Mike's 300 Double-D

[TheFishTeen]

Wow. Inspirational build! If I remember correctly, you have a Deltec AP851. Do you still use it? What is your opinion on it's performance? (I own one )

 

[aquaph8]

M&T, did you QT the leopards? If so did you just use a container with sand in it? Any other tips for me

 

[prop-frags]

Brett,
A plastic container w/sand will work. We also added a couple of pieces of live rock. We just observed the Leopards, fed them well, and treated w/Prazi as a preventative only. The M. bipartitus females came from LA and were in great condition and already eating frozen food when they arrived.

-Terry

 

[aquaph8]

Thanks for the info Terry, I will do the same. I had to take advantage of the LFS black friday sale and pick up a couple new babies.

 

[Chris3323]

Oh my goodness. Reading through this build has inspired me to put up a tank again. I thought I was done with the hobby but I think I am officially back in. It will be a couple years but I am in. Your tank is unbelievably beautiful. I love the scaping you have.

 

[Mrs. Music]

Terri, it is so nice to see a female involved in reef keeping. I love that you and your husband work as a team, and enjoy this crazy hobby together. I commented, and complimented you guys some time back when I first discovered this thread. I felt it compared to a Disney cartoon/drama. I always check the large tank forum to see what you guys are up to!

 

[nanonubey]

Great pictures guys

 

[prop-frags]

Wow. Inspirational build! If I remember correctly, you have a Deltec AP851. Do you still use it? What is your opinion on it's performance? (I own one )

Thank you, Kovy. We're glad that our thread can help others. We are still using the AP851. The skimmer was performing great with our 180 setup, but once we went up to the 300 (now ~500g total volume), it became undersized for our setup. The SRO is doing very well, and the Deltec is picking up the slack. We need both, since we have a pretty heavy fish load and we like to feed a lot! The AP851 has always performed very well for us, despite being overpriced.

Oh my goodness. Reading through this build has inspired me to put up a tank again. I thought I was done with the hobby but I think I am officially back in. It will be a couple years but I am in. Your tank is unbelievably beautiful. I love the scaping you have.

Chris - we sincerely appreciate you checking out the thread and taking the time to post here. It is comments like yours that inspire us to continue with the updates. Please do stop in and let us know when you start your build!

Terri, it is so nice to see a female involved in reef keeping. I love that you and your husband work as a team, and enjoy this crazy hobby together. I commented, and complimented you guys some time back when I first discovered this thread. I felt it compared to a Disney cartoon/drama. I always check the large tank forum to see what you guys are up to!

Terry says "reef ladies unite! we're making progress, but there still aren't enough of us". As for the team work - our relationship is stronger because we enjoy many of the same passions! :love2:

Great pictures guys

Thanks Nano - appreciate it!

 

[TheFishTeen]

Thank you, Kovy. We're glad that our thread can help others. We are still using the AP851. The skimmer was performing great with our 180 setup, but once we went up to the 300 (now ~500g total volume), it became undersized for our setup. The SRO is doing very well, and the Deltec is picking up the slack. We need both, since we have a pretty heavy fish load and we like to feed a lot! The AP851 has always performed very well for us, despite being overpriced.

Are you gravity feeding it, or feeding it with a pump?

 

[prop-frags]

We gravity fed it for years, but are now using a pump and it is working much better for our situation as the Deltec can be a bit temperamental.

 

[prop-frags]

Thank you Crayonbreaker for the kind words and for participating in our thread!


We spent a couple of hours today re-arranging some corals and doing some much needed pruning. We also replaced our MH bulbs with new Radiums. Here's an updated FTS:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/6456996523/" title="nt 1829 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6456996523_c87565beee_b.jpg" width="1024" height="364" alt="nt 1829"></a>

 

[iwishtofish]

Stunning, as usual, Mike and Terry! You are doing a bit better than I am, but in 5 or 6 years, I just might cruise up along side!

:lol:

Looking at your FTS, I'm curious - did you also place your corals strategically by color, or just by type, proper needs, and aggressiveness?

