# Family Room Reef



## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok, well now after many problems, this is the journal for my second SW tank. It is a 112 gallon with rounded front and a centered overflow. A canopy, stand, chiller, heater, sump, skimmer, and some crazy bright lighting (2 250 watt MH's and 2 96 watt blue pc's).

As of now it is cycling with 92 lbs of rock in it and 120 lbs of live sand. After the cycle the 85 lbs of LR from the small tank, along with the fish, sand, and corals, will be put in the new tank where it will stay for a while before any new additions. I had some older pics, but things have changed so I will try to take some pictures tonight so you all can see its progress.

ok, here's a few pics:


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

Looking good mate, hope you don't encounter to many more problems !


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

well, here's an update. It seems that the MH's will have to be traded out for 6 PCs. Mom was getting really mad about the heat coming from the lights and the chiller kicking on so often. This is a real bummer, it will come out to 5.1 watts per gallon so I will still be able to keep all of my corals...This stinks.


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

That sucks, but why don't you set up some T5's instead? I think they'd be much better for your corals than PC's


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Why not go with VHOs? More efficient than PC bulbs, URI have built in reflectors, and Corals love them.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

That's just silly! My 120G has the same lighting and NO chiller. Can't notice the heat at all. And no noise when there is no chiller. Buy that woman a bottle of Bailey's and ask her to chill.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

haha, I would if I could ^^^

would VHO's or T5s run cooler though?
and what is URI?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

VHO are cooler than PC. T5HO are cooler than VHO. You will need more T5HO to equal VHO but more efficient. URI is a company that makes VHO bulbs with built in reflectors.
http://www.uvlco.com/aqualamps.htm


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

and these are all cooler than mh right?

Im also a little worried about fitting enough of these bulbs inside of the canopy, whats the diameter like on the vho's and do they need to be spaced far apart?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

After much research and BS where the lights are concerned the new fixture has been ordered. The new fixture will be made up of 8x65 watt pc's, all with individual reflectors. It doesn't look like I will be keeping the clams or arcos, but It will be filled with many LPS and softies 

Another issue. If you look at the pics of the tank above you can see the line that was left behind after the LS was added to the tank. I tried to wipe it off with my hands, as you can tell by the fingerprints on the front of the tank, but that didn't get the job done. Any suggestions?

Also, I planned on waiting a month before taking everything out of my small tank and putting it into the large one. Do I really need to do this? If I take everything from the small one and put it in the large one soon after cycle wont that help it more within that same month?

What do you guys think? And how should I get the corals used to the new lighting? it should be around the same wpg.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Damn dude! T5HO's or VHO would have been a MUCH better choice!

I have one of these 8X65W Power Compact fixtures on my wife's 75G tank at the moment and OMG am I not looking forward to replacing all the bulbs at the same time every 6 months.

Yes, It is recommended you replace PC bulbs every 6 months. 8 of them at 20-30$ each is a hard hit on anyones wallet.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

everywhere on the net said what you did, but everyone in person said that pcs would last much longer and were generally a better light...so from where i am it is more of who you talk to, plus my friend at the LFS, who we are really screwing by returning the first custom unit, supports these 100% and refused to sell me VHOs cuz they were too old of a technology and same with T5s cuz they are too new. So I don't know, we'll see.

Oh, and remember I do not pay normal price for stuff


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

I used to manage a LFS. At my cost (What the store pays) PC bulbs are $20-$22 each for either daylight or actinic! You won't get any less than that. And the bulbs WILL have to be replaced every 6 months or you will lose color and growth badly. Old bulbs also cause excessive algae growth. I've been in this hobby since before PC's were made for aquariums. Your "friend" sounds like he is afraid of new technology like the T5HO's. I have local reefer friends than run SPS dominated tanks on nothing but T5HO's for over a year and they are incredible. Bulb life is up to 18 months. VHO is old, But proven and not going anywhere. If I found a store that won't sell me what I want I'm looking for another store.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

In this case I have no where else to turn and he is doing more than a huge favor in letting us return the original setup for a complete refund. When it comes time, the bulbs will be replaced, I am sure that it will be taken care of either by me or my parents will help b/c they don't want to see the tank crash either.

