Eric the half-bee
Passer of gasses
Peter, you look like you're ready to open a pet store. The wall of tanks is a great idea. If I have a chance for a bigger tank in the future, I'm copying your idea. Can't wait to see your system up & going.
Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)
- Thread starter nineball
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nineball
Active member
Yes, I think we are all getting together on Friday for the water test. I will be taking pictures.........
Peter
nineball
Active member
nineball
Active member
Antonais1391
New member
do you know what you will try breeding?
nineball
Active member
Other than clowns no. I won't really have a handle on that until I have a general idea as to the fish list for the main display tank. I will be consulting this group for advice when I am ready.........
Peter
breeding, thats interesting, maybe after 100 years you will pay off the investment you put into the tank with clownfish fry LOL No all kiding aside when I got into the aquarium hobby it started with a petsmart employee telling me a Oscar would be fine in a 10 gallon, fish only grow to the size of tank. Well I quickly learned the truth is fish die to the size of the tank. I went on to having 5 tanks over 150 gallons and bred different species of South and Central American Cichlids. Watching the different species in their rituals and mating traditions was really cool. amazing to see how hey react and what they do. Male Jaguar cichlids turned psycho when fry were in the water. I couldn't come near the tank he would literally jump out of the water to attack me to keep me away. I had to seal the tank after picking him up off the floor like 5 times.
I would love to do this again with SW fish, I'm actually more interested in that then I am with corals. Although from what I know, and it aint much, there are not to many species that actually do breed in aquariums in salt water. Clowns don't really float my boat I like the big fish, show piece fish. I can't wait to see what you breed. I would be interested to hear from others what larger species are actually known to breed in aquariums
I would love to do this again with SW fish, I'm actually more interested in that then I am with corals. Although from what I know, and it aint much, there are not to many species that actually do breed in aquariums in salt water. Clowns don't really float my boat I like the big fish, show piece fish. I can't wait to see what you breed. I would be interested to hear from others what larger species are actually known to breed in aquariums
Peter, are you planning on doing a test with just tap water to make sure there are no leaks and to test out the full system before you put the salt water in?
I am assuming that you will do it this way just to make sure all the plumbing and pumps are working the way they were designed to work.
Looking forward to the water pictures!!
Cheers!!
Pat
I am assuming that you will do it this way just to make sure all the plumbing and pumps are working the way they were designed to work.
Looking forward to the water pictures!!
Cheers!!
Pat
msr224
New member
Peter,
You might have more success letting the fish breed each other....just sayin....
LOL!!!!
chingchai
Premium Member
Leng is my friend.
But I use Miracle Mud before we know each other.
This is like a promotional clip video.
The decision to use this product is based on consumer's satisfaction.
nineball
Active member
Yes Pat its tap water then when the system passes the integrity test it will be ro/di salt water (reef crystals). we are getting ready for full production over the next two days.........
with this group we don't need luck because everything will work the first time...............right?????:hmm3::spin2::hmm3:
Peter
chingchai
Premium Member
nineball
Active member
Right on Chingchai, I have yet to hear any complaints and a great deal of confidence that the Miracle Mud helps to maintain water quality naturally. This is a good thing for us all I believe. I hope to add my voice to the chorus of support really soon.
Peter
PS.
I trust life is slowly returning to normal........and that's a good thing?
nineball
Active member
Always the water thing...............I think you guys put far too much importance in water!!!!!!!!!:worried:
Peter
Briney Dave
New member
Peter,
can't wait for the water test pics!! My tank should be crossing the border as we speak. My building crew has developed and changed their plans to get the tank into my classroom about two dozen times now. I think they have settled on bringing the tank into the building then trying to develop a plan with the tank in front of them. LOL
I wanted to say thanks again for being so detailed in sharing your build. I have amended plans based on what I have seen in yours and Ching's builds and the great discussions that have gone with them.
can't wait for the water test pics!! My tank should be crossing the border as we speak. My building crew has developed and changed their plans to get the tank into my classroom about two dozen times now. I think they have settled on bringing the tank into the building then trying to develop a plan with the tank in front of them. LOL
I wanted to say thanks again for being so detailed in sharing your build. I have amended plans based on what I have seen in yours and Ching's builds and the great discussions that have gone with them.
