Disaster's 80gal + 15gal SPS Reef Tank

[Billdemart]

That is the brightest GSP I've ever seen.

[nanoreef-R]

For algae control, you should look into a Lawnmower blenny. Very funny fish with presonality and great with algae!

[disaster999]

That is the brightest GSP I've ever seen.

 

haha yea, it sticks out like a sore thumb

 

For algae control, you should look into a Lawnmower blenny. Very funny fish with presonality and great with algae!

 

i have a tail spotted blenny in there, but he can only do so much. i should try adding a tang in my tank again, since my last one did a pretty good job nipping at all the algae. too bad it died of ick

[nanoreef-R]

i have a tail spotted blenny in there, but he can only do so much. i should try adding a tang in my tank again, since my last one did a pretty good job nipping at all the algae. too bad it died of ick

 

Oh yeah that's true you don't have a tang! Any ideas on which you like?

[disaster999]

i had a powder brown tang before and i really liked his color. i might get it again...unless you have other suggestions im all ears!

[bitts]

any thoughts as to why the gsp is as bright as it is.

 

powder brown tangs are beautifull, but a powder blue could maby add a little more pop!

[disaster999]

i have no idea why is so bright. it was already like this when i got it.

 

they both look really nice but i like brown better.

[disaster999]

so i did take your advice bitts and bought a blue powder tang the other day. they are more expensive than brown ones. not sure why. they both are really nice fish. dont have pictures of the guy yet. he went into hiding as soon as he went into the tank. ill let him settle for a few days to get used to my face.

 

cleaned out the skimmer last night. pulled out a lot of gunk!

 

technically this only worth less than a week of skim. but its been around 2 weeks since i last cleaned it. i only feed my tank once every week. i fed my tank on saturday and the skimmate level is around 3/4 the way up the letters. checked back on the level on sunday and its already at where it is now.

[sammy113]

Can I have a cup? Diet sugar please? gotta love those BM

[timdanger]

cleaned out the skimmer last night. pulled out a lot of gunk!

 

technically this only worth less than a week of skim. but its been around 2 weeks since i last cleaned it. i only feed my tank once every week. i fed my tank on saturday and the skimmate level is around 3/4 the way up the letters. checked back on the level on sunday and its already at where it is now.

 

great googly moogly.

 

my NAC3 hasn't been pulling much skimmate lately. probably only pulled 1/3 cup-full of skimmate over the last 2 weeks. i wonder if i need to clean it out. it does have some algae growing on the inside of the body. thoughts?

[vincent]

I've seen a 90g tank(24' deep) set up for LPS working nicely with 2x 150W halides (phoenix 14k) and 4 actinic T5's. It can be nice to have less light on the sand bed to keep trach, lobo, syms, etc

 

If you plan to keep SPS you would have to keep them within the top 12" or so unless they are a deepwater species.

 

If you are looking to get more light at the bottom of the tank, then 250W halides are the way to go. T5's really don't penetrate as well to that depth.

 

 

now i got a question in my mind....is 2x150W MH + 2x39W T5HO going to be enough for my tank?

[disaster999]

thanks for the info. i had someone with a par meter come measure my tank and the 7X 39W t5ho with icecap reflectors in my tank penetrating 23" of water and have a par of 200+ on the sand bed. around 400-500 par where my SPS are.

[disaster999]

more pictures!

 

finally fabbed up a rack for my frag light

 

for a new colony of acro

 

fuzzy sps, i forgot the name of it again

 

milli

 

my dendro

 

Finally FTS

Edited March 27, 2010 by disaster999

[bitts]

seems like some of the pics wont show. sorry they poped up after i posted.

any word on the powder, hows it adjusting.

Edited March 29, 2010 by bitts

[disaster999]

seems like some of the pics wont show. sorry they poped up after i posted.

any word on the powder, hows it adjusting.

 

hes ####### me off!!!!!! haha..na, hes alright...but seriously, he will not leave one of the zoa frag alone! i tried glueing it down with epoxy but he just picked that thing right off. granted the marineland epoxy doesnt stick very well when wet. i guess the frag has some tasty algae that hes desperately trying to get to.

 

other than that, he seem to take care of the brown hair algae in my tank pretty good. pretty busy grazing. i gotta feed him more as i see some ick appearing on him. thought my tank was rid of ick already since i didnt add any fish for a month and none of my other fish have any signs of ick. jacked up the temp to around 80+ and feeding the tank more trying to boost his immune system. seems to be working.

[bitts]

ick will last in the tank for like 6months, if i rember the temp needs to be like 82 to kill off the cysts. so yah food n temp. plus tangs are horable about ick. just look at them the wrong way and poof. anyway its great to here hes doing ok. and those pics are just stunning.

[lazy-boy]

I've seen a 90g tank(24' deep) set up for LPS working nicely with 2x 150W halides (phoenix 14k) and 4 actinic T5's. It can be nice to have less light on the sand bed to keep trach, lobo, syms, etc

 

If you plan to keep SPS you would have to keep them within the top 12" or so unless they are a deepwater species.