This tank will be moved in a small number of years when it comes time for my butt to move out and when it comes time many things will change and I am sure that if it hasn't already the lighting will be changed by then.

I'm really just not that worried about it, only b/c the only reason the stupid things were changed out was b/c of a decision of my mothers, so the blame is off of me and laid onto someone who will fix the problem before there is anyone to blame  (if that made sense)


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

so what were the thoughts on moving stuff in after the cycle?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok, here's the first attempt at a fish list. Please remember that this tank will hopefully be full of corals in probobly a couple years and that it is a 112g (60"longx24"tallx18"wide...im not convinced that this is right, I will have to measure later).

2 Clarkiis (currently in small tank)
2 Firefish (currently in small tank)
1 Foxface
1 Six-Line Wrasse
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Dispar Anthias
1 Canary Blenny
1Yellow Tang
1 Neon Goby

I also have a BTA in my current 40 gallon, but with the amount of corals i want to put in this new tank I am a little afraid of moving it, but then it has also become the home for 1 anemone crab and 2 clarii clowns. What would you suggest?


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Add 1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp for the yellow watchman goby to pair up with.

Anthias do better in a school of at least 4. If you add 3 more you will be ver near if not at the tanks limits for fish.

Drop the Canary Blenny and look at a Yellow Coris Wrasse. The Coris is so much fun to watch do sand dives at bedtime. They sleep in the sand. They are also a much brighter yellow. I have one in my tank and one in my wife's tank. Great fish.

Everything else looks fine. I assume you have other plans for a cleanup crew that just wasn't listed here with fish.

Take the Anemone with you.....I have 4 BTA's in my reef.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

will the 2 wrasses get along fine? And for the clean up crew I was just thinking a ton of snails, i dont think any hermits, and like 2 skunk shrimp to go with my one peppermint. I have an orange linka star and was actually looking into gettin a blue one to help in the new tank. Would u suggest any more or any less?


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

A Coris and a 6 line are fine together.

100 Snails Mixed: Nassarius Obsoleta, Turbos & Margarits.
25 Scarlet Leg Hermits (Not Red Leg).
2 Skunk cleaners are fine.
Linkia Stars are optional. They often just die too easily.
1 Sand Sifting Stafish
1 Sea Cucumber.

Now you're done.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

what kinda cucumber? and why do the legs matter with the hermits?

New List:

2 Clarkiis (currently in small tank)








2 Firefish (currently in small tank)








1 Foxface








1 Six-Line Wrasse








1 Yellow Watchman Goby








1Yellow Tang








2 Neon Goby








1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp








100 Mixed Snails
25 Scarlet Leg Hermits (Not Red Leg)
2 Skunk cleaners








1 Blood Red Shrimp (Currently in small tank)








1 Orange Linkia Star (Currently in small tank)
1 Sand Sifting Stafish








1 Sea Cucumber (not sure what kind)








Should the # of fish drop with all of these inverts?


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

No, Inverts don't really count. Unless you go overboard which you are'nt. 

Scarlet Leg hermits are the most Reef Safe. They don't kill your snails as often as blue or red leg hermits do!

As for the Cucumber....http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=715 this is a nice one. Mine is red but is otherwise the same.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

it says that it will be poisonous when it dies...what should I do if/when it dies?


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Here is a direct Quote from liveaquaria about the Sea Cucumber:

"If attacked or injured, it may release mild toxins, but due to its small size, will not pose a threat in the average sized aquarium."

Does not say it will poison your tank or anything. Now a Sea Apple.....That is a different story.

I have found this to be very accurate info.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

woot! Its coming close!

ammonia dropped from 8ppm to 1
nitrite fell from 8 to 1
and there is a small detection of nitrate....woot

the guys in the little tank can't wait. Hopefully the powerheads and new lights will come soon so they don't have to wait to see their new home


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Sounds great! I just bought a new Powerhead today. The Tunze Nano Stream. It's really cool looking and is supposed to be the best. We will see.


