Sharkey18's 250 build

[jimlin]

wow, looking good. cant wait to see the corals. i have corals for you so whenever you are ready.

[surf&turf]

Looks awesome!!

[MBVette]

looks good. Whats with the one really long piece of pvc?

[Sharkey18]

The really long piece of PVC is the return from the fuge. I wanted it to drain directly into the tank. It was originally much shorter but was causing micro bubbles. Longer looks crappy but at least eliminates the bubbles until I fix it.

[Sharkey18]

Wow, error.

 

I thought that left side of my tank appeared brighter because the rocks had no algae on them. But today I was thinking, no, the difference is not the algae.

 

Then I remember that I replaced the lens on the left radion with the new TIR lenses but have not yet replaced the middle and right. Wow, what a difference!

[Sharkey18]

OK, So I've been pretty much working on the tank non-stop since I moved back in last week.

It explains why the rest of the house is a total disaster.

 

Had some trouble with the radions. Am using the on line Beta program, which is really quite good. Had trouble getting all three lights recognized but talked to customer service and they got them all working. Changed out all the TIR lenses. Then once they were all up and running I hated the color. However, today I finally uploaded Jon's graph (from Jon at ecotech) and the colors are awesome. Also the max brightness is at 70% with the new graph.

 

Transferred all my fish from the 120 and the QT into the 250! YAY. This tank has been sitting empty in my house a LONG time. All fish are doing great. Eating well. The Tang crew have had some conflicts, but mostly are ok. ( Hippo, Yellow, Blue, Tomini and Kole). They have also done a great job of mowing down the algae that was growing on the rocks.

 

I also transferred the little bit of coral I had. Keeping most of the sps off to the sides and away from the direct light. So far so good. ( also bought a bunch of great stuff at BRK yesterday!)

 

IN Tank right now: 5 Tangs, 2 Oscellaris clowns, 1 algae blenny, 1 female lyretail anthias.

 

From BRK yesterday I now have in QT: a lyretail anthias harem ( 1 male and 4 females) and 5 new Bangaiis ( for breeding stock). All are eating well.

 

Right now I am mostly focused on getting everything running well. MP40 dry sides keep falling off glass, ( and ripped the black background off) still don't have the pump for the UV, have not set up dosing, etc.etc. etc. It is hard to believe that I spend so much time in there and yet still have so much unfinished. (My girlfriend has been very patient but not sure how much more I can push it...)

 

And the tank still looks so pathetically empty!

 

Most pressing issues: How to secure corals onto rock in a tank I can't reach into. Royal PITA.

 

Also, I am trying to plan corals really well, however I am having a hard time researching what corals look like when they grow out. Anyone know of a good resource? Also having trouble finding some of the corals I want to get.

 

That's it for now. Hopefully will post some more pics tomorrow.

[Coral Hind]

It does sound like you have been busy. So what are the five tangs that you have added?

[Jan]

looks amazing, Laura. Get the tongs below for placing corals. Use BRK glue on frag, mix and roll reef epoxy and attach it to frag where you placed the glue, or just add glue to epoxy after it's mixed and attach that way. Then add glue to the base where the frag will attach to the rockwork. So it will be glue (to frag or epoxy), epoxy, glue to rockwork. Use these thin tongs on the coral frag itself only. Press at the base of the frag so you don't injure the coral and don't get glue or epoxy on the tongs. You can apply enough presser to secure the frag onto rock at the base. The large grip/tong thingy is a PITA. It's only good for larger items. Make sure you plan out exactly where you want your corals placed.

 

I'd look up the name of the corals you have or want to get and then google image to see it in various sizes. that will give you an idea of it's growth pattern for placement.

 

Finally!

Had trouble getting the third radion set up, but was on the phone with tech support and now they are all working!

Left side looks brighter because there is no algae on the rock.

Corals are in a holding tank and I hope to add a bunch tomorrow.

Fish are in!

Still need to fix appearance of returns (obviously), but it is coming along.

 

Unfortunately Nitrates are at 20 and phosphates at .25. Large water change happening tomorrow.

 

Edited November 13, 2012 by Jan's Reef Foods

[Sharkey18]

They are basically all Jan's Tang's!

 

I bought her Regal and yellow a while back. They have been in my 120 with a tomini I bought.

 

Then I bought her Blue and kole tang and they were in QT.

 

I merged them all together in the 250 on Saturday.

[Coral Hind]

I bet they love the new swimming space they have in that huge tank. What size and type UV unit are you going to install?

[Sharkey18]

I bought the Aqua 40w.

