A school of chromis would be awesome, I've just never had good luck keeping them alive.

Good to know about the hippo, the powder blue definitely takes precedence. I'll probably just get a Kole (the poor man's purple tang!) and leave it at 3 tangs total.

how r two sixlines working out in the same tank? did u have to add them both at the same time?

They've been together for about 18 or 20 months now. I would never intentionally try to pair up sixlines, it would be almost certain death for one.

My buddy had two tanks, each had a sixline. He moved some rocks from one tank to the other. One rock had a sixline stow-away. He tried a water bottle trap to catch one and move it back, but they wound up getting along and we've kept them together ever since. Only sixline pair I've ever heard of. I really don't care for sixlines, they get too feisty for most community tanks (I actually just got rid of mine), but a pair is too unique to get rid of. Plus that buddy's girlfriend would be upset if I didn't keep them.

Oh, I have them because that buddy of mine got laid off and had to move away. I adopted his tank which I just broke down last weekend. I moved the rest of his livestock to the new 55, and the sixline pair to my 125 to save bioload in the already crowded 55.

We have to have some pics! I love Kole Tangs! I might get the skimmer you have if it's working that well. A school of B'G Chromies would look great! I almost got one...


What do you think of my fish list for my 125G soon-to-be-reef?

Fish List


Desardjini Sailfin Tang
Mimic Eibli Tang

Royal Gramma

Red Spotted Blenny
3 Barnacle Blennies

Greenbanded Goby
Firefish
Pearly Jawfish
Psychedelic Mandarin (When the tank is more established)

2 Orange Lined Cardinalfishes

Pair of Ocellaris Clowns

Filamented Flasher Wrasse

Sunburst Anthias

And I might get 3 mini dart fish. Still deciding on them. I really want a nice peaceful reef!

What do you think? Any thing you think I shoudl add?

If you want to see my tank thread it's in my sig.

I think you're list looks pretty good. I would definitely skim with that many fish.

The only thing that worries me is that your big active fish (Tangs and anthias) will scare the more timid fish into hiding a lot of the time. Very interesting mix though.

thanks!

i thought about the huge 15.6 in. Desardjini Sailfin Tang being too nig and scarring the smakll fish but it turns out they are really peaceful. I am actually getting the Sunburst Anthias because I heard they are pretty much the only peaceful anthias. I also heard they will die if you keep them with more aggressive fish. lol Not even like anthias at all. I origginally wanted Lyretails but I heard they were really aggressive!

Lyretails aren't that aggressive I don't think, but they're definitely active.

Who told you sailfins are peaceful? Or any tang is peaceful for that matter? That sailfin (esp. a desjardini) will rule that tank with an iron fist.

edit: It's also very difficult to keep anthias well fed. Lyretails are supposed to be one of the easier Anthias to keep fed. My 3 started looking skinny on 3 feedings a day. They're now at 4 and 5 feedings a day. 3 times by the auto-feeder and once or twice by me. Daily. That's ALOT of food.

many people have told me Desardjini's are definetly one of the more peaceful tangs. I also heard mim ic tangs are fairly peacweful

The bristletooth tangs (Kole's and mimics) are definitely the most peaceful tangs.

The Zebrasomas (yellows and sailfins) are probably next, so I guess you've heard correctly, they're pretty peaceful for a tang. That's still a pretty huge qualifier. Thats like having a peaceful lionfish!

They'll all be fine together, I can just see your small fish being intimidated by the sheer size and active lifestyle of the tangs. Still a cool mix and if it's what you want then go for it.

haha i spent hours and hours and hours and hours and hours researching my fish list. I haerd Yellow Tangs are real jerks!

What do you think of the mini dart gobies?

Don't know a whole lot about them. They'll be interesting in a large tank.

Yellow tangs aren't TOO bad. About like a sailfin, honestly. Mine is the boss of the tank, but that's only because he's been in there longer than the PBT. I give it another few months before the PBT is crowned king.

How do you keep your PBT alive? I heard they were really hard to keep alive...

Skimmer looks awesome... I am debating between that same Octo and a Bubble-Magus NAC7 Cone...

Can you give a solid review of it?

