700 gallon tank, or how i spent my daughters inheritance

[yukonblizzard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13953068#post13953068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefski's
thank you

i have no idea about the lights. why would you want them particularly?

Well, I have been wanting to build a large reef tank, but the prices of metal halides have been a little discouraging. So I have been looking for a more affordable route and found metal halides that are used in ware houses and large buildings that look just like that and are much cheaper than metel halides sold specificaly for aqauriums.

 

[eeorrandy]

yukonblizzard , Try hellolights.com. You can get a magnetic ballast and retrofits pretty cheap. Pobably wouldn't cost you any more than used industrial stuff and you can make sure your parts are compatable

Hope thats helpful

 

[yukonblizzard]

Thanks for the link,

Keep up the good work Reefski

 

[Reefski's]

a couple of recent pix.

the elegance coral needs to move to a more open spot. it is getting squished against the tank here. i have had it for almost two years. i had a bit of a scare in august when i put a couple of corals in the tank that came from a holding system with some Elegance that i am sure were infected with the "disease". the infected ones were 75 feet away but shared the same water. mine kind of puffed up like the the infection with the tentacles contracted and i thought it was going to die. it never got real severe though and now seems fine. maybe it got a small infection and developed immunity. i don't know.

the Acan seems happy here, growing and all, although i have never seen polyps extended day or night.

the Gorgonian is growing and it is fun to watch it feed.

my buddy and Acro eating snail.

bald spot from snail.

 

[goldenmacman]

been following your thread for quite sometime.. but lost it a while back.. glad i found it again! can you post an up-to-date fts! nice fish love the crosshatch? trigger!!

 

[Reefski's]

thank you! yes it is a crosshatch, my buddy, follows me around like a puppy.

i will try to get some cleaning done so i can take some FTS in the next couple of days. i need some pix of the garage also.

i have enclosed the rest of the tank with Mylar. not what i wanted but all i can afford for now. enclosing that last 2 feet is really helping to keep the light in the tank, especially this time of year.

i can't find anyone to build the doors and i can't afford it right now either so the Mylar works it just isn't pretty.


Carl

 

[goldenmacman]

cool cool.. he better follow you and kiss your feet, hes an expensive puppy

 

[jbrown11352]

I just spent the last 3 hours reading your thread... all I can say is amazing build!!! Between your house, reef and pond I would have to say you have one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. I would hate to see the Mylar around that set-up. I know money is tight for everyone with the economy as-is, including myself...If you can supply the material I will build the doors for you free of charge.

Everyone have a safe and Merry Christmas

 

[melev]

:thumbsup:

 

[Reefski's]

is this enough flow for the Elegance and Frogspawn?

i have had the Elegance for almost two years now. i had a little scare with it in August after i got some corals at a wholesalers that i am sure had infected Elegance corals in the same water volume about 75 feet away from the corals i got. my Elegance changed and swelled up like the infection for a few days. the body got "puffy" and i was sure i killed it but after a few days it returned to normal.

this is the old spot. i don't have any video of it here.

this is the new spot. it expanded within a couple of hours after shrinking way down.


did you see the Copperband picking at the rocks?


here is the tank with the Mylar in place. it does make a difference.
UGLY but effective.

i hooked up a couple of 400 watt halides on the light rails for the winter. they are on a couple of hours morning and evening.

my wife's favorite coral.

 

[Reefski's]

the FTS is a bit dark. i will try to lighten it up with photoshop one of these days.

a couple of observations.

i cleaned the screens on the turf scrubber today. i let it go too long again. no photos, photos next time. it was cold here today. at least cold for los Angeles. i'm not complaining really.

PO4 level today was 0.32ppm

still feeding a lot. the crosshatch male can and does eat like 5 cubes at a time and more of the other food i feed as well.

it had been 3-4 weeks, i forget. i there was more stringy type algae with the diatoms and cyano, and other single celled stuff.

i watched the six line wrasse pick a mini brittle star off the rocks and eat it. i have two different types of mini brittle stars in the tank. the one that he ate was smaller and a solid pale tan color. he/she if very fat. maybe this explains it.

i saw the big crab last night after dark.

 

[bigj11]

you are the man

 

[Kellsindell]

Man those corals make the fish look small... or the fish make the corals look big...

 

[Reefski's]

the turf scrubber is growing more rapidly. it went from this

to this in a week.

unforturnately Po4 is still at 0.70

maybe now that i am cleaning it much more often PO4 will start dropping. i also harvested like 5 gallons of Chaeto.

 

[Kellsindell]

Wow, that's amazing!

 

[Kellsindell]

Wow, that's amazing!

 

[crsandoval]

I have been following the thread for a while, this is an amazing tank and I love the pond, some day I hope to have a large enough yard to have such a pond.

 

[matt & pam]

What's the volume of algae you scrape off from the screens? I.e., how many cups are you getting? I probably get about 4 packed cups every 2 weeks from my eco-wheel.

Of course, I never get mine as bare as yours after harvesting.

 

[Reefski's]

i haven't measured it. i just blast it with the hose.

much of the screen is not all algae yet, it is slimy stuff.
still trying to find someone to build the doors over the tank. the enclosure doors aren't built yet.

 

[melev]

Have you considered cleaning up the mylar with a venetian blind type apparatus? Usually, it is just a spring-loaded apparatus at the top, and the fabric unrolls down as you pull it down. Tug gently, and it rolls up again.

Perhaps you could do mylar on the inner surface, and something nicer that matches the room on the living room side. This not only makes it easier to get access to the tank, but improves the look.

You did get an offer above for some help with the woodwork.