Jan December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 Amazing and awesome, David!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 Amazing and awesome, David!!! x2 I think you should add a lionfish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 So amazing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 Now I wish that I didn't have the family in-tow the other day. I could have stayed longer to see this build in progress (in person).... I'm glad that the fish are enjoying their new, larger home-with-a-view. I find it hilarious that they're spending all of their time in the lanes up front. They're probably just loving the new view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flooddc December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 Awesome setup and super quick too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 That looks fantastic, I bet the vlamingi is super happy. Now we need a video of her making waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 8, 2012 Author Share December 8, 2012 So here is the video you asked for, I took it a couple days ago before the tank was all the way full. As long as the Niger trigger doesn't get in her way she can really get some speed up. http://youtu.be/11f0OBumXGA As of this morning the tank is completely full and running off the sump. It was nice to get all the heaters and powerheads out of the tank and down into the sump. I still need to do some minor work like premanently hang the lights and put the wood trim up on the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan December 8, 2012 Share December 8, 2012 They're beautiful, David. The tank is awesome and the aquascape is amazing. Outstanding job. Well done!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2012 Author Share December 11, 2012 Thanks Jan, they are happy fish because of the food you make! Here is a picture of the bio ball filter I made using a rubbermaid trash can. The two 2" overflow pipes from the display go into it. It currently has 15 gallons of bio balls in it thanks to BrianWard, Fins and Feathers, and Mr. X-Ray who donated them to me. I would like to add another five gallons or so as more become available. Above the bio balls is a filter mat to catch debris. Next to the bio filter is my ASM G6X skimmer which has an 8.5" body, is 4' high, and uses two Sedra 15000 pumps. I also have two heaters, a 300w and a 200w. One is the primary and the second comes one less often when needed as it is set .5 degress less then the first. I'm surpised at how much less heating is needed with an acrylic tank compared to my old glass tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 Dave, can you explain the bio balls? I always read they were "so bad" and nitrate factories - at least in reef tanks. Are they different in a FOWLR? Do you leave them, or clean them from time to time or anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 kinda like bio pellets, place for bacteria to grow....really wanna see this bad boy in person....love the caves and depth of the tank.. whats a water change gonna be....80- 100g haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 what's the difference b/w a large bio pellet reactor and a large bucket of bio balls then? the same as a remote DSB too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 what's the difference b/w a large bio pellet reactor and a large bucket of bio balls then? the same as a remote DSB too? Biopellets (made from biodegradable plastic) are a bacterial food source. Bioballs are non-biodegradeable. Mostly aerobic bacteria colonize bioballs (because this is the environment they're normally put in) and aerobic respiration results in higher levels of nitrates as ammonia from decay (of detritus and microparticles caught in the bioballs, and elsewhere in the system) is broken down. Both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria are supposed to colonize biopellets and, as a result, the nitrogen cycle is more complete. The reason that this is acceptable in a FOWLR is that fish are far more tolerant of elevated nitrate levels than many corals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2012 Author Share December 11, 2012 Ryan,-Bio-pellets are carbon dosers to feed bacteria that break down nitrate and phosphates. Replaces vodka or sugar dosing.-Bio-balls are a plastic media that allows bacteria to grow on it, the type that convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.-Deep sand beds do some ammonia to nitrate conversion in the uper levels but the main reason they are used is for the nitrate conversion that happens in the lower levels where O2 is limited. It is a slower process.To me bio-balls are another misunderstood item in the hobby. They have their place if setup and maintained properly as in rinsing portions of them if they become dirty, about once a year. If a good prefilter, like filter socks or pads, is used you will not have the build-up on the bio-balls, but really that build up isn't the main reason why they produce nitrates. I'm not really sure why so many articles on the internet blame that on detritus build-up. They produce the nitrate because that is what they were designed to do, originally at sewage waste water plants before being used in the hobby. Because of the mixing of air and water over the bio balls it provides high O2 levels which aerobic bacteria love to perform nitrification in.Nitrification is the conversion of ammonia to nitrite by Nitrosomonas species of bacteria and then further oxidizing the nitrite to nitrate with Nitrobacter species. The bacteria quickly process the ammonia thru to nitrate because of the high O2 environment around the bio-balls, much faster then any live rock and live sand combo can do submerged. Since I am setting up a tank that will house some large aggressive stock which only eat about twice a week and large meals at a time they will create large peaks of ammonia loads when they relieve themselves. As a result I needed something that can quickly process that large amount of ammonia into the safer nitrate and nothing beats bio-balls for doing that.Because most detrification happens in anaerobic areas by Pseudomonas species the bio balls can not complete the full cycle. The tank also has a sand bed, live rock, and in the future maybe a bio-pellet reactor which should in between these large ammonia spikes be able to convert some of the nitrate into nitrogen gas via the detrification process. Would I use a large bio-ball filter in an SPS tank? No, but I also wouldn't load that system up with large groupers, sharks, and rays either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S December 11, 2012 Share December 11, 2012 Thanks for the explanations. Valuable information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2012 Author Share December 11, 2012 You're welcome, it's hard to explain that without being confusing. If you understood that do a search on anammox bacteria. I read about it recently in a Sewer and Waste Water magazine I have on my desk, yeah that's not something the normal person reads in the office. It is a newly discovered bacteria that converts ammonia directly to dinitrogen gas. ....really wanna see this bad boy in person....love the caves and depth of the tank..whats a water change gonna be....80- 100g haha You're welcome to stop by the next time you're out this way. Yes, I plan to make large 100g water changes but they will be less often then with my old SPS tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Beautiful tank, David! Love the aquascaping. Whatever happened to your Coral Hind? I really liked its vivid coloration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 15, 2012 Author Share December 15, 2012 zoozilla, I lost the old guy last year to a very fast outbreak of velvet. I had never gotten emotional when a fish died before that one but I really thought of leaving the hobby afterwards. Well the room in the basement is now painted, that has been very frustrating. I had two gallons of paint mixed at Lowes. I put two coats up on three walls from one gallon, then used the second gallon for cutting in and touching up. I came down the next morning after it dried to find out the second gallon was slightly darker than the first!! Here is the pic with the flat stock trim around the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 \ Well the room in the basement is now painted, that has been very frustrating. I had two gallons of paint mixed at Lowes. I put two coats up on three walls from one gallon, then used the second gallon for cutting in and touching up. I came down the next morning after it dried to find out the second gallon was slightly darker than the first!! I have never had this problem with Benjamin Moore paints. Tank is 'stunning'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Wow, that looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazio92 December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Looking awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Awesome David!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Very nice, well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 15, 2012 Share December 15, 2012 Looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 16, 2012 Author Share December 16, 2012 Thanks for all the comments! I have never had this problem with Benjamin Moore paints. Tank is 'stunning'! I buy a lot of paint for work and I have had it happen with Moore and Duron paints, mistakes happen when mixing paint tints. It was my fault for not mixing the two together first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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