zantwin

Good point about the staples. I'll have to keep an eye on them. If things work out I'll paint the frames with a vinyl-based paint, thus covering the staples, and be done with it. It's really solid so I'm confident that the big guys can't get thru. I didn't know about pond netting. That might have been an option. I like this mesh since it's solid enough to put stuff on while working in/around the tank. Either way, I'm not too concerned about the light issue, since I've got 3 x 250 MH and 4x96w blue CFLs and it's only 18" deep!

I'm curious, too. Sure looks like one, and super-healthy, too. I'm losing a white one after six months of it being healthy (~3 cm polyp length when extended). That's a very pretty tank!

Loathe the glass lids. See my "update" post for a possible solution: http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/36236-zantwins-55-125-build/ If you need to clean them then any acidic soak will work to get rid of the hard deposits. Vinegar is by far the least expensive and safest choice.

FWIW, I have a diamond goby for my 6' 120g reef tank. However, they are jumpers; I'm on my third* - and hopefully last - one doing an excellent job of churning the sandbed. I also have 4 nassarius snails doing some of the night-time skimming and all seems well. I haven't had a green or red tinge to the crushed coral when they're at work. * - I can't stand the glass lids for several reasons, so I accepted the risk of a suicidal fish by keeping the tank open. Lessons learned, I built some vinyl covered mesh screens that fit perfectly into the lid slots. http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/36236-zantwins-55-125-build/

Update... The tank has been humming along nicely. I added a bird's nest back in May and it's doubled in size, so something must be working. However, I also acquired a gonioporan that seemed to thrive for the first three months, but has now dwindled. Some reading indicates that this species is somewhat troublesome in that all the required micronutrients have not been established. I found that the best adhesive is JB Weld's "WaterWeld" putty. I tried with no great luck trying cyanoacrylate-based gels & liquids or the semi-liquid marine epoxies that are in the dual chamber syringes. My oyster, acro, and bird's nest are now fixed, despite the large hermits, snails, and urchin's best attempts to dislodge them. I also had to replace not one, but two diamond gobies over time due to suicidal tendencies. I can't stand the glass lids that came with the tank, so I had to accept the risk of jumping fish with an open tank. However, since a greater need is to have some kind of strong sand-churner, I needed to have a goby in the tank to help with the surface work that my nassarius snails provide. Lessons learned, I fabricated a vinyl mesh lid that looks almost as if it came with the tank. I have my gas exchange, evap cooling, light penetration, and no salt buildup to contend with. Build was pretty straightforward, with the purchase of 1/4" pine trim (long bull nose) and some mesh. I went tothe HW store with the intention of using the flimsy back mesh that you can put over your vegetables to ward of large grazers (rabbits, deer, etc.). I had that in hand en route to the cashier but luck was in store and I saw a metal, vinyl-coated mesh that was ideal. It was rigid and wouldn't corrode. It even had a nice dark green coating that works well with the black frame of the tank. Simple 45 deg. cuts to the dimensions of the inlays where the glass lids would normally be, then staple the whole thing together. The future looks to be getting some more frags, since there's space and I appear to be holding the water quality in good stead, as well as keeping the calcium in the right range (still dosing kalk manually at night, but hey...).

Thanks to all who suggested some timers. You're right: I need to get one. I have one of those Coralife rotating dial timers, but I'd been told to be wary of them since they've been implicated in house fires. I'm using them only as powerstrips at the moment and not using the timing features (they were part of a bulk buy when I got the tank). I plan to get a decent timer that can be controlled rather finely, by computer and possibly remotely.

I'm now fully 8 months into my reef hobby and doing well. Nothing's died, except the two adventurous fish who decided that air is better than water. Too bad the didn't quickly evolve legs. I don't yet have all the automated equipment to make the hobby easier, most notably a light timer, but since there's always someone at the house things are fairly easy to maintain. But as the saying goes, I digress... The family had the need to attend a wedding party for a full day and we were pretty much worn out when we got home, so it was lights out ASAP. 0700 following morning: "Oh ^#&!!! I left the halides on overnight!!!" Running downstairs I see that the temp is a roasty 92 degrees F. The fish are either hidden or at the bottom of the tank; the corals are all retracted; other critters seem to be doing their best to bear the heat. At least nothing's floating. Still tired but now panicky, I throw caution to the wind and dump ice from the freezer into the sump, hoping that tap-water chlorine out-gasses in the freezer leaving me with mostly pure, but very cold, water. Temp gets down to 86 F by early afternoon with this limited approach. Nothing seems to be terribly affected, but I'm still concerned about the lingering high heat. While I'm less panicked, I do have to think about dinner, "Hmmm... Sunday, nice weather, think I'll grill something. I'll pull some meats out of the freezer." So I walk by the tank with [sealed pre-packaged] steaks in hand and give a wink & nod to my wife, who's occupying herself with some entertaining task. She says sarcastically, "You should put those in the tank to cool it down some more." It was the joke that turned into the successful recovery of the tank's regular temp, but! it also turned out to be the best dang way to thaw a frozen steak - ever. Like 5 minutes. It's become my main method now. I even have a pic of the tangs investigating a frozen tilapia. A moral, perhaps? Never let sarcasm get in the way of making a good steak.

