Marine Depot Forums / General Forums / Member's Tanks

Gimmito's 450 L-Shape Display

gimmito — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:26:51 GMT

Evening all,

I'm in the midst of setting up a 450 L-shape tank (6' x 4' x 32"). It's made of 1" acrylic in the front and right side & 3/4" on left side and back. It has a 2" tubular steel around the perimeter that is powder coated. Gen of KritterTanks built it and did a great job !

Here are some of the equipment I'm thinking of using:

Lights-400 watt coralvue dimmable ballast w/lumenbright reflectors.

Protein Skimmer-Bubble King internal 300 , Royal Exclusiv Alpha 300, or the H&S 250 in sump model (to save some space).

Calcium Reactor-Deltec PF601S (keeping mostly sps w/some lps).

Denitrator-H&S 150SR (I do like fish and would like to keep some shoals of anthias, but would like to keep nutrients down). I'm also interestd in the new deltec vodka denitrator developed by David Saxby.

Return Pumps- 2 Reeflow Dart Golds (I'm thinking of using a Oceans Motions or manifold).

Contoller-Reefkeeper Elite or New Apex Aquacontroller.

Water Movement-An array of Vortech Pumps and Tunze Streams.

Sump-100 gal Eco system sump (I don't know if I'm going to actually use miracle mud)

Refugium-I would like to employ a gravity fed fuge on the upper left part of the tank.

That's all for now...I would appreciate your inputs !!

Jim

Iowa Game Fish Tank - 700+ Gallons

River Fish Keeper — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:18:05 GMT

Hi everyone,

I started this topic in the Beginners Column, and have now moved here as I start to build this tank. I will try to document the entire thing, and if you have any questions or want to see something in particular, post a reply and I'll do my best.

Thank you again Argi.

And So It Begins:

I am building a freshwater aquarium, endevoring to recreate a section of the Mississippi River, but with much cleaner water ! This thing is rather large, the dimensions in the description line are finished outside dimensions. The internal size of the tank will be pretty close to 718 Gallons (96" x 48" x 36" water depth). The actual sealed tank will be 40" tall. It's going to sit on an 18" base and have an 18" ventilated hood with 670 watts available for direct lighting set up in a 9 circuit system. This has increased a little over my initial statement in the Beginners Column. I added a couple of lights that will kick in on a separate system so I'm not required to mess with my timer system to illuminate the tank if I need to at night.

I also will be making some changes to the filtration and circulation systems. I decided to add an additional external pump pushing 317 GPH hooked to a 1000 Gallon pressurized pond filter. I'm hoping that the low flow through this filter along with the 450 GPH through my Eheim Professional III 2080 Canister will provide super fine filtration. I purchased a large circulation pump as well since my last post in the Beginners Column. This thing will pump 5000 GPH @ 0 Head but only consumes 146 watts. I tested it and holy smokes!!! it moves a ton of water

All in all, I'm going to filter and circulate 5767 GPH!!!

I'm still trying to figure out how to insert pictures (.jpg to be exact) so here goes nothing.

[img][http://forum.marinedepot.com/Attachment2924.jpg/img]

700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:37:38 GMT

700 gallon tank build.

First and foremost I want to thank my wife of twenty four years, Pam, for allowing my obsession to become a reality.

I have had a reef aquarium for a few years, ever since I went to a koi club member’s home and saw the magnificent reef tank that his wife had. My wife and I missed most of the koi club meeting mesmerized by the 260 gallon SPS reef tank. My wife said we have to have one. I said NO WAY, ABSOLUTLY NOT! Too much work, impossible to keep salt water fish and corals, oh my gawd corals, blah, blah, blah. I was basing my opinion on forty year old info from my childhood when I kept fresh water tanks as a teen. I have seen many tanks since then and Tankgirls is still among the best I have seen. TOTM quality. She has become a wonderful friend and mentor.

Needless to say we soon found a 120 gallon tank for sale in the local recycler newspaper. It had LR, LS, PC lighting, a few fish, and a couple soft corals. After a while we moved up to a 260 gallon tank that we still have today. It has halides, and lots of well established live rock full of life, worms, fan worms, sponges, tunicates, etc, DSB, and LPS, SPS and soft corals, a mature RBTA, and a few fish.

I now have several tanks for various corals, display tank, frag tank, soft coral tank, 400 gallon barrel outside in the sun with several hundred pounds of live rock waiting for the new tank to be set up.

I have some other folks I want to thank for all their expertise and knowledge they have shared through their writings on the forums and books they have written without which I would not have had the courage to attempt a new tank.

Tankgirl for her amazing tank that inspired us to get our first tank.

I highly recommend all the following authors for their work. Anyone setting up a tank or wanting to learn would do well to have read these books.

I have read and reread all of them several times over.

Invaluable sources of information I have learned much from-

Eric Borneman “Aquarium Corals” thank you for answering my questions on your forum.

Ron Shimek “Marine Invertebrates” and for answering my forum questions.

Scott Michael “Reef Fishes” series.

Julian Sprung and Charles J Delbeek for their series “The Reef Aquarium” vols I, II, and III, especially Vol III which is the most complete book I have seen on the science and art of setting up a reef tank. Charles Delbeek is the head of the Waikiki Aquarium. There they have a 5,000 gallon reef tank. Simply awe inspiring. It has a large skylight over the tank providing natural light supplemented with several 1,000 watt halides and a 10hp chiller outside the building.

This tank has two giant Tridacna clams that are about 25 years in captivity, the oldest clams in the world in captivity. They are HUGE.

