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

[Made2Rock]

As long as you are doing that, I am going to put you to work cleaning my sump and skimmer!

Dan, I think I just might have to agree with Wayne about doing work on your tank. I'm still trying to wrap my head around life with a tank that is 48" deep. Next year I'm hoping, praying and crossing my fingers to start a larger tank. At this time I'm finding it hard to think pass 40" deep and 48" wide (Of course I do have the dive gear, so we could go wall to wall, floor to ceiling "¦.). Only time will answer what will happen but I definitely watch this tank with a lot of interest.

Joe

 

[danfeig]

FedEx & Delivery Friday!!!!!!!!!

FedEx & Delivery Friday!!!!!!!!!

It has been a long, very long day!

It started off around 9:00 doing some general maintenance and a 100 gallon water change. I also had to make some room for some large and unique deliveries.

FedEx came around 10:00 AM with the attached...

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I have only opened one box. A delivery from Marine Depot filled with 20 7"filter socks.

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Tomorrow I will get to the other boxes.

Around 11:00, Michael and Justin from Simply Elegant showed up with my new special orders. A little background...

The top of my tank is over 7' off the ground. One of the first things you will notice when you enter my fish room is 3 large ladders to assist me with getting my arms in and out of the tank. I can't tell you how many times I missed a step on the ladder, almost knocked it over or had a little slip.

As a special present to myself, I had a stand/scaffold made that sits approximately 48" off the ground. It runs about 3/4's the length of my tank and is 27" wide. It is made out of a heavy gage steel.

I can now walk up 3 steps and can be looking down into my tank.

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We aren't done though...

One of my biggest errors when designing my tank and sump was the placement of the filter socks. They of course were located in my sump in an area that is difficult to get to. To change my socks, I litterally would have to stick 1/2 my body into the sump. If I was to be out of town...forget about it! My wife or kids couldn't change them. Not any more!!!!

I designed a new sump, just for my socks, that goes under the new stand. A "sock sump!" It sits adjacent to my existing sump. I now have my overflow dumping into my "sock sump." We drilled three 1 1/2" returns to take the water back into the sump at the far end.

Now, changing my socks is going to be a piece of cake. I could do it everyday if I wanted to, but will stick to twice or three times each week!

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Lots more to show you and go through, however, I am beat!

Tomorrow I will post pics of some of the corals from Simply Elegant that I received and a few other toys.

 

[jjk_reef00]

That is awesome, I love the sock sump idea!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Love that scaffold and fix for your socks. Rest well young man, rest well.

 

[Made2Rock]

Dan you should write a book. The Ins and Outs of a deep tank for those of us that like the idea but wonder what life would be like.

I'm watching, learning and taking notes!!!!

Thanks
Joe

 

[danfeig]

How about some other FedEx Friday deliveries...

How about some other FedEx Friday deliveries...

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I went ahead and purchased two more Radion's for my 150 gallon Frag/Filtratrion/? tank.

I also purchased a new MP60. I am going to replace it with one my MP40's. If I don't use a portion of the 150 as a seahorse tank, I am going to place one of the MP40's on it.

I am strongly considering turning it into a Refugium. If I do that, my current 45 bow refugium will become the seahorse tank. I am thinking that the 45 gallon tank will be much easier to cool with my chiller. I can still connect it to my system and have the volume turn over 2-3 times while still maintaining a 74 degree temperature in it. I might be able to have the drain line from the refugium go through my refrigerator (one less mag-drive) for my auto feeding/dosing of reef nutrition products.

I won't do anything though until after the first of the year when I return from Florida.

 

[reeksreef]

Hey Dan, don't remember exactly but what glue did you use for your rock work? I'm redoing my rockwork and will be drilling and gluing the rocks and using fiberglass rods to make different shapes. Also was that glue reef safe, if not can you recommend any? Also I took your advice and finally ordered a coral from liveaquaria, lost some color from stress but it was well worth it, its a huge coral.

 

[danfeig]

What's better...new corals or Arizona Basketball & Football

What's better...new corals or Arizona Basketball & Football

Great day!

Couldn't spend too much time on the tank. Between watching Arizona score 14 points in the final 46 seconds to beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl (49-48) - doing some last minute holiday shopping... Then watching Arizona upset Florida in basketball with some last second heroics (65-64) - I have just been plane preoccupied!

Tomorrows another day though.

Attached are a few iPhone pics of some corals that Simply Elegant ordered for me from Exotic Reef Imports.

The two Platygyra/maze/brain's are huge. I could barely dip both of them together in the same 5 gallon container.

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A couple shots while temporarily placed in one of my QT's:

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The attached Lobophyllia is also huge. I am not certain of its coloring though. I think it is a little stressed. I am hoping that it will color up better in my main display under my LED's.

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Sometime tomorrow afternoon I hope to transfer these bad boys into my display tank.

 

[dotcommer]

Some great pieces. Looking forward to seeing them in your display.

