May I introduce my 20 Long - I think it is complete!

jdsabin1

New member
Showtime! :)

This thread contains pictures of my tank taken August 30th (today). The contents of this tank was transferred from an Eclipse 12 tank that I had up for several months. This 20 has been up for a little over a month now I believe. If you are interested in seeing pictures of my tank inhabitants closer, here are some threads you can click on to check them out (I hope this works anyway).

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http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16246

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16396

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16720

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16053

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15733

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16086
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The pictures in this thread will be graphics intensive. I optimized them for size but some of them are still over 100k. If you have a slower connection, this thread may frustrate you. Sorry in advance!

Here are specs and information about the tank. Please PM me if you have any questions. Perhaps someday my tank can be featured here on Nano-Reef.com. I do know that without this site in particular, I would not have been able to keep it going so thanks to everyone who was kind enough to answer my questions along the way. Also thanks to FlyGTI for giving me the inspiration for the 20 long tanks and for selling me your spare20 long for $15. I have lost 3 corals over the last 9 months (2 open brains and a large candy cane coral ... all in all not too bad. I also had an emerald crab die on me ... RIP).

20 long AGA
(2) Metal Halide 175 Watt 20K XM pendants
Aquaclear 150 HOB (with Rowaphos and carbon in media bags 24/7/365) attached to an Aquaclear surface skimmer
(1) 200 GPH AquaSweep PH
CPR 18" AquaFuge (stuffed full of several different types of macroalgae, pods, crabs and brittlestarfish, powered by a Rio 400)
Jali 13 watt PC over the fuge that is lit 24 hours a day
Lee's Small CC skimmer using a Rena Air 100 pump
100 watt EBO-Jager heater (in CPR AquaFuge)
35 lbs. Fiji/Florida LR
40 lbs. LS (estimate I assume including the LS in my fuge)

1 Royal Gramma
1 False perc
1 lawnmower blenny
1 Peppermint Shrimp
Snails (several but no turbos)
Several blue legged hermits (small guys)

Ricordeas
Mushrooms
Zoanthids
green star polyps
Anthelia
Clove (2 varieties)
SPS:
salmon Acropora millepora with yellow tips, yellow Acropora sp., green Acropora millepora, purple tipped Acropora nana, super green Acropora sp. monti digi, birdsnest, and some capri
bubble coral
frogspawn
4 mini-carpet anenomes
2 tulip anenomes
blastomussa merleti
blastomussa wellsi
sun coral
green fungia
fox coral
large zoo polyps
xenia
scolymia
squamosa clam
crocea clam
maxima clam
platygyra brain
favites brain
red/white feather duster
candy cane coral

Using IO salt with a 3 gallon water change weekly with gravity at 1.025
Auto-topoff from Physh1 from Nano-reef.com
I try to keep my tank as close to 80 degrees as I can. It does vary however between 78.5 to 81 degrees based on the weather and what we're doing with the central air or heat in the house.
Dose with B-Ionic every other day to keep calcium at 420ish
Golden Pearls - 2X weekly
9 hour photoperiod (noon to 9 daily)

Feed: pellets to fish 2X day (with an occasional treat of zooplankton for them)
frozen brine shrimp to sun coral, bubble coral, scolymia every other day

Any other questions feel free to PM me :).

First up are pics of the tank as it looks on my desk and also some different angles I haven't done before.

24j.jpg


1j.jpg


16j.jpg


23j.jpg


26j.jpg
 
All I have to say is that this may be the best nano setups I have ever seen... Heck I vote that one of the best tanks anysize! Those Red Zooanthids are amazing! Im jealous. Keep up the good work.
 
eek2.gif
That is awesome! That purple ric is out of this world. The colors you have going on in there are just stunning.

How do you feel the refugium & the skimmer work for you? There benefits alone, and together if you will. Meaning do you do less water changes, better nutrient export, etc..? With such a thriving tank I would like to hear these answer to see if they (the fuge & skimmer) are worth implementing.

Thanks & keep up the great work!
 
Nice to see everything open and looking good. That little hitch hiker sps on the aquacultured pinks is really awesome. It is a greenish teal with baby blue growth tips. You might want to try and seperate it from the rock. It is also fast growing. Definately worth trying to save.

gooch
 
Thank you guys, I appreciate it!

From a fuge and skimmer standpoint, the only benefit I can see immediately is the added water capacity the fuge brings with it to help keep things more stable.

The skimmer does take a lot of bad stuff out of the water (wow the skimmer 'scum' is just beyond nasty but I digress) so I know that's doing its job. The macro I have in the fuge I am sure is helping to keep algae in the display tank under control but to be truthful I have never had an algae problem in the display tank so I can't be completely sure. I do know the fuge is producing an abundance of pods so that should be beneficial. I am pretty confident I would not need to do weekly water changes if I didn't want to but old habits die hard. Better safe than sorry I guess.

I had an Eclipse 12 for several months without a fuge and skimmer and things worked fine. As I moved up to a larger tank I wanted to get a little bit of experience with a fuge and skimmer in anticipation for my large tank (200 gallon) so I went this route. It does give me more to study if nothing else ;).
 
gooch said:
Nice to see everything open and looking good. That little hitch hiker sps on the aquacultured pinks is really awesome. It is a greenish teal with baby blue growth tips. You might want to try and seperate it from the rock. It is also fast growing. Definately worth trying to save.

gooch

Best deal on zoos I have ever found gooch. Keep your site a secret so nobody else can get stuff from you ;). The major zoo players don't even have the colors I got from you. I saw that small green piece but not sure how to get that off the rock. Encrusting something or other.

I *will* be ordering from you again!

-Jeff
 
Awsome tank! Best nano I have ever seen. I love the mix of colors. Keep up the great work and keep us posted on when your big tank is coming.

Cody M.
 
Looking great! :)

Do you know if the sheet you have in the back of your tank helps towards giving it a more hmm... well see, I have XMs too, but my coloration isn't as nice... is that a blue sheet you have there? And did it add a lot of difference?

Thanks
 
I painted the back of the tank using a product from Krylon designed for plastic/glass called 'Fusion'. I was very pleased with the color I selected and the way it looks with any light (as I had 130 watts of PC's prior to my XM's). .

I have tried both blue and black and found that the black just soaked up too much light and didn't give me the nice blend and color that the blue background does. Of course it's a matter of personal preference. Black would certainly be better than no background at all.

:)
 
dennis_said said:
Ah thanks, very NICE painting job :)

There's not much to it actually. It is spray paint and I applied 10-12 coats to the outside before it was filled. The paint is the dark blue fusion by the way (there are two shades of blue). The lights make it appear lighter than it actually is.

Still in all, I couldn't have found a more perfect blue for my taste anyway :).
 
Jd, I agree with you about the blue paint not soaking up as much of the light. I had a blue background on my Eclipse, but when I transfered the contents tot he minibow, I painted the back of the minibow black. The light just doesn't seem as intense. I like the black background, but now I feel like I need more light. Hehehe! MH perhaps?
 
Go MH Caj! hehe...

Yes Scotsman, you'd be wrong. I have the powersweep powerhead, the return on the fuge (from a Rio 400) and I have the AquaClear 150 pushing water in also and that sits slightly off center to the right as you're facing the tank.
 
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