ohaverd December 7, 2012 Author Share December 7, 2012 So i've got the sand in this sucker and its filled with water. Tonight I am goind to Home Depot to buy the trim for the wall frame. I'll update with some pics some time this weekend. I had another question though. I want the main fish in my DT to be a Regal Angel... Should I add this fish first once I'm done with cycling? or should I wait for the tank to establish a bit more and go with some damsels at first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE December 7, 2012 Share December 7, 2012 I wouldn't put damsels in the tank unless you plan to keep them in there for good (also not something I'd suggest). I think it depends what fish you plan on putting into the tank. Do you have a stocking list? The Regal Angel should ideally go into the tank before any aggressive fish do. If you're sure the tank is done cycling, it would be a good fish to go in first, but putting it in when the tank is more established would also work well. Regal angels should be quarantined for a while though. You need to make sure it's eating and healthy (often pretty hard) before it goes into the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 11, 2012 Author Share December 11, 2012 I havent uploaded any images because I am waiting a few days for my trim's wood stain to dry in the garage before I bring them in the house. Once dry, I'll install the trim and update with some pics. I've been thinking a lot on my stocking list and equipment. for the stocking list. I def want my main fish to be some sort of large Angel... The Regal is a classic... but dont know if I should try to find a hardier one? after that I was thinking a pair of clowns (maybe a set of the more expensive ones) I have to have a six line wrasse as it is my favorite fish. and after that i'm not sure. I just installed the used Dart that I bought and the flow in my tank is nice. In the future I want to add an ocean motion 4 way, but they are pricey. And other than that I'll prob want to upgrade my skimmer. I currently have a Vertex IN-100 which is a nice little skimmer, but with 140ish gal total volume system I probably want a bigger one. I'm still only a 1.5 year old reefer so any suggestions or advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 The Regal can have issues getting it to eat prepared foods. If you can find one already acclimated to tank life I would get it. Most seem to love zoanthids so if you plan to keep them I would keep that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 11, 2012 Author Share December 11, 2012 I've decided to go away from Large Angels because they would restrict my choices on corals in the future. Instead I think this will be my stock list. Purple Tang Blue Hippo Tang (or some other tang not in the zebra family) McCoster's Wrasse Six Line Wrasse Female Spotted Mandarin Pair of False Pec Clowns (should I wait on these for the tank to be ready for the RBTA that I want?) any suggestions on some filler fish that are really colorful and not aggressive? I had damsels and gobies in my 55 and they were A holes... Thoughts on compatibility and order of acclimation? if someone could cut and paste this and put how many months I should let the tank mature before I add it that would be helpful. Also... does anyone have a Purple Tang? If so, what has been your experience with it? Just want to make sure it would make a good "star" fish... see what I did there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 To me the sixline has always been an "A hole" picking on other fish. I would add it last. The purple tangs I have had were always pretty peaceful, more so than the yellow tangs. Only showing aggression to other newly added tangs of the zebrasoma genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 14, 2012 Author Share December 14, 2012 Sorry no pics yet... I had to put a third coat of wood stain on the trim and it takes a few days to fully get it to dry and stop stinking in the garage. I am probably going to put it on tonight and take some pics. the tank seems to be running well... I've got a small amonia spikes after 8 days. The skimmer is removing typical darkish green water in the collection cup and a little bit of brown stuff in the cylinder which is what I expect with no livestock in it yet. The good news is that it comes right off... no more sticky stuff like last time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 16, 2012 Author Share December 16, 2012 This is the tank with the trim on it... see if you can find the black ocellaris clown I saved from petco in the pic... hint, he's facing towards the phone. I know, I know I shouldnt add him when its only half way done cycling. But I figured he would have a better chance here than in Petco. And it was half off for 24 bucks lol (it was too darn cute to pass up). Eventually I'm going to dust off the ol SLR and takes some good pics for you that show the closed loop and sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 20, 2012 Author Share December 20, 2012 quick return pump question: so I have two returns... right now there is 2 RIO 2500 pumps which is a total of just under 600 GPH. I have a Reeflo Blowhole 1100 which is 1100 GPH but is external. I was thinking about plumbing the blowhole and splitting the outake to the two returns. Does that cut the GPH in half perfectly or do you lose more GPH because there is essentially x2 head pressure? Would the 1100 GPH still outway the 600 GPH if split? thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 December 20, 2012 Share December 20, 2012 Looks great! Can't wait to see it once the back and sides are covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 27, 2012 Author Share December 27, 2012 Question guys and gals... Its been over a year since I've set up a tank and never one this size... So its only been setup for a little over 3 weeks and I've been checking the water levels as of week 2. The largest ammonia spike I got up too was 0.25 ppm as of yesterday. Today I come home and I get 0 ammonia 0 trite and 0 trate. I don't remember it