Mr. Delbeek, thank you for the behind the scenes tour to see the tank from above and the giant surge devices and other equipment for the most magnificent tank.

Thank you to all the reefcentral.com TOTM’s tanks. I have read all your threads and drooled over the pictures in awe. Also thank you to all the others on the forums who have willingly shared their ideas and expertise freely.

Finally, thank you Anthony Calfo for being a sounding board for everything reef on the forums. No question to stupid to be answered respectfully.

Anthony Calfo-“Reef Invertebrates” when I bought this book I thought it was about corals, after all they are invertebrates, I was disappointed, and then I started to read it. Wow, a cornucopia of info on all the other stuff in our tanks. I have read it so many times the pages are falling out. Not disappointed any more.

“Coral Propagation” volume I- can’t wait for volume II with more pictures.

“The Conscientious Marine Aquarist” cowritten with Bob Fenner who is also a very entertaining speaker. This was my first book i got along with the first tank.

“C…The Journal”-very entertaining and educational magazine.

The system-
The tank is 96”X48”X36” Approximately 700 gallons.
Acrylic-built by SoCalCreations.com
It is viewable on three sides. The two long and one short side. It will be in the living room and entryway hall.
There is and external 3’ overflow on one end that will be in the closet adjacent to the tank and also there is an island overflow in the middle of the tank. Five 2” overflows total.

Two closed loops all with OceansMotions.com 4 ways with each powered by a Sequence Hammerhead, 5800 GPH. Closed loops have all openings through the bottom of the tank with 1.5” bulkheads.

Return pumps from sump in garage under tank. One Sequence Dart, 2,800 gph, and another Sequence Hammerhead, each on separate 20 amp circuit for redundancy. Returns are to be Calfo style closed loops around the top of the tank so as to give equal flow over the whole top of the tank.

Lighting-I have a 4X8 foot skylight over the tank. I have lined the skylight with highly polished aluminum 4x8 sheets from http://anomet.com/cgi-bin/online/storepro.php. this particular sheet is 87% reflective. They have other sheets that are more reflective for visible light BUT reflect very low in the UV portion of the spectrum.

The skylight itself is single glazed acrylic opening type. Said to transmit 94% light and 44% UV.

I have an Apogee light meter and will be monitoring the light coming into the tank for many months before adding and fish or corals. Then I can decide what supplemental lighting I may need.

To accommodate the tank in the house we had to do a bit of reinforcing. After all, the tank fully loaded will weight somewhere around 8,000 pounds.

The tank is going to be primarily Stony Corals with fairly high light requirements and some LPS, and one large RBTA that is my wifes favorite. And of course fish. I hope to keep out the soft corals, we love them too but due to many of their fast growth rates and chemical warfare we will try to limit them.

I also plan to run carbon and ozone 24/7.

I still can’t decide what to do about a skimmer. I have read Anthony’s discussions about skimming and on the other hand I have read Eric’s writings about the skimmerless tanks with no water changes.

I have a small skimmer, the Aqua C EV-400 that I think I will run so I can add ozone, a 200 mg per hour Red Sea unit. So not quite skimmerless.

I have access to Free NSW at UCSB that I will be taking advantage of. I have a 1,200 gallon cistern in the front yard to hold the NSW.

The old house that my father build in 1952 that I grew up in.

Getting ready for the new tank.

we had to make room for the new tank.

the support for the new tank.

bringing in the tank.

a few hundred pounds of live rock is in here.

the water storage tank, 1200 gallons, will be plumbed to pump into the tanks as needed.

i can only set up the tank now. i must wait until the rest of the house is finished to take over the garage for the sump and the rest of the equipment.

i will get the live rock in soon and the 6" sugar fine DSB seeded from my existing tanks. this will just run on the closed loops for months, 6-8 months while the house is finished.

this way the infauna in the sand be will have a chance to really mature and the LR will prosper. no additional light other than from the skylight.

i have the stand and we hope to start plumbing next week.

PLEASE DON'T POST ASKING FOR UPDATES. there won't be much activity for many months after the initial rush of phase I set up. i will take periodic light readings and post on the thread along with periodic pictures.

DxMarineFish 200+gal tall Reef System

DXmarinefish — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:42:20 GMT

Hi All,
I have been lurking on this forum ever since i "discovered" it about 2 months ago.

I like the temperament of the forum, the quality of the responses and the fact that no post/response is ridiculed/laughed.
I believe there are no experts on a marine ecosystem we know so little about..just knowledgeable people based either on academic knowledge, reef keeping experience, field work and observations or a combination of either.

Here is my system, and I need any help you can all offer.

I have a "reef" system i set up in Jan 2008 (my 1st salt water attempt )
I intend not to rush things, and so I will add to the system gradually to ensure I dont make any mistakes that will kill the animals I am responsible for.

Jan 09 pic (new pics laters)

I set it up "skimless", after much reading, but stll made some "newbe" mistakes, mostly in buying equipment i really did not need.

Any way here is a brief description of my tank.
DT:-Acrylic, measurements L=132cm x H=100cm x W=(40x70x40cm) It is Bow front.
Hang on Fug: L=76cm x H=40cm x W=10cm
Sump: L=120cm x H=40cm x W=36.5cm

Pics:-
DT:
Just Delivered

On stand

Hang on Fug:
3D Design

On Back of tank

Tank top view

Note: the support cables are just extra precaution. It actually sits secure without them...But i like to be extra sure..know what i mean

Sump:
3D design

Note: Cables in the back have since been cleaned up and secured from wet stuff

-------------------
Filtration:

To cut a long story short the system has been running with out a skimmer up to April 2009 when i added a vertical ATS (as popularized recently by santamonica).
I have later modified this to 2 Horizontal ATS that I find more manageable, less messy and no splash so hopefully electrically safer. This modification was done 1st week Nov 2009. I still need to modifiy the lights, which should be done this weekend.

