Our 450g reef, 360g predator tanks
- Thread starter tbittner
- Start date
Here is the latest pic with the bottom trim in place around the bottom of the tank. There is around 640 lbs of aragonite sand in the tank.
We are still waiting for the silicone to finish curing before removing the clamp that is holding the trim in place.
We ordered another 48" Solaris for the other side of the tank. That will be here on Tuesday.
The cycle is going good. It'll be another month before the LR is ready to support the life that's in the 120g reef. Once the parameters are good in this tank, I'm going to use a small pump and start circulating around 1,000 gph of the water in this tank with the water in the rest of my system. That way, all the water in the entire system will be the same and there won't be any acclimation issues when I move everything from the 120 down to the 450.
Except for maybe some light acclimation that will need to occur.
We are still waiting for the silicone to finish curing before removing the clamp that is holding the trim in place.
We ordered another 48" Solaris for the other side of the tank. That will be here on Tuesday.
The cycle is going good. It'll be another month before the LR is ready to support the life that's in the 120g reef. Once the parameters are good in this tank, I'm going to use a small pump and start circulating around 1,000 gph of the water in this tank with the water in the rest of my system. That way, all the water in the entire system will be the same and there won't be any acclimation issues when I move everything from the 120 down to the 450.
Except for maybe some light acclimation that will need to occur.
I'll keep a CLOSE eye on the water parameters in my existing system for any kind of spikes and shut down the flow to/from the 450 immediately. I would hate to cause stress to my livestock by messing with the water because I'm trying to limit the stress during the move.
I would imagine it would just be like doing a really large water change though.
I would imagine it would just be like doing a really large water change though.
jnarowe
New member
I actually use that method for routine acclimation. I have a gravity feed line from my elevated fuge to a float valve on my QT tank. It has to pass through a gate valve so I can turn it on and off as needed. WHat I do is when I am ready to move something from the QT to the main tank, I just remove a QT of water with a pitcher and let it re-fill from the fuge/display. I do this over a few days every few hours and it works great.
jnarowe
New member
OK...dug up some pics...
This is an old pic from my start-up a couple years ago, but it shows the line coming from the fuge top left (CPVC), the valve, and the float valve.
And this is a shot of the current QT configuration in which you can see the float valve again.
I keep macro and rock in there as well as some snails and pods.
This is an old pic from my start-up a couple years ago, but it shows the line coming from the fuge top left (CPVC), the valve, and the float valve.
And this is a shot of the current QT configuration in which you can see the float valve again.
I keep macro and rock in there as well as some snails and pods.
PRINCE_NAMOR
In Memoriam
Very nice tank................
Jonathan, that's a well thought out QT. It's a great idea to have some macro in there, with pods, to give the fish some natural food to eat. And it wouldn't be a big deal if you had to treat with copper because the pods are easily replenished and the snails can be removed before treatment.
Yeah FishTruck, it's been a long hard road to get to this point. I know it's nice to be able to lay down on the couch and watch some TV again instead of working on this tank non-stop for the last 4 months. lol
Thanks Prince_Namor. We think it's coming along nicely.
I'm having the normal new tank syndrome hitting. LOTS of brown diatoms everywhere. Oh well, this too shall pass. lol
Yeah FishTruck, it's been a long hard road to get to this point. I know it's nice to be able to lay down on the couch and watch some TV again instead of working on this tank non-stop for the last 4 months. lol
Thanks Prince_Namor. We think it's coming along nicely.
I'm having the normal new tank syndrome hitting. LOTS of brown diatoms everywhere. Oh well, this too shall pass. lol
jnarowe
New member
Thanks!
I just got convinced to try some pelletized carbon...I had ordered in a 22 lb. bucket and the rep. called me and said they have a 55 lb. bag of pelletized for just $10 more. I gave him my arguments why I don't use pelletized based on all the testing results I have read about etc. etc. and he came back with it really depending on the grade of carbon used in the first place.
He shot some numbers at me and I realize it's like checking in with the fox to assess the hen head count, but I figure it's not a lot of money and I am interested to see what it does. So I will report back in a few months with my findings.
I just got convinced to try some pelletized carbon...I had ordered in a 22 lb. bucket and the rep. called me and said they have a 55 lb. bag of pelletized for just $10 more. I gave him my arguments why I don't use pelletized based on all the testing results I have read about etc. etc. and he came back with it really depending on the grade of carbon used in the first place.
He shot some numbers at me and I realize it's like checking in with the fox to assess the hen head count, but I figure it's not a lot of money and I am interested to see what it does. So I will report back in a few months with my findings.
:lol:
Yeah, it's funny that when you are talking to a manufacturer, of COURSE it will work MUCH better than what you're using now.
I'm interested in how it works for you. I can't visualize how pelletized would be better though. I guess, in theory, it could provide more porous exposed areas if the pellats aren't too small.
On another note, I'm 99.9% positive I'll be ordering the 365g predator tank this weekend. It will come away from this 450 to form an L. It's acrylic and it's made by a local guy. It's really funny but there are three of us in our local reef club who want to buy large tanks and the builder said he'd do a group buy for us. He really knocked a lot off of the price.
Funny..... A group buy for 350g+ aquariums... :lol:
Yeah, it's funny that when you are talking to a manufacturer, of COURSE it will work MUCH better than what you're using now.
I'm interested in how it works for you. I can't visualize how pelletized would be better though. I guess, in theory, it could provide more porous exposed areas if the pellats aren't too small.
On another note, I'm 99.9% positive I'll be ordering the 365g predator tank this weekend. It will come away from this 450 to form an L. It's acrylic and it's made by a local guy. It's really funny but there are three of us in our local reef club who want to buy large tanks and the builder said he'd do a group buy for us. He really knocked a lot off of the price.
Funny..... A group buy for 350g+ aquariums... :lol:
Similar threads
