A Reef Tank in the Desert - +/- 1,400 gallon system

[danfeig]

oh yes, the Sohals? how are they doing? Are they playing nice? anyone been in timeout lately? any updated pictures?

The Sohals are doing well. They are still in their 75 gallon QT. I put the egg crate divider back up to separate them. I remove it for hours at a time, but, I think they are just a little stir crazy in the tank. There isn't rock and hiding places for them as there is in the main display. I don't think they will bother each other when I finally put them in there.

 

[IANick]

Hi Dan,

Like several before me, I want to say a sincere "thank you" as a newbie.

I'll be building my own 300 - 400g system (+/- 275g DT) sometime in the next year. I've been researching like mad the past several months, and there have been two builds I've found especially informative and enlightening - yours, and Paul Whitby's. When I get to the stage that research is over (I know, it never is), and I'm ready to spend my first of many, many thousands of dollars to get this build started, I'll be re-reading both threads from start to finish (perhaps, and probably, more than once) to make sure I haven't overlooked anything.

Thanks again for your thorough description of most everything you do. Besides being helpful, it's also darn enjoyable.

Cheers,

Nick

P.S. Yes, I'll do a build thread of my own. There are a couple of issues I'll be facing and some ideas that I have that I think/hope will be helpful for others. I love the way this hobby is advancing through comradery.

 

[Zosyn]

Storm Feature

Storm Feature

Hi Dan,

Have you notice anything significant as a result of simulating storms in your tank? (behavior, breeding, etc.)

 

[danfeig]

Hi Dan,

Like several before me, I want to say a sincere "thank you" as a newbie.

I'll be building my own 300 - 400g system (+/- 275g DT) sometime in the next year. I've been researching like mad the past several months, and there have been two builds I've found especially informative and enlightening - yours, and Paul Whitby's. When I get to the stage that research is over (I know, it never is), and I'm ready to spend my first of many, many thousands of dollars to get this build started, I'll be re-reading both threads from start to finish (perhaps, and probably, more than once) to make sure I haven't overlooked anything.

Thanks again for your thorough description of most everything you do. Besides being helpful, it's also darn enjoyable.

Cheers,

Nick

P.S. Yes, I'll do a build thread of my own. There are a couple of issues I'll be facing and some ideas that I have that I think/hope will be helpful for others. I love the way this hobby is advancing through comradery.

Thanks IANick!

I love getting posts like yours. Makes all this worth while!

Let me know when you start your build and if you have any questions. Learning from other's mistakes and successes is what makes this site great!

Regards,

Dan

 

[danfeig]

Hi Dan,

Have you notice anything significant as a result of simulating storms in your tank? (behavior, breeding, etc.)

That's an interesting question.

No! I haven't noticed anything special. A storm only occurs once every 5-6 days for a few minutes and I don't think the fish mind in the slightest. They don't act any different. My corals on the other hand... I do notice, especially with the cloud cover feature, that my corals seem to have a little extra zip, zing, kabang - after a storm. I seem to get greater polyp extension.

 

[dca22anderson]

Love the Catalina water Dan! Your system is flawless! What are we getting for our Friday delivery this week?:thumbsup:

I had two sohals in my big tank when I set it up in the other house. They were slightly different sizes and played nice together. I hope you experience the same success!

I will post a video of them in the tank shortly...

 

[dca22anderson]

Two Sohals eating peas in the big tank round one

Two Sohals eating peas in the big tank round one

http://youtu.be/SLRToCoPJmo

 

[david00061]

How you doing Dan,
we're spending the night up here in Flagstaff. On our way to south rim.
we have a little time to kill tonight. Any must see fish stores

 

[danfeig]

Love the Catalina water Dan! Your system is flawless! What are we getting for our Friday delivery this week?:thumbsup:

I had two sohals in my big tank when I set it up in the other house. They were slightly different sizes and played nice together. I hope you experience the same success!

I will post a video of them in the tank shortly...

Thanks Dave!

I am real happy with the results. No FedEx Friday this week and next week I leave for vacation. This will be a maintenance weekend! I have to change out my Gfo and Carbon reactors along with a 200 gallon water change.

I will put the Sohals in the main display upon my return.

 

[danfeig]

http://youtu.be/SLRToCoPJmo

Simply Awesome!!!

 

[danfeig]

How you doing Dan,
we're spending the night up here in Flagstaff. On our way to south rim.
we have a little time to kill tonight. Any must see fish stores

Dave,

Thanks for the post and text messages. Unfortunately I don't know the Flagstaff area. Have a great time at the Rim and I look forward to seeing you at MACNA!

 

[danfeig]

Tank Update

Tank Update

Hey guys!

Sorry that it has been a while with updating my build. I have been incredibly busy with work and family that things have slipped a little.

My tank is doing okay, but not to the standards that I strive for. It's all my fault too. My "Fish Tank Fridays" & "FedEx Fridays" have been replaced by work lately. We leave town soon for 3 weeks so I have been spending a lot of time at the office and on another venture of mine, getting caught up on things and ahead, so that I feel comfortable leaving town.

All my fish are doing well. My Nitrates are high though...:furious: Again, it's my fault. I haven't been able to keep up with the 100-150 gallon weekly Friday water changes and I've been doing what I enjoy most - watching my fish and inhabitants eat!!!

