CT 265 Build

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

Frag tank is pimp dude. Good luck adding it to the main system.

Thanks mate! First rimless tank I've ever had, regardless of size. Now I just need to work up the courage to frag a few of my larger colonies.

[ca1ore]

Hard to believe, but tank is now five months old .....




Everything is growing pretty well. I'm particularly pleased with how well the green bali slimmer has been growing as I really want some growth up and out into the water column for aesthetic reasons. Already a couple of former frags have had to be relocated within the tank to allow for more space. Most of the frags I buy go straight into the display - the frag tank will be for bits that I snip off my main colonies for eventual trading. In the right end shot, anemone was getting blown around quite a bit and looks like a bad haircut on top of the rock pedestal. GSP is getting too big in front, so plan is to cut off a chunk and transplant it onto the rocks covering the right end overflow.

About the only thing that is not doing well is an open brain coral on the sand that is receding. Not sure if it is getting nipped, irritated with sand, or just generally unhappy. A plate next to it is fine, so go figure.

[ca1ore]

Frag tank has been installed and plumbed - though not filled. I generally wait about a week just to make sure none of my PVC fittings are going to crack before putting in water.

Here it is for chuckles .....



Tank will have approx. 15 gallons of water, so total weight of 140 pounds or so, thus the 'hangers' should be more than sufficient. Light is another story though. I thought a Par38 build I had sitting around would suffice, but now I see it over the tank, I do not believe that it will.

[Newbie Aquarist]

What are the dimensions again incase I missed them. A hanging frag tank is pretty slick dude.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

What are the dimensions again incase I missed them. A hanging frag tank is pretty slick dude.

It's pretty small - 20x20 square at 12 inches tall (21 gallons). I just don't have a better place to put it - though will be decidedly un-slick if it falls

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

It's pretty small - 20x20 square at 12 inches tall (21 gallons). I just don't have a better place to put it - though will be decidedly un-slick if it falls

True but it's still cool to have a hangin frag tank.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

True but it's still cool to have a hangin frag tank.

Indeed, and it's been filled for a few days and hasn't fallen down yet

I have encountered a problem though. Went to my LFS today a bought a cool SPS frag and realized I don't have any more places in my 265 to put one. How can that be? Knew I should have gone with an 8 ft tank. Bah humbug!

Also going to have to start fragging some of my larger colonies as I'm seeing some stinging damage in a few cases. And the GSP is getting out of control.

Let's see, anything else to complain about ....... nope, I guess that's it!

[dave.m]

It's just my personal opinion, of course, but I really don't see getting a bigger or longer tank as the solution. Larger tanks are more difficult to maintain. I offer instead the suggestion that you just add another tank. Surely there is somewhere in your house that you don't really need for its current purpose anywhere near as much as you need a new tank.

Dave.M

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by dave.m

I offer instead the suggestion that you just add another tank.

Yeah, that's a 'not happening'!

Originally Posted by dave.m

Surely there is somewhere in your house that you don't really need for its current purpose anywhere near as much as you need a new tank.

Sure, all the places my wife keeps her stuff after she moves out

[ca1ore]

Added a couple of nice Maxima clams, a red sea wild clam and a macro cultured first-grade ultra mega super blue (apparently the more hyperbole, the higher the price) .......



.... diamond goby is earning some pocket money by keeping en eye on them for me! Top clam is much more turquoise than it looks in the picture; bottom clam is more gold and purple. Still cannot seem to get the color balance right in my shots.

Also finally moved a quartet of Bimaculatus Anthias out of an almost four month QT sentence. Difficult to get a good picture because they are always zipping around, but an absolutely stunning fish. You can also see the very rare phantom Canon fish hovering in the background .....




For the first time with this tank, I am getting some trace nitrate levels appearing, so will have to think about what to do. I am harvesting a lot of algae off the ATS every 14 days, so perhaps weekly is necessary.

Bali green slimer is growing really well (bottom right corner in second photo), with almost 20 new arms. I think I'm going to have frags for my frag tank soon enough.

[crvz]

Cool anthias addition, congrats on the successful QT. I know that can be a challenge at times. And I've always loved the A yongie slimer, I need to find a piece for my current system. Was always an amazingly quick grower for me.

[ca1ore]

Some might not agree with this, but .....

I've waffled over what to do with an Achilles Tang that I have had in QT since Thanksgiving, based on suspicions that I may have ich In my tank. But, I had to do something, poor fish just couldn't stay in a 30L for much longer. So, it's my 'canary'. I figure if ich really is in my tank, it'll show on the AT. Then I'll have to bite the bullet and remove all the fish. Kept the AT in an acclimation box for 3 days, no spots so far.