Basic contents of sub-systems:

DT: DSB 15-18cm deep, 80kg Live rock
Hang on Fug: 6cm deep mud base, @10kg Live rock rubble (on egg crate shelf), cheato.
Sump: 3 sections. 1st=20-30kg Live rock, Cheato. 2nd=10cm mud mix, 5kg live rock on egg crate shelf. 3rd=Bare, just return pump.
--------
Lighting:

This is where i bought what i did not need. Initially i bought a Series4 2x 400w system, but upon further thought and based on the slow progress i envisioned I sold that and now just use T5's - 4x54w & 2x39w.
I am in the process of saving for a Powermodule 8x54w system made by ATi. this I should have by xmas.
-------

Circulation:
4x Koralia 4's, 1x Tunze 6125, 1x tunze 6080.
Return is a ehime 5000+
Hang-on-fug is supplied with a SP 1400ltr pump.
-------

Set Backs:
1-March 2009 - Major death of my snails (about 6 mexican true turbos, 30+ nassarius obsoletus, 1x queen conch
)
Surprisingly only my 4xnassarius vibex survived.

This happened while I was away.
Cause - my Japanese Swallowtail Angel Female mysteriously died. she was very healthy,but before i left for the week i noticed some of her scales were flaky. I did not do a water test when i noticed this as all other life stock were acting normally).

When I returned the tank was a mess. I dont know who killed who, but the resultant explossion of dead and decaying mass upped my PO4 to over 2.5, my NO3 was over 100+
Hair algae covered 80% of the tank and back walls, read algae was covering the LR, cyno covered the DSB..and my water was as yellow as a pint of cider.

I did harvest a large quantity of algae from the sump before i left (which did not help)..or maybe caused the semi-crash

I nearly left the hobby.

I immediately did a 60% water change over 5 days, implemented an ATS in April but the tank has never fully recovered.

My NO3 is still about 30-50, PO4 over 1.2 ish..and not coming down.

My sand still has cyno.

The rest of the tank inhabitants do not seem to have been adversely affected. My Xenia, Gorgonian's, filter feeders and other softies are doing well. Fish stock is still striving and getting fat.
------

Current status and Resolution:
I decided to stay in the hobby, but not to add any live stick until i have the water prams back to acceptable levels. But this is not working and I need help.

Tank Prams:
pH: 7.9 to 8.3 - this varies depending on time of day
Temperature: 80° F to 83° F - average
Alkalinity: 11 dKH
Calcium: 430 ppm
Magnesium: 1350 - 1400 ppm (or 3x Calcium levels)
Phosphate: 1.25+ ppm
Ammonia: 0 -
Nitrite: 0 -
Nitrate 30+ ppm
-------

What I think
PO4 must have leached into the DSB and LR and is still leaching back into the water.
Why i think this is that my ATS has produced chunks of red slime for months and is only now growing what i think is True turf. but this is red, not slimy as before and very hard to take off. I might be wrong.

I have kept on feeding my home made food mix (similar to this http://www.melevsreef.com/food.html). I dont want to stop this because my fish and filter feeders really stay healthy on this diet. I also feed Nori 3-4 times a week for my tangs.
------

What should I do next?:

This is where i am stuck.
I know i need more sand sifting critters like snails (Nassarius & turbo) but I am afraid of buying any more cause of my current water prams.

My pod life is very healthy (by this i mean i see lots of pods & tube worms on the DT DSB and in the sump).

I hate the site of the sand covered cyno and was thinking of getting a goby, but I know these are not recommended for DSB, and it will only be a temp measure at best.
What about a sand sifting cucumber? Not recommended for DSB???

Any help will really be welcomed and appreciated.

I am sure you have lots of Q's for me so please fire away.

Cheers.

Picotope Diary

KPclown — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:15:51 GMT

Well after alot of research and questions I finally decided to start into this hobby. This will be my first saltwater aquarium so I will be continually updating this thread to try and document everything that I do. Last Thursday I spent some money and ordered my tank, test kit, additives and maintenance kit. Today my package had arrived so I took the tank up to the lfs and got the owner to help get me going. He sold me 5 lbs of Fiji live rock and about 4lbs of substrate from his display tank. I also purchased a ten gallon mix of Instant Ocean salt mix and Kent Marine Purple-up, all together I paid forty dollars for all of the supplies. He went through a testing procedure with me and these are the starting numbers. . .

Equiptment

Tank - 3 gallon JBJ Picotope Aquarium
Filter - Pico 3 stage filter
Lighting - Pico 9w light
Seachem basic marine test kit
Algae scraper

4lbs Carib-Sea Aragalive
4.5 lbs Fiji live rock from LFS

Tests

Date: 10/28/09
Previous Water Change: Never
Temperature: 77.9 Degrees Fahrenheit
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 0.0
PH: 8.0

My goal with this tank is to create a small mushroom colony and keep various inverts in the tank. Eventually this will lead into my ultimate project. A JBJ 28gallon HQI stocked with two Ocellaris Clowns, a Yellow Watchman Goby, a Tiger Pistol Shrimp, and possibly Two Bangaii Cardinals. I will try to post some pictures as soon as I get my camera to work properly. . .to be continued!

175g bowfront revisited

Marie1 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:57:04 GMT

I just added a bunch of new rock to my tank and i thought I would share pictures of it

My new Tank (The BIG one)

Goodwin9 — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 03:23:49 GMT

I thought that I would post pictures of the progress of a new tank I am getting ready to set up in my home. It's going to be a BIG one, approximately 600 gallons with a 160 gallon sump/refugium below the tank. I thought that I would share a couple of pictures of the tank being built. The tank dimensions are 120L X 48W X 25H. It's an acrylic tank and is supposed to be delivered in 10 days. I hope to be able to post pictures as things progress on my new project.

Humble 100

Wet Sleeves — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:08:12 GMT

This is my Humble 100 Gallon Reef Tank.

The start of my 150 Gallon Mixed Reef

soloscott — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:16:11 GMT

I've been a long time time fan of fish tanks. From growing up as a kid there has always been a fish tank in my home. However all of them up until the last month have been fresh water tanks. They have ranged all from 10 gallons up to my current tank which is 150 gallons.

So a few months ago, my wife I and decided to finally take the plunge into the salt water world, as we have always admired the beautiful tanks, but were always scared of the higher cost, and what we thought was very difficult to maintain. So we did some initial research though the web, and asked around one of the LFS around the area. Well after getting a little bit of advice from the LFS. We decided to go ahead and make the switch to our 150 gallon tank from fresh to salt. So went down to our LFS, and took his advice on everything we needed, and came home with a biological filter, a small water pump, some crushed coral, and two pieces of live rock. Well needless to say we still did not know very much about the hobby just yet, so we thought we were off to a good start. So followed the directions from the LFS, did everything we were told to do.

We start to cycle the tank, and added a few stripped damsels to help along. Well within a few hours one had died, and then the others died within the next few days. Needless to say alot of this happened because of the advice, and poor choices they had us make. As they were just selling us products that wasn't something we really needed, and was just trying to make some easier money off of an uneducated customer.

Well thank god, our neighbor across the street has a friend who has a salt water tank. And of course his tank was setup by TnT Saltwater Aquariums. So we decided to have a BBQ at our house, we invited our neighbors across the street, and their friends who had the salt water tank done by TnT. So at this time when we had the BBQ, we just switched over the tank about 2 weeks ago and were starting the cycling process. When they came over and saw my tank, and I think they wanted to cry for me. So we got talking of course, and he started to mention a guy around the area that he goes through. So he gives me his info, and his website. So I do some looking around through his site, and give him a call. Within 2 hours after my phone call TnT Saltwater Aquariums made a trip out to my home, and within very little time had a plan developed for what my tank needed, and for a price I couldn't refuse as it was alot less than what the other guys down the road wanted. So if you look below theses are the initial pictures of my tank after 2-3 weeks of starting it with salt water.

So needless to say you guys can see by the photo's above that my tank was in some desperate need of a major upgrade / reconstruction. Within one week of meeting with Ron at TnT Saltwater Aquariums, my tank now looks like this. And these pictures were only a few days after he had set it up. I will have to post some more recent ones here later, as we've added several new fish, and other coral pieces since these. But you can tell from the photo's up from the other guys method. To the photo's below from TnT Saltwater Aquariums method. You can be the judge as to which one you think looks better.

All I know that after dealing with Ron and Nicki from TnT, there is no other place on this planet that I will go to for advice, supplies, livestock, or anything that has to do with saltwater, and anything relating to it. As these are truly the type of people that go out of their way to make sure you get everything you need, make sure you fully understand everything to be successful at the hobby, and not trying to scam you to make a quick buck. As a real business, and a good successful business, the customer is the most important thing. And when you take care of a customer properly, and do things right, the customer will always go back to the same place.

The only person that will ever touch my tank outside of my family will be TnT. Ron and Nicki, seriously truly thank you for the time you guys have spent with us educating us in ths great hobby, and we look forward to continue doing business with you guys for as long as you own your shop.

My new 90 gal. build

Bagpiper Jim — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:29:12 GMT

The wife and I are getting back into the hobby after 30 years. We decided to build a 90 gal. reef tank. Here are some shots of the build. The tank was placed in service on June 1, 2009 to begin the cycling phase. We now have a few fish and cleaning crew. I am currently bringing up the Ca, pH and Alk for future additions of SPS and LPS corals.

The stand plans:

The tank:

30 gal. DIY sump:

The stand, shelves and hood build:

Install prep:

Install:

Fancy light fan:

Cabinet Fan:

Finished product:

My 400lt Tank

proangel2 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:01:47 GMT

Just taut id share some pictures of my tank as iam setting it up

It a 400lt Juwel tank iam using tunze power heads a 6100 and a 6101 with a controller for circulation 50kg of live rock no sump

My Mixed Reef Tank....

mr_xXx — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:09:53 GMT

Hi all... I'm new here..... want to share some of the pics from my tank...

Broder's Skimmerless Reef.

Broder — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:05:35 GMT

Hi all! I'm new to the forum , so I thought I'd introduce myself by showing my mixed reef system. I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism or advice as I'm only 3 years old in reefkeeping.

I started experimenting with agal screen filters when Santa Monica started his thread some months ago. I'm now on the 3rd version of this. I've decide to switch my skimmer off and have been running the system like this since the beginning of the year. I feel that having as natural a system as possible will ultimately result in a more balanced reef system, requireing less supplementary feeding.

