Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[André Silvestre]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13795284#post13795284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Thanks you.

On a side note, how did you guys lose to Brazil the other day? 6-2!!

C. Ronaldo needs to step up. I am confident Portugal will finish in the top 3 for World Cup 2010.

Portugal allez!:beer:

Hello Sonny,

Yeah, we don´t understand either. Well, on one hand, we do: the coach is too softer with the players, doesn´t cultivate strenght, motivation nor willing of winning and the players only play hard in the big clubes. C. Ronaldo is too condescendent and seems to be a big child when he plays in the National Team but when he plays in the Manchester, he is a complete other player. More matured, more sure of himself. Oh well, I hope your prognosis is right. :beer:

Once again, nice tank and great pictures. I have noticed you tried to hide the Tunze wires and didn´t put any background. Is it going to stay that way? Don´t get me wrong. I really like the wall colour lightened by the T5. It gives a bigger sense of depth and open space.


Regards,
André

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13804648#post13804648 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joefish
Mines been down almost 2 years now.

Just peeking in, I have an itch to start up a new tank but the finances are not there yet.


I agree, lights are way to over rated for the colors. Once the stability is back , your colors will be great again.

It is off to a great start though.

Thanks.

Your tank really had a unique look and growth. I cant wait to see you set up another one.

I hear you on the finances thing. Economy is pretty tough at the moment. Its also ripe with opportunity if you play it right. I'm using the down time in the economy here in Michigan to go back to school next semester for another degree.

Apparently, one degree is not safe anymore.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13808906#post13808906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by berleinchmit
Hello Sonny,

Yeah, we don´t understand either. Well, on one hand, we do: the coach is too softer with the players, doesn´t cultivate strenght, motivation nor willing of winning and the players only play hard in the big clubes. C. Ronaldo is too condescendent and seems to be a big child when he plays in the National Team but when he plays in the Manchester, he is a complete other player. More matured, more sure of himself. Oh well, I hope your prognosis is right. :beer:

Once again, nice tank and great pictures. I have noticed you tried to hide the Tunze wires and didn´t put any background. Is it going to stay that way? Don´t get me wrong. I really like the wall colour lightened by the T5. It gives a bigger sense of depth and open space.


Regards,
André

Yeah, you are right about Ronaldo. He's a super star at Man Utd but can be muted on the world stage.

I ended up hiding the wires and will leave the tank with no background. It gives the tank more depth like you said, and is more pleasing to the eye. Plus the wall behind the tank reflects light back into the tank so it looks nicer. The black background is just too dark. It seems to absorb light and make the tank appear smaller.

 

[cecilturtle]

Sunny, you and 143Gadgets have similar yet awesome tanks. I love your photography skills as well. Sometimes I'm thinking I like your open sandbed better, sometimes Gadget's acan covered one. Either way...both nice.

 

[map95003]

Sunny, another nice tank...can't wait to see it in a year, your first tank is the main reason I decided to get into reef tanks...do keep posting pics.

Couple of questions:
1) What make/model camera are you using for those shots, they came out pretty nice?
2) I think I read earlier on in your thread that you're not using a calcium reactor, keeping it simple, what are you dosing for calcium?
3) I'm runing a 6x54w T5 fixture on my new 75g tank, what brand and type bulbs are you using on yours?...I know you mentioned blue and super blue somewhere along the way but I'm new to this T5 stuff and want to replace my bulbs, what brand and combination do you recommend? I'm hoping to keep a few SPS.

Thanks.

 

[map95003]

I went back and read your first post, got question#3 and #4 answered:
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue+

Randy's 2 part


...not sure where I got "super blue" from...

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13817845#post13817845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by map95003
Sunny, another nice tank...can't wait to see it in a year, your first tank is the main reason I decided to get into reef tanks...do keep posting pics.

Couple of questions:
1) What make/model camera are you using for those shots, they came out pretty nice?

Nikon D50 SLR

2) I think I read earlier on in your thread that you're not using a calcium reactor, keeping it simple, what are you dosing for calcium?

Randy's two part.

3) I'm runing a 6x54w T5 fixture on my new 75g tank, what brand and type bulbs are you using on yours?...I know you mentioned blue and super blue somewhere along the way but I'm new to this T5 stuff and want to replace my bulbs, what brand and combination do you recommend? I'm hoping to keep a few SPS.

Here is the bulb arrangement:

Front:
Ati Blue+
Ati Pro Color
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquablue Special
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquablue Special
Ati Aquablue Special

The Pro Color really makes the red acans "pop".



