My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics

[slief]

this is a great re-build thread. i also have a 500 gallon display. i started with Africian Cichlids in '95 and changed to SW in about 2003 or 4. i sure wish i had known about Reefcentral back then. planning would have haved me a ton of $$$$$. great job with your photo documentation.
do you know how old your banner fish is? i've been considering adding a couple to my display and was wondering about their size and if they are reef safe? would you get another one or do you like the fish?

thanks and keep the pics coming, i'm subscribed!!

Unfortunately I dont know the age. I have had him about a year. He was one of 3. The two smaller ones didnt last very long but this guy stood the test of time. Honestly, I was a bit aprehensive about them when I first got them due to their size and the fact that they would move around the tank very fast. I felt that they were distracting. Now that there is only one, its not as bad. He can be a bit fiesty. Almost spastic but he is OK. I dont think I would get one again though. I have a couple brown Henis that need to go bye bye. They killed some of my corals that were recently introduced. I have some traps that I will be using to catch them. I plan on doing that any day. The big yellow one has left the corals alone.

Here are a few pictures I took last night as well as a few nights ago. I need to crank the resolution up a bit so its not so grainy.

 

[slief]

 

[slief]

 

[bullitr]

Scott,
i don"t want hijack but this my 4 months set up from getting back to SPS since i don't have your email . i will delete it after
right side

middle

left side

FTS without flash

FTS with flash

 

[amore169]

Wow very nice tank.

 

[sarmo]

slief, thanks for the great pics and advice. your banner fish looks like a H. acuminatus based on where the middle black band goes through the anal fin. i am thinking about the H diphreutes, they are a bit smaller. over the last couple of years, i have been removing some of the larger fish and have been adding small wrasses. i like the look of smaller fish swimming through the live rock and corals but i do miss my vlamingi and big eye soldierfish.
if you have trouble catching your fish with the traps, i had to use a very small hook with some bait to catch some of my fish. i still have a powder blue i'm trying to catch. the bugger is smart.....

thanks again

 

[slief]

Scott,
i don"t want hijack but this my 4 months set up from getting back to SPS since i don't have your email . i will delete it after

Very nice Lawrance!! I cant wait to see your system in person! No need to delete the pictures!

Wow very nice tank.

Thank you.

slief, thanks for the great pics and advice. your banner fish looks like a H. acuminatus based on where the middle black band goes through the anal fin. i am thinking about the H diphreutes, they are a bit smaller. over the last couple of years, i have been removing some of the larger fish and have been adding small wrasses. i like the look of smaller fish swimming through the live rock and corals but i do miss my vlamingi and big eye soldierfish.
if you have trouble catching your fish with the traps, i had to use a very small hook with some bait to catch some of my fish. i still have a powder blue i'm trying to catch. the bugger is smart.....

thanks again

I used the hook method to catch an agressive maroon clown when my pair of tomatoes came a few weeks back. The hook would work well but there are so many other fish that are more agressive then the butterflies that the chances of by catch are too high. I have 3 acrylic traps. I just need to get a mirror to stick to the back of the trap. I figure I will leave the trap in the tank for a couple days and get a piece of almost dead coral from my LFS and place it inside the traps for bait. I think they will be easy to catch once they feel comfortable with the traps.

On the banners, I read here that there are 2 types. One that is reef safe and the other that isnt. From the pictures, I think my Heni fell into the reef safe category though I was really worried when I first put corals in with him in the tank.

 

[munkyboy111]

Very nice tank. I am jealous.

 

[Untamed12]

Thanks for the help! I never knew about some of the options though until you mentioned that. I went through my settings and my options are a bit different. There is an ISO mode on my camera. Under white balance, daylight seems a bit better but there is no open shade. I dont have a high color option. When in ISO, flash isnt an option. Its disabled. I always got sony cameras for their simplicity but I have often wished I had a better camera and some experience to know what I was doing with it.

OK...The ISO mode you mention isn't quite what I'm referring to.

The "mode" that you need to use is probably "P" or "Program"...just get it off "auto".

Once you are in "P" mode, if you hit menu you'll likely see the settings that I'm talking about. It is pretty common that cameras will hide these settings whenever you are in "auto", or any scene mode (like the high-ISO scene mode). By switching to "P", these settings become available. You'll also gain full control over the flash.

Now, you should be able to find ISO and choose a higher value. You may not have an "open shade" option under white balance, but "daylight" might be OK.

Avoid shooting through the glass at an angle. You need to shoot only straight-on through the glass. Shooting at an angle distorts and the camera has difficulty focusing.

