To those who have been waiting for pics from my tanks

[SDguy]

As stunning as I expected, John!

 

[copps]

Congratulations John! Your tanks are such an inspiration! Absolutely LOVE the biodiversity of your systems.

Thanks so much Adrienne. I've been inspired by so many people in this hobby from my earliest memories as a child, and it really is such a pleasure to share my systems with a worldwide audience and inspire others.

great going John--- Rogers food does work very very well.

Thanks Manny! Yeap I'm loving the food!

Nice to see updated pictures!

Thanks buddy...

Awesome tanks and mixture of fish coral and inverts! I am exhausted just looking at the pictures. Continued luck with all of your tanks.

And I'm exhausted from taking and getting all of them ready! And already... people want more:hmm6:

Looks great John!

Thanks Scott!

Awe inspiring John! I love the setups and meticulous as usual.

Still mad that I wasnt able to make it out to see it all in person when I was in Reston.

Thanks Chris... with the systems I run I have no choice but to be meticulous... this is a not a hobby you could pick up and put down... you need to keep at it and master so many things to be successful long term. Yet, that is what's great about this hobby... it's living art!

 

[copps]

Looooong overdue! Congrats John!!!
:thumbsup:

Yes... I know... and thanks!

Very Nice article John. Although, now we are going to need another write up on your FOWLR!

So after talking with you at a lecture you did late last year in Stockton, CA, I decided to fallow my 300 SPS Reef due just to be sure there were no pathagen transfered to my tank when I moved over all my fish from my old system. (all new additions to the system have been QT'd) So now that I have fallowed my tank for 8 weeks (miserable!) Im am uncomforable adding coral to the tank now. I expected that you woudl have your additional tanks on separate systems to avoid introducing a pathagen into the system. Do you have a Coral QT tank that is used to keep corals in for 8 weeks with no fish for ich to die off? How do you go about adding coral without the possibility of intoducing a fish pest that was carried in the water with the coral?

Thanks again Ryan... keep in mind my additional tanks all on this system are not my QT tanks... I run seven QT tanks from 5 1/2 to 37 gallons, all separate from one another. While this system is large, expansive and interconnected, nothing touches it without going through QT. I always say with QT it's not the easiest way, but the best way. And if anything does squeak by it could have fun dealing with the four UV sterilizers I run on the system!

Well deserved John. Beautiful tanks.

Jacob, thanks for being such a great host buddy!

Gorgeous! Is there a better word? if so, it applies.

Thanks Steve... really words cannot describe the joy I get from sharing my passion with you guys. :clown:

 

[roktsintst]

So Do you QT your coral? If so How?

 

[copps]

Congratulations! Your system set up is beautiful and thanks for the wonderful write up! I've learned so much from reading about your system! I, too, have several tanks and often think how wonderful would it be if they were all connected to one system, and now, YOU proved that it can be done.
I am truly impressed and inspired by your system and wonder if you have any writtings on the pairing of angels? I have always been interested in the social behaviors of fishes and aim at creating that for my tanks.
What I currently do is that when there are many of one type of fish I'm interested in, I'll get my LFS to try to place them together and watch the behavior. I've ended up with pairs of Aurora gobies, yellow watchman gobies, but with angels, I'm striking out! They do act very very agressively almost immediately and ofcourse, my LFS are not taking any risks of damage with their fish.

Again, congratulations and thank you for the inspiration!

Thank you blennielove... with a name like that you must like keeping fish together! I do entire lectures on angels... some more specific than others... and many where I address this topic. It's tough to mention everything in a few sentences, but I will give some pointers.

First of all, the first thing you need to worry about BEFORE you even consider attempting pairing or forming a harem is the individual health of the specimens. Mixing angels is stressful even under ideal circumstances, and the worst thing for a newly imported fish is stress. In terms of mixing, angelfish are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they are all essentially sexually inactive females when small. Start with small to medium fish in good health after having been QTed separately. The ability of a fish to handle this stress greatly improves after it is adapted, fat, and happy. Staggering the sizes slightly is a good idea, as much of the aggression is establishing dominance and a pecking order... Once fish know their position in a harem they fare better. When I mix many of my fish, I transition them. Transitioning a process I use that allows fish to see eachother without being able to touch eachother. This could be done using eggcrate or specimen containers. I use this when adding ANY new fish to an established tank, and came up with this years ago after realizing that there was often times an immediate "get out of my territory" aggression that was usually shortlived. Lastly, when you do mix, turn the lights out for a couple of days and just leave the ambient room lighting on... let it be a cloudy day on the reef for your corals, and your fish will settle in better as aggression tends to escalate with the rising sun!

If you have additional questions, feel free to ask. This is a much easier thing to explain face to face with a Powerpoint presentation!

Two words. Bad A##.

Many TOTM articles have been excellent but this one blows me away and I haven't even read it fully. Can't wait to get home and read it.

Congrats Copps!!!

CeeGee thanks! It's a plasure!