I've generally kept the whole system as simple as possible as I've been working on a shoestring budget. The less technology there is, the less can go wrong IMO.

Total system volume: 500 l

Return pump: 3500l/hr

Internal flow: 30000l/hr

Lighting: 2x 150w 14000k MH lamps, 4x 39w 8000k T5's, 4x 39w actinics.

Filtration: DSB and liverock. Algal screen filter.

Feeding: Twice daily

Supplementation: Sodium Bicarbanate in the morning, Calcium chloride in the evening, both dissolved in RO water.

Algal screen filter with the lid open. The lights are lowered between the 2 screens:

I'd really appreciate any comments and suggestions on running a skimmerless reef. I want to try to be as proactive as possible regarding any future problems that may develop.

Tone's New Reef

Tone — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:21:28 GMT

Currently under construction, about 1800L (about 500 gals):

The entire left side of the tank is the weir which will also double up as primary RDSB.

Currently awaiting an OM 8-way for the closed loop and it will be suplpemented with a TS-24 kit and a wavebox. Return water will be re-distributed through 8 flexible nozzles mounted underneath the braces around the perimeter of the tank.

The lighting support frame slides out of the way to provide access from both the front and back of the tank for maintenance. Framework is kept lightweight and open for mounting of cooling fans.

First water should be around mid-May 2007.

Tone

TheReefDaVinci's 20 gallon Vitruvian Nano Aquarium.

TheReefDaVinci — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:14:11 GMT

TheReefDaVinci's 20 gallon Vitruvian Nano Aquarium.

Hello everyone, I have always wanted a large aquarium. However, I currently live in an apartment and until I purchase a home I cannot force myself to build a large reef aquarium that could possibly need to be broken down due to some unforeseen circumstances that are beyond my control. So I decided that with my current situation a small 20 gallon nano aquarium would have to suffice. But that doesn't mean that I have to skimp on the quality and performance of the equipment that I purchase. So please feel free to engage in this thread as comments, suggestions, and criticisms are always a welcomed factor in building a great aquarium.

I am a new member

josethpauline — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:32:29 GMT

How are you doin' guys? you can call me pauline
I am a new member of this forum and I hope I'll have the chance to interact with you all!

have a nice day!

Mr. Tangs 150 euro-braced custom reef tank

Mr. Tang — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:09:43 GMT

After my 120 was up and running successfully and the fish were growing and the corals were encrusting, my oldest son decided to help his Daddy clean the glass.....He's only seven, so,,,I could only get so mad,,,,,He picked up sand with the magnetic scrapper and scratched up the whole front and sides of the tank Now, I didn't get mad at him because he was showing an interest in the same thing that has brought some much happiness to me. So after explaining to him how to properly clean the glass, I started to think,,,how nice it would be to have scratch free glass!!! Than the idea arose of expanding the tank by 110 gallons. The tank would have been a 5' by 3' by 2'. Really nice size!!! Well,,,the wife said,,,,,and,,,,,,and##$$%^,,,,@##@%$.

So, now the new tank size is going to be 150 gallons and it's 5' by 2' by 2'. I know, you guys are thinking this guy just gave into his wife. No way!! This was a war that wasn't worth fighting. She has let me get away with so much already that it wasn't worth the fight

So here's the plan as of right now

Ok so here are my thoughts so far..... The tank is 5'long by 2' tall by 2' deep. I have used powerheads in the past but I think I may use a CL on this one. My problem is that I want to have a feeding type mode and a sleeping mode. That is when the current dies down enough to give the livestock(mainly fish) a just to rest. Corlas don't need rest. So how would one do this with a CL???? And I really don't want a ton of pipes under the tank. I also am scared of using a 4 way. Too much piping!!! I haven't seen one done yet that looks planned out. Pipes going everywhere!!!! Not clean looking. So what do you guys think???? I wonder if I could put the pump on a timer and have it timed to come on when the actinic's come on. Kinda like daybreak or like when the tide comes in(out)??? I might be overthinking this Here's a good question,,,,,Would the flow just from the returns be enough during lights out to keep the corals happy??? My return pump is moving 750 gph. And would that be enough flow to feed the corals with food in the column????
OM's are iffy at best. I have heard way too many people telling me of stories about sand getting into it, so how about this
So in the true spirit of DIY, I have come up with this idea!!! What if I used a reeflow pump pushing out around 4000 gph. And I used two irrigation valves wired to a irrigation controller. I own a landscape installation company and I have hundreds of 1" valves laying around. I also have controllers sitting around as well. These controllers have up to 16 start times aviable and can run up to 32 valves. I of course would only need 2 or 3 valves at the most. I would use two outlets (1") to feed the pump with each valve having three returns. So actually, I would have 6 returns feeding flow to the tank. This can also be programed and timed to start down when the lights go off. So what happens is when the lights come on, the pump comes on and the program on the controller starts.
So what do you think????????????

My DIY 250g reef window

OneTrickPony — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:17:34 GMT

This is my start of my new project; hopefully it will be my reef window,
material wise it will end up costing me about what I could purchase a reef ready 120 Oceanic locally.