Finally, if you are specifically shooting a fish...it is OK to move the camera along with the fish movement. That's called panning. It will help keep that fish in focus, but blur everything else in the photo.

I'm looking forward to seeing some improved photos!

 

[slief]

OK...The ISO mode you mention isn't quite what I'm referring to.

The "mode" that you need to use is probably "P" or "Program"...just get it off "auto".

Once you are in "P" mode, if you hit menu you'll likely see the settings that I'm talking about. It is pretty common that cameras will hide these settings whenever you are in "auto", or any scene mode (like the high-ISO scene mode). By switching to "P", these settings become available. You'll also gain full control over the flash.

Now, you should be able to find ISO and choose a higher value. You may not have an "open shade" option under white balance, but "daylight" might be OK.

Avoid shooting through the glass at an angle. You need to shoot only straight-on through the glass. Shooting at an angle distorts and the camera has difficulty focusing.

Finally, if you are specifically shooting a fish...it is OK to move the camera along with the fish movement. That's called panning. It will help keep that fish in focus, but blur everything else in the photo.

I'm looking forward to seeing some improved photos!

Thanks a million for your help! I am looking forward to being able to take better pictures!

I have my camera in front of me. I set it to "P".
Under setup, I have the following options:
AF mode: Options are: Single or Monitor
Digital: Options are Smart, Precision or Off
Function Guide: On/Off
Red Eye reduction: On/Off
AF Illuminator: Auto/Off
Auto Review: On/Off

Under ISO, Options are 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000

Under White Balance: Auto or Off
Metering Mode: Spot, Multi or Center

I suspect that one of my current settings might be inhibiting my White Balance options under "P" mode.

 

[Untamed12]

Here's how I would adjust..but I don't know what "Digital" is doing. Take it off "smart"...we're trying to outsmart the camera not the other way 'round! I'm also not sure what "Function Guide" is doing....and I can't imagine what happens if you set white balance to "off". Getting closer, anyway.

I still find it odd that there aren't more items in there. Is there an advanced setup..or a 2nd page of setup?

I have my camera in front of me. I set it to "P".
Under setup, I have the following options:
AF mode: Single
Digital: Options are Smart, Precision or Off
Function Guide: On/Off
Red Eye reduction: Off
AF Illuminator: Auto/Off
Auto Review: On

Under ISO, 400 or 800

Under White Balance: Auto or Off
Metering Mode: Spot or Center

I suspect that one of my current settings might be inhibiting my White Balance options under "P" mode.

 

[slief]

Here's how I would adjust..but I don't know what "Digital" is doing. Take it off "smart"...we're trying to outsmart the camera not the other way 'round! I'm also not sure what "Function Guide" is doing....and I can't imagine what happens if you set white balance to "off". Getting closer, anyway.

I still find it odd that there aren't more items in there. Is there an advanced setup..or a 2nd page of setup?

I see more options now that I made those changes. There is a focus option with Multi AF, Center, .5M, 1.0M, 3.0M and so forth. I guess those are for the distance the camera is from the object. There is now a color mode option. In that are: Normal, Rich, Natural, Sepia and Black and White. Did I mention a metering mode option earlier. It is Multi, Center and Spot. White Balance is now Auto or Flash.

I'll tell ya. I'm damn near ready to go use my best buy card but that would be another costly can of worms.........

 

[slief]

I have some minor updates on the sumps today. They are coming along. The outside walls are glued together. They are cutting the components for the inside walls, dividers, overflows and trays. The pictures were taken with a camera phone so they lack quality.

Here is one of the filter sock trays. They are routed out so the sock can sit into them. They will be removable for easy access. The tray is resting against the wall of the overflow. Notice the cutouts at the top of the overflow. That will help to direct the water flow into the socks. There will also be a little rim around the tray to insure that water goes into the socks and not past them over the side of the tray.

This is the sock tray up against the overflow. The water will flow from the tank into the overflow. The overflow will help to eliminate some of the micro bubbles resulting from the water coming out of the tank through the plumbing.

Another view of sump 1. The trays are resting on the bottom under their overflows. The overflow on the right still needs the cut outs for the water exits.

Lastly,
The refugium. Still needs the slots laser cut for the water to enter and exit the fuge. Also needs to be glued together.

They should be done Friday if not first of next week. I should be stopping by tomorrow and with a bit of luck I will get some more pics.

