Alan's 300g Marineland DD Reef

[alanmorehead]

Here is the spot where the cuttle tank will go:

 

[alanmorehead]

Cuttlefish update

Cuttlefish update

It was a big day for the cuttlefish yesterday. I found that one new hatchling earlier in the day and the 3 remaining eggs all hatched in the afternoon/evening. I actually got to see one of them hatch, which was pretty neat. I was getting the camcorder ready and looking down at the net breeder at the time. It only lasted a few seconds, but the cuttlefish just kind of poked a hole and slipped through.

I took a few videos last night too. Here is one I got of them feeding:

 

[jb61264]

Hey Alan, if you find glass or acyrlic rods, would you let me know where?...I've been trying to find some for quite some time and have been unsucessful

That cuttlefish video is AWESOME...what a cool thing to see happen...so you're going to have a separate cuttlefish tank now?...what triggered the cuttlefish thing, I don't remember you having them when I saw your setup.

 

[jd474]

From what I've read, it seems like it takes a lot of space and time.

+1 million. It's seriously labor intensive. They require a flow-through system, daily artemia, and phyto/rots are a good idea, too. They are a bit of a catch-22, in that they are cannibalistic and need to be separated, but don't do well when handled excessively, and are much more sensitive to water quality, but need heavy feedings. IMO, I'd try to get them onto frozen foods.

 

[jb61264]

so whats going on with your system Alan?...cuttlefish keeping you too busy to post updates?

did you ever order any acrylic rods?

 

[adddo]

Very nice build! Looking forward to see more.

 

[jbob]

cuttlefish....thats awesome! just dont forget about the 300. we demand updates!!! haha

did you start a thread for the cuttlefish tank? i wouldn't mind following along.

 

[alanmorehead]

so whats going on with your system Alan?...cuttlefish keeping you too busy to post updates?

Well, things have kept me really busy lately. Between work and family stuff it's increasingly harder to find time to spend on the tank. Luckily I have a majority of the equipment set up and it's allowed me to go with minimal maintenance. Most of the remaining things are cosmetic and cleanup (framing the tank, tying up the lighting wires, rebuilding the net top, etc.). I did get a bunch more SPS frags and got them mounted in the tank. The best method seemed to be gluing the frag onto small rubble pieces with super glue gel and then attaching that with reef epoxy. Some of the smaller top-off rocks were removable, so I glued them directly to the rock and put the rock back in. Now it's just a matter of growing things out.

The cuttlefish are a lot more involved than I thought. I still have a pair of cuttles that seem to be doing well. I have made a couple live mysid shrimp orders and tried to supplement with live amphipods and copepods. I had 1-2 that occasionally would eat frozen mysid, but I did lose a few after that. One of my live mysid shrimp orders got wiped out from the heat and that created a lot of problems. That was the week that I lost a few of the cuttles and struggled to pick out enough pods to feed them all. Honestly, having two to feed takes a lot of food. Let alone 8 of them. I'm hoping I can get them moved over to frozen soon.

did you ever order any acrylic rods?

I picked up a fiberglass driveway marker at Menards and cut off the top. I think that should work, but I haven't had time to mess with that setup.

I did get an oak stand built. It's all stained, but still need to put a clear coat on to seal it. I also need to drill the 50g and set it up. I'm not sure what I'll end up with for the cuttlefish, but I plan to put those in the 50g still. If they don't make it, I really don't think I'll try them again. At least for a long time. If that tank goes up without the cuttles, then it would likely turn into a clownfish tank.

cuttlefish....thats awesome! just dont forget about the 300. we demand updates!!! haha

did you start a thread for the cuttlefish tank? i wouldn't mind following along.

I don't have a separate thread. Just this one.
I'll try to get some pics posted soon of the progress.

 

[alanmorehead]

Ok, time for a long overdue update. Things are starting to slow down a bit and I've had a chance to take a few pics and put together some updates.

Unfortunately, I no longer have any of the cuttlefish. They were a lot more time consuming than I thought and one of my live mysis orders got toasted in the summer heat, which made it even more difficult to feed them.