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## Jonno (May 22, 2005)

I really want to try out the Tunze wavebox , but its so expensive like £300


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

off to the store to pick up the new lights. 8 x 65 watt PCs


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> off to the store to pick up the new lights. 8 x 65 watt PCs


:console: :-( :sad: :chair: :console:


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

ok the lights are all set up and the tank is now even closer to the cycle.

ammonia=0ppm
nitrite=1ppm
nitrate<5ppm

I am still waiting for the new powerheads too, but I think they will arrive within the next day or two, hopefully the cycle is done by then.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

ok, the powerheads are now installed! I tested the water again just to make sure, and the levels were still the same.

ammonia=0ppm
nitrite=1ppm
nitrate>5

I'm not too sure what's going on with the nitrite, but hopefully it will go away soon. Im getting antsy.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

After testing the water once again this morning they are still reading the same. 0 ammonia, 1 nitrite, and nitrate<5...To try and combat this I added another rock from the small tank.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Its not uncommon to have a bit of nitrites the first 2 months. I did but it never spiked. Could be an inacurate test kit. I wouldnt worry about it. Stock slowly (which you should always do anyway  ) SMall waterchanges and keep PO4 down to nill. Really inhibits coraline algae growth.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

It's not the test kit b/c I've got 2 and I tried both. As of now with the new rock there is a small blue mushroom, if it does fine then I may move tanks this afternoon. If it doesn't than I will just wait until I get back from the Sierras this weekend.

You made sure and said stock slowly, which of course I know I should do, but had not planned on doing this initial large introduction. When this happens it was planned that all of the LR, LS, Corals, and Fish would all be moved at the same time. Due to the smaller tank already being established and the large tank being cycled I figured that all of the established LR and LS being added would keep everything safe. Am I wrong in thinking this?

Oh, I also have a plan not to add anything into the tank until I am sure that all of the fish and corals have been doing really well for a period of time. So far from what I've seen the only reason the fish I have now are alive is because of their immune systems (from what I have seen with them being introduced to ich about 1 million times). I just want to make sure that they will be able to fight anything off after recovering from the stress of their new home.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok, it's done. The Small tank has been emptied and all has been added to the 112 gallon. So far so good. The Clarkiis have already found their anemone, but I have yet to see the firefish. Almost all of the corals showed normal signs of opening during the short time that the lights were on tonight. We will see if everything stays fine over the first night tomorrow morn. If I can I will even take some pics.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

These are Pics of everything during the first day in the new tank. So far it all looks great, much better than I had expected.

























































biggest I've ever seen it(the brain)









It's a beginning, It will end up being completely full to the brim with corals and hopefully we will get some new ones with the shipment coming in on Monday


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

Its coming along very nicely bear!


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## bpswim90 (Oct 30, 2005)

It's looking beautiful.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I found 2 strings of snail eggs!

tomorrow I am taking a trip to the LFS, looking for some B-Ionic, snails, corals, a Foxface and food. I'll post pics of the new stuff tomorrow.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Take those ugly powerheads down and mount them the good way. 
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=525048&highlight=seio+mods


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I already saw that and thought about it, but it can't be done in my tank. It doesn't have a big open top, it has another sheet of acrylic with holes cut out of it so I can get to the water. But could I take off the shielding to expose the round intake and exhaust? I was afraid that something might get stuck in there.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Yes, You can. They can be mounted that way even with the suction cup mounts. And they work a lot better that way. The intakes are small slits. No worries. Git R Done!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

cool, when im wrist deep in SW this afternoon I'll take care of em. Thanks


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok, I just got back from the fish store, and Mom came with this time 

I now have, 2 sand sifting stars, 1 small acro frag, 1 small neon green plate coral, 1 foxface, some turbo snails, some awesome purple and green shrooms, and a clam.

Some of you may not like the addition of the acro and clam, but from what I have seen, heard, and read, I know they will be fine and if I turn up to be wrong, I will make sure and return the animals b4 it is too late.

