MadTownMax's 120-gallon
- Thread starter MadTownMax
- Start date
Tbor - you got it - I have my return shooting right through the center, so the fish like to ride the wave 
mbbuna - Thanks! The clam is one of my fav's, so I try to get it up there as close to the light as possible - and yeah, stupid clown is in the frogspawn
there's an anemone right behind it where it spends the night, and shares equally with the frogspawn - I'm hoping that when I get my rose BTA back in condition that it will move back over to that beauty, but you just can nott tell a clown where to go, they do whatever they like - silly little fish 
mbbuna - Thanks! The clam is one of my fav's, so I try to get it up there as close to the light as possible - and yeah, stupid clown is in the frogspawn
there's an anemone right behind it where it spends the night, and shares equally with the frogspawn - I'm hoping that when I get my rose BTA back in condition that it will move back over to that beauty, but you just can nott tell a clown where to go, they do whatever they like - silly little fish 
kaptken
New member
Is that a green or golden colored tree leather? I had a green one once that got like 9-10 inches tall. and if its a gold one like hidden reef had in their display tank, well it can get 12-18 inches across and high under a halide. maybe give the rock a little twist to the front. it seems to be right under the cross brace shadow. right now my tan colt coral is taking up the whole right corner of my 75. about a 12 inch flower top when fully opened, right up to the surface. blotting out the light to everything below. time to prune.
looking good Nick!! I like how you have lots of open access to clean the glass on the inside. all my rock and corals are crowding up to the sides and now the front. I cant scrape the sides at all, and have to remove stuff to get to the front.
Have the fish developed a taste for swiss cheese yet?
looking good Nick!! I like how you have lots of open access to clean the glass on the inside. all my rock and corals are crowding up to the sides and now the front. I cant scrape the sides at all, and have to remove stuff to get to the front.
Have the fish developed a taste for swiss cheese yet?
the leather is pretty much just tan 
with a very slight hint of green - I may put it in the left corner also - I'm going to be getting a nano stream soon, and I'll have to see how the flow is in the tank when that is installed, and then re-arrange carefully to give the yellow leather lots of flow... it definately needs to move though 
with a very slight hint of green - I may put it in the left corner also - I'm going to be getting a nano stream soon, and I'll have to see how the flow is in the tank when that is installed, and then re-arrange carefully to give the yellow leather lots of flow... it definately needs to move though
lol - there have been a lot of changes - but I'm trading my green BTA away and getting some new lights, so I'm a little hesitant about posting pictures before the change.
I did score a bright red BTA from a local (I still need to get my Green BTA to nursefry to complete the trade :eek1: ) and that anemone is looking beautiful in my tank....
I'll see if I have any time tonight to snap some pictures if I'm not out grabbing the extra lights
I did score a bright red BTA from a local (I still need to get my Green BTA to nursefry to complete the trade :eek1: ) and that anemone is looking beautiful in my tank....
I'll see if I have any time tonight to snap some pictures if I'm not out grabbing the extra lights
Ok, here's a few to hold ya'll over
Last edited:
kaptken
New member
Oh! Yeah man!! Great!! I needed that!
Hey!! look at that ! Those soft leathers are growing up. looks like a bit more clutter of lifeforms on the rock and sand. and those green tubey algea/spongey thingies are getting big. and whats that dark blue guy with the vertical broken stripes peaking out from under the base rock? looking good!
Yeah, that new red BTA is looking like it found home under that ledge. boy, i wish i had that much space to work with. my little 75 barely has room for water anymore. everything is over grown. between the plenum and 5 inch sand bed, 120 pounds of rock and all the over grown corals and 12 fish , it takes about 15 gallons to do a 50% water change. I gotta do some pruning or get a bigger tank.
what kind of lights you getting? dual 175's? or HQI's?
Hey!! look at that ! Those soft leathers are growing up. looks like a bit more clutter of lifeforms on the rock and sand. and those green tubey algea/spongey thingies are getting big. and whats that dark blue guy with the vertical broken stripes peaking out from under the base rock? looking good!
Yeah, that new red BTA is looking like it found home under that ledge. boy, i wish i had that much space to work with. my little 75 barely has room for water anymore. everything is over grown. between the plenum and 5 inch sand bed, 120 pounds of rock and all the over grown corals and 12 fish , it takes about 15 gallons to do a 50% water change. I gotta do some pruning or get a bigger tank.
what kind of lights you getting? dual 175's? or HQI's?
