Doubling Down 150g--> 300g

[jffoley]

This project is to replace a 150 gallon mixed reef that has lost its vibrancy. The theory is due to “old tank syndrome”. This system had been running for sixteen (16) years. I had followed John Tullock’s 1996 book, Natural Reef Aquariums. The set up included a deep sand bed, 180 pounds of live rock, sump, a Berlin skimmer, VHO lighting and with a simple kalkwasser auto top off system. It was my pride and joy for many years.

Over the years upgrades were made such as a larger skimmer and pump, powerheads on a wavemaker, changing from VHO lighting to T5’s then to LED’s, adding a kalk stirrer and biopellet reactor and hiring my LFS to service the tank each month. The bucket brigrade water changing process became too much for me. In spite of these steps and, even with acceptable alkalinity and Ph. readings the corals were just no longer thriving, coralline algae had died back and slime algae became problematic. Massive water changes, GFO, carbon, etc. all to no avail. I concluded that the live rock had “become full” and there was no longer any filtering capacity.

I had considered breaking it down and going back to South American cichlids or changing to African cichlids. But, Da Boss (Missus Foley) objected and reminded me how much I love my reef tank. So, with the Missus’s reluctant agreement it is time to upgrade to the biggest darn reef tank I can get in our living room!

I’ve teamed up with www.Customaquariums.com and my LFS, Capital Aquarium to make this happen. Mark and Ted at Customaquariums.com have been super supportive (and patient) as we went through the options for a 300g (96Lx24Wx30H) tank, canopy and stand.

Zack and his crew at Capitol Aquarium ( http://capitalaquarium.com/ ) will do the installation and have already broken down the 150g. He moved the inhabitants to a 90g temporary home. The old live rock has been cooking in a Brute container of heated saltwater with a powerhead for movement. Judging by the amount of crud that has precipitated out of the rock the idea that it was “full” appears to be the case.

Here are a couple photos of what was the 150g. The first is a few years ago and shows all the healthy coralline. The second more recent, not so much.

This project is underway and I am expecting delivery of the new customaquariums.com 300g tank within a couple weeks. More to come…!

[jffoley]

Slow going this year. Lots of reasons. Work, long trip to Alaska, more work. Tank arrived in May. Cooked some new Pukani and my old Fiji rock for many weeks. Started aquascaping and filling in August.

The returns in to the sump did a lot of splashing and created way too many bubbles. After some exploration of this site and others I came up with a pretty effective bubble trap.

Things are looking up as I've started to stock the tank! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[jstephens24]

awesome 300

[jffoley]

Originally Posted by jstephens24

awesome 300

Thanks!

I've done some additional aquascaping. My wife thinks it looks too crowded. In places where I've snorkeled or dived on this seems to be a decent representative to me. Thoughts anyone?

Stocking so far is a yellow tang, a pair of royal grammas, a pair of flame angels, a single surviving chromis out of a dozen (frustrating) and this little blenny. Bold as heck! :-)

[McPuff]

Originally Posted by jffoley

Thanks!

I've done some additional aquascaping. My wife thinks it looks too crowded. In places where I've snorkeled or dived on this seems to be a decent representative to me. Thoughts anyone?

I have to agree with your wife. Picture 5 in post 2 looks better to me... fewer rocks. You could probably even remove a few more. Shoot for a few gaps in the rock work and try to create one side that is higher than the other. Since it is not a peninsula, I would also try to keep the rocks away from the side glass which will improve visibility in all viewing panels. In my experience, it's really tough to get it right and I found myself re-arranging my rock work in my 300 for almost 2 years until I felt it was pleasing... that actually meant removing quite a bit of rock (more so than moving it around). Please take this as constructive vs destructive criticism! Hopefully it can be helpful.

[jffoley]

Positive all the way! I appreciate the feedback. (although I might not mention to the missus that you agree with her! :-) ) The rock I added to the left side has been bugging me. I may go higher as you suggest.

And I most definitely understand the aquascaping dilemma. Every time I stare at it I see changes I want to make. Here's a few pics as I was filling and before I started adding my 20 year old (to me) Fiji rock. Always tinkering...

Thank you for taking the time to add your constructive critique.