Pics will be taken sometime tomorrow


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> I now have, 2 sand sifting stars, 1 small acro frag, 1 small neon green plate coral, 1 foxface, some turbo snails, some awesome purple and green shrooms, and a clam.


It has nothing to do with not liking it....It's the fact that you do not have enough light for any acros or any clam other than a Derasa. I wish you had asked me first. I hate to see money wasted. Please consider returning these 2 items for something else.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

It has already been considered, and please know that even though your advice ranks quite highly, but I have had many conflicting ideas offered to me and decided to at least try, if I see any hint of them doing poorly they will be returned for something else. The money was not wasted and the animals will not be either. Thank you for the concern for me and the animals 

I will take detailed pics tomorrow and will most likely send you a bunch (if you don't mind) so that I get your take on their wellness


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

The Clam








The Acro








New Plate








Shrooms that are soon to have a purple base with green knobs

also, here is an updated list of future and owned fish, corals, and inverts
fishlist


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## Meeocky (Sep 7, 2005)

Bear said:


> ok, here's a few pics:


Looks nice. How tall is the canopy from the top of the tank? I'm in the process of designing a canopy for my 55gal and I can't decide on how tall I should build it and how high I should have my lights from the surface of water.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I would say the bottom of the wood is maybe 5 or 6 inches from the top of the tank. And thanks


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

*large order*

a fairly large order of corals, fish, and inverts was placed last night. I have still yet to take pics of the last update, but they will be coming soon.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Well I haven't made an update in a little while and some things have def. gone down. 

4 Chromis, and a six-line were added. 2 of the Chromis died a couple days later most likely due to stress b/c the water perams are just about perfect (except for the Ca). A number of corals were also added. 1 Dark green open brain, a small frag of neon green candy canes, a neon pink finger leather, sun polyps, a derasa clam...and now I think im missing something

tomorrow will be a big day for the tank as well.
along with a mix of 11 different corals (mostly Zoas and Shrooms) a Green Clown Goby, a Powder Blue tang, 1 blue linka, 2 sand sifting stars, 1 skunk cleaner and once again I feel like I am forgetting something. Today is most likely going to be pretty hectic, butif I can get some pictures for you all to look at today I will, and there will def. be some tomorrow after the new additions.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

awsome. derasa clams eat up the calcium and grow very fast.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Here's some pics of most of the new stuff.


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## locojay (May 22, 2006)

Tanks looking good Bear.

I'm going to have to start me a saltwater tank, one of these days..............


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

As of last night, the foxfaces days in my tank are numbered. After adding new zoas the foxface began ripping the polyps off of the frag and dropping them on the floor. I also believe that he is the one that destroyed both of my plate corals.

There is a trap with seaweed and some pellets in it but the powder blue is the only one going into the trap and eating the food.


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

Sorry to hear about the foxfaces but they are known to do that. Tank is looking good, but it doesn't look like your clam is doing so good. Loss of color


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

that's b/c they are 2 diff clams. The first one is gone, and the second one is a desera.


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

You know what bear, after i wrote that i went to a meeting and while in the meeting I was like that wasn't even the same type of clam...your and idiot Zachary....I meant to say something, but man am i busy and just never got around to it. Sorry about that mate. Loving your tank though...Really the only reason i got on that day was to see how it was doing.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

CollegeReefer said:


> You know what bear, after i wrote that i went to a meeting and while in the meeting I was like that wasn't even the same type of clam...your and idiot Zachary....I meant to say something, but man am i busy and just never got around to it. Sorry about that mate. Loving your tank though...Really the only reason i got on that day was to see how it was doing.


well how about that 

talk about an ego boost 

there are now plans in the works to upgrade the lighting from pc to VHO, as soon as I can get myself 100% on what I need to get everything looking the way I want the order will be made.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

OMG dude! Don't tell anyone I steered you toward VHO's. Everyone thinks I am a T5HO nut. Shhhhh.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

haha, I'm gonna have to poke at ya a lil' more about those too


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

ok, heres a little update

a few new small things have been added, there is now a new brain and some frogspawn, the new lights (6*54 watt T5s) will be ordered soon and later today after I clean the tank I will take some pictures to show you all what is in the tank.

