Oldude's new 400 gal tank build

[Oldude]

On one thread or the other I often get asked to show pictures of the sump so here's a few of the systems underbelly.

Here is the area of the sump where I have a little "make shift" refugium with some cheato & my long lost pair of fire fish that went for a ride through the overflow. Can't catch them without a hassle so here they stay although they seem content with nothing to bother them.

Feather dusters seem to like the area on the flow through side of the eggcrate just opposite of the "fuge." The ocean runner 6500 you see feeds the soft coral & frag tanks.

Here is one of several sponges that are growing in the sump.

Here is a partial shot of the sump box. Yep, it's kind of messy looking with pipes and stuff however it functionality is just fine and it is rarely seen by anyone(until now).

 

[Lavish62]

Nice set up, all I want to know is, what is the Vasaline for???:lol2:

 

[Oldude]

Hey guys, just taggin along, and all I can say is speechless. This build is amazing.

OlDude: what I don't understand is how you get everything to grow together and not sting each other. Every time I put anything near another coral its an all out war.

Thanks for the compliment & tagging along.:fun4:
I do get a little of that and some things need to be trimmed or relocated every now & then but most of them learn to coexist and many even fuse together. The biggest issue is when a slow grower & a fast grower are too close, the slow one tends to get shaded or over grown quickly. That is when I need to take the most action.

 

[Oldude]

Nice set up, all I want to know is, what is the Vasaline for???:lol2:

:lol: Whoops I never noticed that, apparently I forgot to put the jar away last time. I use it to grease the o-ring on the skimmer collection cup and the rubber hose on my previous dosing/auto top off pump.
:lol:

 

[Lavish62]

Thats interesting I never realized that they would end up getting along.

Again beautiful tank...

 

[Oldude]

Thats interesting I never realized that they would end up getting along.

Again beautiful tank...

And thanks once again.

 

[Oldude]

a few pictures

a few pictures

I am really glad I was able to save some of this bad boy when I lost the colony, it is colouring up quite nicely. The M.samarensis polyps in the upper right are starting to turn red. I sure wish I could get a decent picture of it though.

This is a piece that came in an Australian shipment quite some time ago and did nothing except go from bleached to brown. I recently moved it into a spot with better flow & light and it's now showing some potential. Not sure if it's decided what colour it wants to be when it grows up.

This stag is ranges from a wild teal green to a brilliant blue but I just can't get it to come out properly in the photo.
However this pic was taken at dusk so not all the lights were on.

 

[Western_reefer]

On one thread or the other I often get asked to show pictures of the sump so here's a few of the systems underbelly.

Here is the area of the sump where I have a little "make shift" refugium with some cheato & my long lost pair of fire fish that went for a ride through the overflow. Can't catch them without a hassle so here they stay although they seem content with nothing to bother them.

Feather dusters seem to like the area on the flow through side of the eggcrate just opposite of the "fuge." The ocean runner 6500 you see feeds the soft coral & frag tanks.

Here is one of several sponges that are growing in the sump.

Here is a partial shot of the sump box. Yep, it's kind of messy looking with pipes and stuff however it functionality is just fine and it is rarely seen by anyone(until now).

Very nice!! Its a shame that you live in Canada. If you lived closer I'd buy a few coral frags from you. lol

 

[Oldude]

Very nice!! Its a shame that you live in Canada. If you lived closer I'd buy a few coral frags from you. lol

During the winter in particular I agree it's a shame I live in Canada.

 

[Oldude]

Acropora multiacuta growth sequence

Acropora multiacuta growth sequence

April 2008

Oct 2008

April 2009

Oct 2009

 

[paulthomas]

Wow, in a year and a half. That's some impressive growth.

 

[Western_reefer]

During the winter in particular I agree it's a shame I live in Canada.

:lmao::lmao:

 

[bullitr]

:lmao::lmao:

lol
my in wall set up generate so much heat i have to keep all the cabinet open even with its 60 degrees inside the house and my temp still @ 81.maybe i should moved to canada!

 

[bullitr]

:lmao::lmao:

lol
my in wall set up generate so much heat i have to keep all the cabinet open even with its 60 degrees inside the house and my temp still @ 81 specially my 4 metal halide maybe i should moved to canada!

 

[Oldude]

Wow, in a year and a half. That's some impressive growth.

Things are really starting to take off in this tank.

Moses that is very funny:lol: I love it.

bullitr I would recommend just buying a chiller and staying in your nice warm climate.

 

[volcom69]

Hey Greg question for you, with all those corals and how fast they grow im sure you have some corals in there touching. I wanna know do you do anything about it when the bases touch or do you let them go. Im having so trouble now where the bases grew like crazy and some are fine and growing toghter fine, but my prostratas seem to burn other corals. Just curious if you let it go and let nature take its course or if you do something. Its easy with the branches because you can just cut them, but what about the base, do you do anything for that. My corals are growing like crazy, but the bases are getting so big on alot of mine. Just curious what you do!

Oh yea and once again amazing tank, its lookin really good.

 

[Oldude]

Hey Greg question for you, with all those corals and how fast they grow im sure you have some corals in there touching. I wanna know do you do anything about it when the bases touch or do you let them go. Im having so trouble now where the bases grew like crazy and some are fine and growing toghter fine, but my prostratas seem to burn other corals. Just curious if you let it go and let nature take its course or if you do something. Its easy with the branches because you can just cut them, but what about the base, do you do anything for that. My corals are growing like crazy, but the bases are getting so big on alot of mine. Just curious what you do!

Oh yea and once again amazing tank, its lookin really good.

Hey thanks man. I can't say I've ever really had that particular problem where the bases are touching, just branches. I'm not sure how that would happen? Do you have some specific examples and perhaps a few pictures? Like you I of course have some corals much more aggressive than others so I try to give them a little extra room or put them beside stuff I don't care about.

 

[Oldude]

New Additions

New Additions

Just picked up a pair of these groovy fire fish:fish1:

 

[kinlayan]

Just picked up a pair of these groovy fire fish:fish1:

Beautiful Helfirichi !, those are never available here i am envious

 

[Oldude]

Yeah they are cool. This is the first time I've found them available in my region so when I saw a pair I had to snag em'. Now let's hope they stay in the tank and not end up on the floor.:hammer: