forddna's 220g Mixed Reef

[forddna]

Nothing special or anything, but hey...I want a thread, too! I purchased a used 220g (72x24x30H) system - tank, stand, canopy, lights, return pump, and sand. I purchased live rock from other local reef club members' systems and used about 40lbs that I had in a little 37g that was up and running. I added a sump and skimmer that I already accumulated.

A couple changes later, here's the equipment list:

3 x 250w MH
Current USA Lunar Lights
40g acrylic sump w/ drains going into one filter sock
Eheim 1260 return
Aqua C EV400 (custom "shorty" body) with Mag 12
4 x Koralia 4
Phosban Reactor

Stock list:

Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Yellow Tang
Hippo Tang
Two Barred Rabbitfish
Potters Angel pair
Barlett's Anthias (2 - lost 1)
True Percula Clown pair
Diamond Goby
Yellow Watchman Goby
4 Cleaner Shrimp
10 Scarlet Hermits
Various snails

And my corals are a mix of softies and LPS. I have a couple of Montipora frags as well. I'm trying to stay lower maintenance.

I'll start by posting pictures of initial setup. My ro/di only gives me about 1 gallon per hour. Pictures are day 1 and day 2, and then not sure the time span before the third pic. Day 3-5?

 

[forddna]

And the first aquascape. It has not changed much since then.

And my first FTS after my first corals! 6-23-08

 

[forddna]

Here was my next FTS - taken 6-30-08

And some closeups of corals, pics taken around that same time.

The Yumas and the Percula Clowns were both purchased from member Hexedagain on here. The Zoas and Palys are from former member Groupergenius.

 

[forddna]

Another one of my clowns because...well...IMO they're gorgeous! I can't wait to see them all grown up!

Okay, I lied. One more. hehe

And some other fish pics.....

My Yellow Tang is camera shy.

 

[forddna]

I forgot to list Daniel the Damsel!! He was my first salwater fish, and I love him. I researched before picking him, and Yellow Tail Damsels are supposed to be a less aggressive damsel, and it has been very true. Like I said, he was first, and he has not bothered any newcomers. No problems with him at all. Love him! I even had him crammed into a 37 (tall 29g) with the Purple and Yellow Tangs and he didn't bother anybody. (temporary housing situation)

My camera is smarter than me, so please ignore my poor quality pictures.

 

[forddna]

A couple new corals I got in early July..

Eagle Eye Zoas and Hammer.

picture is horrible..sorry..but it can give you an idea of how nice these Eagle Eyes are. Very long "lashes."

Unfortunately, I lost two heads of that Hammer when it fell into the sand and sat for too long.

 

[forddna]

FTS 7-16-08. I got that Toadstool in the back at the same time as the big Devil's Hand, but I didn't have enough rock to elevate it enough to be seen from the front. It's good now!

And here's a top-downish pic to compare to the one at the top of the page.

7-30-08 (all pics below)

FTS

Left Side

Right Side

 

[tangers]

Tank looks gorgeous Amanda. I love the aquascaping! Glad to see you got everything up and running smoothly. How's the skimmer running?

 

[forddna]

It's great! I'm still tweaking it just a tad. The manual said to make an adjustment and leave it alone for 24hrs or something, so it's a slow adjustment.

 

[tangers]

I found it best to bring the water even with the box, and the air about half open. that should at least give you a good starting point.

 

[Toolguy942]

Beautiful tank!

 

[cymbiline]

Very nice tank Amanda! Good luck with it.

Bob

 

[Tizzo]

Where'd the clown tang go??
He's in the pic, but not on the list...:hmm2:

 

[tangers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13191510#post13191510 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tizzo
Where'd the clown tang go??
He's in the pic, but not on the list...:hmm2:

I wondered the same thing, but thought I was just seeing things.

 

[forddna]

Oscar the Clown Tang is no longer with us. I always make sure every fish is right there fighting for food (I feed in a way that there's food all over the tank so even a shy fish can find some). Oscar was always there, so I never thought anything was wrong. Then, one morning, I don't see him. My heart sunk. I looked and looked but couldn't find him. I started getting ready for work, and before I left, I looked again. He was stuck to a powerhead. He was alive, though! This is when I first noticed the sunken look.

I put him in my sump and put some flake in there, but he kept getting stuck to everything. I shut off my skimmer pump and phosban reactor pump, and blocked my return pump so he couldn't get stuck to anything. But I had to go to work, so I left. When I got back home, he was still struggling. I offered him food again.

He died that night.

 

[Cheetos&Cocopuf]

Hey Puddin'
Good looking tank.
What process are you utilizing for Calcium/Alk dosing?
Kind of like keeping a racecar in tune... huh.

Looking forward to you and Donalds' big DR/Outlaw Race at end of year.
Cool.

 

[forddna]

Thanks!! I'm not doing any dosing at all. Just regular water changes with Tropic Marin Pro Reef. I'm thinking about trying that Zeo..something salt. Waiting for other people's feedback after a long term trial.

What's your YB name??

 

[forddna]

Here's a pic with Oscar.

 

[Tizzo]

awe, now I feel bad making a comment on a negative thing amongst so many pretty pictures. Sorry about your fish. That sucks.
But on a positive note, your tank is very pretty.

 

[forddna]

It's okay.