- Is it loud, quiet, silent?
- Can you confirm the exact hieght for me? (i'm limited to 22 inches, i've seen this advertised for 20" and 23.5") I NEED CONFIRMATION PEOPLE!!!!
- Anything else you can think of to help me make up my mind? (Good or Bad)

It's not silent, but it's very quiet. With the cabinet doors closed I don't hear anything more than I did when it was just a return pump down there.

I'm measuring between 21 and 21.5" You'd be right on the money with getting the collection cup off. I'm limited by my height too, but I have 24". That was the original factor that made me look at this skimmer.

I don't see any reason to NOT buy this skimmer. It seems pretty darn solid so far. It's definitely the best reviewed skimmer in it's price range.

The rocks are all scattered now from where I've removed the Trigger's hiding-spot rock. The accidental open aquascape is very appealing to me. Whenever I finally catch that fish and can put his rock back in this tank I'm going to try something more open. I think it adds to the dramatic effect a 6' long tank has, makes it feel even longer.

I like the rock work! I am more of a dense live rock person though. i can have more corals

What are dimesnions of tank?

Mine- 721/2x18x24

Mine is 72x18x21 or 22, it's been awhile since I've measured the height.

Sounds like you might have a 135...


edit: that is a purely accidental aquascape, btw. The big gap in the center is where I removed a basketball sized rock that my trigger is hiding in. The rocks on the far left were on top of the basketball sized one. I'll see what I can do with the open look once I have the trigger's rock back in there.

Im pretty sure its a 125G. That's what the ppl I got it off said they got it as

I've been considering a new tank. Not necessarily an upgrade, but just a new tank. The lighting debate on this tank is getting frustrating and this tank is literally getting quite old. With it being drilled on the back pane and not a factory Reef Ready tank it's also pretty difficult to clean the salt creep on the back in it's current location, which is really the only possible location in the house.

What I truely want is a 240, but that would have to displace the tv out of the living room, so I'm limited to 6' in length. I really like 120s, but I love tangs too much to have a 4' tank. So the choices are 125, 180, or the new Marineland Wide tanks.

Until then, the skimmer is doing great and everyone seems healthy and happy in this tank.

Definetly get a 125G or up! 180's are the same length but they are just a little bit wider and taller.

You may want to check out my large tank thread coming soon. I wanted a large, wide tank that was relatively short. I found a guy through ebay and bought a six foot tank that is two feet wide and 20" high (150 gallons). I just brought it in the house today. Like yourself, I think I'll use the octo extreme 200.

Got a lead on a pretty good deal for a 180. Negotiating now. It's 2 hours away, but it's in a town that I need to drive to anyways to pick up some new race wheels for the Miata. Two birds, one stone, possibly.

lol...I came here to say that you need to have a wide open space in the middle of the tank, but you already did that. it's looking sweet.

I was large-tank shopping last night and found a 135 wide, 72x24x17. Pretty neat dimensions, too bad it was on glasscages.com. The tallest I want is 24", any taller and you need a step ladder or tongs to reach the bottom, even at the front of the tank.


Thanks D. I like the open look, it really highlights the length of the tank which really is the entire point in having a 6 footer.

Looks like I'm getting a reef ready 180 and wood framed stand (I'll re-skin it) for $350. It's only 2 years old.

Looks like a real piece of crap

















































NOT!

my tank is 24" deep. even being 6'4", I need a ladder to do any sort of appreciable work in the tank. with the canopy off, the top rim of the tank is at the top of my shoulder.

also, congrats on the giganormous new tank! get a sea turtle!!

Thanks everybody. It's gonna be fun, I like designing new tanks.

Emailing the guy and paypal-ing deposit first thing in the morning.

yeah we could tell lol

This will be the last one for awhile, it's definitely the biggest this house will hold. If the 125 doesn't sell...I'm thinking cichlid tank upgrade, there's one other spot that could hold that sized tank.

My girlfriend rocks.

Deposit sent. Going to get it Saturday.

Yay!

Road trip time! I will return this afternoon with tank and pictures!

Woot!

Hope it made the trip in good shape.

We had my truck FULL of stuff today. We had the 180 and stand, 4 wheels for the miata, a big laserjet printer, a chrome barstool for the man-cave, and the furniture dolly for moving the tank. We picked up a lot of stuff on this road trip. 280 miles.

on the way home:


finally home:




Thats a 150w MH over the center section. I've decided on 3x150 (14k lamps) pendants. I'll hang them pretty low. That will be plenty for a mixed reef.

