Omair

Thanks for posting this! Great timing!

I heard some noise that this weekend Petco might have another 1$/Gallon Aquarium sale. Does anyone know if this is true?

I have a question for our more experienced barebottom tank reefers - do you keep a remote deep sand bed? Are there any benefits? Or would a large sump with plenty of live rock suffice? I've read that a system isn't truly stable unless there is some sort of actual sand bed, is this true?

Anthony - will you be incorporating LED actinics to bring out the color of your corals? or just stick with MH?

Anthony - I'm jealous. It's coming along beutifully. Congrats bro!

No idea what it is, but I dare you swallow it Rob!

Is this true? I checked online and talked to a buddy of mine that has a good collection, he hasnt experienced acans stinging each other.

My dream peninsula build has been placed on hold for now, but that doesn't mean I have to go without a reef aquarium! Below is the "wife-approved" aquarium. A 90 Gallon AGA that will be LPS only. Sicce Powerheads and return with 48" ATI T5HO Sunpower (3 Blues, 1 Purple and 2 Whites). FTS: My collection of Acans: My extra large green star polyp goniopora colony: Frogspawn, Shrooms and Ultra Neon Trumpets My fledgling Zoa/Paly collection

I guess we're just high maintenance

I've actually had bad experiences with Centreville Aquarium as well. I just got the vibe that Dave is doing you a favor by helping you out. Definitely unprofessional.

From the last time I was at his house ( long time ago ) he had 400W Metal Halides on there with T5 supplements.

Geezus christ you just scared the crap out of me! I'm not sure how I'm going to mount the ballasts now.

It would be a 90 Gallon. I plan to fill it up with LPS and have plenty of Acans, Wellsophylia, etc on the sand.

The wiring isn't what I'm worried about. I think I have that squared away. My concern is properly mounting it in my canopy so it's clean and accessible. Mostly looking for best practices and lessons learned from the other, more experienced, reefers on WAMAS.

My next build will require retro T5's. I have the ballast, sockets and wiring. I'm not sure how to put all of this together to be nice and neat. I want to do 6-8 bulbs on two different ballasts. One ballast will be running blue/actinics and the second will be running fiji purple whites. Blue/Actinics will turn on in the morning and continue on into the evening. The White/Purples will only run during "daylight" hours. This will be going over a 48x18 tank. Should I do 8 bulbs? Will that be over kill? How do I install the lighting? Should I get a 48"x18" plywood board and build the lights into that? Then attack to the Canopy? The canopy has a hinge and opens up halfway - similar to Oceanic Monterey canopies.

You would choose a Sicce for silence? I have a syncra 3.5 and it has a bit of a growl to it. I read that Eheims are pretty silent and produce less heat.

What is your opinion on an internal return pump that runs silent? Eheim? Sicce? It would need to turn over anywhere from 350-600GPH flow.

That's gorgeous!

Thanks for catching that. This is all pretty confusing but I think I understand the basic premise here. Really appreciate all of the advice. What other power tools will I need if I get the lumber precut?

I need the space in the stand for sump/skimmer/reactors and plumbing. I would like to avoid 2x6's. I will also be drilling two holes on the bottom of the tank for the closed loop. Would two 2x4 beams work?

I'm going to be starting the build for my aquarium sometime this weekend, and would like everyones advice on how to approach the build of my stand. I've never done this before, first time for everything. This will be for a 150G 48x24x30 aquarium. I will have extra space to account for the overflow and return plumbing as well as the closed loop. What tools will I need? Will this design be able to handle a 150G aquarium's weight? What else should I consider? *drawing isn't too scale - mocked up in Pain. :P

That looks like a Stomatella snail. Good grazers, reef safe.

Ryan, your aquascape looks great man! Good work! I would redo your drain plumbing though. Use two 45' from the top and angle right into the true union ball valve. From the ball valve cement in flex pvc directly to the filter sock. That should get rid of some of your noise.

How hard would it be to buff out a large acrylic tank? Would it require a professional or could I do it myself? I'm assuming hairline scratches can be buffed out without loosing visual clarity, correct? Do you need a machine circulating buffer to do the job properly?

Ah I see, thank you! What size pipe should I be running for the return to DT? 3/4"? 1"? What kind of bulk heads should I use? Heavy Duty Sched 80 bulks heads? And would a two 1.5" Elbows work as drains for the tank? What would you recommend for a closed loop pump and return pump? Keep in mind that this will be for a mixed reef tank with a lot of LPS as well. This tank will be in my common area in the living room so I would like it be as quiet as possible. Are reeflo pumps fairly silent? Blueline?