Thanks.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

very nice.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Hey sonny the tank looks great and I wish you all the luck with it. I just came across this thread and after reading all 18 pages, you put a lot of time into this magnificent looking tank. I love the sand bed is this the sand bed that you were talking to me about the other night? Looks great and i can tell you right now you have made up my mind 100% I will be off to pet smart at lunch time to get my 40lbs bag today Do you have any live animals cleaning the sand bed ? Well in any case i just love the tank and the lighting is dead on as well.
best of luck
Michael

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13820749#post13820749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
Hey sonny the tank looks great and I wish you all the luck with it. I just came across this thread and after reading all 18 pages, you put a lot of time into this magnificent looking tank. I love the sand bed is this the sand bed that you were talking to me about the other night? Looks great and i can tell you right now you have made up my mind 100% I will be off to pet smart at lunch time to get my 40lbs bag today Do you have any live animals cleaning the sand bed ? Well in any case i just love the tank and the lighting is dead on as well.
best of luck
Michael

Thanks

This is the same sand we were talking about the other night. It has worked great in my past tank and is working again. For sand sifting I have two very large serpant stars and a ton of bristle worms. I will be adding 20 Nassarius snails next week to help sift the sand better.

Found a great deal on them here:
Click Here

 

[Chrisrush]

Sonny, what are you using for a clean up crew? I'm adding sand this weekend and I'll need to get started with my clean-up crew.

 

[Hargitai]

Did I miss it tell me, but what Tunze pumps are you running and how much total turn over do you have?

By the way AWESOME tank beats most I have EVER seen and I can see it comeing close to being the best if not THE BEST.

Thanks

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13821513#post13821513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chrisrush
Sonny, what are you using for a clean up crew? I'm adding sand this weekend and I'll need to get started with my clean-up crew.

For sand sifting I have two very large serpant stars and a ton of bristle worms. I will be adding 20 Nassarius snails next week to help sift the sand better.

Other than that I have two hard working snails. I never really had much of a clean up crew.

Found a great deal on them here:
Click here

 

[Chrisrush]

Thanks for the link. Might have to order some of those after Thanksgiving.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13821530#post13821530 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hargitai
Did I miss it tell me, but what Tunze pumps are you running and how much total turn over do you have?

By the way AWESOME tank beats most I have EVER seen and I can see it comeing close to being the best if not THE BEST.

Thanks

Thanks

I currently have 5 tunze Nano Streams:
2 6025's (both modded for higher flow)
3 6045's(one modded for higher flow)
Ehiem 1260 return pump

About 60X turnover rate.

 

[SunnyX]

Well, its time for a "state of the tank" update.

Just wanted to list some things I have noticed, for better or worse, in the tank so far:

A. Since placing the Ati Pro Color bulb in the tank again two weeks ago, corals with purple pigments have become incredibly intense. My Valida, Tri-color, Purple monster, and even purple coralline algae have become noticeably more purple. I have also noticed an increase in corraline growth but it probably isnt due to the bulb.

B. T5's may lighten your corals. My corals are lighter now then they were in my 225gl. The new tank may be "cleaner" because of my over sized skimmer(Deltec AP851) but I think T5's are doing their part. The old 225gl had much more light(1400W vs 378W now), but had deeper colors in the corals. I'm not complaining though. I would rather have lighter, colorful corals instead of darker, less colorful coral.

C. My skimmer was offline for over a month due to a defective part. During that time, Murphy decided to kick his law into action and one of my clams died. The death of the clam caused some Dinoflagellates to appear. Now, after a month of cleaning and water changes, I am pretty much rid of them.

D. As mentioned above, My skimmer was offline for over a month. It has been on now for over week now and is pulling out an amazing amount of skimmate. I am having to empty it every two days. And the skimmate is pretty thick! I'm happy it is working but am afraid it may end up sterilizing my tank. I will watch it another week and see if the skimmate production calms. down.

E. I have noticed something funny in my tank. Every coral is growing normally, but there are a few exceptions. All blue SPS's in the tank are growing at 3-4 times the rate of everything else! I cant tell you why they are growing that much faster, but I wont complain. My acans are also growing very fast, seems like a new head is popping up every 4 days.

F. Running a powerhead in the sump has made a big difference. Before running it I had a nasty build up of detritus on the bottom of the sump. I siphoned it all out and placed the powerhead in. So far, so good.

All in all I am happy with the progress of the tank. Everything is growing well and the tank is stable. I cant wait until next year! By that time my tank should be looking decent.

Thanks for looking,

Peace out! :wavehand:

Sonny.

 

[maxxII]

What is the purpose of the powerhead in the sump? Does the detritus that gets disturbed by the powerhead get filtered out some other way than siphoning?

Nick

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13838123#post13838123 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxxII
What is the purpose of the powerhead in the sump? Does the detritus that gets disturbed by the powerhead get filtered out some other way than siphoning?

Nick

The powerhead in sump keeps detritus in suspension until the corals eat them or the skimmer pulls them out.

After adding the powerhead there is now no detritus build up and the tank is testing out better when it comes to Po4 and No3.

As an added plus, I no longer have to siphon the sump.

 

[GSMguy]

I have a modded nano stream in my sump , I really helps.

 

[maxxII]

Ahh, okay. Is the skimmer gravity fed or pump fed?

Nick