Mark's Tanks

[markalot]

Originally Posted by Bello

That's very impressive, given the minimal amount of equipment run . I'm trying something similar, but only with monti's in a 20g tank .

Good luck with the 20. I'm running a 29, my third tank but trying to stay mostly softies so I can ignore it. AEFW threw all my best laid plans for a loop and now I have a bunch of SPS corals stuck in my 46 gallon for another 2 months since it was recently infected as well. At least I know what store they were coming from now.

My grand plan was to have the 40 be mostly SPS, my 46 be mostly LPS, and the 29 be softies. Unfortunately I come up with all kinds of justifications in my head for not following a plan, then regret it later.

Originally Posted by Bello

Thanks for the info. I stopped testing for NO3 and PO4 for quite a bit, as well. My buddy bought over his Hanna P checker, and we ended up testing, and got about 4 different readings, with various combos, for the same water....not impressed.

I'm getting better results with higher amounts of feedings, that's certain. I'm running a dirty tank as well, plenty of algae, haven't changed Phosguard for a long time as I wanted to see what natural levels would remain in the tank. However, a few corals that are already brown, don't seem to be making a quick trip back to proper colours. May have to go cleaner, while maintaining highish feeding levels.

Using Roids as well, though not everyday. Need to find a better balance. Thanks for the info Mark, looks like I'll have to change out Phosguard soon too .

The Hannah checker was a huge disappointment, yet another chunk of cash i could have saved.

I'll be replacing my little bag of Phosguard tomorrow, and again Saturday, then the plan is to do a final replacement next week with a slightly larger amount and leave it be for a while.

[markalot]

I made an ID thread over in SPS identification for some monti's, but no responses. I'll post the pics here for the heck of it. My 46 gallon tank is the bane of my existence. Curved glass, hard to take pictures, so all the corals have great color and the darn thing just looks fantastic all the time. Heck, even frags on the frag rack look good.

This has whitish skin with red polyps. As it's started to grow I can see some additional colors on the growth edge.



Same thing, but also showing a really nice looking poci I picked up as a random cheap frag at the nearby fish store. I can't wait to either frag this or move the entire thing into the 40, once this tank has been acroless for another 2 months. That pink and green poci was also a random frag.



Another random frag, same place, of a green monti cap (like) with a purple edge.

[markalot]

I guess I should provide FTS of my other tanks.

The 46
Lit by 2 on sale AquaticLife 1W LED expandable fixtures (Blue/White/Pink LEDs) plus a 24" BuildMyLED 14K spectrum strip light in front.


The 29
Lit by a BuildMyLED custom spectrum (my Windex Blue Special) and a Current orbit marine LED light with ramp timer


The 29, being my latest tank, has the best fish selection, Including these two.

[footballdude2k3]

I think the first monti is a superman that is just in need of some time to color up, I could be wrong, but that would be my guess

[Bello]

You're on a roll Mark . Nice updates, good to see that you've gone nuts . Officially reef obsessed!!

I've got 2 additional separate tanks as well, the 20g as I mentioned before and another. They're pretty much softie/lps tanks, but not as pretty as what you've got . It's difficult to have dedicated tanks, at least for me. I've kept one of them as high flow, high light, so the demanding zoas, leathers etc. and a low flow low flight for schrooms, rics etc. Will be dumping some monti frags in the high light one, just to see .

Love the fish stocklist in the 29, the tailspot look awesome, been meaning to get one myself . That's a possum wrasse alonside, isn't it?

My lighting is pretty much a Windex special, like yours, but there's no way I'm doing anything else

Can't really ID the monti's unfortunately, but the green cap with purple rim is usually the Leng Sy one, I guess

[markalot]

Originally Posted by footballdude2k3

I think the first monti is a superman that is just in need of some time to color up, I could be wrong, but that would be my guess

Thanks for the guess. The base is not very purple, but the edges are so I'll keep my hopes up!

Originally Posted by Bello

You're on a roll Mark . Nice updates, good to see that you've gone nuts . Officially reef obsessed!!

I've got 2 additional separate tanks as well, the 20g as I mentioned before and another. They're pretty much softie/lps tanks, but not as pretty as what you've got . It's difficult to have dedicated tanks, at least for me. I've kept one of them as high flow, high light, so the demanding zoas, leathers etc. and a low flow low flight for schrooms, rics etc. Will be dumping some monti frags in the high light one, just to see .

