but he's about 10" across opened up right now ... I've not heard that aptasia can get that big.... But anyway, you can bet I'll be going for "quality" and not "quantity" this go around... I'll post pic's as I go...

[fishman805]

Originally posted by GregM779
I need your guys opinion. I want to replace my trigger and I was thinking blue throat but what if I got a harlequin tusk instead? What do you guys think?

Have not seen the harlequin but my vote would be a male blue throat......

[shealygg]

I was under the impression that harlequin tusks were not reef safe....am I off base?

[druluv]

Tony from http://reefexotics.com/ has one in his tank. It is the coolest thing. He does warn that they will eat any shrimp you put in your tank.

[hckycoz]

greg what pump do you use for a return?

[wrassie86]

Great tank:)

[druluv]

Greg - What setting do you have on your Camera.

[GregM779]

Harlequin Tusks aren't reef safe because they eat shrimp but so do triggers.

hckycoz, I use a mag 18

wrassie86, thanks

druluv, On the camera that was stolen I used it at ISO 400 and lowered the light it let in for halide shots. I use the macro setting for closeups.

[FastUno]

Come on put a little excitement in your reef life, throw a Long Horned Cowfish, puffer, or lion fish in there.

[reefarchitect]

Get another tang, maybe a Tomini or something beautiful like that. Maybe even a Jeweled!

[FastUno]

But really I would go for one of the following:
-mystery wrasse
-blue tang or chevron tang
- or potters angel

[FastUno]

or a damsel

[reefarchitect]

I don't know, but I would think twice before putting another angel in the tank and he already has a beautiful Chevron.

[water`bug]

OMG! I'm jealous! :)

Very stunning, indeed! And btw, great photography, as well.

donna in New Orleans

[tsquad]

A wrasse would be awesome. One of the really colorful, REALLY EXPENSIVE ones :lol:

[GregM779]

I'm also going to need a fish or 2 to replace my flame angel and GS Maroon that came out last week.
I love wrasses, they're my favorite fish, but have lost 3 to jumping even with eggcrate on the tank.

FastUno, already have a chevron and am kind of leary of putting another angel in. They're are a hard fish to catch if needed. Damsel? Are you serious?

Armando, I was thinking another tang like powder blue if I could find one that looked like Pete's. They had some really pretty Sohals at Coral Sea but I think my tank is too small. Maybe an Eibli Mimic Tang?

Donna, Thank you.

tsquad, are you being sarcastic? Knowing I've already lost my $175 Lineatus and $100 Laboutei to jumping?

[tsquad]

No, I wasn't being sarcastic. I didn't know about you losing your Lineatus and Laboutei. I was only mocking the fact that they are so expensive. Beautiful fish though. Sorry about your losses :(

[outprowllin]

i am willing to donate a beautiful 1 inch tasmainian french angel. if is easy to feed. really it's not finiky at all......just say the word and hes yours...as a matter of fact im giving a french angel with every chiller repair this week...greg this is truely your lucky day.....jaime

[GregM779]

Yeh, I've owned 2 of the most beautiful wrasses I've ever seen and lost them both, I was trying to stay away from them until I built a canopy.
This is a Harlequin Tusk for those who haven't seen one.

http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20050118201131/www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/large/p_75891.jpg

[GregM779]

I think I'll pass Jaime

[GregM779]

Here's an updated pic of the tank.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Full-Tank062005.jpg

[water`bug]

w0w!

(Guess that sums it up) :)

[druluv]

How is the feather star doing

[GregM779]

I forgot to update on that, he's no longer with me. I spot fed him every day for weeks and he still ended up dieing. Truly a gorgeous animal but not meant for an aquarium

[FastUno]

Greg, I was just kidding about the Damsel.

Your tank just keeps on getting better, thanks for serving as an inspiration to us.

How do you feel about this. I have a bare sump right now, with skimmer & return pump. I was debating in the very beginning of setting up this sump on whether to put any sand in or not. I figured that if I don't place any sand, then I could clean things up easier. After running it for a while I realize that it requires more cleanings than I would like to do. I am now considering dumping in a 30lb bag in the 30g sump & letting the bacteria do the dirty work. I was almost going to run a DSB in there at one point, but decided against it, although it would be easy enough to disconnect from main tank & remove DSB if it took a turn for the worst.

[druluv]

Sorry to hear greg, I was rooting for you with the star. Will you try again?

[GregM779]

FastUno, you had me scared for a minute with the damsel.


Your tank just keeps on getting better, thanks for serving as an inspiration to us.

I try my best:)

Maybe a pic would help out with the sump question. I don't have sand in my sump, only in my refugium.

druluv, I don't think I'll try again. I spot fed it everyday and it still only lived a couple of weeks. I'd rather not kill anything that I don't think will have a chance of living at all. Also, that was the only red one that I hve ever seen, most are a bland green.

