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

great news about Sohals and the Moorish Idol. definitely taking notes on how to introduce 2 of the same tangs together! have you any major issues with any of the other tangs in DT?
 
I have to agree with Wayne BUT you have had a lot of success with this approach and being patience so stick to what has worked and I believe you will win (it may be a few years but......:lolspin:).

Joe

Yeah, yeah, yeah... tomorrow night I will put them back together for 30-45 minutes and see how they do. They still are mimicking each other through the egg-crate, however, they are both ignoring each other when I am feeding and they are both swimming more in the tank.
 
Dan after reading all 74 pages over the last few days I decided to join rc despite all the crap I hear about it. This reef is amazing! The amount of detail and care and equipment is freaking awesome and the fact that you continue to keep everyone updated is just awesome. Keep up the awesome work I look forward to more updates.

Wow!

Thank you very much! I glad that you are back on Reef Central. I appreciate the compliments and recognition. This has been a very fun build.

It's amazing to me how much things have grown. Just tonight my wife and I were sitting in front of the tank, astonished at the size some of my tangs have already grown too.

Keep checking back, you'll always find an update or something new!
 
Great news about the Idol and the Sohal pair! Any new projects you have planned after the Sohals enter the display?
 
I can only imagine a soon to come picture from you of two sohals and two Achilles in one aquarium with little to no aggression. Having the ability to successfully maintain such large amounts of fish only goes to show that you will soon be successful with your sohals.

It will be awhile, but they are doing great. I'll give an update shortly! As anxious as I am to have them in the display, I am taking my time!
 
Thanks, Dan.

My MP40s came in today. To say I'm a little giddy is an understatement. I have a 110g in the garage doing a water test and was tempted to attach them and see how much water I could move. But, all in good time. Thanks for all the encouragement.

I'd bet money we get to see a video of those Sohals without the protective crate. Won't that be fun?

I love my MP40's and MP60's. They move a tone of water! You'll be impressed!

I have been removing the egg-crate every night. They are doing great together!
 
Moorish Idol Update II

Moorish Idol Update II

So, the Moorish Idols are back together in the main display tank and are doing great! When I first put the new (formerly sick) Idol into the tank, she was followed around closely by her mate. I was worried that the nipping and fighting would start, but they have been hanging out, following one another and behaving well together.

Attached are some iPhone pictures of the two. Nothing great, but they show them together.

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Sohal Tang Update II

Sohal Tang Update II

The Sohal Tangs continue to do well.

I removed the egg-crate tonight for a little over two hours and let them get to know one another a little better. The smaller of the Sohals is by far more aggressive. She is about 3/4" shorter and a lot skinnier. But, that doesn't stop her from chasing the larger one on occasion.

The larger Sohal could easily take her but doesn't seem to mind being chased. He seems to love going in and out of some of the PVC pipes I have laying on the bottom of the tank, and has a great personality when you walk up to the tank..

Both of the Sohals are eating well and completely ignored one another when I fed them or stood close to the tank. I kept walking by the fish room and sticking my head in the door, just to make sure that they weren't fighting.

Hopefully tomorrow night, I will be able to remove the egg-crate from dinner to bedtime!
 
The Idols look great. Excellent job nursing them back to health and getting them to eat.

You are breaking grounds with the Sohals, I am very excited the way things are going. This mild aggression is happening in a QT tank, once they have all that swimming room in the DT, they may become best friends. I wonder if there is anyway to tell the gender of a Sohal.
 
Great to see the idols back together. I am enjoying reading about your aclimation procedure with the Sohals as well. Great knowledge and expericnes are being shared in this thread!
 
The biggest difference is that you have such a large tank compared to most that posted in my thread. I am here in Las Vegas this weekend and checking out some of the local casino tanks. It seems like all the larger tanks have multiple tangs in them. From multiple clowns to a bunch of hippos and many others. Since your tank is so large, you can take your egg crate acclimation cages and use them as a tank trap if they start getting nasty once you release them in your main display.

As for my build I have been working with Josh (RC - CoralReefDoc ) . He has an amazing amount of knowledge in this hobby and is wanting me to spend a little more time getting my 90 Gallon dialed in before going head first into my 300 Gallon build.

He is really riding me on my knowledge of this hobby and wants me to things right the first time instead off learning at the expense of innocent fish and corals. So I have been purchasing my items for my build and also using some of them on my 90 gallon. Since I haven't been in this hobby that long, I am doing things like learning how to set up and program my APEX, setting up my dosing system etc.. And also really staying on top of my husbandry skills. I am also starting to grow out some SPS frags etc..

You always hear everyone talking about good husbandry skills and perfect water parameters. However until you achieve it yourself on your own system, you really don't know how well Corals respond. I am now finally seeing it for my self. My 90 Gallon is doing great and I am a lot more confident about diving into the 300 Gallon. If you ever run into any issues with your system and want someone local to assist you, this is the guy. However beware, he will definitely call you on stuff. I really haven't found anyone that is so passionate about the fish and corals. He treats them like they are his own kids. :-)

Once again, what you have achieved on your system is outright amazing. Keep up the amazing thread.

Thanks Dotcommer!

I had a blast looking at all the tanks in Vegas too! Some were real impressive. I wanted to see the gum ball tank at Serendipity that was on one of the episodes of Tanked. Unfortunately, it had already been removed.

I think that it is great you are spending time with Josh (Coral Reef Doc) on your current system. I have followed a number of his posts on various threads and he seems to be very knowledgeable. Getting things dialed in on your 90 and learning how to use your equipment first is a smart move.

Good husbandry skills are a never ending process. It's good to get in the habit now as it will pay dividends in the future. I spend at least 1/2 hour each night checking/working on things plus a good 15 minutes each morning. Fridays, are my maintenance days and I spend several more hours cleaning, doing water changes, etc. You'll set some habits as to when you are changing your filter socks, wiping off your lights, checking your chemicals, performing water changes, etc. On the subject of water changes, I am real happy with the Genesis Renew system!

As for fish and coral, slow is always good. You'll establish your own rhythm. As corny as it sounds, the fish to me are like my other pets. When I stand in front of my tank, I start counting them one by one. When something is missing, I go nuts looking for him/her. They all have their own personalities and several of them now greet me at the glass.

I will continue to look forward to updates on your build!
 
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