Pics of my 150
- Thread starter raycityboy1
- Start date
raycityboy1
New member
It's been a long story since last November when it started. Over the last 10 months I have upgraded sizes 4 times and replaced every single component at least once. I look forward to enjoying it and watching it grow now.
Thanks for the compliment
Thanks for the compliment
raycityboy1
New member
Thanks All!!
raycityboy1
New member
LOL.
My tank does stay immaculate but you'd probably have a heart attack if you seen what I feed my reef on a daily basis.
I have always been a firm believer in a good cleanup crew. I have never had any algae issues. Theres a touch of cyno on one side of the tank due to low flow but I fixed that by upgrading the Mag drive this weekend.
My cleanup crew is a lot less than what it used to be, but my tank still stays incredibly clean. This makes it impossible to keep Xenia in my tank but who cares.
I can't say that I have ever had to actually "clean" my tank. It has always maintained itself well.
I have 50 crabs and snails (used to be about 50 of each)
a few different stars ensure anything that dies gets eaten as well as any larger chunks of food.
The bristleworms pretty much do the rest. Some people don't like them but they do an extrordinary job cleaning leftovers. There are also hundreds of small snails that only come out at night that clean the rocks thoroughly.
I feed phyto and other foods very liberally. I only feed what I know my reef can consume in a short period of time.
In 200 gallons of water I only have 4 fish and two are chromis' one blue one green.
Oh yeah, 1 last thing but I don't know how well it has helped. My mag Drive 36 circulates the tank in a clockwise direction prducing great flow throughout the tank. Then I have 2 1100GPH closed loops that circulate the water in the same fashion 1 high 1 low on intermitten cycles. Because of this, it creates a cyclone in the water column and brings most of the trash to the center and often to the top. If it ain't nailed down, it gets swept up and out the overflows. I also place all the more voracious LPS's towards the middle so when the trash all starts coming to the center, what isn't swept out into the overflows (which isn't much) settles to the bottom where my LOBO usually eats whatever small morsels may come his way. I caught a glimpse of a bristleworm yesterday under my LOBO that was the size of a pencil. So they are doing their job well. I don't get sand storms and I think thats because I try to keep most of the flow towards the middle to the top and I let the water's own momentum get flow into the lower areas and it does this effectively.
My tank does stay immaculate but you'd probably have a heart attack if you seen what I feed my reef on a daily basis.
I have always been a firm believer in a good cleanup crew. I have never had any algae issues. Theres a touch of cyno on one side of the tank due to low flow but I fixed that by upgrading the Mag drive this weekend.
My cleanup crew is a lot less than what it used to be, but my tank still stays incredibly clean. This makes it impossible to keep Xenia in my tank but who cares.
I can't say that I have ever had to actually "clean" my tank. It has always maintained itself well.
I have 50 crabs and snails (used to be about 50 of each)
a few different stars ensure anything that dies gets eaten as well as any larger chunks of food.
The bristleworms pretty much do the rest. Some people don't like them but they do an extrordinary job cleaning leftovers. There are also hundreds of small snails that only come out at night that clean the rocks thoroughly.
I feed phyto and other foods very liberally. I only feed what I know my reef can consume in a short period of time.
In 200 gallons of water I only have 4 fish and two are chromis' one blue one green.
Oh yeah, 1 last thing but I don't know how well it has helped. My mag Drive 36 circulates the tank in a clockwise direction prducing great flow throughout the tank. Then I have 2 1100GPH closed loops that circulate the water in the same fashion 1 high 1 low on intermitten cycles. Because of this, it creates a cyclone in the water column and brings most of the trash to the center and often to the top. If it ain't nailed down, it gets swept up and out the overflows. I also place all the more voracious LPS's towards the middle so when the trash all starts coming to the center, what isn't swept out into the overflows (which isn't much) settles to the bottom where my LOBO usually eats whatever small morsels may come his way. I caught a glimpse of a bristleworm yesterday under my LOBO that was the size of a pencil. So they are doing their job well. I don't get sand storms and I think thats because I try to keep most of the flow towards the middle to the top and I let the water's own momentum get flow into the lower areas and it does this effectively.
mlwoods007
In Memoriam
wow, nice tank!
raycityboy1
New member
May 2006 My first reef tank 72 gallon bow. Not even enough corals to see in a picture.
