My Seven Footer

[Haffs09]

Fishtruck, great looking tank! I love the cabinetry. Quick question...what type of lid opener do you have on the front panel? Do you like it and where did you get them from? I'm setting up an 8' tank, and my entire front panel hinges open. I need to find something to keep it up! Thanks in advance.

[erics3000]

Wow..Glad things are finally going good for you..

[Njhc]

Awesome !

[FishTruck]

Update coming.

[FishTruck]

I'm still here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XDIm...tzf7VGSN20fn5o


Well... I must apologize for my lack of attention to this thread. Glad to report that I survived two long power outages in 2011 and just crossed four years on this tank.
Overall, the tank is doing well and I am at a point where the tank is well stocked with stuff that grows – although I have limited myself to easier to keep species. Various montipora species have gone crazy and filled up my tank. I have seen good growth from some of my acropora species and a "one eye" dragon soul favia frag is now up to a 30 eye colony. Neighbors and guests (who don’t know any better), comment that it is the finest tank they have ever seen. Maybe in a few more years… it might be TRULY worthy of such comments.
Losses: Some of my older tangs up and died as did my sargassum trigger and one blotched anthia. Also, my oldest fish (a six year old Randalls Goby) disappeared as did three lyretail anthias. One gigantic serpent star is considered “an invertebrate of interest” by local authorities. The remaining of fish in my tank are at least three years old, with one exception – a small hogfish. I even have a harlequin shrimp that has been in there for about two years.
I had placed some acans up in the rocks (when I was having problems keeping any SPS alive in 2009 – 2010), and these became overgrown by the montiporas. I have pulled about 8 colonies out and put them in my sump for target feeding and fattening up. I plan to leave them there all year.
I have three nice fat Larmarck’s angels in quarantine and added a “red planet” mili and a “plum crazy” acro frag.
There is an ongoing struggle against some hair algae that keeps popping up here and there… but slowly I am winning that battle with two tuxedo urchins and more diligent husbandry.
Upgrades and new toys in 2011
1. Generac automatic standby generator
2. Mojano zapper. I had about 50 of these annoying little pests in my tank and was managing them with Kalk paste - with lots of collateral damage to my corals. The zapper works much better for the mojanos anenomeas.

Removed from system
1. Kalk Reactor - now that I really understand my calcium reactor, the Kalk reactor is unecessary
2. Media Reactor - I hate refilling media. Over and over, I would neglect this thing and it would turn into a nitrate factory. In 2012 - ill just try to keep up with water changes and filter sock replacement. Vodka dosing too.
3. Two Tunzes - I am from four small ones to two large ones. Each in a corner pushing water around like a "toilet bowl". This keeps flow good at the top of the tank for montis and some acros.

Plans:
1. I plan to try again with a raw water gravity feed for my skimmer
2. Re-arrange sump room for increased ergonomic efficiency and room to add a 55 gallon frag tank and 55 gallon QT. Also, I need to build a more space efficient and easier to use water change system.
3. Trade out some of my green and red montis for some other colors and varieties
4. Dream about a bigger tank.

[FishTruck]

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

[chercm]

TS : may i check what is this fish ?

Originally Posted by FishTruck

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

[FishTruck]

Blotched Anthias (Holanthias borbonius)

I bought three of them.... three years ago for under 75 dollars apiece from NYaquatics.

Cheers and thanks for looking!

[Dangerwill]

You have a sweet tank and a beautiful home to enjoy it in! Not sure how often you check this but I am about to buy a reeflo marlin and was curious about what you think of it after using it for 4 years. I would be running it in my living room and my biggest concern is noise level. it would be running a closed loop on a 150 gallon.
Thanks for the great read

[FishTruck]

Originally Posted by Dangerwill

You have a sweet tank and a beautiful home to enjoy it in! Not sure how often you check this but I am about to buy a reeflo marlin and was curious about what you think of it after using it for 4 years. I would be running it in my living room and my biggest concern is noise level. it would be running a closed loop on a 150 gallon.
Thanks for the great read

Thanks Danger will!
The marlin is a pressure rated pump. I need it to push against the 10 feet of head from the basement and the 2 to 4 feet in my flow accelerators. Probably overkill for a closed loop unless you have some plumbing challenges (smaller pipes maybe?). It's pretty quiet on rubber grommets. I'll go down and listen to it. Rock solid awesome pump in any event.

[Asurgin]

Fishtruck, enjoyed the thread.
I have a 60x30x30 inch tank constructed of 1/2 inch acrylic. Internal corner weir with a basement fish room and a Reeflo marlin return pump. This has been set up for over three years. Over the past 2 years I have developed terrible crazing on the front panel. It is probably on the rear panel as well but it is covered in black and not accessible. The manufacturer denies responsibility and said it it related to windex. (I only use Novus acrylic polish). My online research suggests this is significantly underbuilt. We have come to an understanding and they will build a new tank for cost. I have thought about glass, but have had acrylic for 10+ years. The question I have for you relates to your beautiful eorobraced tank. The open top is awesome and exactly what I want. Any problems with crazing or excessive bulging?. Could it be done with 1 inch? Any problems with tunze magnets? I have 2 6105 and a few nanos. What would you do differently? Thanks in advance.

[FishTruck]

Hi Asurgin! Your setup is very similar to mine. I am sorry about your crazing problem.

As you know, my tank is 1-1/4 inch thick acrylic - Even with that, I have SLIGHT crazing at the corners along the seams (fortunately hardly visible). The front and side panels are still crystal clear along the main viewing surfaces. There is a SLIGHT bulge along the front panel, but, you have to reference a straight edge to notice it. It has been up and running since I started this thread in 2007. When I asked for a eurobraced tank, the ******* engineers recommended this thickness. I am not sure if 1 inch would do it (I didn't ask).

Regarding pumps... there is a penalty for that extra quarter inch of thickness. I have to use a magnavore magnet to hold my tunze pump. I just stuck the tunze magnet right on the magnavore magnet. It is a big ugly rig and I am limited to two Tunze pumps for aesthetics. (The other one is build into the rock structure in the back corner). Flow is becoming an issue as my corals get bigger. I think I could eliminate the tunze magnet and just use epoxy to clue the tunze holder right to the magnavore - that would look much better... but I haven't put my mind to it yet. You have probably seen tank threads with circular cutouts, where the acrylic is thinner, to allow for magnets and pumps. With that setup... one guy had crazing problems and those cutouts also limit your choices on where to put your pumps.

I have had tanks with center braces and the convenience of the Eurobrace outweighs the hassles of standard magnets not fitting, and I am pretty sure the 1.25 inch is necessary to avoid structural worries for a tank as big as mine. If I had to replace this tank... I would might consider Glass for easier scraping and maybe thinner panels (not sure).

I wonder... if you could to 1 inch panels since your tank is "only" 60 inches long? Or... could you do 1.25 on the front, back, Eurobrace, and bottom with 1 inch side panels? If I had one inch side panels... that would make life easier for pump placement. Please let me know what you decide to do!

[Asurgin]

Thanks for the reply. I am currently looking at 1 inch front with larger opening on top. Not quite euro, but better. Glass sounds great, but coming from acrylic, it makes me a little nervous.