I have noticed that I have had a little bleaching/whiting out, on some of the tips of my SPS (mostly Red Planet & a little on a Strawberry Shortcake). I also noticed that the some tissue appears to be hanging off of one of my Euphyllia (Hammer) corals and a tiny bit of tissue die off on a Stylophora corals. To top that off, I noticed a little bit of Cyano in one of my Refugiums and QT's. So I checked everything, twice, and noticed the Nitrate issue. Everything else was okay.

I had Justin come out and he helped me perform a 100 gallon water change and he vacuumed/cleaned out my QT tanks. He also changed out my Carbon and GFO reactors. I still have to change out the carbon on the reactor connected to my Ozone reactor.

I changed the setting on my Genesis Auto Water changer to 12 gallons per day and will perform another 100 gallon water change on Tuesday and then again on Friday. I leave for vacation on Saturday and Justin will be coming over twice per week for maintenance and to fill my storage bins while I am away. Fortunately, I have a great house sitter along with a house keeper that keeps a great eye on things and feeds while I am away. We are staying in the states too so that I can check on things via the webcam and my Apex. I am just a phone call and text message away.

Back to my QT's. This afternoon, I took the plunge. I moved all six Borbonius Anthias to my main display along with the smaller Clown Tang and 7 Red Dot Cardinals (Apogon Parvulus). All are doing great in my display. The Borbo's are staying together mostly in the back of the tank and the Red Dot's are all schooling together. I was mostly worried about the Clown Tang. This one was a replacement to one that had gotten spooked and jumped out a few months ago. It is about 1" smaller than my other Clown Tang. No worries though, they have been both swimming together around the tank and seem to be getting a long very well.

All that I have in my QT's are the two Sohal Tangs. They also seem to be getting along well. I am a little concerned because I know they are getting a little stir crazy in a 75 gallon QT. It's been 4+months. I will probably put the egg-crate back up between them before I head for vacation. I don't want to put them in my display tank until I return. The egg-crate is for nothing more than peace of mind - not worrying that they would fight, and have no where to hide, while I am away.

I am debating about adding a couple more fish too. Those Black Longnose Tangs keep coming up on my radar along with one or two White Tail Bristletooth Tangs...

That's about it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying their summers.

 

[laabcbigbee]

Amazing build! This has inspired me to build our new house around a large mixed reef tank. My wife thinks I am crazy, but I have finally got the house plans right to be able to hopefully have a system half as nice as yours.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

So where are your ventures taking you this time for vacation?

 

[danfeig]

Amazing build! This has inspired me to build our new house around a large mixed reef tank. My wife thinks I am crazy, but I have finally got the house plans right to be able to hopefully have a system half as nice as yours.

laabcbigbee,

Thank you very much for the kind words. If I ever build another house, I will certainly plan a tank and fish room to be an integral part. I would have loved to of had a fish room with drains, plumbing, insulation, exhaust fans and most importantly, a sub-pannel with many, many dedicated circuits.

Let me know if you have any questions along the way!

I look forward to seeing your build thread!

 

[.Marshall]

Would love to know where you think you can find not one but TWO White Tail bristletooth tangs!

 

[danfeig]

So where are your ventures taking you this time for vacation?

Hey Wayne!

We are heading to the East coast! Going to the ballparks in DC, NYC, Boston and PA. We will check out all the tourist and historical sites too and if I am lucky, visit as many LFS that we can. We will also head to Amherst to visit some family and Springfield to the Basketball Hall of Fame. We will be gone for 3 weeks and I have the house sitter, LFS, & cleaning woman all trained on feeding, maintenance, observation, etc.

 

[worm5406]

OK I am in DC area. Tell me and I'll come up for dinner or something.

 

[danfeig]

Would love to know where you think you can find not one but TWO White Tail bristletooth tangs!

I wish I did too!

.Marshall, I have been emailing and calling stores and wholesalers throughout the country! I have now ventured out to diver's and collectors across the pacific. I will find them!

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

 

[lostmyz]

No question! I leave my dogs outside for hours at a time and don't worry them in the slightest. A forest ranger told me when we first moved out here that as long as we see Deer in the neighborhood (their natural food), we shouldn't need to worry. I used to worry about our little Cocker Spaniel - but that was with the Owls picking her up!

That's all fine and dandy Dan but my parenrs live in the foothills and our neighbor aka an idiot went out of town hired some stupid kid to watch his dog that he left outside. I believe it was a terrier mix of some sort... about 40lbs... was barking all night long one night. Nothing the next night. Than a day later the owner came over missing his dog. I essentially told him he was an idiot. We live in Az and in the mountains where I've seen a mountain lion shading itself behind my house. Youre dog is dead and you won't be getting it back. I know harsh, but hard lessoned learned for the guy I felt bad for the guys little girls.

Needless to say my parenta 4lb pommeranian has eacaped 2 times in 9yrs and always walks over to their house. They used to have a Chihuahua and they'd have a baking (if u can even call it that) fest.

So the message here is... it only takes one time for a wild animal to want some dog meat and than your pets gone. The emotional attachment between a person and a mammal is and can be much greater than that between a person and a fish. Yea its a sad day when your fish dies but you can replace it and it looks the same. Its not like replacing a dog. Sorry poor comparison but its hard to put that into words. I feel a closer bond between my yorkie and bernease mountain dog than my fish even my fav fish