swffan November 17, 2012 Share November 17, 2012 Nice build! Looks great so far. Love the dimensions of that tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 18, 2012 Author Share November 18, 2012 (edited) The cloudiness is beginning to subside. There is enough sand to maintain a 1.25" bed. I poured the sand along the perimeter of the rock structure and will backfill the open areas when visibility improves. 140lbs of Aragonite sand was used. Also, I will fine tune the aquascaping. Edited November 18, 2012 by ridetheducati Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 25, 2012 Author Share November 25, 2012 Diatom bloom is subsiding and the hair algae is beginning. Plan to add the following CUC this week. 120 Ceriths 50 Nerites 40 Nassarius 30 Margaritas Tested key water parameters. Ammonia : 0 ppm, Nitrates : 5 ppm, and Phosphates : .03 ppm Next step is to move the frags to the main display on Friday, November 30. I lost three frags in the temporary holding tank, Red Planet, Red Dragon, and Echinata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw November 25, 2012 Share November 25, 2012 Looking great. Don't touch the rock structure.........looks good like it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 28, 2012 Author Share November 28, 2012 Moved 10 frags over to the main display. The tank appeared to be getting smaller as I moved the frags in; I cannot explain the phenomenon. Also, lost two more frags in the holding tank, Purple Monster and a bottlebrush. Planning to sell two clams (Maxi and Crocea) in the near term. Moved four fish, Powder Blue, Scopas, Sailfin, and Bluethroat Trigger to the display. Will move a trio of Bartletts and two cardinals next week. Important note: Purchased one of two Angelfish (Blueface) that are destined for this build. The five inch BlueFace will remain in quarantine for 6-8 weeks. Keeping my eye open for a five inch Imperator. I plan to introduce both Angelfish to the main display at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 28, 2012 Author Share November 28, 2012 Diatoms are completely gone. Green hair algae in full glory. The tangs went right to work eating like no tomorrow. The tank temperature got to 79.5 today with no fans. Over the last week, I was running a few tests to determine whether I will need a chiller in the summer, who was I fooling. I knew it was coming because the old 180g setup with two 400w MH was on the cusp of needing a chiller, but I managed with a couple fans. Probably will get the JBJ 1/3 HP chiller and I plan to augment the chiller with an extractor fan that moves 200 - 250 CFM. The fan will extract the air from my basement (900-1000 sq f), where the tank resides. I helped a local reefer setup his extractor fan and he is getting a two - three degree decrease in the ambient air temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcreefer November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 Wow, what a great build thread! I look forward to seeing it up and running. (tank tour?) Hey, I know that you said you are going to continue to use the 400w MHs, I am interested in the pro's and con's that helped you decide to stay with MHs versus LEDs. I decided to go with Radions because of total cost of ownership (MH bulb replacement, power consumption of the lights, fans and chiller, the detailed 24 hour light control & coolness factor) Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 Looking great. Don't touch the rock structure.........looks good like it is. +1 looks awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 (edited) Don't know if you've noticed or not but in pic three and four of your scape, the rock all the way to the left looks like a chicken. lol Edited November 28, 2012 by surf&turf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 The rock work looks really nice. Good luck with keeping the two angels together, some people say they don't get along but I have had both of the ones you listed and they never messed with each other. Did you get a WaterBlaster 10000 like you mentioned you wanted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 Don't know if you've noticed or not but in pic three and four of your scape, the rock all the way to the left looks like a chicken. lol That's cool! If you glue a staghorn frag onto it you could turn it into a buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 Don't know if you've noticed or not but in pic three and four of your scape, the rock all the way to the left looks like a chicken. lol A chicken? In the third picture, I see that. In the fourth, I see a howling hound dog. Nice rock work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 28, 2012 Author Share November 28, 2012 Wow, what a great build thread! I look forward to seeing it up and running. (tank tour?) Hey, I know that you said you are going to continue to use the 400w MHs, I am interested in the pro's and con's that helped you decide to stay with MHs versus LEDs. I decided to go with Radions because of total cost of ownership (MH bulb replacement, power consumption of the lights, fans and chiller, the detailed 24 hour light control & coolness factor) Thanks! To beat the heavyweight champ, you must knock the champ out! LED's are promising contenders that need more experience before it gets in the ring with 400w Metal Halides. The technology is moving so fast; new and improved models are released every few months like personal computers were years ago; I am waiting for the kinks to get worked out, specifically spectrum. Primarily, rate of growth and secondarily color are the main factors that I have not converted. With Metal Halides, I can grow SPS corals like no tomorrow. Do not get me wrong, I am not in a race, but I get a satisfaction seeing some corals grow on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. I grew my last build out in less than two years, seriously doubt I could accomplish that with LEDs. I plan to reevaluate the MH vs LED scenario in a couple years. Don't know if you've noticed or not but in pic three and four of your scape, the rock all the way to the left looks like a chicken. lol That structure is Poseidon standing watch. The rock work looks really nice. Good luck with keeping the two angels together, some people say they don't get along but I have had both of the ones you listed and they never messed with each other. Did you get a WaterBlaster 10000 like you mentioned you wanted? I ordered the WB 10000, but Premium Aquatics is back ordered. Hopefully I will have one in a couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravanc November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 Nice Build! great choice on the WB 10000 . i have one on mine and it really moves some water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati November 29, 2012 Author Share November 29, 2012 The chronicle continues... Moved a few corals and fish to the display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf November 29, 2012 Share November 29, 2012 Very jealous!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE November 29, 2012 Share November 29, 2012 Moving along great Tony ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 Fantastic build and documentation. Just saw a fairly decent size imperator on Live Aquaria Diver's Den last night if you were looking. Also, Sean had a nice juvenile in at FNF when I was last there. Blueface angels are amazing fish. Among the many, many fish I'd like to have one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati December 1, 2012 Author Share December 1, 2012 Put the calcium reactor online yesterday. Probably will take a week to dial-in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 Are you still using the Red Sea Salt? Seems I saw somewhere in one of your build threads that you had switched to IO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati December 1, 2012 Author Share December 1, 2012 I used IO to setup the tank due to cost and will switch back to the regular Red Sea salt. According to my Salifert test kit, IO alkalinity is 9.5 dkh and I run my system at 7.5 - 8 dkh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 I used IO to setup the tank due to cost and will switch back to the regular Red Sea salt. According to my Salifert test kit, IO alkalinity is 9.5 dkh and I run my system at 7.5 - 8 dkh. Yeah, I saw the same thing with using the Red Sea salt that the alk is much lower than using IO, I had issues keeping my alk below 11.0 using IO, keep it in the low 8's with RS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati December 1, 2012 Author Share December 1, 2012 Apologize for not setting the white balance and using my cell phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 Looking good Tony, can't wait to see it grown out. Am glad that I got to see your old tank before you tore it down. Did you get your CUC from John at reefcleaners? Can he still not count if you did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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