Thanks Ken!
The light(s) are just one single-ended 250W and two 3-foot VHO's - same that I had on my 65-gallon (and the same old bulbs )- I have the clam near the top for the extra punch and that is doing well as it has put on 1/4"-1/2" of shell in the last few months.
Everything else seems to be doing OK with most would consider pretty low light; even with the flourescents and the halide having over 2-years of use on them - he he... replacements for both are on the horizon.... more on that below....
The algae is kinda out of control on the rocks nearer the top - I recently did a water change and I'm starting to feed some new food that includes sugar to boost bacteria levels that will hopefully help the cyano disappear. The recipie is:
5 extra-large shrimp
5 clams
5 mussels
5 scallops
1 Tbs of sugar
-combine with 250 ml of water (about 1 cup) and blend until it looks like a milkshake - dose lightly - 5 ml/100 gallons once or twice a week until the tank can handle the feedings - mind you, this is just for corals/bacteria and micro-crusteceans - you still have to feed your fish
The leather is doing well, although it hid it's polyps since I had the flow off while taking pictures. It is doing very well, and is the home of 3 sexy shrimp that are new to the tank.
I have a bunch of my old frags back in my tank from the tank I set-up for my GF almost a year ago - so there are a lot of new pieces that I lost when my tank crashed - and I'm really happy to have them back - and they definately grew a lot.
The 6060 Stream has finally replaced the skimmer pump I was using for flow (65 watts vs 8 watts for the Tunze!) - so that is helping a lot - kinda like removing a heater that is always "on" in the tank - not to mention is is much less obtrusive, and has a great wide flow that moves the whole tank.
I'll make sure to get some pictures up after upgrading the lights - I'll be replacing the two 3-foot actinic VHO's with 4-foot actinics, and also adding two more 4-foot VHO's (although I don't know yet if I'll use more actinics or add some 10K bulbs - that I'll be swapping them around until I get somethig I'm happy with - but I definately am hoping that a few 10K's will spur some more growth. The other option I'm considering is replacing the 14K 250W halide with a 6.5K Iwasaki - if I go that route, I will be using 4 4-foot actinics to compensate for the yellow tone of that bulb.... I think :mixed:
Well, that's about all I can think of for now :beer: time to enjoy
The light(s)
are just one single-ended 250W and two 3-foot VHO's - same that I had on my 65-gallon (and the same old bulbs )- I have the clam near the top for the extra punch and that is doing well as it has put on 1/4"-1/2" of shell in the last few months. Everything else seems to be doing OK with most would consider pretty low light; even with the flourescents and the halide having over 2-years of use on them - he he... replacements for both are on the horizon.... more on that below....
The algae is kinda out of control on the rocks nearer the top - I recently did a water change and I'm starting to feed some new food that includes sugar to boost bacteria levels that will hopefully help the cyano disappear. The recipie is:
5 extra-large shrimp
5 clams
5 mussels
5 scallops
1 Tbs of sugar
-combine with 250 ml of water (about 1 cup) and blend until it looks like a milkshake
- dose lightly - 5 ml/100 gallons once or twice a week until the tank can handle the feedings - mind you, this is just for corals/bacteria and micro-crusteceans - you still have to feed your fish The leather is doing well, although it hid it's polyps since I had the flow off while taking pictures. It is doing very well, and is the home of 3 sexy shrimp that are new to the tank
.I have a bunch of my old frags back in my tank from the tank I set-up for my GF almost a year ago - so there are a lot of new pieces that I lost when my tank crashed - and I'm really happy to have them back - and they definately grew a lot.
The 6060 Stream has finally replaced the skimmer pump I was using for flow (65 watts vs 8 watts for the Tunze!) - so that is helping a lot - kinda like removing a heater that is always "on" in the tank - not to mention is is much less obtrusive, and has a great wide flow that moves the whole tank.