It will be my interpretation of jaggy’s project http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=211033&page=44

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1145958

What I have now

Frame 52L x 30W x 48H, 3/16 X 2.5” steel angle iron

Glass 48 x 48 x 0.75 low iron
Wood for the stand and tank, tank sides will be 1.5”
Fiberglass tape and epoxy
On the way, 4 gallons -POOL GUARD EHB EPOXY HIGH BUILD

I am busy sanding down the frame for the paint
I test glued a 2x4 with PL Premium Polyurethane to the frame to check surface bond strength and steel frame finish prep , I plan on gluing the plywood into the frame to smooth out any highs and lows where the ply and steel meet.
Ken

Macro Images

maxalmon — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:34:11 GMT

I'm addicted to macro photography and reefing!! Here are a few of my latest images

First Post

TyBriLinJa6 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:24:06 GMT

First Post of my Fish Tank. Its about 6 Months.

My Tank

gho — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:56:47 GMT

Hi, gho here. Some of you may know me, but for those who don't here's a little bit about me.

I'm a professional photographer and I'm always happy to help with any questions of any type. You can find out more about me here.

I also have some free photography lessons with many tips on photographing reef tanks and their inhabitants here: www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons

I look forward to hearing about yourself and seeing all of your beautiful tanks.

Here's some shots of my tank - I've re-aquascaped since, but I haven't had the chance to take any photos of it yet. It's definately on my to do list

Inside

Corner View:

Side View:

Access Panel:

View from Master Bedroom:

View from Hallway:

And everyone's favorite; a view of the sump:

I have a tank in the garage too:

My ~150g tank

Punjab — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:15:50 GMT

This is my 150 gallon tank I set up in November of '08.

The display is a 60"x24"x24" JEBO tank.

I purchased this tank because of its dimensions and I really like the curved corners.

I hate drilling tanks and so this system utilizes a CPR overflow which feeds into a 55 gallon custom glass sump.

The lighting is 2x250w IceCap HQI pendants and IceCap electronic ballast with Ushio 10K bulbs. I will be adding 4 T5 bulbs as soon as I can decide on a pair of 30" fixtures to fit over the top.

The tank has already had some ups and downs including a brief battle with cyano. I managed to single out bad carbon from a LFS as the culprit. Leaching phosphates into the water for a number of weeks before I realized the problem. So currently I'm not running any carbon, only GFO. Since then I've had quite an increase in growth and have been graced with some great colors for only using 250 10K bulbs. Flow is contributed by 2 Koralia 3s and a Koralia 4 in addition to what I get from the return pump. The skimmer is an ASM G1X with a few of the normal mods to bump up performance. Calcium and alkalinity are maintained with a CoraLife calcium reactor.

Anyway, on to the eye candy. Enjoy and all comments are welcomed.

And the tank's biggest fan while I'm at it

Thanks

My new 90 gal build

Bagpiper Jim — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:57:17 GMT

The Plans:

The tank:

My DIY sump:

The Stand base:

The base, hood and shelves:

Pre install:

Install:

Filling the tank:

Tank ready to cycle: (still waiting for the beaded oak to arrive to cover the stand and hood)

Jasonanatal's 120 gallon "Custom Built by Myself" Reef Aquarium.

Jasonanatal — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:03:51 GMT

Well it is true, I broke down my 120 gallon aquarium and sold all of my aquarium equipment and supplies except for a few essential items in hope to one day enter the hobby again after what I wanted to be a long hiatus. However lurking on the aquarium boards just left me teetering on the edge of wanting to return. And since I'm starting this thread you obviously what decision I have made. I want to build my dream aquarium. One that was thoughtfully planned out by integrating some of the best ideas in the hobby all into one massive plethora of aquatic goodness. But the best part about this build is that I plan to manufacture the majority of the aquarium and the necessary equipment personally. This will indeed be a lengthy project but definitely one that is worth effort that will be placed into it. So I hope everyone enjoys tagging along and as always questions, comments and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Jasonanatal's 120 gallon "Advanced Complexity" Reef Aquarium.

Jasonanatal — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:05:45 GMT

The Beginning: Jasonanatal's 120 gallon "Natural Simplicity" Reef Aquarium.

After many talks with my wife and convincing my landlord that it would not rain in his apartment I finally received the okay and pulled the trigger on a larger aquarium. A standard 120 All Glass aquarium. I know many people must be asking themselves why I didn't purchase a reef ready aquarium. I have a very simple answer. I live on the second floor of an old four family aparment building in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. When purchasing this aquarium I was concerned with one thing, having the largest aquarium with the maximum amount of water capacity that could be supported by the floor and not cause hazardous conditions in my home. After contacting numerous custom aquarium companies I decided that 120 gallon was a nice middle ground. So here starts another Reef Aquarium project. I hope everyone enjoys.

I started this buildby breaking down and selling components of my 28 gallon JBJ Nano Cube HQI Reef Aquarium that I did not consider suitable for my new 120 gallon reef aquarium. Then I removed the shelves, anchors and other mounting equipment and began patching up the wall and repainting in preperation for the new aquarium

Photograph - Friday, November 07, 2008 - My old 28 gallon JBJ Nano Cube HQI Reef Aquarium being broken down.

Now I had no clue what I was thinkingwhen I figured that I could get this 120 glass aquarium up 1 flight of stairs all by myself but thankfully my landlord gave me a hand. It with the help of the wall I managed to slide this monster onto the metal stand that was purchased for it.

Photograph - Friday, November 07, 2008- My wife standing by the 120 gallon aquarium for a size comparison.

Photograph- Friday, November 07, 2008 - My 120 gallon aquarium finally filled with RO/DI water after 3 days.

