AdriftQuasar Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 You have so many wonderful ideas that I am going to borrow. I absolutely love 40 breeders. I was thinking about doing a similar 40+40 system. Really looking forward to seeing more. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 I have patents on most of them. Just kidding, use them up. Post a link to your build thread when you get it started so we can all follow along. Thanks for the compliments. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Wow! I've been following the build but missed the stocking! Your tank looks incredible! I really like your aquascaping. It's fresh. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 Thanks guys. I wish I had all of your corals Hoob. I would be well stocked now. I think I am going to go get a clam or 2 this weekend. There was a local guy that was supposed to give me some SPS frags when I got the tank set up, but he is now ignoring my PMs. Oh well. I want to get a few more SPS frags and just let everything fill in. Sunset is on my list, but I gotta find the right deal on it. Link to comment
Audioadict Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Your tank is awesome. Great planning. What did you use as strainers for your closed loop? Link to comment
Chaluz Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Awesome setup & a gr8 eye for detail! I surfed my way to ur thread looking for some solution to an issue Im having..maybe you can give me some pointers if you have some time. for a smiliar size tank I have two drain pipes (using the Durso) the one on the left goes straight down & makes a lot of noise.. tried making the hole larger... have a Mag 9 running more than half the water is drained back into the sump..... I have a new Eheim on the way; I hope the lower gph will help...or Im planning on adding a relief joint to split the flow where the water hits the sump.. any useful hints for me? P.S. Your fotos with the 2 MP camera are better then my 4 px camera Your tank is awesome. Great planning. What did you use as strainers for your closed loop? Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 chaluz, making the holes in the dursos is not the answer. You need to make them smaller. What I have done in the past(but haven't on this tank yet) is to get an airline tube for each durso with a small airline valve. Yhis way you can control the amount of air that it brings in. Another thing that I think is important is to put ball valves on your drain lines. This allows you to get a little more flow to one side(skimmer in my case) or to adjust so that you don't have all that air being sucked in. It costs a little more, but it is wirth it. I think I spent about $120-$150 on PVC alone and tons of trips to HD/Lowes/Ace/Menards. For the C/L strainers, I used 2" PVC caps. They were actually the same outside diameter as the 1" bulkheads. I marked out where I wanted the holes, drilled them, beveled the holes with a countersink bit, and cut the cap a little bit shorter on the table saw so it wouldn't stick out so far. Best part is, I was able to just use PVC glue to glue them together. Thanks for the compliments. Purple Up, thanks. Future NTOTM? That is what I am shooting for, Link to comment
thedogateit Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 WOW. What a beautiful tank! You did a great job my friend... I love the step-by-step pics. Well done! -TDAI Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 $2 frags! The new clam Acclimating I had help Hope you enjoy. Link to comment
JavaJacketOC Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Can you post some pics of your Sump in action? Just want to see how you divided up all that space in your sump. Thanks! Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 In the first chamber, one of the drains goes into the filter sock, the other is feeding the skimmer. These are regulated by ball valves to get the flow into the skimmer right. It goes up and over the wall into the refugium. There is sand, a little bit of rubble, and some cheato in here. I am possibly going to house a mantis in there eventually. Then it goes over/under/over into the last chamber. This where I have my ATO switches, heater and return pump bulkhead. From here, the water gets pumped back to the tank via a Panworld P-100X at about 500gph.Here is another pic from the other side. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 I lost both of my clowns down the drain last week. I found them in the filter bag. I need to rig something in the overflow. I think something that surrounds the standpipes will be best so the snails can come and go as they please. It is funny to see them back there just cleaning away. So, now I need to decide weather to get a pair of nekkid clowns or a pair of Rod's Onyx to replace them with. It isn't going to be for a while though. I am going to be getting a few more corals this coming weekend. I got a Pokerstar Monti this weekend. I am getting a Rainbow and a Blue Planet monti this coming weekend. I am on a bit of a monti kick right now I guess. I want to get a sunset, but they are a little too expensive for me right now. I might be getting a pink polyp cap this weekend also, don't know yet. Gotta love frag swaps! All of my corals are doing good except my blastos. Idk what is wrong with them. I have been having to feed a pretty good amount of ca to them, that is for sure. I have been testing and recording everything nightly, then dosing trying to get the ca and alk balanced. In the course of 1 day, the ca drops from about 430(target) to 390 and the alk goes from 3.4(target) to 3.0-3.1 . I will get some new pics up after this weekend to show off the new additions. The 1 thing that has been actually staying pretty stable has been my pH at around 8.3! I need more frags! Link to comment
Shoot Me_I Explode Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Sorry about your clowns. Did they just swim into the overflow box and down the pipe? In terms of your Octopus skimmer can you tell me how that is working out for you? I am going to be looking for a skimmer pretty soon for my softy/lps breeder. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 Yeah, the clowns went over the overflow and down the drainpipes. I thought the holes were small enough that no fish would get through. I was wrong. As far as the skimmer, the verdict is still out. I think that once I get it adjusted right I will like it. This past week I took it from overflow fed to pump fed. I got an mj 400 to feed it and it is working more consistantly now. It caused a flood last week that the wife or myself were not too happy about. I might still do the meshmod on it, but I am trying to see what I cen get from it before then. I am going to a frag swap today so I will post pics in the next couple of days. Have a good weekend. Link to comment
Pickle010 Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Yeah, the clowns went over the overflow and down the drainpipes. I thought the holes were small enough that no fish would get through. Sounds like a job for Gutter Guard. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 Yeah, I am going to get something before I put anymore fish in the tank. My wrasse rarely leaves the confines of the rockwork. I think the highest he has been in the tank was maybe 2" above the rocks. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 I got a couple new fish today. I got a small female Potters Angel(male is in quarentine at the LFS due to a cloudy eye) and a small Niger Trigger. Both are doing great and eating well. I will post some pics of both when the lights come on as well as new FTS. Other than that, I haven't added too much except a couple of zoa frags and monti frags. Everything is doing well. I also added some snails to the sump, 4 astreas and 5 nassarius to keep everything nice and tidy down there. Pics to follow! Link to comment
bdare Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Please let us know how things work out with the trigger. I'd LOVE to get one, but I'm afraid of them eating snails, crabs and picking at corals. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 Pics! The trigger and the angel both seem to be doing very well and happy. The angel has already found his territories. He was tail fanning the trigger out of there when I was snapping pics. I haven't seen either one of them trying to pic on anything, but I will keep an eye on both of them. I can tell that the potters wants her husband back. Hopefully he will be here on Wednesday. Enjoy! BTW, I know I need a new camera. I am asking Santa for one. Link to comment
bdare Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Glad to hear the fish are doing well. I'll be watching this closely. I love dwarf angels and triggers but I just figured they were no-no's in tanks with SPS and clams... Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 I just figured they were no-no's in tanks with SPS and clams... I am hoping for the best. Neither one has showed any interest in either so far. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I am hoping for the best. Neither one has showed any interest in either so far. Watch them like a hawk. Those are both "personality dependant" feeders. Meaning, some individuals will decimate your reef, some will just happily munch what you feed them and behave themselves. I hope you got fish that prefer fish food over live coral. Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 So far so good. I saw the angel picking around the base of my Hydnophora. He was picking at all of the rock though, probably looking for food. They are being kept well fed though. My skimmer is going to get a workout for sure now. I gotta get some water ready for a water change tonight. In the next couple of months, I am going to add a Ca reactor, a Phosban reactor, and a Kalk reactor. Probably some time after the new year. Eventually, I am going to get either a ReefKeeper 2 or an Aquacontroller Jr. Link to comment
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