250 gallon solar reef

[hobogato]

just thought i would share my current tank here in a build thread. this is a little after the fact since the tank is about 4 months old now.

tank - 250 gallon marineland deep dimension tank (60"x36"x28")

filtration - dsp and macroalgae in tank and a carbon reactor in line on the closed loop

lighting - three 14" sundome sky lights (solar) and 216 watts of t5 supplemental

circulation - reeflo dart closed loop

on to the pics:

end of april 2011 - stand and canopy that i built

4/25/11 - tank in place - notice i removed the overflows and since i will be using the holes in the bottom for the closed loop (no sum)

closed loop plumbing

rock wall for retaining dsp - the tank has a section in the front that is shallow sand and rubble with a macroalgae bed, still had a little more sand to add

original rockwork (i have changed that now)

just a pic to show how much flow there is with the closed loop

rinsing the sand

may 1st, first pic with the water all cleared up

 

[hobogato]

the theme of this tank is captive breeding and aquaculture.

while putting the tank together, i was also raising a batch of baby clowns i got from a friend.

day 1

rotifer cultures

just shy of 2 weeks old

beginning of may i moved them from their 20 gallon tank to this 29 that i temporarily plumbed into the big tank

may 4th - just shy of a month old (did i mention these were from special parents)

we call this one "tennessee" but his t has changed quite a bit since this pic

beginning of june i switched the pots out for two fake anemones - they were grateful

by this point i also moved them to a nursery in the main tank and the 29 gallon tank went away

and in the beginning of july, they were released into the big tank

 

[hobogato]

in the middle of july i was given a batch of baby banggai cardinals from another friend

here they are in the bucket on the way home - freshly released from papa's mouth

i put the nursery back in the tank, but put the babies in a net breeder in the nursery at first - there were 33 of them

here they are at day 2

at 3 weeks old i released them into the big tank

afterwards, many of them started having problems with sudden fright syndrome. i think they were having to work harder because of the flow in the tank and did not have the proper nutrition. sadly, i lost many.

there are now 10 healthy ones and after some diet additions, no more sudden fright syndrome

 

[hobogato]

so, this brings us to current condition.

here is a pic of the tank after some redo of the rocks and addition of some aquacultured coral frags (these were added periodically over the last couple of months)

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y5NWv5A0dRs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[David - Miami]

Great setup. I am subscribing again.

 

[GUILLO1]

looking good hobogato...... where did you get them flexible hoses attached to your closed loop?

 

[hobogato]

they are locline guillo - i got them at an lfs, but you can also order online

 

[hobogato]

the tank is almost 5 months old (as are the clowns) and the banggais are just under two months. the coral frags i have added seem to be doing well and are showing some growth. the clowns have started hosting in various corals, mainly duncans and euphyllia, but also the acros and gorgos. should be really cool when they all settle into some territories.

pardon the brightness, the sun is blazing today!

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q9HJwhxlDSs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Mikesville510]

rotifer cultures

where did you get this hatchery setup?

 

[hobogato]

where did you get this hatchery setup?

i made them a long time ago. here is a thread on my local forum from then:

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?44118-phyto-culture-brine-hatching-vessel&highlight=phyto

 

[Mikesville510]

nice, thanks! very well done

 

[luxtralarge]

Those clown are cute

 

[ef200098]

Very Cool!

 

[Vanpire]

What brand solar tubes did you use?

 

[hobogato]

I used tubes from a company in florida called sundome

 

[Vanpire]

Does anyone know if the tubes from Solatubes are truly better than the ones from Home Depot or Lowes? There is a significant price difference, Solatubes are about $100 more a piece for the 14".

 

[hobogato]

i do know that the light that comes thru mine is more yellow than light that i have seen from the solatubes i saw at a dealership.

 

[alton]

Looks great Ace

 

[murad]

very nice tanks

 

[jonathansruelas]

man great work.!!!