Friend's tank, opinions?

[alexchern75]

Hey guys, one of my friends was asking about advise for his system, I took some pictures and was very impressed with his set up, especially considering that he has been in the hobby for a very short time. Can you guys look over this and give us some opinions, questions, comments, etc. Here is the info and a bunch of pictures:

Setup started in Oct '05, is the Oceanic 144 gal half circle.
I replaced the plastic canopy top side with riveted stainless steel
sheetmetal.
Two Catalina MH250
4 x 36" T5's;
1 string of blue LED xmas lights for nightime lunar effect.
In the garage: A Desktop PC with a AC Controller II,
4 500 watt heaters
95 gal stock tank sump(using approx 40 gallons of space, without a filter sock)
Gen X return pump
Euro Reef Protein Skimmer
30 gallon Refugium;
Precision Marine Calcium Reactor;
55 gal auto top off setup dosed with Kalk;
95 gal stock tank mixing tub on the second level.
I am getting ready to add:
One 1/4 chiller in anticipation of the summer heat (sitting on the 55 gall
barrell.)

So there you are, what do you guys think?
Anything should be improved?

 

[alexchern75]

 

[Pico1]

thats a lot of equiptment for a tank with such small stocking. And that is a LOT of macro WOW (but more is always better) ! IMO add a background to the display tank, black or colbalt blue, and the halides look a little off center but that my be from the angle the pic was taken at. Add more corals, invers, and fish. The tank looks like its off to a very nice start.

 

[mrbncal]

I think some support under the caluerpa tank is needed. Plywood is looking pretty bowed from the weight. Tank looks good though.

 

[Justin74]

I agree w/ mrb . And all those cords hanging off the sump and pretty much off everything in the garage is a powerchord speghetti mess. I would suggest he direct his attention there with some zip ties and drip loops to keep any precipitation and saltcreep from following the chords to the electrical outlets. Plus its very easy for him or a guest to trip on some of those and who knows what would happen if that did.

Otherwise a very nice setup especially for someone so new

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Does he have that computer synchronized to a controller or something?

-Justin

 

[goslugsgo]

Not only is the ply bowing, the 2x4 looks like it's about to pull out, as well. Then consider ALL of the computer and electrical equip underneath it. He's inviting Murphy in and mixing him a drink.

 

[alexchern75]

He did mention that he was going to be working on the plywood set which was bowing a bit, we also talked about ogganizing the cords that could later become a hazard, specially under an emergency when he may need to very quickly assess the problem and shut down part of the system.
Yes justin, the computer is hooked up to the controller and im sure a few other things. It was pretty cool when I asked him about his parameters, and he just hit a button and it all including graphs popped up on the computer with times, dates, dips etc displayed.
something that I found pretty cool was how "astrea snails, or florida turbos" are making babies, I havent seen much of that in other tanks, mostly nasarus snails and the sort but never these guys that LFS sell for $3 per snail, he has babies and fully grown ones cruising around. you can see them in the fuge.

 

[alexchern75]

I was tempted to ask him for a few, haha!

 

[Justin74]

I really dig on some of the self sustaining aspects they can produce when you got a nice big one like that,very cool. I would also really apreciate havin it synched to my pc,one of these days...

-Justin

 

[BenH98]

What all does his computer tell him?? I've never heard of such a thing... sounds pretty cool though

 

[alexchern75]

well, I'm going to have to ask him because I have no clue other than the ph curbs that he showed me

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Looks like a really great setup except as mentioned before. That looks like caulerpa in the fuge and a lot of it. He might want to consider chaeto or some other macro. I had a fuge full of grape caulerpa and it released gametes and died over night (or ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œwent sexualââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ as is sometimes said). I was lucky and didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t loose anything (except all of the caulerpa) but it was a mess to cleanup (had to remove all of the live rock from the fuge and clean) and ran a filter sock and carbon for a couple of days. Plus a big water change. Just something to consider.

 

[Unarce]

You're friend has a great set-up, Alex. Noob or experienced

 

[alexchern75]

Cool, I'm sure he appreciates that.
Thank is a good point about having too much caulerpa....

 

[robertloop]

I second the "Stock it up" idea. Although dude might be outta dough after all that! I'll cut him a deal on a sweet A. nana... Pun intended. Check out the purple one in the forground and in the upper left background. 15 bucks. Sweet frag. I'll break him off a nice piece.