My 130gal Cubed reef. (picture intense)

[precko]

Very nice!! I just love large cube tanks.

How is your bubble doing, some closeups of it would be appreciated.

Thanks, I am hooked on large cube tanks now if I upgrade in a couple of years it will definitely be to a larger cubed footprint tank.

When you say 'bubble' are you referring to the Plerogyra sp. pearl bubble coral or the green bubble tip anemone? I have both . Either way I will get some pics tomorrow when lights are back on its 12am over here now.

 

[lietz06]

You'r tank is gorgeous! I love how clean it looks I hope you keep us updated on the changing lyretail...I'd love to see before, mid and after pics Thanks for sharing your tank!

 

[precko]

You'r tank is gorgeous! I love how clean it looks I hope you keep us updated on the changing lyretail...I'd love to see before, mid and after pics Thanks for sharing your tank!

Thank you, I really appreciate the great comments, makes me want to keep improving it.

That is the plan with the transformation of the Lyretail to take photos throughout to document it, hopefully he will turn all red/pink, some don't.

 

[rjwilson37]

When you say 'bubble' are you referring to the Plerogyra sp. pearl bubble coral or the green bubble tip anemone?

Yes, the green tip bubble! I always had problems keeping bubble tip anemone's.

 

[precko]

Yes, the green tip bubble! I always had problems keeping bubble tip anemone's.

It seems to be doing OK, it has kept its bubble tips so far and I have now had him 3 months, got him on 10th July.

feed him half a prawn once a week and the clowns which he is hosting give him bits of food too, he is on the bottom but directly under a 250w bulb.

 

[rjwilson37]

I hope he does well and makes it in the long run. I found out after my 3rd try to keep them, that only 10% of the people that try keeping bubble tip anemones have them for longer than 2-3 years. Another 5% keep them alive for 1-2 years and the rest of us that keep them don't make it past a year.

In the wild they live for like ever pretty much unless there is problems in the eco system in that area because of man made or nature itself causing a problem with the reef.

 

[precko]

I hope he does well and makes it in the long run. I found out after my 3rd try to keep them, that only 10% of the people that try keeping bubble tip anemones have them for longer than 2-3 years. Another 5% keep them alive for 1-2 years and the rest of us that keep them don't make it past a year.

In the wild they live for like ever pretty much unless there is problems in the eco system in that area because of man made or nature itself causing a problem with the reef.

fingers crossed, I bought it from my LFS but it was sold to them for store credit from another reefer as it had split in his tank, its actually a 3rd gen captive GBTA so hopefully is hardier than wild caught ones.

 

[André Silvestre]

Wow, Paul, you´ve got a serious build over here! :eek2:

The hardware is top notch and the aesthetics of the hole system in the room is simply awesome. I love it! The lighting fixture is beautiful.

The first layout was good but I have to say that the rescape is much, much better. Plenty of open space for the fish to swim, good amount of hideouts and great job on encrusting the reefplates in the layout to give a feeling of a single piece. Very minimalistic and yet, super efficient. Well done.

Where do you plan on placing the Vortechs?


Regards,
André

 

[precko]

Wow, Paul, you´ve got a serious build over here! :eek2:

The hardware is top notch and the aesthetics of the hole system in the room is simply awesome. I love it! The lighting fixture is beautiful.

The first layout was good but I have to say that the rescape is much, much better. Plenty of open space for the fish to swim, good amount of hideouts and great job on encrusting the reefplates in the layout to give a feeling of a single piece. Very minimalistic and yet, super efficient. Well done.

Where do you plan on placing the Vortechs?


Regards,
André

Thank you André that is a real compliment .
I agree with you on the layout I did like the previous one but it did take up a lot of the swimming space and there wasn't too much room for coral placement, I am very happy with how the new one came out, it did take a few hours and a bit of swearing to get there though.

Regarding the Vortechs, I think I will just purchase one MP40w for now, the Tunze in the back left corner will stay, it is pretty well hidden by the rock and I don't notice it, it is pointing to the surface and gives me great agitation. It will just be a straight swap with the other Tunze, it will be in the same position, do you think this will be ok?

This was meant to be a SPS dominated reef but it will now be a mixed reef, I plan to add a few SPS corals in the next month, I have some really nice small maricultured acro colonies put aside for me, can't wait to get them in and watch them grow out :bounce3:.

As mentioned the Powder blue is moving on to a bigger tank, it will be sad but he is starting to look out of place in my tank. I may also rehome the Yellow tang and replace him with a Gem tang, my lfs can get hold of one for around £500.

Regards, Paul.

Oh btw there is 3.5" gap between the tank and wall down the back, I have already measured so the dry side should fit fine.

 

[rjwilson37]

I would keep the PB Tang, he looks very healthy. How does he seem in the tank, does he seem to be happy.

 

[precko]

I would keep the PB Tang, he looks very healthy. How does he seem in the tank, does he seem to be happy.

He is really healthy, soo thick/fat everybody who comes round to see the tank say its the best pbt specimen they have seen. He seems happy, No crazy swimming around in circles no aggression, feeds out of my hand. I know deep down though that he will eventually outgrow the tank and a friend is setting up a large tank and offered to take him so I would still get to see him. It's not until 6 months down the line though so I get to enjoy him for a bit longer plus you know how many problems are encountered on new builds so im guessing it will be closer to 8-10months before he goes.
He has soo much personality I will be real sad to see him go, follows you around I struggle to get close up shots of corals etc because he always gets right infront of the camera .