July 2006-same tank just more coral
October 2006-Got a good score on a 75 that I rehabbed
Novemeber 2006-converted 100 gal to reef
March 2007-The 100 after a tank move-Hours before it busted-The corals weren't in it even 3 hours.
March 2007-125 to replace the 100. It was only a little bit more $$. I had also come off of VHO's and onto 400 watt MH there are 4 but at the time of the pic there is only 3.
June 2006-150 gallon-I found out 125 and 150 had the same footprint. Got it up and running 1 week ahead of schedule with the help of a reefer friend. Scheduled wet date was 7-1-7.
Aug 2007
July 2006-same tank just more coral
October 2006-Got a good score on a 75 that I rehabbed
Novemeber 2006-converted 100 gal to reef
March 2007-The 100 after a tank move-Hours before it busted-The corals weren't in it even 3 hours.
March 2007-125 to replace the 100. It was only a little bit more $$. I had also come off of VHO's and onto 400 watt MH there are 4 but at the time of the pic there is only 3.
June 2006-150 gallon-I found out 125 and 150 had the same footprint. Got it up and running 1 week ahead of schedule with the help of a reefer friend. Scheduled wet date was 7-1-7.
Aug 2007
normanfine
New member
nice pics
skoomamonster
Member
Good job on the rock work and coral placement it looks very natural
raycityboy1
New member
Thanks. Not one thing is nailed down. Everything is still on its own pieces and can be removed at any time. Everything is just resting where it is and I seem to avert awnry crabs and starfish at night. I look forward to it growing in and being a little more "permanent".
I had a little hiccup this week b/c of my sick anenome. A few things got agitated, but everything is coming around since I removed the BTA.
It's been "dry" here for livestock so I haven't been able to get my hands on any decent fish. I am looking though. Everyone asks "where are the fish"?
Thanks for the compliments everyone.
I hope to get some Macro shots soon.
I had a little hiccup this week b/c of my sick anenome. A few things got agitated, but everything is coming around since I removed the BTA.
It's been "dry" here for livestock so I haven't been able to get my hands on any decent fish. I am looking though. Everyone asks "where are the fish"?
Thanks for the compliments everyone.
I hope to get some Macro shots soon.
Last edited:
raycityboy1
New member
Over the last year, my reef has not stayed in a tank long enough to get any significant coraline growth. My rock has tons of it and will start encrusting on any rock within just a few short weeks. 4 weeks to the day after I set this last tank up, I saw coraline growth around the edges, top of the glass, back wall, and overflows. A few weeks ago I drained the tank down about 1/4 of the way. If you look at the pics closely, you can see where the water level was when I took water out. There is significantly more growth below this line. You can see all the light purple splotches on the back wall in the pics.
I used to dose heavily with stronium to get the rocks to color up, but I don't feel like I need it anymore. When I rehabbed the first and second tank, they looked more like a river bottom than an ocean bottom. I have a non reefer friend that has been coming around since the begining and he said "Its so neat to see how nasty it was looking like a river bottom, to going to looking like something out of the ocean." Hell, you see the pics of how it turned around.
I used to dose heavily with stronium to get the rocks to color up, but I don't feel like I need it anymore. When I rehabbed the first and second tank, they looked more like a river bottom than an ocean bottom. I have a non reefer friend that has been coming around since the begining and he said "Its so neat to see how nasty it was looking like a river bottom, to going to looking like something out of the ocean." Hell, you see the pics of how it turned around.
raycityboy1
New member
Start Date:
July 1st 2007
Location:
Valdosta, GA
Time in Hobby:
1.5 years total (before I even knew what coral was); Serious about reef keeping only 10 months.
Equipment:
150 Gal RR AGA with dual Mega-flows
Background: Black
72X18X28
Overall system height: 79"
55 gallon sump. 50 gallons at optimal operating capacity.
Sump pump: Mag drive 36 (3600GPH)
3-400 watt MH. 2-20,000K, 1-14,000K
1 6" clip on fan in the canopy
2 closed loops circulating 1100 GPH each on timers
400 Watt heater
4 ft DIY skimmer with a Gen X 4100 (1100GPH) pump
2 gal phyto farm harvested weekly
75 GPD RO/DI by thefilterguys.biz
I have replaced every known part of this system's components at least once within the last 6 months getting them to a respectable, safe, and reliable form except the 2 closed loops, those are the only parts I have not replaced b/c they have worked so well for 6 years, I figure I'll keep them until they quit. They are virtually silent pumps and I love them.
Stats:
200 lbs Live Rock from Tampa and other places
Most of the sand and rock is approximately 6 years old from rehabbed systems with some new mixed with it. Mostly sugar sized sand.
Mixed system (mostly soft but LPS and SPS collection is growing rapidly as I have ventured out)
Sources of livestock:
Exotic Fish Valdosta, GA
Panhandle Pet Supply Valdosta, GA
(I no longer use either b/c of quality, inventory, and knowledge)
Aquatropics Gainesville, FL
Ocean Exotics Gainesville, FL
EXTREMECORALSDOTCOM Irvin, TX
Atlas Aquariums Albany, GA
4 Combined tanks including 3 rehabbed tanks that were sold locally
Fragging reefers in Valdosta, GA and Gainesville, FL
Parameters:
Temp: 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit
Sal: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Cal: 420ish
DKH: 12 (sustained without replenishment)
Approximate energy consumption provided by RC:
Based on .09 a KWH which is what I am charged in the commercial district.
Item KWH/Month Cost/Month
Lighting - full spectrum 97.33 $8.76
Lighting - actinic 194.67 $17.52
Circulation pump 262.8 $23.65
Skimmer pump 51.1 $4.6
Powerheads - constant 0 0
Powerheads - intermittant 56.27 $5.06
Heaters 36.5 $3.29
Calcium reactor 0 0
Chiller 0 0
UV sterilizer 0 0
Ozonizer 0 0
Other (phyto farm) 54.75 $4.93
Total 753.42 $67.81
For those that are curious to know what I am working with.
July 1st 2007
Location:
Valdosta, GA
Time in Hobby:
1.5 years total (before I even knew what coral was); Serious about reef keeping only 10 months.
Equipment:
150 Gal RR AGA with dual Mega-flows
Background: Black
72X18X28
Overall system height: 79"
55 gallon sump. 50 gallons at optimal operating capacity.
Sump pump: Mag drive 36 (3600GPH)
3-400 watt MH. 2-20,000K, 1-14,000K
1 6" clip on fan in the canopy
2 closed loops circulating 1100 GPH each on timers
400 Watt heater
4 ft DIY skimmer with a Gen X 4100 (1100GPH) pump
2 gal phyto farm harvested weekly
75 GPD RO/DI by thefilterguys.biz
I have replaced every known part of this system's components at least once within the last 6 months getting them to a respectable, safe, and reliable form except the 2 closed loops, those are the only parts I have not replaced b/c they have worked so well for 6 years, I figure I'll keep them until they quit. They are virtually silent pumps and I love them.
Stats:
200 lbs Live Rock from Tampa and other places
Most of the sand and rock is approximately 6 years old from rehabbed systems with some new mixed with it. Mostly sugar sized sand.
Mixed system (mostly soft but LPS and SPS collection is growing rapidly as I have ventured out)
Sources of livestock:
Exotic Fish Valdosta, GA
Panhandle Pet Supply Valdosta, GA
(I no longer use either b/c of quality, inventory, and knowledge)
Aquatropics Gainesville, FL
Ocean Exotics Gainesville, FL
EXTREMECORALSDOTCOM Irvin, TX
Atlas Aquariums Albany, GA
4 Combined tanks including 3 rehabbed tanks that were sold locally
Fragging reefers in Valdosta, GA and Gainesville, FL
Parameters:
Temp: 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit
Sal: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Cal: 420ish
DKH: 12 (sustained without replenishment)
Approximate energy consumption provided by RC:
Based on .09 a KWH which is what I am charged in the commercial district.
Item KWH/Month Cost/Month
Lighting - full spectrum 97.33 $8.76
Lighting - actinic 194.67 $17.52
Circulation pump 262.8 $23.65
Skimmer pump 51.1 $4.6
Powerheads - constant 0 0
Powerheads - intermittant 56.27 $5.06
Heaters 36.5 $3.29
Calcium reactor 0 0
Chiller 0 0
UV sterilizer 0 0
Ozonizer 0 0
Other (phyto farm) 54.75 $4.93
Total 753.42 $67.81
For those that are curious to know what I am working with.
Last edited:
raycityboy1
New member
normanfine
New member
nice pics
rustybucket145
New member
Tank's even more amazing in person!!!
Hey... a few of those corals look familiar
. You been in my prop tank again??
Great pics btw!!
Hey... a few of those corals look familiar
. You been in my prop tank again?? Great pics btw!!
