MOT

Hey guys, It seems to me like plumbing a drain and a return using the standard AGA megaflow kit is easy for all of the people in this club that post their tank builds. I guess you have to screw your bulkheads into place and connect some tubing, make sure that you place a ball valve somewhere on your return line, and thats it. However I am really scared to do it myself. Does anyone have any advice on the matter? or no of any really thorough instructions i could use. I really don't want to mess this up and end up with a ton of water on the floor. Thanks for any and all advise and criticism for being a wimp.

isn't adaptation a factor in evolution? please explain

I posted this earlier this week... I think I might do it. http://waynesallee.com/thirdcementtankpictures.html

I agree, too much flow was probably the cause of their detatching. James' idea is a good one

check out this link... this guy shows you how to use portland cement and foam to aquascape your reef... I think this is a more natural looking alternative to black pond foam... http://waynesallee.com/thirdcementtankpictures.html

nice, thanks for that

Thanks for the input guys, I have never had a tank with holes in it so I am just a little worried about how often you need to fiddle with megaflows. So yea, I'm not doing a closed loop or anything. Would I ever have to reach down into the overflow to fiddle with the bulkheads or is that something I would be doing inside the stand? Please forgive my ignorance... thanks for the feedback. ~Tom

Where my 156 rr is sitting now is pretty much against a wall. I was wondering if any large tank owners had their tank up against a wall without problems. Will I regret not being able to get behind my tank? Any thoughts? thanks, Tom

this looks awesome! I have been thinking about doing something like this for some time. I am curious to see how well the sand holds up that you epoxied to the foam.

I had an acrylic tank for some time and just recently switched to a starfire tank. If you are the kind of person that is willing to wipe down your acrylic every single day than I would say go with acrylic. It's easy enough to avoid scratching acrylic as long as you're not dealing with coraline algae. If you clean that tank everyday than you won't get any coraline algae. However if you don't clean the tank for a while then coraline will grow... then you might scratch the acrylic a tiny bit trying to get it off and the coraline will have a stronger foothold inside the tiny scratch... then you make some more scratches maybe a little bit bigger... but you can stop this vicious cycle by simply cleaning the tank every day and you will just have a few scratches which are impossible to see. I decided to go to starphire because I know that I don't clean the tank frequently enough. As far as starphire clarity vs acrylic... I think that they both show true color. The cool thing about acrylic is that it makes you feel as though there is nothing between you and the water. I think that because glass is so much harder it gives more of a glare. Someone told me that acrylic refracts light almost the same as water... this may also be why it seems as though there is no barrier between you and the water. welp, thats my two cents

That is beautiful! but aren't you afraid of fish easily getting over an overflow like that one?

The guy that got me into reef aquariums and gave me my first tank setup told me not to get a midas blenny. He has been keeping multiple reefs for over 30 years, one of my dad's friends. In fact he warned me about just about every blenny but the lawnmowers. He is a very wise man. That being said I have heard of some people never having any problems with their midas blenny. I really want to get one but I think it might be bad karma because I have listened to everything this guy has told me and have had great success.

I found this fixture which has both MH and t5 for a pretty good price. http://www.aquacave.com/60-current-usa-out...ights-1281.html Now my only question would be about HQI vs Mogul. I know there is a better selection of bulbs for HQI but what about the reflectors? Do HQI fixtures distribute the light as well as a mogul with a nice reflector. It seems to me that they might because the bulb is so much smaller that the reflectors don't need to be as big. Any thoughts?

I have been hearing alot about t5's being a great deal lately. I am trying to figure out what to light my new 156 with. It is 5' long, 2' wide, and 2' tall. There are no fixtures to match these dimensions so I am going to have to go with a retrofit setup. Ideally having both would be the jam. However when comparing the two. I have found that if I lit the tank with only 80watt t5's like lanman has on his 225. It would cost me maybe even more than if I just put two 20k 400 watt metal halides. No doubt the halides run hotter but I don't think that is really gonna be a problem. The power usage seems pretty negligible. I am leaning towards initially just putting metal halides on the tank because it is cheaper. looks better (shimmer effect) and I only have to replace two bulbs. The t5 fixtures I am referring to are here http://www.sunlightsupply.com/product.cfm?...ys%3D%26pgi%3D1 it's $225 per two bulb fixture not including the actual bulbs. I would probably use 4 of these. That seems way more expensive than say these bulbs (radium 20k 400 watt $80) http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...mp;Category=844 these reflectors (lumenbright 3's $110) http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;ProdID=1515 and these ballasts (coralvue 400w $140) http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;ProdID=1515 It seems it would cost me 660 for the metal halide setup including awesome bulbs. And 900 for the t5 setup not including bulbs. Besides the metal halides would offer me 800watts of deep penetrating bulbs. Where as the t5 setup would give me only 640 of not so deep penetrating bulbs. I'm not sure how much 8 good quality t5 bulbs would cost but I'm guessing it's gonna be less than the 160 I pay for the MH's. Does Anyone have any insight as to which provides better growth? I am leaning towards the metal halides. Advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom

I just got back from the lfs only to find that my stand is on back order until next tuesday. So needless to say I won't be getting started until next week. Oh well what can I do. Have you talked to Dan about what kind of feed pump to use? I sent him a PM but haven't gotten a reply yet, I'm sure he is a busy man with the restaurant, gsa, and baby girl. I would be happy to show you my setup as soon as I get started. What size tank will you be using for your display?

Good Idea, done

Thanks for the feedback. I think if i was to run one of my drains through my skimmer I would have to significantly reduce the flow. I really want to keep turn over high in my display. Thats an interesting idea though. I bought the skimmer used without the feed pump. The seller recommended a maxijet 1200, I will have to contact dan and see what he recommends. How good are filter socks at removing particulate matter? I suppose the micron level makes a difference. It seems a lot more simple than having different chambers with foam blocks in them. Do you have any tips on maintaining your dsb? Do you keep any sandsifters? I was thinking about getting a jawfish. I plan to keep a mixed reef, not quite sure how sps intensive, I would like to experiment with some easier ones I have kept in the past like montipora caps and such. I definitely plan on keeping E. quad. and a pair of occelaris. An assortment of wrasses, a royal gramma, chromis, anthias, flame angel, and MAYBE a couple of tangs Thanks for the offer Jason, I have looked through a lot of your threads and you definitely seem to have a lot of experiece. Unfortunately I live in Falls Church which I don't think you'd consider close to Laurel MD. I predict I will be spending a lot of time in the home depot.

yeah they will be independent

heyall I get my new stand tomorrow and I'm gonna try to start plumbing the tank. My plan is two use two Eheim 1260's as a return from my 55 gallon sump. I would like to use soft tubing so that I can tweak the configuration of my sump more easily. I plan on not joining the the two drains together because I heard that makes a lot of noise. My sump will pretty much just be a refugium. The drains will flow into the 55 on either end through a filter sock. My protein skimmer is a gsa standard 8 which will sit next to the fuge. The fuge will be barebottom with some live rock in order to syphon out detritus more easily. I would like then to have a dsb in my display of at least 5". Any thoughts on this configuration? Equipment or plumbing advice? Thanks, Tom

I'm setting up a tank on hardwood floors so i'm curious also... what IS your intent?

hahahahaha thats funny, what you need is a mesh mod GLABEN!

When I used to work at an LFS I would take rocks from various tanks covered in aptasia and place them in the "peppermint shrimp only" tank. Sure enough the shrimp would eat the aptasia. I have also had problems keeping peppermint shrimp, it seems that they get eaten by my fish.

Hey thanks alot! I found this website http://www.nhm.ku.edu/tol/glossary/intro.html and few other small parts of the whole document. Thanks now I have the whole thing in one spot! where were you 5 hours ago?

Hey everyone, I am writing a report for my biology lab. I could choose any animal I want so I thought I would do something I am interested in. If anyone knows of any "cite-able" internet sources I might use please post them. The report covers the following... Organism names: Phylum, Class, Genus, species, common name Distinguishing external characteristics Distinguishing or unusual internal characteristics Normal Habitat, including, world geographical location Means of solving the following problems of life: Nutrient procurement Digestion gas exchange internal transport (circulatory system) excretion of metabolic wastes support (skeletal etc.) locomotion sensory perception nervous and chemical control (hormones etc) means of reproduction protection from environment and/or predators behavior which is unique and characteristic of the organism Anything else unique or especially interesting about this organism It's pretty much a fill in the blank kinda thing, should be pretty easy. Just thought some of you might be interested and helpful... thanks, Tom

I think this might also be the award for biggest bunch of nerds... not that theres anything wrong with that