120 Gallon Setup Has Begun

[cpeisher]

I just read from start to finish your tank and canopy build thread and then this one in one sitting, took around 2-3 hours. Simply put, i am in AWE of your build, setup, and current tank appearance. Truly a fine work of art. I do have a couple of questions that i never saw answered in this thread...

1) What did you do to get the macro algae in your fuge to start growing like you had initially expected?

2) What did you decide to use to hold the front of the canopy open? At one point you were looking at gas pistons, i believe?

Thank you for taking the time to "blog" everything here, it's an inspiration to many, i'm sure.

 

[marino420td]

cpeisher- thanks for the kind comments.

On the macro algae, I use a compact fl. outdoor floodlight bought from Lowes for $39. It is on 24/7 and seems to do the trick. I finally gave up on getting the astronomical growth rate that some people say they get. Mine just simply doesn't grow that quickly.

I never did install anything to hold the front open. I actually found that I rarely would need that kind of access to the tank. I can pretty much get to anything I need through one of the 4 doors on the canopy.

 

[Jabbajaw]

marino, love the tank and have been re-using some of your well thought out ideas. I have a question on the water mixing tower. When adding RO water to the salt mixing brute, do you only turn the left ball valve? It seems like it wouldn't force water into the salt brute once it reaches a certain volume?

 

[marino420td]

No I actually turn the ball valve on the right. The one with the hose. I just put the hose into the bottom container to fill it.

The ball valves on the left from the salt container are for pumping new salt water into the sump and filling plastic containers for my other tank.

 

[marino420td]

A few pics from today.

 

[marino420td]

Anyone know what this is?

It looks like cyano but it is dark brown to almost black in color. It also develops long, stringy strands that wave in the current. It seems to almost completely go away at night then reappears once the lights are on.

 

[hyperfocal]

Looks like cyano to me. Cyano can be a range of colors, including green, brown, red and black. It's the Skittles of the microbial world.

 

[marino420td]

Here are some updated coral shots

Here are some updated coral shots

I still suck at taking pics of my tank and corals. I just can't get good, clear pics with accurate color. I've practically given up trying.

Thick branch birdnest

Purple Cap with blue polyps

Ugly shaped purple rimmed cap

Superman Monti

Favia

 

[marino420td]

More....

More....

Idaho Grape Monti Cap with bystander

Another angle of the Superman Monti

Crocea that I've had for 4 years

These are the two corals that survived my acro disease discussed earlier. They still look terrible because of the dead bask skeleton but they are beginning to encrust again.

Green Slimer

Tri- Color Acro

Top down shot

I am seeing good growth and everything seems happy for the time being. I'm still going to wait a while before adding any new corals. Makes me sick because I'm almost at the two year mark with this tank and I expected to have a very mature, grown in tank by now. As they say, nothing happens fast in reefing.

 

[cpeisher]

or...Only Bad things Happen Fast....

Regarding Photography of the inhabitants, i hear that a digital rebel or equivalent SLR/Digital SLR with a Macro Lens will really do the trick. May want to give that a try...

 

[marino420td]

Well my tank has made it to the 2 year mark. Unfortunately, it has not progressed as I had originally hoped it would by this point. But still enjoyable non the less. I have fought with several issues as of late including my acropora problem described above, a cyano outbreak that I haven't whipped yet and now a cotton candy algae is starting to grow in the display tank. Nothing severe yet but disturbing.

I believe my system is low in nutrients as my corals do not show the tremendous color that I see in other tanks. I have a total of about 200 gallons with only 5 fish and I feed light. I may need to add to the bioload and get more fish.

Current parameters are:

Alk 9.7 dkh
Ca 450
Mg 1320
Ph 8.0
PO4 0
SG 1.025
Temp 82 deg

I haven't added any corals. Because of the acro problem I decided to just let everything run its course. The acros that survived are now showing new growth and beginning to color up a bit. My monti's are showing good growth rates.

The glass is dirty and I was in a hurry, but here is a current FTS from today.

Not much different from above.

Maybe when summer is over and our schedules relax a bit, I can devote a little more time to fine tuning this system and turning it into the showpiece I expected from the beginning.

 

[marino420td]

Again, sorry for the dirty glass. It is clean now so I need to take more pics.

Here is a shot of the tank and stand that is displayed in the most recent edition of Reef Slides

And the most recent addition. A RBTA that my maroon clowns love!

 

[marino420td]

Updated FTS

Favia reproduction. Look on the sand right in front of the coral and you can see a polyp dropped by the favia. Two more are in the process (look on the right side of the coral)

My largest coral. A thick branch birdsnest. A litte larger than a softball.

 

[Rocketboy52]

Marino,
How do you like the "flow Augmentor" dealo thingys that look like velocity stacks for old sckool hot rod? I just bought two, and haven't tried them out yet, but the flex line they come with isn't very long. It looks like you have longer lengths then what they come with. Did you just buy matching flex line and add it onto what came in the package? I'm hoping to get mine set up in a few weeks.
Cheers,

 

[marino420td]

I do like them (for the cost). I just attached mine to some loc-line I had. Had to in order to get the 90 turn I needed.

 

[marino420td]

My tank is now 2 weeks shy of being 3 years old. Thought I would post a fresh FTS for the occasion.

 

[marino420td]

I just realized that in 3 days, my tank will be 4 years old! Still going, basically on cruise control. I have lost most of my sps and I'm really not sure why. I have been struggling with them for a couple of years now. Once summer is over and I have more free time, I think I will convert the tank to a softie/lps dominant tank.

I will get some updated pics when the lights come on.

 

[MyMonkey]

Looking good!

 

[marino420td]

Well the tank is officially 4 years old now. But all is not good. Due to some neglect and some unknown factors, I have lost some of my prized specimens.

Here is the large pink birdsnest that I grew from a frag

Closeup

And a pic of that includes the other skeletons, including my big clam

With summer almost over, I hope to have some time to devote to getting the tank back to looking like it should. Vibrant and healthy.

For some reason, I have struggled with sps corals for some time now. So I think I'm going to concentrate on softies and lps because they seem to do well in my tank. Might keep a few easy/common sps.

Stay tuned....

 

[Grebex11]

I have one tip, dont use the coralife hydrometer. Mine said my tank was at 1.024 but i suspected something was wrong, I went to my LFS and it was actually at 1.029!!

Seriously tho, sorry for the loss though your tank looks awesome.