Here is a summary/recap of my system:

Display tank
300g Marineland Deep Dimension (72"x36"x27")
SPS-dominanted reef
1-2" sandbed of mostly CaribSea Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand
Basement in-wall with oak picture frame style trim
Custom 40" tall stand built from 2x6 lumber. Primed/painted to seal wood
* Covered with 1/4" netting. Frame built from 1/2" CPVC painted with black Krylon Phusion

Filtration
Super Reef Octopus 5000 External Skimmer
* Currently running mesh/felt filter socks on drain lines into sump
* Currently not using overflow standpipes
* Roughly 400 lbs of live rock
* Occassionally run BRS lignite carbon and GFO pellets in 100 micron mesh media bags

Display Flow
Reeflo Dart (return pump). Dialed down to a low flow
(2) Hydor Koralia Magnum 8 powerheads
* Still considering a surge device

Sump
300g Rubbermaid stock tank
(2) Hydor Koralia Magnum 8 powerheads
Drilled with 2" bulkhead over factory hole for return pump
Centrally lit from: Icecap 250w electronic ballast + Lumenarc 3 large reflector + Radium 250w 20K lamp

Display Lighting
(3) Icecap 660 ballasts
(9) 60" LET Lighting Miro-4 T5 reflectors
Aluminum angle frame
Front six lamps are staggered with a 3" offset
* Current lamp combo:
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

Additional Equipment
Neptune Apex reef controller with EB8 + DC8
(3) 250w heaters. Ebo Jager and Marineland
Geo 618 calcium reactor, 10 lb. CO2 tank, Milwaukee regulator
Gravity-fed auto top off float valves
100g Rubbermaid stock tank for top off water
100g Rubbermaid stock tank for water changes
Panasonic exhaust fan

Fish & Inverts
(2) Yellow tangs
(2) Firefish
(2) Black ocellaris clownfish
(1) Melanurus wrasse
(1) Mystery wrasse
(1) Mandarin dragonet
(1) Yellow-bellied blue hippo tang
(1) Desjardini sailfin tang
(1) Diamond Goby
(2) Sand-sifting star
(1) Cleaner shrimp
(1) Serpent star

Sump
(1) Coral-banded shrimp
(1) Bimaculatus anthias
(1) Blue hippo tang

 

[alanmorehead]

Here is the basement living room where the tank is located:

The "entertainment wall":

A crappy FTS:

 

[alanmorehead]

My fish room

 

[cmtbears21]

Awesome setup...thanks for posting those updated pictures!
BTW...how large is that screen?

-Matt

 

[alanmorehead]

Awesome setup...thanks for posting those updated pictures!
BTW...how large is that screen?

-Matt

Thanks.

The projection screen is 110" w/ a Mitsubishi HC1500 projector. Great for sports, movies, and Xbox
(110" Matte White Projection Screen Material)

 

[cmtbears21]

That is sick...would be great for football (like you have pictured) alone!
-Matt

 

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I love how clean it looks from the outside. No distractions (other than the projector ) and a nice big aquarium. How's the noise, or is there none?

The fish room is definitely a winner for me too. It looks very well organized, well done.

 

[alanmorehead]

I love how clean it looks from the outside. No distractions (other than the projector ) and a nice big aquarium. How's the noise, or is there none?

It's pretty much silent from the living room side. There is a little humming from equipment when you're in the fish room in the back, but I noticed that finishing off the basement and carpeting pretty much absorbed any remaining noise on the living room side.

The fish room is definitely a winner for me too. It looks very well organized, well done.

Thanks. The space is really nice to have, but I've gone through a few revisions to get it laid out like it is now. I'm just glad I was able to get a 300g stock tank back there

 

[Creetin]

Very nice!! I have to ask this, But do you have enough buckets? I have the same problem.

 

[alanmorehead]

Very nice!! I have to ask this, But do you have enough buckets? I have the same problem.

I think I'll be ok on buckets for a while

 

[alanmorehead]

I'm going to pull the loose zoa frags off the sandbed tonight and move them to the sump. This should free up some more room on the sand bed and hopefully I won't need to worry about the diamond goby burying corals any more.

Since I'll have a little more room, I've been considering adding a few clams to the open area. There is currently a ~5" Derasa clam in that area now. I'll probably be looking at a Maxima clam, but I'm not sure about the others. Any issues with keeping a crocea on the sand bed long term?

 

[alanmorehead]

I tried to take some video of my new Blue Spot Jawfish last night. The first video showed him off a little better, but turned out to be too blurry. I'll have to try again. This video is nothing exciting for action and you only get to see his head, but I thought it was kind of cool when the hippo tang came along and the turbinaria's polyps retracted.

Anyway, here it is if you want to check it out:
http://vimeo.com/17574234