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I only made it it one store while I was in Chicago, but it was a good one (Shotank). The owner, Mat, was very hospitable and very knowledgeable. He's been in this business two years longer than me (since 1985) so he can retire earlier I guess. The 1350 gallon reef at his shop reminded me of someone else's tank, but I can't quite peg who's 
I learned a few things from seeing his tank and confirmed a few others I had always suspected. The tank is 18'L x 2.5'W x 4'H by my estimation. It's a two-sided tank with one side adjacent to a large window. The side with natural light had far better coral growth but very limited coraline growth. It may be due to UV from the sun, but I'm not sure how much UV penetrates a glass window and a 2" thick acrylic wall? Not enough for a sun tan anyway
He had at least one parrotfish in there. The one he has is a herbivore, but some of the other varieties are coral crunchers. The herbivourous parrotfish don't eat coraline algae to my knowledge but they inadvertently do so as they scrape the rocks of green slime and filamentous (hair) algae. They also eat burrowing alage that gets beneath the surface of the rock. You can actually hear parrotfish crunching rocks on natural reefs as they are one of the primary producers of crushed coral substrate. The Parrotfish in the display at Shotank didn't appear to be bothering the corals and the impact on the rock wasn't significant. Maybe we can talk Peter into a school of parrots so we can establish exactly which ones eat corals http://z00n.net/wp-content/gallery/fish/Parrotfish_Scaridae/Stoplight_Parrotfish_terminal.jpg They are like saltwater koi with every colour of the rainbow. http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/ArchOLD-6/1187575211.jpg http://chemistry.csudh.edu/faculty/jim/coz2008web/parrot.jpg
As far as the temperature debate goes, his tank was at 84F while I was there, but he mentioned it goes down to 76F in the winter. He had two fans to cool it, with no chiller.
The rock work was exceptionally nice, just dry stacked with nothing fancy to hold it together other than experience, skill and some big keystones & bridge stones. The equipment is tucked away in a 2' wide closet. I couldn't see everything but it appeared to be running on a modest sized protein skimmer, refugium, and a few media reactors/bags. I think I saw calcium reactor? Anyway, my point is you can have a very successful reef tank while keeping it simple.
Back to Peter's tank... yes, I agree... keep the skimmer stock for at least six months so you can properly evaluate it before making any mods. This is an experiment that we are all eagerly watching. The whole idea of exhausting resources on improving protein skimming is debatable as they do have their limitations, but the point of this hobby is finding a better/simpler way so every little bit helps.
Your goal should be to dot every "I" and cross every "T" until you are sure everything is running smoothly. Then you can start unplugging devices to establish which one is puling the weight. I'm sure we will be surprised when we find out where success lies.
I learned a few things from seeing his tank and confirmed a few others I had always suspected. The tank is 18'L x 2.5'W x 4'H by my estimation. It's a two-sided tank with one side adjacent to a large window. The side with natural light had far better coral growth but very limited coraline growth. It may be due to UV from the sun, but I'm not sure how much UV penetrates a glass window and a 2" thick acrylic wall? Not enough for a sun tan anyway
He had at least one parrotfish in there. The one he has is a herbivore, but some of the other varieties are coral crunchers. The herbivourous parrotfish don't eat coraline algae to my knowledge but they inadvertently do so as they scrape the rocks of green slime and filamentous (hair) algae. They also eat burrowing alage that gets beneath the surface of the rock. You can actually hear parrotfish crunching rocks on natural reefs as they are one of the primary producers of crushed coral substrate. The Parrotfish in the display at Shotank didn't appear to be bothering the corals and the impact on the rock wasn't significant. Maybe we can talk Peter into a school of parrots so we can establish exactly which ones eat corals
http://z00n.net/wp-content/gallery/fish/Parrotfish_Scaridae/Stoplight_Parrotfish_terminal.jpg They are like saltwater koi with every colour of the rainbow. http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/ArchOLD-6/1187575211.jpg http://chemistry.csudh.edu/faculty/jim/coz2008web/parrot.jpg As far as the temperature debate goes, his tank was at 84F while I was there, but he mentioned it goes down to 76F in the winter. He had two fans to cool it, with no chiller.
The rock work was exceptionally nice, just dry stacked with nothing fancy to hold it together other than experience, skill and some big keystones & bridge stones. The equipment is tucked away in a 2' wide closet. I couldn't see everything but it appeared to be running on a modest sized protein skimmer, refugium, and a few media reactors/bags. I think I saw calcium reactor? Anyway, my point is you can have a very successful reef tank while keeping it simple.
Back to Peter's tank... yes, I agree... keep the skimmer stock for at least six months so you can properly evaluate it before making any mods. This is an experiment that we are all eagerly watching. The whole idea of exhausting resources on improving protein skimming is debatable as they do have their limitations, but the point of this hobby is finding a better/simpler way so every little bit helps.
Your goal should be to dot every "I" and cross every "T" until you are sure everything is running smoothly. Then you can start unplugging devices to establish which one is puling the weight. I'm sure we will be surprised when we find out where success lies.
nineball
Active member
Welcome back Mr. Wilson. About the skimmer.....I now have the manual......I think I am reading it correctly when it says it skims 25 gallons per minute at peak but ideally when everything settles down it operates in the 15 gallons per minute. Does that make sense??Did I interpret it correctly??
Peter
Peter
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