The stand is 36" tall and, as you can see from the rear picture, sturdy as hell. It's a great frame for me to re-skin with something that will match our furniture. All of my tanks in the past have had glass tops. I think I will try some pond-netting at first to see how I like it. It's at least worth a shot being the much cheaper alternative. I'm not worried about evap so much now that I have an RO unit.

Now to design some plumbing and a sump/fuge/frag tank system. I have available to work with a 40b, a 30L, a 20H, a 20L, a 15L, (2) 10s, a 5.5, and a 2.5. I could get a 55 pretty easily, too. Suggestions?



the Miata's new race wheels, 13x8s:

SEXY WHEELS.



I want a miata.

They're ugly and heavy, but they're wide and will have slicks instead of street tires like I've raced on for the past 3 years, so I'll deal. Plus they were cheap. $75 for the SET. Can't beat that. The short diameter will also drop my gearing a little which will help me coming out of slow corners in 2nd gear. I make too much power to downshift to my super-short 1st, so it will be nice feeling the new gear ratio. Hopefully I won't need 3rd too much on the straights.

I want a MS3...to go with my Miata. I need a DD, my truck gets crap mileage and the Miata eats tires because I have 180 treadwear Kumho XS' and a stupid aggressive alignment. Plus I hate putting miles on the Miata. It's an '02 and only has 48k on the clock. The past 24k have been pure abuse, but still only 48.

I was seriously thinking of selling my MS3 and getting a cute little miata with a FM kit.

then I was all lolol, I'm 6'4".

You'd fit okay in a new MX-5. I love the new front end. If I wanted to spend 25k on a new car that would be very high on my list. Too bad if I had 25k to spend I'd be buying and modifying a c5 z06 or a FD AND a bigger truck.

back on topic, not that I ever mind car banter: I'm doing some research on the feasibility of LEDs on a large tank. When you start factoring in power consumption and lamp replacements the upfront investment of LED's doesn't seem so crazy.

I wonder how 4 to 6 of evil's PAR38 21w pendants would look hanging from a track-light?

12000k, 60* PAR38 LED ordered. I'm just getting one for now. I'll see how it looks in person. If I think it'll cut it I'll order 5 more, if it won't work for the 180 the Pico gets a new light and back to the drawing board.

Tank looks pretty sweet skillz!

Are you gonna keep the 125?

Quick question - which impeller are you using on your skimmer - the mesh or the soft pin? I'm getting close to ordering mine. I've been checking out the Vertex and the Bubble Magus, but I'm still leaning toward the Octo Extreme.

Thanks! If it doesn't sell for my asking price I'll keep it, it'll be priced as a deal, but I'm not going to give it away. If I keep it I'll probably put Cichlids in it with canister filters. The problems I'm having with it are a result of salt creep and open sumps and not being able to reach anything because of the corner it's in. It was designed to be open on that end.


It's the soft pin, they didn't include the mesh wheel with mine and I forgot to send them an email. Thanks for the reminder. I can't imagine how well this will skim with the mesh wheel.

I think I've decided on the Quietone 4000 as a return pump. The returns will be hard piped 1" pvc. I'm undecided on the drains being vacuum hose or hard piped. My sump fuge setup will be a 40 breeder as the main sump and a 15 gallon secondary. One drain will go to the 15 (where the skimmer will be) which will then drain to the 40. The other drain will go straight to the 40. The 40 will house the extra live rock, 2 Stealth Heaters, some chaeto, and the return pump.

The display will have a Koralia 6, a Koralia 4, and Koralia 3 for supplemental flow.

Hopefully the PAR38s will be enough. If needed I plan to add a 4' 2-lamp Nova Extreme to help with the coverage. It's low profile and narrow, so I can slide it towards the back of the tank and it probably won't even be noticeable. Then I will have the flexibility to point the spotlights wherever I want.

I've also ordered 1/4" netting to make some screen tops. Hopefully that guy will email me back soon.

Oh snap! I missed the update on the 180

Can't wait to see this up!!

and the testing of the PAR38!!

ME NEITHER!!

We're going to work our butts off this weekend to make it happen.


Decided on the 4-lamp Nova. More light AND moonlights. Plus the Dr's have it on sale and are still running their $5.99 shipping. I'll order that in the morning.