Disaster's 80gal + 15gal SPS Reef Tank

[sammy113]

damn that is white rock scape looks great! You definitely have a LOT of space for corals. Coraline will take over quickly over those

[disaster999]

well hopefully...i want to put the sps frags back into the tank, but their base is filled with the dreaded algae ive been trying to kill. so im not really sure what to do about that. i could cut "stems" and toss out the base or keep them in the sump, wait they are big enough to frag and put the frags in the tank.

[disaster999]

Its been a while since i got the Tunze 6100 pump and so far its been great in my tank. It adds a tone of flow into my tank and creates a nice back and forth motion with the DIY wave maker. Im not really sure what is the cause, but it seems the pump is slowly destroying the mount and its creating a lot of noise.

 

After a while i decided I had enough and gonna do something about it. Bought a cheap mag cleaner, glued some acrylic piece i have lying around and created a mount for the pump.

 

Heres a little short video to show the new wave im able to get with the added support to the pump

[disaster999]

Bored last night...so took some pictures of my SPS.

I just repositioned this frag so its pissed from me man handling it

few hours later, but the only actinics

[sammy113]

Nice shots! How's the rock looking? FTS?

[bitts]

disaster how did you make such perfect plaster casts of your live rock. how do you plan to keep them so white.

 

your sps look great.

[disaster999]

haha, leaving them inside a bucket for almost 2 months with no light will turn them white. i hope they turn purple soon..and not brown or green...i would seriously cry if it turns out that way.

 

FTS shot later tonight

[bitts]

I don't know. I'm kinda diggin the mono chrome. just think how it will make the corals pop.

[clownfish14]

tanks looking great i love the sps shots. how did you get that one pic to have a black background like that?

[disaster999]

true, but keeping it that way is near impossible

[disaster999]

one more shot of sps...forgot about this one

 

yellow tang

 

FTS

[sammy113]

looks very good man. Love the scape so much. Those freaking nuclear neon green GSP is insane

[animalmaster6]

Love the tank!

 

I agree with above, the GSP are insane!

Edited December 3, 2010 by animalmaster6

[TRAP ADAMS]

Just read the entire thread between phone calls at work. Excellent work, efforts, and f%Q@% fantastic job on your LR structure and coral growth. Way to make verything into a learning process. As for your algae, I have went through the same thing. I have a 50 gallon reef with T5HO as well (fk the high bill T5'S are prettier anyways). The way to kick that algae problem is as follows and its nice and simple. No chemicals, no black out on your tank. Add some hermits, and a yellow tang. Problem Solved!

[disaster999]

thanks, glad you all like my tank. truly learned a lot throughout the whole process.

 

as for the algae, i guess i could of tried a yellow tang and all, but dealing with ick in my tank, then nuking the tank with flatworm exit which wiped out a lot of my fish. took the opportunity to completely tear down my tank to kill the algae...and here i am now with an almost brand new start. yellow tang in the display munching away at the remaining algae. hopefully with what i learnt before im able to get everything under control this time.

[disaster999]

borrowed a sigma 150mm to try...

 

shot of my frag area...

its getting very crowded

Edited December 4, 2010 by disaster999

[bitts]

Hey disaster, hope your having great C-Mas.

[sammy113]

looking good! makes me wanna sell my Sigma 70mm

[disaster999]

thanks bitts, merry christmas to you too, and merry christmas to all!

 

sammy, although the 150mm is a nice lens, and takes good pictures, i would still get the nikon 105mm. the VR and shorter working distance really helps

[disaster999]

thought i update this a little, nothing much has changed, moved some of my sps from the sump into my main tank to see how they are doing. i gave the base of each frag a soak in freshly boiled water to kill off any algae still left while trying not to soak the base. i think it worked out alright

 

shots of the coral didnt come out as good as i hoped so i only have a FTS for you guys.

 

there are lots of coraline in the back wall, but i want them on my rocks instead

[tam]

Just finished reading through your thread. Love the tank and stand combo and those zoas, ugh, my only weakness. Really digging that DIY LED light you made too! Hope the algae doesn't come back and looking forward to more updates.

[disaster999]

Thanks,

 

i hope so too. took every precaution already to try eliminating the algae. so far so good. just gotta get my hands on some bio pellets to further reduce my phosphate.

 

im already thinking up plans on upgrading or revamping my LED light. theres so much room for improvement. i took a picture of the LED light yesterday...added more blue LEDs for a better overall look

 

lots of brown algae and hair algae in my sump tho =( i gotta throw some of my snails in there to eat them up

 

while im at it might as well show you what 4 days of skimmate looks like...really impressed with what this skimmer can do with my bio load.

[bitts]

but that smell. how can you stand it.

[disaster999]

honestly i cant really smell it unless i stick my head right in my sump and take a big whiff. other than that the living room smells fine...its when i take it out for cleaning which i cant stand

[bitts]

I guess I'll take the trade off of cleaning it ever day keep it from stink up the room. so long as it doesn't knock me over when I clean it, yuk.