 

[Untamed12]

I see more options now that I made those changes. There is a focus option with Multi AF, Center, .5M, 1.0M, 3.0M and so forth. I guess those are for the distance the camera is from the object. There is now a color mode option. In that are: Normal, Rich, Natural, Sepia and Black and White. Did I mention a metering mode option earlier. It is Multi, Center and Spot. White Balance is now Auto or Flash.

I'll tell ya. I'm damn near ready to go use my best buy card but that would be another costly can of worms.........

Ha..ha... oh my, you are not a good photographer! (pics of the sump)

Now we're getting somewhere. Yes, Focus options sounds like distances...choose Center. Colour Mode: Chose Rich. Metering mode: Center or Spot. I guess you will have to go with Auto White Balance. ISO to 400, flash off and you're in business.

You mean to buy another camera? I'm no fan of Sony, but you can get a lot more out of your current camera. Don't waste your $.

 

[slief]

Ha..ha... oh my, you are not a good photographer! (pics of the sump)

Now we're getting somewhere. Yes, Focus options sounds like distances...choose Center. Colour Mode: Chose Rich. Metering mode: Center or Spot. I guess you will have to go with Auto White Balance. ISO to 400, flash off and you're in business.

You mean to buy another camera? I'm no fan of Sony, but you can get a lot more out of your current camera. Don't waste your $.

I cant take credit for all of the sump pictures. 2 of them (the blurry ones) were taken by the mfg.. Still its not my strong suit!

I'll give those settings a try this afternoon and let you know how it goes.
Thanks again for the help!

Scott

 

[ant-elp]

i would get rid of all filter socks,they trap all the detritus,mulm,that you want out of the water column,not sitting in socks breaking down,raising nitrates,lowering your redox.the key is good water movement to suspend waste and get it to the skimmer out of the water column.the clarity,can be achieved with the proper bacteria additions,prodibio,polyp labs,etc.resulting is less algae blooms,with complete denitrification.hope i didnt go off on a tangent,wish you luck,most of the latest threads are reefers simplifying their high tech systems, with greater results,control,enjoyment.less is more across the board.
regards.
ant

 

[slief]

i would get rid of all filter socks,they trap all the detritus,mulm,that you want out of the water column,not sitting in socks breaking down,raising nitrates,lowering your redox.the key is good water movement to suspend waste and get it to the skimmer out of the water column.the clarity,can be achieved with the proper bacteria additions,prodibio,polyp labs,etc.resulting is less algae blooms,with complete denitrification.hope i didnt go off on a tangent,wish you luck,most of the latest threads are reefers simplifying their high tech systems, with greater results,control,enjoyment.less is more across the board.
regards.
ant

Thanks for the feedback. That is interesting advice. I have heard a number of pros and cons to the filter socks. My intent is to replace them regularly so they dont become an issue but truth be told, I am not a maintenance person so I could see myself burning out on that as well. I will definately want to use them in the short term as they will give me a place to put my bio balls while I ween them out of the tank. My sump has mostly live rock with some bio balls in it.

My system has 45 or so fish in it. Right now, I am seeing a nitrate issue. My concern is the effect that removing my existing wet dry will have on the system in short term. Initially, the new sump will get all of the old sumps live rock. I will be adding 100 pounds of figi live rock mud that was removed from a large system, 4 pounds of chaeto and a dozen or so mangroves to the new fuge. This will go in when I do the switch. With a little luck, the new fuge additions will circumvent any negative biological spikes resulting from removal of the original wet dry sump. Just to be safe, I think it might be a good idea to rinse my bio balls and throw them into the socks instead of removing them all at one time.

As for long term use of the socks.. There will be high flow in the first sump as well as a good skimmer. Given that, I may not need to socks at all however as I do have a pretty healthy fish population, there is a substantial amount of food that goes into the tank on a daily basis. It is my thought that if I can filter out the excess food that goes through the overflow, it will spare the system unnecessary waste.

I would certainly like to hear yours as well as other thoughts on the above..

 

[Bax]

I recently started using socks and feel they are well worth the effort of changing and maintaing. I have very high flow, an awesome dual becket skinner and still there is plenty of material collected in the socks, You do have to tend to the wekkly or at LEAST ever two weeks. My system has never had a nitrate issue, with or without socks.... PO4? ... Oh yeah ... but not nitrate.

Anyway, I like socks or some form of easily maintained mechanical filtration.

JMTC

 

[usefulidiot213]

Love the in wall tank.. Really nice setup.. Can't wait to see the new sump system setup..

 

[techreef]

Good God, what does 4 lbs. of chaeto look like?? The stuff is so light, it must be the size of a German Shepard!