GobyInPeace Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 (edited) Thank you kindly everyone for the high praises and responses! I did not expect so many and I appreciate all of you for taking the time out to comment! I am going to have to take a look at some of your tanks as well. I will try to take a pic of my lighting for all of you who requested it soon. It might be a few days though. In the mean time here are a couple of older pics showing my tank room and a live video projection of it on the wall: Edited December 2, 2008 by GobyInPeace Quote Link to comment
jerzsky Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 wow! besides the water changes, do u dose anything? wow! i love the chaeto inthe tank...thats def a first seen for me! wow! its amazing how simple a tank you have, and how it looks like a tank with the most advanced filtration, dosing, automation, lighting systems! wow! sweet tank room! awesome projectin idea!! WOW!!! Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the kind words! The only things I dose are Kent Tech 2 part almost daily and magnesium when needed. I have kept Calcium @ 420-440, Alk @ 9-12 DKH, and Mag. @ 1300 for over a year with-out fluctuating beyond that. I was dosing some trace elments for awhile when I got out of my regular WC routine but have since stopped. I'll be doing another 9 gallon WC next week. I think the biggest key to my success is the manageable size of the tank and the daily attention I give it. Today I had to break up a small skirmish between a hammer and a candycane. Luckily there was no damage to either coral. I adjusted one of the powerheads a bit and things should be OK for awhile. I am probably looking at 4 months or less before I am going to have to do some serious cutting back again. Edited December 4, 2008 by GobyInPeace Quote Link to comment
Avon Barksdale Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Slick tank bro!! Quote Link to comment
ash71089 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 beautiful tank! It's a shame that someone always has to act like a smart a$$ on every thread Quote Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Very cool looking tank. Like the projector thing as well. Who needs a skimmer with a tank like that. Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) Thanks guys! As promised below are some pics of my custom made HOT5 lights. I made them 3 years ago with a cheap aluminum hood/fixture from ebay. I expanded the hood with white acrylic. The ballasts are mounted remotely behind the tank stand. I run my lights as close as possible to the surface as you can see. The endcaps actually dip below the tank's frame. Since I don't have tons of flow slat creep is not too much of an issue. I clean the hood, bulbs, and fans during each WC. The bulbs are wired in a staggered config. The air flow of the fans is a push-pull config. Even though they are mounted towards the rear plenty of air flow gets to the front bulbs. The ends of the hood are also open to allow more air through. Top of the tank with white acrylic light shield removed: Note: camera exposure was greatly reduced to show bulb config. (from top to bottom; GE 6500K, UVL Superactinic, ATI Aquablue special, ATI Blue Plus): Cold cathode moonlight: Edited December 4, 2008 by GobyInPeace Quote Link to comment
Greenstar Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Your tank does look great I just think its hilarious that you put an exact overdriven watts in your post when in fact they arent overdriven. Workhorse ballasts are far from the best T5ho ballasts. Yes putting fans on T5ho's is a good thing and has proven to improve efficiency and lamp life but the fans have nothing to do with overdriving. Im just saying if your bulbs are running 18 months I can guarantee they arent being overdriven. I ran 4 4ft T5ho's with icecap reflectors and a icecap 660 ballast and had to change the bulbs anywhere from 8-12 months. His tank owns anything you have ever touched, gtfo Quote Link to comment
Ocho Cinco Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Yeah, so this is one of the best tanks I've seen, so what's your secret? As in: WCs Feeding (fish and coral) Dosing Etc... Quote Link to comment
got2envy Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 How the heck did I miss this tank!! You are the LPS master One of the best 40B I have seen...I also go sumpless on my tanks Yay for T-5's!! Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks again for the responses everyone! Yeah, so this is one of the best tanks I've seen, so what's your secret? As in: WCs Feeding (fish and coral) Dosing Etc... Thanks! Currently I am doing 9 gallon WCs every month or so. I feed my corals almost every night long after the lights go out. Fish are fed 1-2 times a day. One of the biggest keys to my reef is the amount of chaeto behind the rockwork. It gets lit by the highest rated PAR bulb in the tank. I remove a soft ball size of it every 2-3 weeks. Thanks again for all your comments! Tomorrow is the official 3 year anniversary for this tank. Quote Link to comment
Ocho Cinco Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks again for the responses everyone! Thanks! Currently I am doing 9 gallon WCs every month or so. I feed my corals almost every night long after the lights go out. Fish are fed 1-2 times a day. One of the biggest keys to my reef is the amount of chaeto behind the rockwork. It gets lit by the highest rated PAR bulb in the tank. I remove a soft ball size of it every 2-3 weeks. Thanks again for all your comments! Tomorrow is the official 3 year anniversary for this tank. What do you feed your coral? Why do you feed them at night? Mainly because they they have their tenticles out? Quote Link to comment
annamarie421 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Great tank!! Thanks for sharing! Gives me some ideas for my new build! Quote Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Best 40 breeder on here!!! Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks for the kind words guys! What do you feed your coral? Why do you feed them at night? Mainly because they they have their tenticles out? Cyclopes and powdered pellets (fish food) from Aquadine. glennr1978 ~ That's some pretty high praise from someone with such an outstanding 40B. I can only imagine what your tank will look like once it fully matures. Quote Link to comment
got2envy Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Happy Anniversary to a big inspiration!! hope it keeps going for a long time to come Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) Thanks! To celebrate my anniversary here are some close-ups: A couple of top downs: Edited December 7, 2008 by GobyInPeace Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Thanks! Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Happy belated anniversary! Gorgeous pics. Quote Link to comment
Khayman Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 This tank is gorgious Quote Link to comment
greatXss Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I cant stop looking at this tank...in fact, it is the background of my computer (I hope you dont mind) I am thinking about mimicking this setup since it is obviously working well for you! My 29g with the huge overflow just isn't doing it for me anymore Quote Link to comment
GobyInPeace Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 Thanks for the comments everyone! greatXss ~ Glad you think my tank is worthy of being your background! Quote Link to comment
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