Oh, the green clown goby died, it was found in the filter sock, I guess the little guy got too close to the overflow. The foxface is still in the tank and I still try to nab him when able, but since that one instance he seems to have left everything alone (Ive been feeding more often  )


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

(was blue when bought, will be once again with decent lighting)


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

the new lights are up and runnin. The tank has never looked so awesome! Hopefully I can get some pics for everyone tomorrow. The only problem is that every pic I take just makes everything look blue, even though it is quite the opposite. I'll figure it out


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> the new lights are up and runnin. The tank has never looked so awesome!


:king:  :lol:  :king:


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I am thinking of getting 2 VHO actinics for a just a tad more color...but I dont know if there is even room under the hood now


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

Bear said:


> I am thinking of getting 2 VHO actinics for a just a tad more color...but I dont know if there is even room under the hood now


If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Remember this from your own post.....


Bear said:


> The tank has never looked so awesome!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

haha, I know. I was just at school and forgot how good it looked. As soon as I got home I changed my mind 

But I am def looking into re pluming the return line to try and help reduce the air bubbles being fed into the tank (they arent coming from the skimmer).

Also I am looking into adding a ton of base rock to the DT, there just isnt enough, and into the many different possibilities for new corals and such


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

some new pics


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

looking very nice!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

the fish in the tank are now
1 powder blue tang
1 foxface
1 6-line wrasse
2 clarkii clowns
1 Firefish

I hope to add:
1 yellow tang
1 yellow watchman goby
1 green mandarin
1 Dispar Anthias

I also hope to catch that darn foxface. I keep tryn and he still keeps getting away.

I am doing weekly 10% water changes and feeding everyday, if I don't the foxface starts to pick at my zoas....darn foxface.

as you can see from the pics I am having trouble with bubbles so there is still some fiddling with the plumbing I have yet to get to.

2 nano polyp packs (zoas, GSP, and Palys) and coming tomorrow along with 2 packs of mushrooms, all from LiveAquaria.com

I will soon set another order there for some fish too 

oh...the polyps laying on the ground in the left side of the tank are my GFs for her 12g and most of the pics above were taken by her.

I took some pics with an underwater disposable camera too, so if they came out well I will scan them and post em too.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

So Bear, Do I start turning red now?  I am very proud of what you have accomplished in such a short time. I'm going to go back over the pics and see if I have any placement suggestions but at first look, it looks great. Nice clam on the sand there too. 

Just one suggestion man......Do 25% Water changes once a month instead of 10% weekly. With that large of a tank you can do that and be fine. It's also a lot less work. You would get burned out on the hobby after so long doing 10% weekly.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

^^^


It's not just me who is accomplishing this, without the sudden involvement of my parents (I would think this is largely due to the fact that it is in the family room) I would most likely only have the corals that came from the 40g. They have been very helpful the whole time, even when it came to buying the third and final light fixture  And even when they buy an $80 brain and the foxface attacks it like its seaweed. And then there's those here (mainly Reefneck and Harif), who I have yet to quick buggin'

THX!!!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I got him!!!!!!

The foxface is now sitting in the sump and is going to be sold later today!!!

yay, now I can keep fungia again!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

A good day for the reef 

All of the new corals are lookin' good after being introduced on tuesday.
After using Coralife's Marine Tank Clarifier, as suggested by reefneck (thx again) and switching to RO/DI water, the water is clearer than it ever has been and is getting better by the day.
For a while there the bubbles coming from the pump were getting worse and worse, not to mention the way that the pump was heating the water. To fix this I got a Quiet One 4000 model, the water has no bubbles and the pump does not only run super quiet, but cooler too.

And just to mention, I should probably start a thread for this one too, even my GFs nano is doing well. Today was just a good day for me and tanks!!!