Very nice as always

To be honest, I think there are ALWAYS people waiting for more pictures of your tanks and new acquisitions, I know I am!

Thanks Chelsey... I too am always awaiting my new additions!

 

[07 Sti]

I am speechless. What beautiful systems you have. Thank you as well for the wonderful write up. I heed what you have stated.

Aloha,
'07

 

[kidkams]

Absolutely stunning, yoursetup is beautiful i love it

 

[copps]

This is amzaing. I'm still trying to figure out how you did it back on the 65: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/totm/index.php and if I could pull pictures of your 10g standard back in the day, on a different site, I'd add that link too. The kitchen nano was what got me back in the hobby after a wee bit of a lay off due to graduate school and marriage.

Your tanks truly do amaze a lot of us!

Congrats, John.

Thanks Laddy! Actually, in the Spring of next year the next great reef aquarium book will be out... it's been a while... the book is The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas... the book has about half dedicated to profiling aquariums from 10 gallons on up to HUGE... the 10 gallon in the book is my kitchen nano profiled... It's been just about 10 years now! Here are some shots... the little sixline in that nano and the clownare in this system now! I loved that little nano... growing sps and Tridacnids under PCs in a 10 gallon!

As stunning as I expected, John!

Thanks Peter! Thanks again for the help in SD... did you appreciate the anthias in my article?

So Do you QT your coral? If so How?

Yes... it is different for every coral... I do different dips and treatments up front for all corals and place them in a separate tank... sps get an at least 7 hour Interceptor bath and dips in Revive... I do not use iodine based dips on my sps... while I QT most all of my fish for months, eight weeks is a bit much on corals...

 

[roktsintst]

Ok sounds good. After all the trouble i've been through I just didn't want to have it all go away for a frag...

 

[auem]

stunning set up all around...waiting to hear your experience...the article is superb too...and the biggest surprise was,to me,that your display tank is bare bottom!!!...technically your tank bottom is not 'bare' at all...lol..:spin2:
these are i assume cover 500 gallons...waiting for your other 500...
Congrats...:beer:

 

[Terra Ferma]

Sweet tank John - but where are the pics of the rare fish ?

 

[n8ureman]

Copps your systems are amazing!! I always look forward to your posts on this forum, your knowledge and enthusiasm are evident in your beautiful tanks! Congratulations!!

 

[copps]

Ok sounds good. After all the trouble i've been through I just didn't want to have it all go away for a frag...

Relax and don't worry... remember that we're in this hobby for the enjoyment!:celeb1:

stunning set up all around...waiting to hear your experience...the article is superb too...and the biggest surprise was,to me,that your display tank is bare bottom!!!...technically your tank bottom is not 'bare' at all...lol..:spin2:
these are i assume cover 500 gallons...waiting for your other 500...
Congrats...:beer:

Honestly I would prefer a crushed coral bottom for the aesthetics of it, but it's just not practical and would be hard to keep clean in this setup... and honestly with all of the cover on the bottom you wouldn't even be able to see it.

On the other side of my man cave I have this setup... two 54 corners I put back to back, on one system to create a half circle... but this is now broken down (to appease the wife) and I'm putting it up for sale.

Sweet tank John - but where are the pics of the rare fish ?

Very funny...:uzi: :hmm5: :beer:

Copps your systems are amazing!! I always look forward to your posts on this forum, your knowledge and enthusiasm are evident in your beautiful tanks! Congratulations!!

Thanks so much... I don't know where the enthusiasm comes from... it's in me like the hunger we have for food and the thirst for water!

 

[auem]

copp,
your half circle seem to contain some rare fishes(if i remember correctly from some past posts)...what will happen to them...any new tank at other suitable places...?

 

[BartenderSteve]

copps,
Your systems are awesome. Just wanted to thank you for all the information and pics you share. Im still a rookie and dont want to know where I'd be without this site. Also, congrats on TOTM.

 

[kirkaz]

Amazing, and a very well written and informative article, which I'm proud to say I actually read rather than just looking at the fantastic pictures!! I'm going to start rinsing my food as you recommend.

Very subtle difference on that Passer/Clarion Hybrid....Do you suppose the diver can actually tell the difference when they are catching them, or just get lucky? I know you're well connected in the fish industry, but I'm curious what that fish would go for on the market?

 

[Gangous]

Wow I don't know where u find the time my 1 75 gal keeps me busy

 

[myerst2]

As always John simply amazing and your someone we aspire to be in the reef keeping world.

Where are the pair of imperators?

Lastly I thought there was strong evidence that uv's offer little to no effectiveness on killing pathogens in a marine system, regardless of the flow rate through the exposure. Rather they just hold down water born algae and keep better water quality. Are there any legit scientific studies proving that uv's actually make a substantial dent in a pathogen population in a marine aquarium? Thanks. T

 

[Cantonesefish]

John, next time you're in Guam can you pick up a flavocoronatus for me??

 

[ezhoops]

awesome, truly awesome.

A pair of a. latezonatus and a pair of white bonnets clowns. Where are you finding these rare fish? do share