Not a typical doctor's waiting room... 450 gallon reef

Just freakin' awesome!

Just freakin' awesome!

Man, what a tank! I gotta get down there some time and sneak a peek at it. Maybe one of the reef club meetings?

I'm off to Alaska on a week long cruise tomorrow. I'll study all these pics more when I get back.
 
Hey Mike I was searching through photobucket and found some early pics of your corals and thought I share. Enjoy!


Watermelon chalice
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Tyree ture undata
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Chicago chalice
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Paletta Blue tenius
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Paletta Blue tenius
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How big is your fish room next to the tank? I couldn't find any dimensions on it. Do you think it is big enough? Just wondering because I'm debating on an inwall or penn like yours. Thanks.
 
fishypets - Thanks for posting all of those images, Clint. They looked awesome in your tank - hope we're not letting you down. Where is that Chicago chalice anyway? Actually, I think it might be in John's home tank. We still need to settle up, eh?

Chappy - The tank room is 8'7" x 5'6". There is ample room in there for all of the ancillary equipment, including RO/DI reservoir and salt mixing container. Keep in mind, however, that the tank and sump don't occupy an inch of this space.
 
The chicago chalice is DEFINITELY not in my home tank as my home tank is home to only valonia, a low water level, and a mystery wrasse that continues to elude capture. I have no idea why he would want to elude capture as the tank is disgusting.

It's the red, green, and pink chalice next to the watermelon Mike.

Thanks for posting those pictures Clint and keep looking at them, we need you back in the hobby!

John
 
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Hey you know this one looks like the Roland Balmes batunai I aquired from Yikan. Not sure when this picture was taken


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This tank is something else, i am sure it will look great when it is stocked with corals. You Should open your company to the public, i would love to have you build me a tank, in my dreams
 
The two clams remaining in the tank continue to do great and the Derasa has more than doubled in size. The gigas that I removed and had a broken hinge unfortunately passed the other week out of the blue. I still don't really have a clue as to what killed the croceas.

On an unrelated note, the tank now house both a female and male bluethroat trigger. The female is more than double the size of the male and has decided my fingers look like tasty snacks.
 
Great Job!! After seeing pics of you guys in front of the tank, it shows the true perspective of the aquascape. You guys did a great job on it! Its one of a kind.
 
Thanks Gabe I think :lol:

Your compliment means alot Edward and while I do think that the lack of tons of live rock hurt the tank in the beginning, it should all come to balance.

I need to take new pictures of the tank as we got several ORA frags, chalices, a duncan, brain, aussie acan, etc.

John
 
Thanks Kev135!

As a little update, the tank is looking incredible! It's nearing its 1 year anniversary, and things have really smoothed out. The corals continue to color and grow tremendously. John is doing a great job caring for this tank.

I recently got a PAR meter and we tested it out. I don't have a good full tank shot to map out the numbers for you, but in general, our lighting scheme is providing values of around 350 near the surface, high 200's near the middle, low 200's closer to the bottom, and low 100's at the substrate. Our 400W MH bulbs are getting a little old, and we've got plans to change to different bulbs relatively soon. Hopefully we'll have nice photos to post for the official 1-yr anniversary.
 
I guess I should probably comment on what has gone on the last few months as well.

Nothing really to report. 100 gallon water changes monthly with gravel siphoning then every third month siphoning the sump. The calcium reactor had to be broken down at one point and more media added. Parameters have been staying rock solid with kH between 7 and 8, calcium at 420 and magnesium at 1400. It is also interesting that I'm not running any kind of GFO and the phosphate in this tank has never even showed up (using the D&D test).

The only huge negative was that unfortunately the sixth month old naso tang died. Mike called me late one night (he was on call) and informed me that the naso was dead and stuck to the strainer. I decided I wanted it out sooner then later and went to the tank with coat hanger in hand (I couldn't think of any other way to prod it off the strainer). Well I gave the naso a poke and it moved. He swam (poorly) severel inches into the middle of the tank where I was able to net him and take him back to my shop to try and save him.

He had no real outside marks or problems other than the small nick from where I had poked him. Eyes alert, very aware that I was holding him (wearing gloves) in front of a powerhead to try to get him some oxygen but everytime I let go, he had zero muscle control. It really was a bad loss as his brain was fully functional but his body just gave out for some reason. Anyway, he was dead in the morning and the only big fish remaining is the female bluethroat that bites.

I also had a problem with the Sequence Hammerhead closed loop pump this afternoon as the seal had rusted up and down the shaft and caused distruction in front and behind the seal. I'm waiting to see what MDM says but I'm getting real tired of opening Reeflo pumps only to find a rusty, unfixable mess (FIFTH pump in three months).

I'll work on getting some pics for the tanks one year anniversary by bribing one of my friends with camera skills.

John
 
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