I bought one about a month ago, so I have to wait for my first bill to see what the extra cost to the utility will be. I know there's a significant amount of waster water produced, but I don't think it'll really add to the overall usage as it relates to the house as a whole (three girls, plus me & the wife = lots of water already). By the math for my siutation, the cost of the new 75gpd unit will pay for itself in about 4 months. That alone was incentive to get the device, and not toting 5 x 5g jugs is a big plus. As other members have stated, I can check the TDS for quality. Chalk that up as a third bonus.

I did two years at Virginia Tech, another year in Albuquerque, then... finished up with a degree in IT.

Here's a shot of the tank as of today: As you can see, it's a bit tidier than the previous pics. @Zoozilla - I'm going to go for a coral-dominated tank. What kind yet, I haven't decided. There's also the very likely chance that I'll get a bigger tank down in a few years. I'll have gotten better at automation, maintenance, specie familiarization by then (one would hope). I also have a lucky architectural situation in my basement that's practically begging for an in-wall approach. I've even got power and water right where I need it. If that's the case, then the 125 would probably become a FOWLR because the wife & kids think moving things are more interesting. Go fig. Thanks for the query!

So it all started when I got a 55g tank nice & cheap. I didn't know much about saltwater aquariums, but I knew that I wanted to start one. Having heard that it's best to start around that size, I figured it was time to try. My experience with freshwater tanks and biology gave me enough confidence to start. I attached a Fluval 305, a small skimmer, and some lights acquired from Tekken (thanks!). There was one massive collapse about halfway into it that still stymies me today. Everything that was over an inch long kicked the bucket. Afterwards, I was rewarded with some corraline algae bloom and I added my first zoa frag. Here's what it looked like about 3 months into the project: Yeah, the lighting is real ghetto, but I wasn't into it for the aesthetics (yet). Fast forward a month, and I get an opportunity to get a 125g with pumps and excellent lighting for a song. Since I'm already on the steep learning curve and I haven't invested too much into the 55, I couldn't refuse. It took about a month to get all the preparations done, including a dedicated 20A GFCI, transition tanks for the livestock, and friends to help with the leak test (trust, but verify, ja?). One looong weekend later, I had the original 55g acting as the sump and hosting the skimmer, heaters, and some live rock for bio load. The display tank started to take shape. Here's a few shots of the weekend's transition: It's been about 5 months since the transition, and here's the result: /**pic shortly - just needed to post!!**/ It's a really nice improvement from the start, and I'm really happy with the results. Here's the breakdown: 125g display 55g sump (about 30g full) 75g-rated skimmer 3 250W MHalides 4 96W actinics 4 LED Moon lights (all lights in a Coralife 6' unit) I'm making & dosing kalkwasser Carbon reactor About 70# live rock Lots of little hermits Lots of turbots & a handful of nassarias 2 Yellow tangs (getting along fine) 1 Pacific Blue tang 1 Spotted Mandarin 1 Spotted blenny 1 Diamond Goby 3 Green chromids 1 Blue cleaner wrasse 1 Tomato clown 1 Sun-Faced wrasse 4 frags Zoas 1 frag staghorn coral 4 mushroom discosomas 1 brain coral 1 as-yet-unidentified coral 1 urchin (2" dia) 1 condylactus anemone So far I don't have any algae issues, but there's one large aptasia that's on the hit list. I'll be adding more rock to build up the reef structure and adding more coral as time & conditions allow. So far, so good. I've recently added a RO/DI kit, so changes are a breeze now. I've definitely got the fever, and I'm planning additional tanks around the house. I have to give props to lanman and Tekken for support & cooperation.