I'll make sure to get some pictures up after upgrading the lights - I'll be replacing the two 3-foot actinic VHO's with 4-foot actinics, and also adding two more 4-foot VHO's (although I don't know yet if I'll use more actinics or add some 10K bulbs - that I'll be swapping them around until I get somethig I'm happy with - but I definately am hoping that a few 10K's will spur some more growth. The other option I'm considering is replacing the 14K 250W halide with a 6.5K Iwasaki - if I go that route, I will be using 4 4-foot actinics to compensate for the yellow tone of that bulb.... I think :mixed:
Well, that's about all I can think of for now :beer: time to enjoy
kaptken
New member
OOOhhh!!! AAAHHH!!! Great update. I feel better now...
so, if you are getting a new 250w MH, does that mean you will have a pair of 250w MH's including your old one? Is that the plan plus 4 X 110W VHO's? WOW!! That would be great lighting!! /
Hey , do you remember The Hidden Reef's old display tank? a 180 RR . they had the biggest and happiest hard and soft corals i have ever seen in one tank. their lighting was very simple. a metal box light strip with 3 x 250w Hamilton 6700K MH and two 160w VHO ACTINICS in the light strip. and wow! look how it worked.
http://www.thehiddenreef.com/Pictures/company_logos/store-Reef1L.jpg
some of those leathers were 18 inches across! They say they have rented a new place since the fire a year ago, and hopefully will reopen soon. they saved the tank and corals.
Hmmm? here is the place i buy my VHO bulbs from. they claim they are 12% stronger on actinics than URI. I have used them for a couple years and think they are very good. and you can't beat the price. check em out and let your friends know too. i'm about to order another batch for this year soon. the actinics and 50/50's are great. their Marine whites are going out of production they say due to lack of interest.
http://aquariumlamps-factorydirect.com/
check the sizes and prices under PRODUCT listing. and the specs under phosphors. I like them. I get the ones with internal reflectors.
if you need a VHO ballast and end cap kit. heres the best deal around. great ballasts. they run the bulbs 20 degrees cooler than the fulham workhorse 7 ballasts i have been using. and nicer color too. here is a whole 4 foot 2 lamp kit.
http://www.hellolights.com/2laaroasbaki.html
can't beat that!!
well thats it for now. good to hear from you and see some new pics. hope these sources help you out,.
Hey if you want some frags, just say the word. that one thin branching green acro frag you gave me is going bonkers. and i have lots others too. If you can pick up the shipping . lets say in spring when weather is not too bad. I got a lot of stuff. i collect bits and pieces and grow them up.
enjoy
kaptken
so, if you are getting a new 250w MH, does that mean you will have a pair of 250w MH's including your old one? Is that the plan plus 4 X 110W VHO's? WOW!! That would be great lighting!! /
Hey , do you remember The Hidden Reef's old display tank? a 180 RR . they had the biggest and happiest hard and soft corals i have ever seen in one tank. their lighting was very simple. a metal box light strip with 3 x 250w Hamilton 6700K MH and two 160w VHO ACTINICS in the light strip. and wow! look how it worked.
http://www.thehiddenreef.com/Pictures/company_logos/store-Reef1L.jpg
some of those leathers were 18 inches across! They say they have rented a new place since the fire a year ago, and hopefully will reopen soon. they saved the tank and corals.
Hmmm? here is the place i buy my VHO bulbs from. they claim they are 12% stronger on actinics than URI. I have used them for a couple years and think they are very good. and you can't beat the price. check em out and let your friends know too. i'm about to order another batch for this year soon. the actinics and 50/50's are great. their Marine whites are going out of production they say due to lack of interest.
http://aquariumlamps-factorydirect.com/
check the sizes and prices under PRODUCT listing. and the specs under phosphors. I like them. I get the ones with internal reflectors.
if you need a VHO ballast and end cap kit. heres the best deal around. great ballasts. they run the bulbs 20 degrees cooler than the fulham workhorse 7 ballasts i have been using. and nicer color too. here is a whole 4 foot 2 lamp kit.
http://www.hellolights.com/2laaroasbaki.html
can't beat that!!
well thats it for now. good to hear from you and see some new pics. hope these sources help you out,.
Hey if you want some frags, just say the word. that one thin branching green acro frag you gave me is going bonkers. and i have lots others too. If you can pick up the shipping . lets say in spring when weather is not too bad. I got a lot of stuff. i collect bits and pieces and grow them up.
enjoy
kaptken