 

[rjwilson37]

That's just to sweet!

My Eel use to swim through my hands while I was in cleaning the tank. I just didn't do stuff like that until after he was fed. I have a video or two of him eating shrimp from my fingers.

 

[André Silvestre]

Hello Paul,

Yes, I think you´ll be ok with one Vortech but instead of placing it in the second Tunze´s spot, I would consider putting her in the right side, also against the wall and in the middle of the glass to sweep the tank from right to left with a downward flow and from left to right with an upward flow. The right-side Tunze, with the position you have her in the pics, would create a backwash in the Vortech´s flow and in the front glass that could help getting some circulation in the left side of the overflow where the second Tunze was.

Just a suggestion to try getting all the potential of the pump.

530€ for a Gemmatum? It is less expensive than getting them here which they run for 600€ at least ( on those rare occasions that TMC Iberia has them), though 150€ is where I draw the line when paying for a fish, no matter how rare they are. :lolspin:

I suppose your lfs fish come from TMC too. Am I right?


Regards,
André

 

[precko]

Hello Paul,

Yes, I think you´ll be ok with one Vortech but instead of placing it in the second Tunze´s spot, I would consider putting her in the right side, also against the wall and in the middle of the glass to sweep the tank from right to left with a downward flow and from left to right with an upward flow. The right-side Tunze, with the position you have her in the pics, would create a backwash in the Vortech´s flow and in the front glass that could help getting some circulation in the left side of the overflow where the second Tunze was.

Just a suggestion to try getting all the potential of the pump.

530€ for a Gemmatum? It is less expensive than getting them here which they run for 600€ at least ( on those rare occasions that TMC Iberia has them), though 150€ is where I draw the line when paying for a fish, no matter how rare they are. :lolspin:

I suppose your lfs fish come from TMC too. Am I right?


Regards,
André

Thanks for the advice regarding the vortech position I will give it a go, I guess I will just have to have a play about with it when I get one to see what works the best.

I don't think that I have ever paid over €70 for a fish but I have always loved the Gem tang and it would be the centre piece fish and only large fish in the system so it would be worth a bit of overtime at work to get one .

Yes you are right, 90% of fish in our LFS come in through TMC also, 5% captive bred and then 5% from other smaller independent importers that some lfs deal directly with.
I have a very good LFS they take good care of the customers, they go to TMC for stock twice a week and will ask for any specific requests before they go. It is only a 10 minute walk or 2 minutes in the car from where I live, sometimes I wish it was further away so I did not spend so much money there .

Keep us updated on your system André.

Kind regards,
Paul

 

[precko]

Ok so I decided to go down the balling lite route this will keep my calcium, magnesium and Alk levels perfect. I have ordered my balling salts and this doser with integrated computer :bounce1:.

I have also ordered a custom made tank split into 3 sections for the solutions, can't wait to get this setup.

Ballng classic or Balling lite methods are really popular in Europe but I don't see many threads about it from you guys over here just on calcium reactors or 2 part dosing, anybody here using the balling method? Would like to hear your thoughts on it.


Paul.

 

[ashish]

Your tank is amazing bro.. I always like seeing how the aquarium fits into the whole decor and atmosphere of your home. It looks perfect and very easy to maintain. I have a hanging 2X250watt MH and PC on my aquarium in my motels lobby and still havent figured out how to hide the wiring. there are about 5 large cords coming down along the left side. How and where would i find the square piece you used to cover your wiring? I checked Loews and they were to small to cover all the hugh wires. My maint. guy suggested using pvc piping but i feel this would stand out to much esp. being in a hotel lobby.

 

[precko]

Your tank is amazing bro.. I always like seeing how the aquarium fits into the whole decor and atmosphere of your home. It looks perfect and very easy to maintain. I have a hanging 2X250watt MH and PC on my aquarium in my motels lobby and still havent figured out how to hide the wiring. there are about 5 large cords coming down along the left side. How and where would i find the square piece you used to cover your wiring? I checked Loews and they were to small to cover all the hugh wires. My maint. guy suggested using pvc piping but i feel this would stand out to much esp. being in a hotel lobby.

First of all thanks for the comments, it really does make the hard work seem worth while.

regarding the cable tidy, if you do a google search for 'cable canal' or 'cable trunking' it should bring up a couple of things available in a load of different sizes and colors. If none of those bring up anything that suits then just try 'cable tidy', hopefully something will come up that suits, I found mine lying about in the garage not too sure where it come from. I would thinkg you should be able to pick them up at most good DIY shops.

this is this stuff that I have http://www.bikudo.com/product_search/details/22971/pvc_trunking_2_compartment.html. have the largest section screwed onto the wall put the cables in then attatch the top section it just clicks together so easy to get to the wires if needs be.

HTH, Paul.

 

[Bonta]

I want a cube like yours someday ! I hope its gonna be half as great as yours ! Great tank

 

[precko]

I want a cube like yours someday ! I hope its gonna be half as great as yours ! Great tank

Thanks alot, the tank is still young hopefully this is just the beginning I have much better plans for it yet, keep watching .

Paul.

 

[Wayner2]

Updates! please - love the infinity - sexy