Love the fish stocklist in the 29, the tailspot look awesome, been meaning to get one myself . That's a possum wrasse alonside, isn't it?

My lighting is pretty much a Windex special, like yours, but there's no way I'm doing anything else

Can't really ID the monti's unfortunately, but the green cap with purple rim is usually the Leng Sy one, I guess

Yea, I've gone kind of batty with all the tanks. The sad thing is the 29 contains mostly old corals that were hidden in various other tanks for years. My latest find was my very first coral, good ole Kenya Tree, that I've never been able to completely eliminate in the 40 gallon. When moving rocks I found the punk hiding behind one, so I peeled it off and dropped it in the 29. I'm sure it will come back in the 40 again.

I've got the go ahead from the wife for a 120 gallon tank, the biggest I can fit through our basement door (well, i guess I could fit a 210 as well ), but I keep getting cold feet. I would love to have a 36" cube, but there is no way to get it in the house. I've thought about a 65 gallon, the tall version of the 40, or a 90 gallon, but if I go 90 I might as well go 120 for the extra width and the ability to use the 40 as a sump tank. I need to get down to 2 tanks, a big one plus the 29, and ditch the bowfront.

The tailspot is a great fish. When I first setup the third tank, which started as a 20 long for my freaked out purple firefish, he was the third fish added and would constantly hang out with the clown goby.



Once they learned I was the food supply I swear they would wait in front of the tank for me to come down the stairs to feed them. The fourth fish was a Possum Wrasse which was a lucky find, I never see these guys locally and I only buy fish from my LFS, never through the mail.

I set up the 29 because I thought I had killed my firefish by introducing a bully to the 46 gallon, but when moving rocks around I found him alive and then tore up the tank to rescue him. I've had this guy for 1.5 years now and usually see him once or twice a day for feeding.



Thanks for the Leng Sy guess. That may indeed be what it is. The polyps are a lighter color but not a sharp blue. I have a green cap with bright blue polyps but it lacks the purple edge. I love the variety of all the montis.

I want to see some pics of your other tanks!

[footballdude2k3]

DIY an acrylic 36" cube, it's fine

[Bello]

Very nice pics, Mark , love the sharpness of the fish pictures, speaking of which I've never had much luck with firefish either (too many bullies I suspect). The Tailspot is definitely on my "to buy" list

What's the dimensions of the 120G? I love cubes, and shallow tanks, so will always be a bit biased towards that

[markalot]

double post, how odd.

[markalot]

Originally Posted by footballdude2k3

DIY an acrylic 36" cube, it's fine

Ha, no, that's not going to happen. I just noticed you're from San Antonio. We visited there earlier this year for a robotics competition. Beautiful city, but the drive down was painful!

Originally Posted by Bello

Very nice pics, Mark , love the sharpness of the fish pictures, speaking of which I've never had much luck with firefish either (too many bullies I suspect). The Tailspot is definitely on my "to buy" list

What's the dimensions of the 120G? I love cubes, and shallow tanks, so will always be a bit biased towards that

It's 4 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet. 48x24x24. I will have to remove the handle on a sliding glass door to fit 24" but it will make it in and is the widest tank I can fit.

I have been looking at the longer 125's as well, 72x18x22. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy length more then width and height. The footprint of the 120 allows a 40 breeder to be used as a sump, which is a big plus so I'm told, but I have no idea what I would do with the space. ... and then there is the lighting. I have all 36" lighting solutions at the moment.

[Bello]

I'm guessing custom made tanks are gonna be rather expensive? I'm in love with extra width, and would take it over extra height, any day . No matter how much of width you choose, you'll loose a foot in perception when viewing from the front in any case. So IMO, extra width > extra height.

But yeah, I'd understand that you wouldn't wanna go over board over a new tank, and you'd wanna try and reuse all the existing equipment that you already have. Are we talking about fitting in a tank with a complete ready made stand through the door? Or just the tank?

[markalot]

Originally Posted by Bello

I'm guessing custom made tanks are gonna be rather expensive? I'm in love with extra width, and would take it over extra height, any day . No matter how much of width you choose, you'll loose a foot in perception when viewing from the front in any case. So IMO, extra width > extra height.

But yeah, I'd understand that you wouldn't wanna go over board over a new tank, and you'd wanna try and reuse all the existing equipment that you already have. Are we talking about fitting in a tank with a complete ready made stand through the door? Or just the tank?

