sturnmeyer

Thanks....I'd give it 4" maybe 5....

As some of you know we finally finished the 55g to 150g upgrade and have been stocking it with our first fish and a few corals. Everything is doing great so we thought we'd take a few pictures from the tank tonight. More photos are on our site....

His is the pic as promised. Been really busy.....I've also added pics of a the great Hippo and Blue Flasher that we added since the first purchase....

Yeah...I know...I'm trying to get it to slow down so I can get a good one. I'll post one shortly.

I continue to be impressed with the quality of livestock from BRK. I picked up a nice Powder Blue Tang in there on Sunday. The fish looked happy and healthy but I had no idea how much so. After returning home and tank acclimating the fish I found it munching away on the left over clip from my Yellow Tang and swimming laps around its new home within 5 minutes. I have never seen a fish acclimate so quickly. My fiance believes it was because she hugged the bag all the way home, but I'll chalk it up to some quality livestock. Can't wait to get the Hippo that I ordered!!! Thanks again!!!!! Oooppss...meant to put that in Vendor Experiences....please move if you need to

Welcome!!!!!!!!! We've all been where you are at least once in this hobby. One of the great things about it is that no matter how much experience you have, there is always something new to learn. I'd say stay away from the blue Linkia for the time being. They are very sensitive to water parameters and I would definitely not recommend them as something for a beginner. I have been in the marine world for about 10 years now and tried one once. It lasted a while but I found it just took that long to wither away. It has been 5 years since then and I still haven't convinced myself to try it again. On the note of the protein skimmer, let me just say "I'd get one". I went for years without a water parameter problem so I too didn't think I needed a skimmer. When I started with coral everything seemed to go okay but I decided to put one on my 30g tank just to see if it did make a difference. Boy did it. The junk that gets taken out by a skimmer is amazing, especially if you have a fish bioload. The corals reacted in a way I was not expecting. Much more growth and polyp extension, which is what you are looking for. Now I have 3 tanks and all 3 have skimmers. Just some thoughts.....

Thanks.... I may even be open to full size "reef safe" or close to it Angels....

Hey guys. I am ready to stock my 150g reef that I just upgraded from a 55g and was just at BRK looking around. It

Nice shots Chris.....

Normally the DI for the kitchen sink is a separate DI faucet that you install. Purely for drinking water. They usually come as a kit when you buy the tank. I don't see why you couldn't do what you ask if you are storing your RODI water for the fish tanks. I would think if you had a T and a couple of ball valves you could get it to work. The RODI unit keeps the tank full for the kitchen faucet. When you want to do your fish tank water then close the ball valve to the kitchen tank and open the one to your storage tanks. I'm not sure how you'd do it if you are having the RODI go straight to the tank. I store it. Not sure if this helped.....

I use the mag cleaner mentioned earlier.

Okay everyone...here is the pic I promised. Been caught up doing a few other things... The 150g has been up for over a week now and everything still looks great. All of the levels are still right on the money. We may add a bit more LR but are fairly happy with what we have. Tonight I went ahead and put a couple snails and a few small frags in the tank to see how things go. The snails started grazing immediately and the frags had full polyp extension within minutes. They definitely seem to love the 8 bulb Tek light fixture. I have it about 5" off of the water. If everything looks good on Friday then I'll probably move my Maroon Clowns back into the tank. I want to wait on the Picasso and Yellow Tang for a bit longer. BTW....do you think my Yellow Tang would do okay with a Clown Tang? Here is the pic... Here is the plumbing layout... Tank Diagram More pictures and updates to come.....

I think you'll probably be okay since you are doing 58 to 90. You are only adding 38g where I was adding 125g because of the 180g total water volume.

They'll be up tonight....definitely..... Thanks Bob..... I'm not sure if there will be a cycle or not. I'm planning for a cycle on the safe side. I figure I'd rather wait a week or two and make sure then move my livestock back in thinking there would be no cycle to find one a few days later and loss of all of my livestock. I'm planning on testing the tank every day so I should be able to keep a close watch as to what is going on.

Well the upgrade is almost complete. I have a bit more plumbing to do tonight and pickup my additional LR in the next couple of days. I haven't had any issues at all and everything has gone really well. Here are the steps that I took for those who would like to know. 1. I moved all of the fish in my 55g to my 2 30g tanks. These were already establish with LR so normal acclimating had them happy as a clam in no time. These tanks are a little small for them but should suffice until I know the 150g(yes, 150g and not 125g like I thought ) is ready. 2. The LR in the 55g was then put in containers which were also filled with the water of the 55g. I managed to save probably 98% of the water in the 55g which was helpful. 3. Once the water was drained down to the DSB I removed some of it trying not to distube it too much. The 55g tank was then moved out of the way. 4. After some cleaning and painting the 150g stand was brought in. I installed all of the equipment, 20g sump and 10g fuge before bringing in the 150g tank. All of this stuff was actually designed and built weeks earlier when the tank was being tested for leaks in my garage, so this step was much easier. 5. The saved DSB and new sand was added to the 150g. 6. The LR and saved water from the 55g was then added. 7. New water, premixed days before was then added to fill'er up. 8. Added powerheads, overflow and the new Tek 8 bulb T5 fixture(this thing is BRIGHT). Right now the tank is still settling. I am waiting for a couple of things to arrive today so I can finalize all of the plumbing. In the next couple of weeks I'll add more LR, monitor closely for the cycle and start getting the fuge and protein skimmer going. That's about it....all in all everything has been done over the course of 2 nights and hasn't taken as long as I had planned. ***knocking on wood here*** I'll try to take some pictures of the tank and the setup tonight to share if anyone is interested. Thanks to all who offered their thoughts and advice.....it was much appreciated and very helpful.... Scott & Brandi

I am curious how much fish stock and what types people have in their 100 - 150g tanks? Thanks, Scott

Okay, here is the deal. I got home and double-checked my house before I posted. The joists run longways in the house instead of the shortest distance. They are also 24" apart. Given that, I am figuring I have 3 options. They are: Option1 Option2 Option 3 I know by looking at that Option 2 is definitely the best but will that even work? I wanted to do Option 3, do you think that'll work? Thanks everyone....

Yeah...I have already figured out which way with my stud finder. So it should be crossing 2 or 3..... Thanks!!!

My finished rec room. I definitely would've done the same thing if had drop down ceilings or if it was unfinished.

Okay, I'm getting ready to upgrade my 55g to a 120g and I am really curious if I should be concerned about the weight of the system. This will be going on the top level of a split foyer where I had the 55g. What do you guys think? I'll have the 120g, stand, 20g sump, 10g fuge and the equipment. Of course quite a bit of LR as well. This tank is only 48" wide and I'm planning on setting it up catty-corner(sp?) so it will actually touch 2 outside walls.

I use 304s on my tanks....I run carbon and sometimes Phosban through them.

Looks good!!!

...thanks Dave....the camera helps a bit too...

Thanks Sandy....I'm using a Canon Digital Rebel with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens.

Per request....here are a few more shots that were just taken. A few softies this time.