Updated pics

[reefkeeper2]

some more..

 

[summer6]

The night pic's look great. It does not seem like you've got much light bleeding into the room with those units. That's one concern I've got if moving to an open top and suspended lights. I don't want the light to be a "nuisance" and conflict with everything else that's going on with an open floor plan.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I think that would depend on what you have in the room and what the height of the lights are. The lights over my tank are a little lower than my eye level. I'm about 5'10". If I raised them, the light would bother me. Not so much by lighting up the room (which it does) but by shining in my eyes. Keep that in mind when making your plans. If the top is open (no hood) you don't want the lights to be above your eyes. Make sure you take into account the height of the stand and the tank.

 

[Chooch1]

Fantastic tank with tons of diversity. Love it. What species is the yellow damsel? Is it peaceful? How many fish do you have?

 

[reefkeeper2]

I don't know what species it is and it loves to bite my hand. It doesn't hurt, but scares the crap out of me. There are three of them and they have calmed down quite a bit. They each have there territory and I have not seen them severly harrass any of the other fish. I don't think they would be a good addition for a smaller tank as it would bring out their territorial nastiness. There are approximately 30 fish in the tank. There are various anthias, tangs, angels, damsels, a huge foxface, a pair of blue throat triggers, a fat manderine and a pair of pink skunks (Fred and Ethel) who inhabit the s. gigantea.
Thank you for mentioning the diversity because that is my ultimate goal. Next to the rain forest, the tropical reef is the most diverse habitat on the planet. The goal I set for my tank is to represent a reef as best as I can. I don't wish it to be dominated by any particular species. This is a lot harder to do, but thats the challenge. I eventually want to attempt some of the non-photosynthetic octocorals, but I won't try until I feel the tank is fully mature. I have a theory that diversity plays a part in the sucessful keeping of these corals as proper feeding alone doesn't seem to make them thrive.
Here is a better pic of the yellow damsel. I took it first thing in the morning when the lights first came on.

 

[Chooch1]

Thanks for the info. Your tank has a very lush look that replicates natural diversity very effectively.

How do you keep the acrylic so clean and coraline agae-free? Do you have many scratches?

Also, what species of anthias do you have? Are you planning on adding any more fish?

 

[thor32766]

wow your tank is gorgeous!

 

[reefkeeper2]

I use a kent scaper, credit card and a toothbrush to get the coraline off. I have a scratch kit I bought heremicromesh to get out scratches.
I'm thinking of getting a copperband butterfly next. The anthias are disbar, bartlett, and lyretail.

 

[reefkeeper2]

Here's the night pic with T5 only.

 

[jnarowe]

Mighty Magnets has a good scratch kit as well, and a special coraline pad I have yet to try. The scratch kit works well but is very simple in that it is really just a variety of fine sandpapers but going well finer than anything commonly available. Even finer than what micro-mesh sells.

 

[Reef Man]

nice reefkeeper2 !!!

I really appreciate your pictures.

Very nice, It must be a TOTM.

 

[Kent E]

My favorite tank setting of all-time. Very nice. TOTM for sure.

 

[deeznuts]

by far the best looking tank in reef central!

 

[reefkeeper2]

Thanks so much everyone for all the nice comments. Positive feeback from your peers is always the best compliment!
Jnarowe, I have never heard of Mighty Magnets. I'll have to take a look at them.

 

[jnarowe]

Got their name from Steve Weast. He uses their internal scratch kit.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I already have a good magnet cleaner but those pads sound like an improvement over the micro mesh sheets. I wonder if I could use their pads with my magnet?

 

[jnarowe]

That's what I do. I have a couple of Tiger Sharks and I use the Mighty Magnets stuff with them.

 

[reefkeeper2]

What size pad do you use? I was thinking of trying one of the larger ones.

 

[jnarowe]

I have never bought individual pads from them, but I am about to get some of the Algae Dozer pads to try them out. I'll probably just get the extra large and cut a couple out of that.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I just ordered the 5X7 kit. I'll let you know how it works.