Tanks and stand delivered and set in place. I am becoming limited on what I can lift for at least the short term. Tennis elbow, or in my case perhaps bucket elbow. Getting old is a pain in the ... elbow. The wife is the woodworker in the family and she's busy building other things, so we'll go with a standard pre-made cabinet. I have to check door sizes and such to make sure this will all work.

I have to read up on sumps as well but the way I think I want it to work is to have a big skimmer where the water enters the sump, then a baffle to a middle section, then a baffle to the section where water is pumped back up into the tank. Frankly I'm baffled!

[Bello]

Hahaha....baffled ... yeah, I just realized this the first time you're doing a sump

Any plan to use filter socks?, if so, you'd want that in the first section, then skimmer etc.. You could look up some of the Royal Exclusiv ready made sumps (for section/baffle ideas) as well.

End of the day, I like the dims of the 120g , though with my shallow bias, I also like a 48x24x18

[footballdude2k3]

Originally Posted by markalot

Ha, no, that's not going to happen. I just noticed you're from San Antonio. We visited there earlier this year for a robotics competition. Beautiful city, but the drive down was painful!

I moved here just over a year ago, and drove from Chicago, so I know your pain on the drive, had to make it twice.

[markalot]

So I just reminded myself how much I like Palting's 150 gallon tank, which was supposed to be a 125 but they sent him the wrong tank. I like the extra length and height and I think I can live with only 18" back to front.

Link to a full size pic of his tank: http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...7.jpg~original

Thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2191618

[markalot]

Well I did it. After looking at a 180 I decided I prefer the extra height over the extra width so I ordered a Marineland 150 corner overflow 72x18x26 tank and stand. I figure contents of both my bigger tanks will be transferred by winter, if I'm lucky.

[Bello]

Good choice at the end of the day , I'm guessing you can resuse both your lighting fixtures given the 6 feet length of the new tank?

So when's the big day?

[footballdude2k3]

Nice, I love 6'+ tanks, can't wait until next year when I move into a new place so I can get a bigger one, had to downsize to a 65 for 12 months

[markalot]

Originally Posted by Bello

Good choice at the end of the day , I'm guessing you can resuse both your lighting fixtures given the 6 feet length of the new tank?

So when's the big day?

Thanks. Delivery will be sometime in the last week of June. I'm waffling on how long to wait to get it running and starting the transfer. I can't transfer anything from the 46 for 2 more months, but the contents of the 40 can come over as soon as the tank is ready.

Originally Posted by footballdude2k3

Nice, I love 6'+ tanks, can't wait until next year when I move into a new place so I can get a bigger one, had to downsize to a 65 for 12 months

This is my first, and last, big tank, so hopefully I am happy with the size! Hopefully the year will pass fast for you.

[markalot]

New thread is started: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2419443

The adventure begins Sunday.

[markalot]

Just a post for all the latest FTS from my 3 tanks.

46



The MP40 blew some of the skin off a branch of the slimer. Oops. These will work better in the 150. I backed off the max flow to 75% while the synched MP10 is still set to 90%.

40




Neglected except for water changes and adding new frags that catch my eye, like that bright red war coral, my first war coral. Nice wall algae!
29

[markalot]

I don't post a lot of build information on these so a quick recap.

All HOB, AquaClear 110 filters (AC70 on the 29 gallon) with a DIY refugium in the 46's AC 110. CPR HOB refugium/skimmer in the 40, just running the skimmer, and a Eshopps HOB skimmer (PSK100H) on the 46, which works darn well. No skimmer on the 29 but it will be getting the HOB refugium/skimmer from the 40 once I tear it down.

[ChrisKirkland]

Nice to see another Kentuckian here! Tanks are looking good.

[markalot]

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

Nice to see another Kentuckian here! Tanks are looking good.

Howdy, thanks.

The 40 breeder contents are now in my 150.

Last FTS of the 40



The End ... well except for one pesky nassarius snail and a couple of larger starfish I want to move. Maybe a couple more scoops of sand to boot.

[troubadour11]

And so it ends...

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

That last FTS of the 40 looks great! Definitely got me colored green with envy I hope the move continues to go smoothly and things look even better in the new bigger reef!

Be sure to let us all know what the new set up looks like when you're ready to show and tell