[KING OF THE REEF]

hey love the thread!!!
I know greg personaly and have seen his tank in person. I must say that the pictures dont do any justice for him. all the polyps and tentacles are fully extended and waving like hands. i hope he keeps up his tank through the hurricane season so we in the club (pbmas) can see it again next time we meet at yuor place. see you saturday greg and armando

[reefarchitect]

Greg,

Take a look at this. You are always striving for quality and rarity. Here is a great mix of both. Will probably set you back a few hundred, but WELL worth it.

http://www.themarinecenter.com/zebrasomagemmatum1.htm

AJL

[shealygg]

That's way cool!!! I don't know how much it costs, but it's worth it. Think of all of the curious onlookers you'd be pleasing! Personally, I think money is no object when it comes to your tank! :lol:

[GregM779]

Thanks Philip, see you Saturday

That's a gorgeous tang but is the exact shape as my chevron. I don't know if that would work out and if they would ever stop fighting.
Money is no object to you guys but I haven't hit the lottery yet (and don't even play, so it will be a while)

[GregM779]

I think I've decided on a harlequin tusk, they have one at Tanks A Lot, a LFS here, and he's been there a few weeks, he also we'll eat any type of food including pellets which is rare for tusks.
As I said though I'm still looking for suggestions for other fish to add to replace the flame angel and GS Maroon I just took out, I'd like to stay away from wrasses for now, they're my favorite fish but have had bad luck with their jumping.

Here's the current fish list...

1 Foxface Rabbitfish
3 Chromis
2 True Percula Clowns
1 Male Squampinis Anthias
1 Female Squampinis Anthias
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Blonde Naso Tang
1 Chevron Tang
2 Green Mandarins
1 Engineer Goby

[hckycoz]

greg do you use calcium rectors? if so which one. do you also run an RODI unit? Do you suppliment your tank at all?

[FastUno]

Hey, aren't you at the 9 mo. birthday now? Too bad there is no way to change your thread title?

[reefarchitect]

Greg,

The Gem tang is the same shape as a yellow or purple. If you want to go that route I would'nt think it would be a problem. Just for fun, ask Rob how much it would be to get one transhipped in.

Best of luck with the additions.

[GregM779]

hckycoz, no calcium reactor.
I only use RO/DI for topoff.
For dosing I use an ounce of hardness plus(calcium), an ounce of alkalinity plus, both made by natureef, and about 1/2 gallon of kalkwasser every day.

FastUno, yeh she's 9 months now, my little baby's growing up.:)

Armando, I'll ask Rob later but that site you referred me to says that they get them about twice a year by request only meaning that the price probably won't fit on one page. If Rob can get me one for a good deal and doesn't think my Chevron will beat the living crap out of it I may give it a try. I'm going back to Pete's to pick up his blue Linkia, that should be a nice addition.

I'm still planning on getting that tusk but I need more suggestions guys, come on.

[GregM779]

Here's links to the 2 wrasses I had that jumped.

http://www.themarinecenter.com/lineatus.htm

http://www.themarinecenter.com/wrasselaboutei.htm

[Micki]

Wow, love the Lineatus Fairy Wrasse!

[hckycoz]

greg thats a beautiful tank. hope mine comes out anything like yours

[bngowe]

wow i'm surprised u have a trigger. . .. i swear they arent' reef safe . .right?

[fishman805]

Some are... You just have to use caution.....feed them right ....

[GregM779]

Micki, definitely one of my favorite fish.

hckycoz, Thanks and good luck

bngowe, some are more reefsafe than others. I don't really care about shrimp and that's one of their favorite snacks.

Here's some pictures of the tusk I'm planning on getting. You can see how small he is now. They have a larger one but I'd rather get it at this size.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Harlequin-Tusk_-Store.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/70412Harlequin-Tusk_-Store2.jpg

[hckycoz]

what are angels like in a reef

[GregM779]

Did you miss page 6??

[reefarchitect]

Just came home from Greg's. For all of those who've subscribed to and have been following this thread, I tell you the pictures do it NO justice. It is one of the nicest tanks I have ever seen and I've been at this for over 10 years and have seen alot of tanks in that time..

Great job bud, keep it up.

[FastUno]

Any chance of getting some video on here? If you get some I will find a place where I can post mine & yours.

[GregM779]

Thanks Armando

FastUno, I could get some video but don't have anywhere to host it right now.

[FastUno]

If you give me the video I will find a host for the both of us so I can upload my vids too.

[GregM779]

I'll have to take some next week.

I just got back from my reef club's frag swap and got quite a few nice pieces.
Bright Green Finger Leather
Green Yuma
Green/Purple Blasto Wellsi
Burgundy Blasto Wellsi
Pink Zoos
Pink/Teal Zoos
Green Monti Cap
True Blue Xenia
Safe Cracker Red Zoos
Red Green Bull's Eye Mushroom
A nice SPS piece, don't remember the name right now


I'll have pics in a couple of days

[cre8or23]

man your blasto rocks are off the hook! with a rock like that you'll never be broke...lol..

[GregM779]

man your blasto rocks are off the hook! with a rock like that you'll never be broke...lol..


Thanks, I try to put whatever I get from frags back into the tank, I usually don't even sell, just trade.


Well, the tusk is in the tank, say that five times fast.
He's been in about an hour and a half, currently being initiatied by my Chevron Tang.
I definitely think that a gem tang is out of the question now, seeing what the chevron is doing to a harlequin tusk. It usually doesn't last long keeping my chevron at bay with a feeder stick, they'll hopefully be OK by the morning.
I'll have pics later maybe or definitely by tomorrow.