a newbie's 65g

[BarbMazz]

Here are some shots of my mixed up reef tank. Going in I intended it to be a specific biotope. I quickly realized that wasn't realistic for my first go at salt. Once I settle in I'll definitely get to a real biotope, but first I want to experience a bit of everything. Go easy on me. Tampa Bay Saltwater Package Part 1 was put into the tank on April 20, 2008.

Sorry, some are fuzzy... new camera and I'm still getting the hang of it!

I don't have a recent FTS, here's one from August 7th. I no longer have the Foxface. The front popped off a powerhead, he went inside and when the ph turned back on he was killed.

Here are some tank shots done in "thirds".. taken yesterday..Here's the right side

The middle

The left

As you can see I have a bit of a HA problem; stocked too fast; overfeeding, etc. I'm slowly getting it all in line. Had some cyano, too, but that's almost gone as well.

My favorite fish, a blue spot jawfish, named Bam Bam. He built one burrow up against the glass! He's since moved but it was cool to see inside while he was there.

A nice red Lord Howe acan

Seriatopora hystrix

Symphyllia wilsoni on krill

 

[axia55]

Very nice!

 

[Aadler]

very nice. looks like you have a good start going! Im pretty close (lyndhursT) let me know if you ever need anything.

Looks like you have the right idea with the huge sump! that helps so much.

 

[cmador]

looks great - love that orange sponge. I'm close, too - in Gates Mills.

 

[Jeff Trout]

Looks great!!

 

[Chelo's Big Sis]

Wow!

Wow!

Wow!! Your tank looks great! It doesn't look like your a newbe to me! You did a great job.

Cindy

 

[Murphs205]

very nice Barb , great job ,,, and we all know you will have some nice frags when that tank starts to grow & fill in.

 

[chuggy]

ill third that looks awesome theres a lot of cash in there. Im also close to you highland hts. Tell us more about your auto water change system

 

[BarbMazz]

Thanks, everyone for the kind words! I'm trying my very best! I cannot wait until I have some things big enough to frag. I "accidently" fragged one of my acans a month back and traded that for some zoas with another board friend. That was pretty thrilling. lol Ah, the cheap thrills one can have!

I have a bad back, so the water change system was a must. It's really just a series of maxijet 1200 pumps strategically placed in various areas.

1. pump in fw barrel pumps RO/DI water into sw barrel
2. pump in sw barrel pumps sw into sump
3. pump in sump pumps old water to floor drain
4. JBJ ATO pumps fw from 18g rubbermaid tub into sump
5. hose from fw barrel supplies fw to ATO tub

I still need an electrician here to get everything hardwired to switches. I was waiting to get all the kinks ironed out, which they are, but our electrician is too busy to get here. So, I'm plugging pumps in and out to do wc's, but it is SO easy and no bucket lugging!

I have to go through my photobucket account... I have pictures of the equipment room in there somewhere so you can see that setup.

 

[BarbMazz]

Hey, chuggy, I like your signature line, and I can relate to it, too! lol

 

[BarbMazz]

One of my favorite corals is ricoridia florida, and so I decided to make a garden of sorts. Here are some of my rics

 

[rbd0331]

Tank looks great. Love that shot of Bam Bam. Really cool how he built his burrow against the glass.