Thanks to Eco-Reef and Reef Life

[sufunk]

After sitting in my living room for 8 months, i'd like to thank both these great stores for helping me get my 180g tank up and running finally!

Roger and Larry at Eco-Reef were GREAT getting me my sump/fuge and helping me get all the plumbing done plus filling it with sand and water. They were both incredibly helpful and answered every question I had and more. PLEASE support their store! We need more LFS with people like them in our area!

I got the first 106 lbs of LR from Reef Life on Saturday and everyone in their store was great as usual. They helped me sort thru all the LR they had and let me "play" in the LR bin for as long as i wanted trying to figure out the pieces i wanted(and this was a LONG process ). Again, please support their store as well as they are always incredibly helpful even if i'm just there buying fish food.

Can't wait for it to cycle and start getting fish and corals from both of these stores! I just wanted to give both stores a BIG THUMBS UP for their great service and being VERY helpful with this large tank newbie!!!

Heres a pic of the tank yesterday filled but still a little cloudy(dang Tunze's started a little sandstorm!). That 106lbs of LR barely made a dent!

 

[gasman059]

great job u stinkin cowboy fan LOL good luck and happy reefing. I'm in Plantation if u need anything.
wat kind of law practice?

 

[sufunk]

Yeah, you kidding??? Everybody is LOVING that i'm a Cowboy fan the way our season ended!!:mad2:

Criminal law so hopefully you won't need any help from me:lol:
But.... if you happen to or know someone who does just shoot me a pm

 

[Ding2daDong]

The tank looks like its coming along good. The guys over at Eco Reef are really helpful, I wouldn't be worried about them helping me set up any tank.

-Matt

 

[gasman059]

Yikes. malpractice nope LOL just kidding Anyways if i can help pls let me know .
Manny.

 

[sufunk]

Are you the manny who hangs out at Reef Life?

If so, i think i talked to you about a week or 2 ago there about fans to put over my sump to cool it.

 

[gasman059]

Maybe maybe not, just dont recall/most likely not as i dont frequent reeflife a lot.
I really like eco-aquariumart-coralreeffarm-and reefs edge once in a while. Anyways pm me if u need some help i'll be glad to help u as i have a 200 similar to u.

 

[thesaent14]

lol he is the puerto rican manny i was talking to me nice tank hope to see it full of corals soon

 

[sufunk]

Thanks guys!

I will definitely be asking for help soon enough! lol

I still have to figure out an ro/di unit and maybe an auto top off. I'll probably be in the market for a calcium reactor soon too based on the amount of lps i plan on getting!

Lemme ask you guys, my tunzes are really causing some sandstorms and making dunes. I turned them to about the lowest settings and it is still happening. Should i just leave them off for a few days/weeks and let the sand settle?? Cant figure out why its blowing so much sand, ive read a ton of people with way more flow fron tunzes in the same size tank????

 

[gasman059]

Mr sufunk they are causing storms b/c u just dont have any structure in the tank. In due time u may need some more flow.
PATIENCE! . U can play with direction.

 

[sufunk]

I've been messing with them all day and even at the lowest settings i cant keep them from blowing sand. I've tried all different directions and it still blows the sand I turned them off and figure i'll give it a few days and see if it settles some.

I don't like hearing that you think its because of lack of structure. The tank was still cloudy so i didn't bother trying to aquascape and just put them in wherever to help cycle. I wasn't planning on getting alot more though, maybe 75-100 more lbs at absolute most. Kinda wanted to keep the LR pretty minimal and leave alot of open sand for LPS and softies.

Do you think i'll still have a problem if i don't add ALOT more LR or i just need to structure what i have?

 

[thesaent14]

hey if you will be looking for a calc reactor i have a new model in my diy's i will love to test let me know

 

[Bullredchaser]

Once the sand becomes alive it will gain some weight (biofilm)and settle down .

 

[gasman059]

PLAN AHEAD NOW IS D TIME!

PLAN AHEAD NOW IS D TIME!

It all begins as not much,and sudenly it becomes a lot. If u plan ahead and realy ahead u should have np.(plan for all so if u want to convert this 180 to sps u r set)
If its truly and lps and softie setup it ok. Most likely the sps bug is going to bite u and when it does ur tunzes will come in handy.
As a reference I started this new endeavor as a mostly softies and lps but 2 months in i was not satisfied with just them so sps conversion began. I went thru my junkyard of equipment and now I'm 90% sps and really liking the direction that my tank is going. This pic is at 3 motnhs -My tank will be a year old in may or june not quite sure. Anyways IMO there's no substitute for a mature sps setup with thriving colonies.

[/IMG]:smokin:

 

[sufunk]

Lol, the sps bug has already started to hit. I do plan on getting a few pieces of sps to put near the top but i figure with just the 3x150MH, i might not have enough light to go full blown sps. Also, at least for now, i really like the lps and want to mainly stick with that.

We'll see. In a year, i'll probably be like you and have mostly sps if my lights will support them.

 

[gasman059]

I think ur lights need some improving but not much.
I had a 180 in the past with the same light spectrum + actinic supps, it all depends on kelvins)and was able to keep some sps's with greaat success.
Anyways i now run 3 400w 20 k and very happy with d results. Just keep in mind that u r already there even if u dont realize it yet LMAO. Plan now and avoid future headaches, just my honest opinion.