Required glass thickness for building a 1200 lt Discus Tank

karanchoudhury — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:52:56 GMT

Hi! I already have a LXHXW 36"x18"x18" freshwater well planted gourami fish tank with a EHEIM 2213 Classic External canister Filter which is doing gr8(will post the pics within a short while)....now am planning to build another bigger tank ONLY 4 DISCUS which will be around LxHxW 96"x32"x24" or 96"x24"x24".Now Im eager to know what would be the exact glass thickness for building a tank in either of these measurement.Im also thinking of setting either a EHEIM Classic external Canister Filter model no 2260 or a EHEIM Professional3 Thermofilter model no 2180XL along with Dupla therm set 1000,Co2 complete set with a Reactor 1000 all 4m Aqua-Medic ,Lights either- Oceanic Light Tube 58wx2 T8,Oceanic Color Tube 58wx2 T8,Relle Philips Fluorescent Bulbs 36wx2 T8 all 4m Aquael or Solar Light 36wx2(120cm),Plant Light 36wx2(120cm),Actinic Light 36wx2(120cm) all 4m Dupla.

Any alteration or suggestion will be highly appreciated......

Thanx

Karan 4m Durgapur,India

snails spawning

tunafish — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:39:07 GMT

pics taken today .the moon is full so the tides would have been big today this would have been the trigger to spawn

FOWLER TANK

proangel2 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:29:57 GMT

i decided to use my QT tank as a fowler tank as iam finished stocking my reef tank got a fiew good shots today

i got a great shot of the blue face angel

The tank is 350lt bow shape

My New Tank... 55 Gal...

Corona Doug — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:17:39 GMT

Here are a few of my New Salt Tank. I've been out if doing fish for many years. I used to have a 150 Gal Salt and only had it set up for fish. This tank was purchased 6 weeks ago... I've more than doubled the LR and replaced the old sand with new Live Sand... I'm not planning on adding any more corols or fish... it might have too much already?

You gotta Love Panormaic Photo Stiching... That's 3 pictures put together.

Below is my filter setup... Please advise if I have anything wrong?

Pump and UV Sterilizer are on the left side. Skimmer, filter bags are on the right. I think I might need to turn down the air on my skimmer... not very dark?

Thanks for any idea's you might have.

My 38 Gallon FOWLR

Fish dude — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:28:19 GMT

Here is my tank that has been up and running for about 6 months.

Sun coral & seafan reef

slcw — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:11:27 GMT

To mark the end of 2008, I would like share my setup.

48(L)x24(W)x15(H) - 75G

Filtration
[LIST]
[*]Aquamedic Shorty II skimmer + OR3500 NW
[*]Remote Deep Sand Bed & Boyu pump
[*]2kg of Sera Sirapox in the sump
[*]Skimz Fludised Reactor with ROWA & Eheim compact 1000
[*]Spare LR in the sump
[*]Skimz Sulphur reactor + Aquabee pump + 1 kg of Aquamedic sulphur + 1.5kg of ARM calcium in main chamber & 2nd chamber + American Pinpoint ORP monitor
[/LIST]

Flow
[LIST]
[*]Eheim compact 1000 as secondary return (temporary)
[*]Resun 1 HP itianium coil & 1 HP york external compressor & Eheim 1262 return pump
[*]Tunze 6025
[*]Tunze 6045
[/LIST]

Lightings
[LIST]
[*]54 watts T5HO lightings (dun pay attention to lighting as the corals are all non-photosynthetic)
[*]1 watt Moonlight
[/LIST]

Feeding
[LIST]
[*]cyclopeeze
[*]Golden pearls
[*]FM Ultra Clam, Min S, Min F, Life, Seafan
[*]DT plankton
[*]Frozen mysis shrimp
[*]Frozen own seafood blend (shrimp, squid, pellets, nori)
[*]Nori
[*]Pellets & flakes
[/LIST]

Livestock
[LIST]
[*]Yellow Tang
[*]Regal Tang
[*]Clown fish x 2
[*]blue devil damsel
[*]royal gamma

[*]3 balanophyllia sp (super suns)
[*]4 sun corals
[*]1 Japanese rhyzo (super sun)
[*]3 blue/purple menalla sp (seafan)
[*]2 blue berry (seafan)
[*]2 orange ID unknown (seafan)
[*]5 feather duster worm
[*]2 coco worms
[/LIST]

50 gallon skimmerless tank

SoCalJim — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:20:46 GMT

Tank on a Budget

I thought I would post some pics and get some feedback on things I should change from the seasoned reefers out there. I've got about 10 years experience in keep aquariums both fresh and salt(fish only no live rock). It has been at least 10 years since I had a tank though and I don't even remember live rock being around at the time. I could be wrong though. The tank 50 gal, sump 20gal and ATS is 80 square inches. I bought the tank and stand for $60 used, sump $20, 6 harbour freight saltwater rated pumps $60. There is no filtration other than rock, ATS and 10% water change every week. Previously, I didn't even have the ATS. There is some sand in the sump but I don't think its enough to do anything. Its more for habitat but may add more later. I started out, I'm guessing, with 6-10 lbs of live rock and added the rest non live. I don't know how much is in there since I bought it a few rocks at a time and didn't keep track. I know a couple of the fish will outgrow the display. It was a compromise to the wife and kids who desperately wanted those fish in the tank. I'm hoping this will give me leverage with the boss to upgrade to a larger tank since she picked one of the fish. I'm already gaining ground on the subject. Not many corals yet but I'm working on that. I do have a Goniopora that I know is difficult to keep. It was such a good price I couldn't pass giving it a try. I read an article...http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/nftt/index.php... before I bought it and I think I have a shot. The tank has been up close to 17 mos now and haven't had a fish or coral get sick. The first coral was only added about 8 mos ago though. I started slow and have been only adding new additions every few months. The lights are two CF 96 watt - one 1000k the other blue(can't remember what it was called off the top of my head).