Handsome fish, no question! Getting a bit of trouble from my YT; hopefully that'll die down in a day or so (using the mirror trick to keep the established Tangs busy). Feeding heavily for a bit to ease food competition.

[ca1ore]

Interesting to see how my mag has grown in the year I have had it.

April 2013


April 2014


For comparative purposes, the pajama cardinals are about the same size in both photos. If the mag grows as much again over the next year, without splitting, I'm going to have a problem.

[Newbie Aquarist]

Man that is some growth on that ritteri is sweet. During that time what have you fed the anemone?

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

Man that is some growth on that ritteri is sweet. During that time what have you fed the anemone?

Isn't it though! Initially I would give it a chunk of clam or a few of those large bits of ocean plankton, but it was growing at a scary rate so I stopped.

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Isn't it though! Initially I would give it a chunk of clam or a few of those large bits of ocean plankton, but it was growing at a scary rate so I stopped.

How often was you feeding it? I usually feed my anemones every two weeks. Plus the clowns also feed it also.

[dinger28]

How is the AT doing?

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

How often was you feeding it? I usually feed my anemones every two weeks. Plus the clowns also feed it also.

Good point, though I don't feed it, the clowns do. When I was target feeding, it was a few times a week. Clearly unnecessary given the growth rate.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by dinger28

How is the AT doing?

So far so good. Has diversified its diet to now include nori .... along with the spirulina brine. Showing a few spots, so pretty clearly tank contains ich. Whether it continues to be manageable or not, time will tell.

[ca1ore]

I have become less than completely happy with the ASM G4 that I am currently running on this tank. I think it is undersized. Looking around at the available choices, I have decided to go back to using a MTC HSA-1000 unit.



I used one of these beckett units on my prior 180 gallon reef from 2000 until 2008 and was very happy with it. The current units have been redesigned slightly, but I never used a better skimmer. OK, they require a good sized pressure pump, so are a bit heavier on energy than a needle wheel, but I would expect better performance.

Edit - the photo above is actually the HSA-3000, which has dual (rather than a single) beckett injectors.

[crvz]

Definitely not in fashion (the beckett design), but you're not the first I've heard extol the performance. Good luck with it, when do you expect to have it on hand?

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by crvz

Definitely not in fashion (the beckett design), but you're not the first I've heard extol the performance. Good luck with it, when do you expect to have it on hand?

By the end of the month I'd guess.

[ca1ore]

Going away next week, so though I'd post a bunch of pictures of my tank at about 6 months age. Not without challenges, but things have gone pretty well.

Full Tank Shot



Purple Tang and Female Meleagris Leopard Wrasse



Male Bipartitus Wrasse and a large Pocillopora colony that is depositing babies all over the tank.



Things are getting a bit crowded, particularly the tabling acro (not sure of species).



Squamosa Clam #1



Squamosa Clam #2



Newest fish, an Achilles Tang, showing a few spots unfortunately



Two newest coral additions, a green tabling acro and a purple tipped acro - latter is sitting on the sand because I'm out of space.



Green slimmer acro has grown nicely, though the near branch has been snapped off twice by my clumsy Hippo Tang

[ca1ore]

...... which generally means disaster is just around the corner

FTS


Left Side


Right Side


Livestock

I'm about stocked out. I may still add a few more small fish, perhaps some chalk basslets or a potters leopard wrasse, but that's about it for fish - particularly since I'm 'managing' ich in the tank. Inverts present somewhat more opportunity still. I'd like to put in a couple more clams - a Crocea and a larger Deresa. I would love a Gigas, but they simply aren't available in a manageable size. I've bought a couple of those aqua-mag rocks that you can attach to the rear of the tank in order to provide a little more real-estate for some final frags that I'd like to add. After that it'll be just letting the colonies grow and fragging as necessary. The large pocillopora colony in the second picture (right side of picture, towards the rear) has been either spawning or spitting polyps because I have a number of small colonies growing on the back wall of the tank. I believe it is actually from spawning, even though folks I've talked to suggest polyp-bail-out is more likely.

Equipment

Frag tank is growing GHA like crazy - which is a little strange because it is part of the same system as the display, which has none. Importance of herbivores I suppose! Tried putting some turbos in, but they just crawled up and over the top rim. so, will have to figure out an invert solution. Probably a CUC supplement in the near future. A bigger skimmer is in the plan. I'm going with a MTC unit, though probably their recirculating mazzei-based unit rather than the one pictured in an earlier post. The stand has held up nicely. Using DiY micro-lams for the horizontal beams has proven to be quite effective and I think that will be my approach on any future large tank stands.

[crvz]

As long as the algae is relatively short, I find that my tangs do a great job of keeping hair algae out of the display. I see you've got at least three in there, I imagine they are indeed helping keep everything in check.