 

Waiting on the Mag 24 pump. I had no idea I needed such a powerful pump just for the UV. Should be here today or tomorrow.

[marinap]

 

Also, I am trying to plan corals really well, however I am having a hard time researching what corals look like when they grow out. Anyone know of a good resource?

 

Lots of info here

 

http://coral.aims.gov.au/speciesPages/

 

Your tank looks good

[Sharkey18]

New FTS's

 

 

[Sharkey18]

Finally got around to moving all my frags into the DT.

 

I also made a very expensive trip to BRK. I bought a harem of lyretails and a bunch a young bangaiis in addition to 6 to 8 coral frags.

 

I have also been collecting new zoas and mounting my old zoas in preparation of a cool zoa garden.

 

LED's are set to Jon from Ecotechs profile. Max light is 70% for about 2 hours. I have all but a few spa frags off to the side. Since most of them were brown already, I won't have any disappointed from the LED's fading colors! In fact so far everything seems really happy. RBTA and LPS are awesome. Zoas also looking great.

 

I placed a few sps up on the rocks under direct light. The teal staghorn is already coloring up. I am going to wait a few months with this profile while I watch the sps and see where I want to place them on the rockwaork. Also gives me some time to purchase some high end frags and add them before I start turning up the lights. I am taking pics of everything to document progress.

 

Here are a few of my starting shots. Until I unpack the cord to the better camera they will suck...

 

 

[surf&turf]

Looks great!! How many hours a day do you run the LED's?

[Ryan S]

nice collection!

[Sharkey18]

My lights are on from 8am to 8pm, however they are only at their brightest from 2 to 3pm. A very short window.

 

This is the program I am using from Jon at Ecotech. I have adjusted the start and end times so it's on before I leave the house in the morning. It's a VERY heavy blue profile, but I think that is good for the acclimation period. At least I am hoping it will be.

 

A lot of people start their radions at 40% and increase a few percentage each week. I think they are going to fast, thus all the reports of browning corals. Not to mention that is a constant change. I am not sure what a coral has to do to adjust to brighter or dimmer lighting but I am guessing it might take more than a week. Then by the time the adjustment is made, (or possible before) the lighting changes again. My reasoning has absolutely no basis in fact or experimentation but I do know that fast is the enemy to all things coral and I am betting its no different with light. . I am going to leave it on this profile fir at least 2 months ( I week down) and then adjust as necessary.

 

Jon's graph

[Sharkey18]

Thanks Ryan. I am happy with my zoa collection.

 

Now i need to get me some high end sps frags. Where did you get yours?

[Ryan S]

Der ABT (Evan) & gws3 (Graham)

 

see here:

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/51746-fresh-cut-sps-for-the-fall-meeting/page__p__434567__fromsearch__1entry434567

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/49438-spszoaspalys-for-the-spring-meeting/page__p__414331__fromsearch__1entry414331

 

and here:

http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/51809-sps-for-sale/page__p__435036__fromsearch__1entry435036

[Sharkey18]

omg, i'm drooling....

[Ryan S]

omg, i'm drooling....

And their prices are great as well. Graham gave me a large discount because I bought so much too. Both super nice guys too.

 

But if you can wait, I still owe you a few frags, and mine are growing pretty fast. Could cut off frags for you within a month or two...

Edited November 20, 2012 by Ryan S

[Der ABT]

that first acro has some AMAZING potential for some sweet growth patterns....

Looks great otherwise, tangs all look very happy

 

Rockwork definately looks cool with the channels it creates,

 

Ill most likely have a bunch of corals available if i ever get around to building my tank...hope to take some time on wednesday since i took off.

[Incredible Corals]

Looks awesome! I really like the bare bottom with your rock work.

[Sharkey18]

Thanks everyone! It is so hard to sit looking at a mostly empty tank!

 

Evan once you are up and running I'd love to get some frags from you. Hoping you have a productive Wednesday

 

The rockwork does create some nice channels and lots of hiding places. I am so amazed at how clean the bottom stays in this tank. I am running 3 MP40's on nutrient export mode and it is awesome.

[Sharkey18]

Things are looking good. I am three weeks in to running the radions using Jon's graph. Most of the sps frags looks about the same, but a few are gaining color. I even attached a few of them to the rock work. I know. I'm crazy.

 

Nems, gorgs, and LPS are all happy.

Fish are all good.

 

Still in QT: 4 anthias (1 male 2 female) , 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 copper band. They'll be there for a few more weeks. Patience sucks.

 

Some pics: Not so great because I'm using my iPhone and lights are running very blue right now ( but not as blue as it looks in the pics)!