150 Gallon Build Thread

[teddybear5668]

Hey Ink, I was wondering if I could get LeeMars contact info. Thanks in advance...

 

[inktomi]

You can't contact them directly, they only deal with retailers. Your local fish store should be able to get you in touch though!

 

[goochesfish]

I have 118 pounds of Bali Alor live rock, with the little bits of rubble in my sump with my chaeto. I think that this amount of rock gives me a lot of room for coral to grow upwards - I also like the open look of it.

I'm thinking of moving some of my smaller pieces of rock down to the sump for that reason. Maybe I'll wait for my corals to actually grow.

 

[tralynne]

what is the approximate flow rate of your overflow? i have the dimension tank with one drop in the overflow as well....i am trying to figure out what pump i need. i am also gonna put a ball valve under the tank from the overflow to tweak the flow rates so the dump and return match.

 

[inktomi]

My PanWorld 50px is rated around 500gph at 0 head. With the head of pushing from the ground up to the tank, I think that this pump is perfect, if not just a /tiny bit/ too powerful. I have ball valves on the return and the drain, but they're all wide open and I don't have any issues with bubbles or anything.

 

[goochesfish]

what is the approximate flow rate of your overflow? i have the dimension tank with one drop in the overflow as well....i am trying to figure out what pump i need. i am also gonna put a ball valve under the tank from the overflow to tweak the flow rates so the dump and return match.

Your outflow will always equal your inflow and you are not supposed to throttle back the outflow. The only reason for a ball valve from the overflow might be for maintenance.

 

[tralynne]

i have a RIO 2100 submersible that i have had for about 3 years now. It came with a a CPR trickle filter and hang on the back over flow. It is rated for 692 GPH with a 8' max head. I think i am gonna give that a try first and she how she works. if/when it craps out then maybe get one like you put in yours....problem is....i really dont want to drill in the side of the 80g glass sump to install a bulkhead. I will most likely stay with a submersible if they do the job.

with all the PVC fittings....you used regular primer and cement?

I saw you commented on my build thread...i will be posting all the pictures and stuff there like you have done here.

 

[BANANAHANDS]

My PanWorld 50px is rated around 500gph at 0 head. With the head of pushing from the ground up to the tank, I think that this pump is perfect, if not just a /tiny bit/ too powerful. I have ball valves on the return and the drain, but they're all wide open and I don't have any issues with bubbles or anything.

1st off, Awesome tank. 2nd, are you happy with the noise level from your pump? I'm in the market for a good, quiet return pump.

 

[inktomi]

with all the PVC fittings....you used regular primer and cement?

Drilling glass sounds scary, but it's really not bad. Just use a garden hose to keep the bit wet (slow trickle works), and then go slowly through. Let the bit do the work and you'll be fine. An internal pump would also be fine - I just went with an external pump since I'm planning on getting some deep water fish which need cooler temperatures.

I used normal PVC fittings and cement. For the spa-flex they make a special PVC glue, so I used that. I bought it all from Savko - http://www.savko.com/ - and I'd really recommend buying your stuff from them. They make it easy, since they carry /everything/!

1st off, Awesome tank. 2nd, are you happy with the noise level from your pump? I'm in the market for a good, quiet return pump.

I cannot hear my return pump, even though it does have a fan on it. My skimmer makes "the most" noise of my setup right now, followed by my overflow. When I used to use the pump on a closed loop in a 10 gallon nano, it was the loudest thing - but not so loud that it'd annoy you. I'd recommend the Panworld pumps to just about anyone!

 

[inktomi]

Chaetodon tinkeri

Chaetodon tinkeri

I'm seriously considering purchasing the pair of Chaetodon tinkeri at the Divers Den...

Tinkeri Butterflyfish pair on the LA Diver's Den

The main issue is that I do not have a good QT tank set up for them at this time. Part of me says "but they're DD fish, so they've been quarantined already" and the other part of me says "but they're $900, so it's even more important to be sure they're eating and have a nice place to relax from shipping" (though I generally QT all new fish for at least a week or two, I only have a 10g that I've used for it in the past).

I don't think that my 10g tank I used for the clownfish pair is going to do it for two 5" fish. I should probably bite the bullet and clean out the old 40g tank that's outside on my back patio and set it up for this pair. That'll take a couple weeks though, to give the filter time to get seeded again.

Hm...

 

[inktomi]

I picked up a Tradewinds 1/4 HP drop in chiller last week using the 10% off sale Premium Aquatics had. It's doing a great job keeping the tank down at 72/73 degrees so far.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4163820731/" title="DSC_0011.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4163820731_ee6e9fbc2e.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="DSC_0011.jpg" /></a>

I also cleaned up and made a few slight modifications to the right side of my aquascape:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4164580916/" title="DSC_0004.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2537/4164580916_7dd4651050.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0004.jpg" /></a>

 

[luther1200]

They are really cool fish. A little pricey, but would definitely be awesome to have. I would just be worried about the coral with them.

 

[inktomi]

I'm heading towards a mostly SPS setup long term, and I hear that if they're going to eat anything it'd probably be LPS. Supposedly broken flesh on a LPS coral is almost impossible to resist, but so long as they're healthy and nothing drops on them they'll "probably" be fine but picked on a bit.

In the end, if I have to go to a mostly SPS tank, that's fine. That's what all the space on those rocks is for - right?

 

[inktomi]

I made a purchase today..