 

[bagz727]

what type of ballasts are you using w/ your radiums? thanks

 

[prop-frags]

Stunning, as usual, Mike and Terry! You are doing a bit better than I am, but in 5 or 6 years, I just might cruise up along side!

:lol:

Looking at your FTS, I'm curious - did you also place your corals strategically by color, or just by type, proper needs, and aggressiveness?

Hahah, you are too kind Sir! As for coral placement, we first try to strategically place them by lighting needs, then mix colors and shapes to get some nice contrast and lastly, try to make it look natural.

what type of ballasts are you using w/ your radiums? thanks

At the moment we are using (2) Coralvue 400w ballasts and (1) Lumatek 400w dimmable. We will be replacing the Coralvue ballasts with 2 new Lumateks within the next couple of weeks. We're just waiting for the shipment to arrive.

As an update, we thought we'd share some pics Terry took of our male Bellae earlier tonight:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/6464407049/" title="nt 1834 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6464407049_79021f334f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="680" alt="nt 1834"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/6464405291/" title="nt 1833 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6464405291_a93ee4a0c3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="680" alt="nt 1833"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/6464278893/" title="nt 1832 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6464278893_530e7819a3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="680" alt="nt 1832"></a>

 

[launchnukes]

What a beautiful fish! How long have you had him? I've been considering the pair on PIA. Ive even added them to the cart, I just can't bring myself to click the final submit order button. Lol.

 

[prop-frags]

LN, we have had the pair for a while now. My pictures do not do the male justice as he is just stunning in person. The female is a tiny little cutie as well and we are completely besotted with them.

PIA has had that pair for a while now and I can tell you Kevin has taken great care with them and they are plump and healthy.

-Terry

 

[pookstreet]

Great layout on the tank and what a beautiful fish. I don't have any flashers but if I were to get any, that would be the one.

 

[DeepSeaBeauti]

I read through every page!!! took me 3 days. I just bought my 300DD and almost had a heart attack as I was reading all the trouble you have had with it. Unfortunately for me if I have a failure like that my wife will not be as understanding, and for that I'm jealous!! lol She nearly kicked me out of the house when she saw the size of the new tank!

I'm glad everything worked out well, and I hope you don't mind but when the time comes you will be getting a lot of PM from me. (if you don't mind)

 

[prop-frags]

Great layout on the tank and what a beautiful fish. I don't have any flashers but if I were to get any, that would be the one.

Thanks Kenny! We're really enjoying them. The female was having some trouble with all the flow in the display tank being so small as she is, so we have moved her out to the prop tank until she beefs up a bit. The male is really handsome and doing well! Wish the pictures could better show the colors and patterns on him.

I read through every page!!! took me 3 days. I just bought my 300DD and almost had a heart attack as I was reading all the trouble you have had with it. Unfortunately for me if I have a failure like that my wife will not be as understanding, and for that I'm jealous!! lol She nearly kicked me out of the house when she saw the size of the new tank! I'm glad everything worked out well, and I hope you don't mind but when the time comes you will be getting a lot of PM from me. (if you don't mind)

Looks like you're off to a good start there - we checked out your new build thread. In an odd way, putting that tank in a storage box while you continue your research is a good thing. There are so many excellent builds here and other sites to read up on, and I see you're already getting some useful advice from Paul. Check out this thread on humidity and ventilation - it has some good links and info in there. Just let us know how we can help you out...glad to do it.

 

[coralreefdoc]

Thank you Crayonbreaker for the kind words and for participating in our thread!


We spent a couple of hours today re-arranging some corals and doing some much needed pruning. We also replaced our MH bulbs with new Radiums. Here's an updated FTS:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/6456996523/" title="nt 1829 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6456996523_c87565beee_b.jpg" width="1024" height="364" alt="nt 1829"></a>

M&T. Are you running the lumatek in the middle and the coralvues on the ends in this pic ? The color rendition in the middle area in this pic is perfect ! Blue but yet very crisp, an icy blue if you will. Guessing thats the Lumatek/Radium combo ...

Looks great guys !