going this fast. My theory is that the 20 to 30 tufts of GHA on the front glass are just eating up all the bad stuff and that's why I'm reading all zeros? I also used live rock from my last tank that has always been in good saltwater. Did that just make for a shorter cycle? What's the next step? the large water change? or wait a little longer? Right now I wanna just buy a brown tang and let him gobble up all that GHA lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf December 27, 2012 Share December 27, 2012 Nitrite should go up next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd December 31, 2012 Author Share December 31, 2012 (edited) 4 days in a row getting 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate, and checked phosphates yesterday and were 0... come to think of it I dont think I've ever seen a nitrite spike before. the first tank I set up seemed to go from ammonia strait to nitrate over night. My tufts of GHA are thinning out and going away... my front glass is crawling with pods so big you dont even have to squint to see them. I had a dead hermit crab up against the glass that has been decompossed to nothing... I dont get it. there should be nitrite or nitrate at this point. I guess I just keep testing and waiting. The only answer is the chaeto and red mangroves in my refugium are growing fast, maybe thats were the nitrates are going? Edited December 31, 2012 by ohaverd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubbleHead December 31, 2012 Share December 31, 2012 if you go with a Angel, find one from somebody with an established tank and you know how it acts around corals. When i had my 150 10 years ago I added a Queen Angel. I bought her from someone on cmas and it was in a 400 gallon SPS tanks. I had a mix of sps and lps. Never had a problem. I'd have a problem if I bought a $200 angel from a store and it either died or ate my corals. This time around I will buy almost ll livestock from fellow reefers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 quick question about the schematic above. I am thinking about adding the frag tank "red" like this... Does anyone have theirs setup like this using only gravity? That way I don't have to buy another return pump. What do you guys suggest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G February 23, 2013 Share February 23, 2013 quick question about the schematic above. I am thinking about adding the frag tank "red" like this... Does anyone have theirs setup like this using only gravity? That way I don't have to buy another return pump. What do you guys suggest?Im no expert but in theory it should work (but I never trust HOB overflows). One thought is on the frag tank I would have a larger GPH overflow and not a matching. If the frag tank one gets clogged at all it would turn into a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 Im no expert but in theory it should work (but I never trust HOB overflows). One thought is on the frag tank I would have a larger GPH overflow and not a matching. If the frag tank one gets clogged at all it would turn into a problem. ya that's what I'm afraid of, though I did run an eshoppes overflow for over a year, and they are pretty well made. I never had a problem with it, but you are right. If it got clogged with something, it would cause a flood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS February 24, 2013 Share February 24, 2013 The frag tank overflow does seems like a bad failure point. Basically you could end up with a dry sump and all the water normally there on your flow under the frag tank. I know you want to avoid another pump. What about replacing the 2 Mags with a larger, pump that you can manifold off to 2 returns and the frag tank? Not sure but maybe it can even supply the skimmer too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd February 24, 2013 Author Share February 24, 2013 ya I thought of that too Dave, what the schematic doesn't show is the ridiculously messy closed loop system, its got four returns all run off of a dart. I've all ready got this thing complicated as heck, I'm trying to find the cheapest/safe/easiest solution, without my wife going bat crap crazy on me for buying another pump. isn't it just as dangerous if you used a pump to get the water from the sump to the frag tank? It still has to have an overflow back to the sump. if the overflow gets clogged, the pump will just keep filling the frag tank up until the sump is empty. I think I will drill the return on the frag tank and use a standard box overflow. hmm, maybe drill two holes, one that is higher than the other incase the lower one gets clogged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd March 14, 2013 Author Share March 14, 2013 This is what I did on my day off during last Wednesdays massive blizzard . Built a table for my frag tank and refugium and set up the gravity overflow to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd March 14, 2013 Author Share March 14, 2013 The faux rock walls are starting to "purple up" nicely, you can see this in the bottom right hand corner. Been five months and I've still yet to get a nitrite or nitrate reading above 0. not complaining about that though. I've been doing 20% water changes every two weeks anyways, just to replace trace elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT March 14, 2013 Share March 14, 2013 Your plumbing is no joke. Good your tank is coming along nicely you put a lot of work into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt LeBaron March 15, 2013 Share March 15, 2013 Looking sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohaverd June 4, 2013 Author Share June 4, 2013 (edited) quick question for any tang experts... My new frag tank is 12"Hx20"Wx96"L. its approx 100 gal. but with that extremely long length of tank, could I have larger tangs than the 100gal rule states? whaddyathink? images of my new frag tank and QT tank coming soon. Edited June 4, 2013 by ohaverd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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