It's the "DFS The Real Deal Blue Echinata"

 

[goochesfish]

What happens if you put those vortechs on the back wall? Have you ever tried it?

 

[inktomi]

To be honest, I've never tried it. I've had them on the opposing ends of the tank since the day I got them.

I'm sure they'd work on the back wall, but I'd worry about them pushing the sand around. Right now I have them on full power, and they just barely push the sand in certain places. I think that if I had them on the back wall, there would be no way I could have them at full power.

I'm waiting for FedEx to come by with my new Echinata. In other news, the emerald crabs have all but cleared the tank of the new tank hair algae. I've got a lot more snails eating the film algae on the glass now, since the rocks are clean. Now I just need to keep it this way!

 

[inktomi]

While I'm waiting for FedEx to get here I thought I'd take some photos of the remaining algae in the tank. Does anyone know what this stuff is? Should I be super worried about any of it and go for aggressive manual removal?

First off.. this one grows near the bottom of the tank, or in slight shade under rocks. It's easy to remove manually, but nothing in the tank seems to eat it. Not a /really/ fast grower, but this clump sprang up over the course of this last week. There are a few other small clumps of it around. Doesn't seem to spread too much (yet).

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4178787291/" title="DSC_0001.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4178787291_3f1651290a.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0001.jpg" /></a>

Second.. this one is only in one little patch about half way up the tank. Nothing seems to eat this either, and it seems to be spreading. I'm going to go for manual removal of this one I think since it seems like something that could smother corals.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4178787041/" title="DSC_0004.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4178787041_c0514d08ea.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0004.jpg" /></a>

Third.. my little clump of algae. It's the last part of the tank that's still like this, and nothing seems to eat any of this stuff. I'm going to be manually removing it. The little clumps to the left that are out of focus are particularly concerning since I had a bad time with similar stuff in my 40g. I hope it's not the same stuff..

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4179549674/" title="DSC_0005.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4179549674_ef8049069d.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0005.jpg" /></a>

Fourth.. I think that this is some sort of Cauplera algae. It's not spreading outside of this one clump, so I'm going to let it be for now (bad idea?).

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4179549468/" title="DSC_0007.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2608/4179549468_984ff8b9dc.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0007.jpg" /></a>

Fifth - another macro algae that doesn't seem to be spreading. Not sure what it is, but I've seen similar stuff. Should I rip it out? You can also see some Halmidea (spelling?) down in the front right of the clump of algea.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4179549212/" title="DSC_0009.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/4179549212_25d67256d6.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0009.jpg" /></a>

None of these types of algae seem bothered by my GFO reactor. PO4 is undetectable. I wouldn't say I have an algae problem - but the stuff is there and I think I might wake up one day to a big problem... Hair algae is gone. Now I have the "next phase" algaes to contend with.

 

[inktomi]

I also was able to get a good photo of my Aussie Duncan. I got it as one head a few years ago, and it's got more heads than I know now. It seems like all of the large ones are surrounded by 5 or 6 little ones.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4178785937/" title="DSC_0017.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2647/4178785937_85559906b6.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0017.jpg" /></a>

I also got some good photos of some of the frags that I made when I moved over to the 150 from the 40g. These are pretty much all available for trade, but I need to get more involved in my local reef club so that I have people to trade with! :spin3:

I'm not sure what kind of zoo these are. They're bright orange, and - if you give them lots of light - have a purplish/orange/blue center. If you don't give them lots of light, they seem to revert to a dark orange center. I'm waiting for these to grow over the plugs they're on - but I can see lots of little polyps so hopefully that'll be soon.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4179548454/" title="DSC_0020.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4179548454_db68ae21e4.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0020.jpg" /></a>

I think I must have 20 of these around my tank. These are all the pieces of my german blue monti digitata that broke when I was removing it from the rock that it was on in my 40g. They all seem to be doing well - which is surprising to me since I'd never actually fragged SPS before hah.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4179547856/" title="DSC_0031.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2718/4179547856_8695203389.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0031.jpg" /></a>

 

[John&Steph]

I picked up a Tradewinds 1/4 HP drop in chiller last week using the 10% off sale Premium Aquatics had. It's doing a great job keeping the tank down at 72/73 degrees so far.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4163820731/" title="DSC_0011.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4163820731_ee6e9fbc2e.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="DSC_0011.jpg" /></a>

I also cleaned up and made a few slight modifications to the right side of my aquascape:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/4164580916/" title="DSC_0004.jpg by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2537/4164580916_7dd4651050.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0004.jpg" /></a>

Awesome looking tank.

 

[goochesfish]

To be honest, I've never tried it. I've had them on the opposing ends of the tank since the day I got them.

I'm sure they'd work on the back wall, but I'd worry about them pushing the sand around. Right now I have them on full power, and they just barely push the sand in certain places. I think that if I had them on the back wall, there would be no way I could have them at full power.

I'm waiting for FedEx to come by with my new Echinata. In other news, the emerald crabs have all but cleared the tank of the new tank hair algae. I've got a lot more snails eating the film algae on the glass now, since the rocks are clean. Now I just need to keep it this way!

I ask because I'm thinking of getting one with a battery back up in case of a power failure. I'd want to put it on the back wall. You have some cool looking algae sorry can't help with the ID. I wish my emerald crab would find the remaining clump of hair algae in my tank. It's in a spot where the urchin can't get to.