Main display.

Sump.

Sump inhabitants.

Newly started ATS - 3 weeks.

Thanks

my old 10 gallon tank pics

gummybearhunter — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:23:32 GMT

this is an some what old pic of my 10 gallon tank before summer hit and my cooling fan was turned off which led to the over heated of my tank and all the corals and fish died, exept the algea . o well, i guess things happen
the tank isnt really much of a coral reef tank but more of a algea tank due to the fact i really didnt want alot of coral in the tank and i would find cool algea growing on rocks. at the moment im trying to up grade to a bigger tank, so asthetics is not a big concern in my tank as long as i can keep my algeas alive.

i know its not that pretty, but its still fun to work with

110 gallon

webby954 — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:28:31 GMT

hi here is my fairly new marine tank

temperate tank

tunafish — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:00:07 GMT

just some quick pics

A few pics of my tanks.

icedgxe — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:25:33 GMT

Hey everyone. I am new to the forum and figured I would go ahead and post some pics of my tanks. I have purchased many many things from marinedepot and love their service so I figured why not go ahead and sign up on the forum. Anyways here are the pics....

New 3g pico still cycling. It will house a pair of dwarf seahorses when ready.

My somewhat neglected freshwater 12g nano.

336 gallon wife wants to kill me for setup

SP Aquatics — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:05:01 GMT

Well for all of those who remember, originally the tank was going to a 420 something gallon L shaped tank. This was the plan before we moved into the house and without furniture in the room seemed great. Fortunately we had a chance to spend a few months in the house before the tank and realized that the L would really take up to much room. So i knocked the L portion of the tank off and went with the following, disregard the details if you just want pics:
96"x30"x27"tall custom Sp Aquatics tank with external "Calfo" style overflow
60x20x20 custom SP Aquatics sump
Bubble King Supermarin 250
2-400watt Ice cap with 15k XM bulbs
2-250 watt ice cap with 15k XM bulbs
4-54watt T5 actinics
2- MP40 Vortechs with a 3rd to be added
Reeflo Snapper to be replaced with the Super Dart
Penductors on all returns
Currently 100mg ozone, but will come off once ZeoVit gets started

All of my old livestock thats been living in 2 100 gallon rubbermaid tubs for months and months

Pics are worth more than words so here it goes:
Construction

325lt Tank with sump

Peterpiper — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:23:15 GMT

In Oct 2008 we started looking at setting up a marine tank.
We wanted to have a seahorse tank, so we settled on a tank that is 4" x 18" x 24" high. As it is a marine, we wanted a sump 3" x 18" x 18".
This was going to be a full DIY project, but as it turned out, it is cheaper to have the tanks made than have the glass supplied cut.
So the tanks were ordered and arrived.
Glass for the sump dividers arrived and the fun began.

Photo's of the new tank, sump with dividers installed and work started on the stand. The coral in the tubs is cycling using the ammonia method, then some of the overflow and the tank leak test, note the sump is outside the house

70 gallon system, first time marine keeper.

Davez — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:36:14 GMT

Hi all,

Just thought I would post a rundown on my current tank. I've kept freshwater for many years and allways thought that I would end up setting up a large inwall display of african cichlids. When the dream became close to being a reality, I got to thinking seriously about what I wanted to have in the display. I started to look into what some had been doing in the marine scene and liked what I saw. I knew I had at least two years before I could begin the inwall tank, so I cobbled up a tank, stand and sump from what I had laying around and started off on my adventure. I have bought a fair amount of additional equipment, much of which will be able to be used on the larger tank when the time comes. The current tank is not pretty in terms of presentation, but it was never meant to be. It is more of a learning tool for me to make up my mind if I wanted to go marine or stay with fresh. I think marine has won.

The display tank is 4x14x18 and the sump is 3x20x20. I built an overflow in one corner of the display and drilled holes for the drains and return line. My return pump is a Laguna 7500 which also feeds the 1/2hp Hailea chiller and custom made calcium reactor. I have a custom made 3' tall beckett skimmer fed with a Laguna 9000 pump. My lighting consists of 2 x 250W coralvue MH ballasts with Lumenbright mini reflectors and Reeflux 12k bulbs. In tank circulation is currently 4 el cheapo powerheads, but I have a Vortech MP40W on order, it should be here by the end of the week.

I am looking at making an algae turf scrubber to add to the tank as a way of ridding the display of the last of the nusiance algae, I'll get that underway in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, I'll post up a series of pictures as the tank has come together.

The bare tank.

Tank with roughly DIYed hood.

Skimmer

Lights installed.

Skimmer working.

Calcium reactor ready to go.

Live rock in.

Latest full tank shot.

Cheers,
Dave.

Collin's 14G Biocube (lots of pictures!)

SilverDak — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:05:19 GMT

Alright here is my 14G Biocube, one day it will be a full nano reef... ya one day when I have the money lol
hope you all like it! let me know what you think too, good or bad I can take it either way, trust me!

Before adding some button polyps

After adding my FREE button polyps

Now this is my Devils hand, it didn't look too good when I got it and I have been slowly bringing it back to health, defiantly tell me how you think it looks

Had some left over apoxy when I was making sure my big top rock wouldn't fall off like it almost has before, the "J" is for my last name, it also looks like an anchor so I thought it was kind of cool