 

If you are looking to get more light at the bottom of the tank, then 250W halides are the way to go. T5's really don't penetrate as well to that depth.

 

 

.... . my tank is 21" deep. lights about 4-6" above water. t5ho. growing sps on the absolute bottom (bare bottom, no sand). monti cap, pocillopora, birdsnest. I found a 3 week old broken frag of milli in the shade of a rock still growing/surviving.

 

t5's do penetrate .

[disaster999]

i agree, im kind of glad i didnt go with MH, electric bill is going to be a nightmare!

 

oh as for bitts, the powder blue bit the dust :'( i didnt see any sign of ick or anything on him then one day he just stopped coming out...and never saw him since. he probably died in the back of my rocks somewhere and got ripped apart by my clean up crew.

 

we didnt give up, my dad insisted we keep trying. went to the local fish street one day and i guess it was my lucky day, new shipment just arrived and there was a tone of fish. we picked up a third flame angel, an alantic blue tang, and 2 true percs.

 

learned my lesson and right off the bat i raised the temp to around 80F and kept my fish well fed. replenishing the nori whenever its gone and feeding the tank more often. so far beside a small out break the first day of adding the fish. all the new members in my tank are ick free at the moment. its been a little over a week since i bought the fish and everything seems to be fine. the tank is swimming around the tank hunting algae (hes doing a good job cleaning off my powerhead) and eating prepared food. the clown paired up with no hassle and found my carpet nem.

 

ill update this again tonight when i get some pictures. borrowed a 105mm macro lens from a friend so hopefully theres some eye candy for all.

[Freakin]

Beautiful tank and stand. My favorite setup I've seen on here.

 

Gorgeous frogspawn. I absolutely love the clown hosting in the BTA.

 

Definitely going to be following this one

[bitts]

ohhhh, sorry about the powder. but the new arrivalys sound get.

 

thanks for the update. cant wait to see pics.

[Asureef]

Great looking tank!

 

Sharp photos, since you've stripped your Exif data, what lighting are you using for the camera? I seem to have a hard time taking pictures through glass, though I suspect the shape of the aquarium may be the problem. Anyhow, your tank is coming along nicely, keep it up!

[disaster999]

Beautiful tank and stand. My favorite setup I've seen on here.

 

Gorgeous frogspawn. I absolutely love the clown hosting in the BTA.

 

Definitely going to be following this one

 

thanks =) i love the clowns and their nems. my whole family enjoy watching them "wash their face" in it

 

ohhhh, sorry about the powder. but the new arrivalys sound get.

 

thanks for the update. cant wait to see pics.

 

thanks bitts, hopefully i can get some decent pictures tonight. borrowed the 105mm macro lens from a friend and im having problems with focusing.

 

Great looking tank!

 

Sharp photos, since you've stripped your Exif data, what lighting are you using for the camera? I seem to have a hard time taking pictures through glass, though I suspect the shape of the aquarium may be the problem. Anyhow, your tank is coming along nicely, keep it up!

 

thanks =) i upload all my pictures to picasa so maybe they striped all the info. i can still see some in picasa.

 

but basically what i do when i take pictures are set the camera to take raw. set the white balance to 10000k and the light meter to point meter (generally it works, but if you think the shot is over or under exposed, mess with the EV, or set the camera to manual mode to get the exposure you are looking for).

 

to take pictures of coral, its best to keep your camera perpendicular to the glass to minimize distortion. i use a 60mm macro with a very short focus distance so i am able to have the lens right up to the glass and i know for sure i will not get any distortions. most people advice you turn off pumps in the tank so the corals will not move. i tend to be lazy and just leave it on. if your shutter speed is high enough you are still able to freeze the movement. iso you should set it as low as possible. usually around 100-200. you want the picture to be as sharp as possible with as little grain as possible.

 

after im done with taking pictures, i further edit my photos in photoshop, mess with the white balance sliders, contrast, saturation, sharpness etc to get the effect or look im after. what i learned from kinetic (another great reefer and photographer) is jack up the "black" level in photoshop so that the background is almost pitch black, and increase the exposure slider so the coral is back to its original "brightness" this way it brings out the coral more. you have to mess with it to get the colors or the look just right.

 

thats what i do for most of my pictures. just take more pics and practice more. hope this helps, drop me a line if you have any other questions

[disaster999]

got some time to process the pictures i took 2 days ago

 

first off, fish pics. not the best, still trying to get used to this lens

 

alantic blue tang

 

austrailian true perc

 

did he just...BLINK?

 

chromis

 

new coral,

 

indo yellow tip torch, cant tell which pic i like better

 

birds nest

 

another SPS i still dont know the name to, this turned out really yellow, should of dialed down the color temp a bit...oh well, i was lazy and did a batch adjust to all my pictures

[PodRod]

Great looking tank! You've really had some nice growth and I love the blue tang. My 90g is on order and should be here in the next 2 weeks. I can hardly wait...

[bitts]

love the markings on the tang. there just great.

 

any info on the torch, i dont think ive seen one like it befor.