 

[cubalz]

I have got to subscribe to this one.

 

[pgaudreau]

Dan if you are going to the southeast part of Florida there are a couple good fish stores around

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

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I went ahead and purchased two more Radion's for my 150 gallon Frag/Filtratrion/? tank.

I also purchased a new MP60. I am going to replace it with one my MP40's. If I don't use a portion of the 150 as a seahorse tank, I am going to place one of the MP40's on it.

I am strongly considering turning it into a Refugium. If I do that, my current 45 bow refugium will become the seahorse tank. I am thinking that the 45 gallon tank will be much easier to cool with my chiller. I can still connect it to my system and have the volume turn over 2-3 times while still maintaining a 74 degree temperature in it. I might be able to have the drain line from the refugium go through my refrigerator (one less mag-drive) for my auto feeding/dosing of reef nutrition products.

I won't do anything though until after the first of the year when I return from Florida.

Great idea. What part of Florida will you be visiting?


Sent from my iPhone using Siri and Tapatalk.

 

[danfeig]

I hate to say this but that will be my honor.

You can clean my skim anytime!

 

[danfeig]

The Reef looks great, congratulations and thanks for sharing. I have a confession to make though: I only skimmed through all 45 pages and read certain posts of interest. I had a Moorish Idol for two years back in 1987 in a 55 gallon fish only tank run by a Magnum 350. Was your pair ever introduced to the display tank? I only saw them in quarantine.

My Moorish Idols were introduced to my main tank but only lasted in their for a couple of weeks. I don't think that the tank was established enough for them.

They spend a full month in quarantine and were doing well. They didn't seem to like frozen foods but would eat some sponge off a few rocks that I had placed in the QT from my old tank and live brine.

When placed in my main display they became immediately shy and timid. I am not sure if they were just freaked out by larger tangs or what.

I have been debating about getting another pair and will strongly consider after the first of the year.

They are beautiful fish!

 

[danfeig]

Dan, I think I just might have to agree with Wayne about doing work on your tank. I'm still trying to wrap my head around life with a tank that is 48" deep. Next year I'm hoping, praying and crossing my fingers to start a larger tank. At this time I'm finding it hard to think pass 40" deep and 48" wide (Of course I do have the dive gear, so we could go wall to wall, floor to ceiling "¦.). Only time will answer what will happen but I definitely watch this tank with a lot of interest.

Joe

Joe, you are welcome to clean my skim anytime too! :lolspin:

I love the look of a deep tank and am not really finding it difficult to clean. My new scaffold helps a great deal!

 

[danfeig]

That is awesome, I love the sock sump idea!

Ed:

It has made my life a lot easier. I am changing them every couple of days. I bought a ton of socks from both BRS and Marine Depot.

I have a 20 gallon trash can on the side of my house where I make fresh salt water. I threw some chaeto into the bucket, it's growing with the natural sunlight, and I have been throwing in my dirty filter socks in. The pods seem to be leaving the socks and migrating to the chaeto.

When I have several dirty sets of filter socks, I will take them out and wash them together. Meanwhile, I am getting another nice population of pods growing!

 

[danfeig]

Love that scaffold and fix for your socks. Rest well young man, rest well.

I've recovered.

The scaffold is already paying dividends. It makes working on my tank incredibly easy! I am going to have to take some pictures looking down into it.

Wayne, you are the one that gave me the idea about the sump. I was checking out the pictures of your sump and the removable sock holders. I ended up having them fabricate the sock/sump so that the holders are also removable.

 

[danfeig]

Dan you should write a book. The Ins and Outs of a deep tank for those of us that like the idea but wonder what life would be like.

I'm watching, learning and taking notes!!!!

Thanks
Joe

Thanks Joe! I am humbled...

I have a friend that has been asking to film my tank, the film room and do a small documentary of my upkeep for one of his film classes. A small documentary of sorts.

....I may take him up on it.

 

[danfeig]

Hey Dan, don't remember exactly but what glue did you use for your rock work? I'm redoing my rockwork and will be drilling and gluing the rocks and using fiberglass rods to make different shapes. Also was that glue reef safe, if not can you recommend any? Also I took your advice and finally ordered a coral from liveaquaria, lost some color from stress but it was well worth it, its a huge coral.

For my rock towers, I used Emaco S88-CI (marine cement) for the large pieces. For smaller pieces I used HoldFast and ton's and ton's of SuperGlue Gel. I am constantly using the SuperGlue Gel. For whatever the reason, only the gel seems to work. Whenever I drive by a "Dollar Store" I will run inside to pick up 20-30 packages. Often they have the double or triple packs!

I can't speak highly enough about the customer service and warranty that you receive from LiveAquaria. Often if the coral is not looking good at 12-13 day mark, you can let them know of your issue and they will extend the warranty period.

 

[CRJ]

Gorgeous. You are living my dream build, and i love the use of radion's throughout. excited for more!