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## stargate_geek (Dec 1, 2006)

Wow. If I ever started a SW tank and it looked half as good as that one, I'd be thrilled!

Great work. More pics of the new corals?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

THX!!!

no new pics yet, but I do have all of the new corals up and glued in their spots. I will probably get pics the next time my GF comes over, for some reason shes better at taking pics of the tank.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

heres some new pics, i guess there isnt much of an order to em


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

wow bear the pics are looking much better.
so many pretty zoas I want some .


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Well I moved my frogspawns as of last night and I think they really appreciated that.









a new lobo









and some new candy canes...its a bit blurry but I was in a rush


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

your making me drool again, good pics bear.
can't wait to see what you do next buddy


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Some stuff got moved around, so I took some pics


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## Guest (Apr 26, 2007)

Stunning. Much better looking than my mighty driftwood, lol :lol:


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## Guest (Apr 27, 2007)

Beautiful pictures Bear! I love the zoos and the frogspawn.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Thanks guys!

Just think Kristen, you could get some frogspawn too


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Well today I did even more moving around, and picked up a bunch of shrooms that I bleached soon after getting my new T5s. Not only had they gotten their color back but they look great. One is a very small purple and green ric, and the other 2 are brown and green rhods. I moved the dark green brain to the far left side, and the metallic open brain to about 1/4 way under the ledge that is used to stand in front of. One colony of brown zoos were moved to let up some space for future color.

The clowns are also acting weird. Not in a bad way, but they have been doing there little dance almost non stop for the last few days. The other 2 fish, the sixline and neon goby seem quite happy with their home 

I am making a new fishlist now and will be getting them into the tank one at a time.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

just a quick update, the new ones are the 2 birds nest and the one amethyst porites


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## stargate_geek (Dec 1, 2006)

It's so pretty!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

both tanks are now being treated for ich (the QT and DT). The sailfin and one of the cardinals in the QT died.

The replacements for these fish have been ordered along with a purple acro, a pink stylophora, and a purple Montipora digitata.

thx stargate


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

How did the display tank get ich?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

from a kole tang that brought it in a killed a ton of fish a while ago, I am now treating the DT to make sure that the newbies coming in dont get it again after being treated in the QT.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

did you qt the kole?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

yep and it still brought it in, so now the QT is goin for even longer with the ones in there now.


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## Guest (May 11, 2007)

Been there. I bought a fantail filefish that was in my display tank for a month or two with no signs of disease and one day it just spread ich to everything and killed every fish I had in that tank. Sometimes you just can't know until it comes and kicks you in the ass.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

and that's why im treating everything


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

just a lil bit of moving around, just an update. I should be getting in several new corals tomorrow.


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

So pretty,, lookin good bear the pics quality is getting better with every post keep it up man.
Lookin forward to seeing the new coral


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## Windex (May 9, 2007)

looks amazing bear. sorry to hear about the ich. hope all is well now.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Thanks for the nice comments 

The new corals came in yesterday and the colony or purple acro didn't even make it through the night, but I should have know it was a goner from the smell of the water it came in. The montipora digita looks fine and purple, but the stylophora that was supposed to be pink, and it has turned out to so far be brown with a mixture of green and brown polyps. Both of the birdsnest I got from the last shipment look great still.

I lost yet another cardinal during the night and got one in (not the same one) along with a new sailfin tang.

oh and the passion tree was so beat up it wasnt even connected to the disk when I got it, but I put it in the tank neways to see if it could pick itself back up.


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## Guest (May 16, 2007)

*is wide-eyed* wow, it's so amazing.

nice job!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Here's some pics of the Cyano break out (there is a phosban reactor coming later this week), some new SPS, and the SPS I got last week with growth comparisons.

Pink Birds Nest
Last Monday









Today









Orange Cap
Last Monday









Today









Green Ployped Birds Nest
Last Monday









Today









Porties
Last Monday









Today









Rest of the pics
















































































That ric is sooooo splittin!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I can see noticeable growth in all except for the porties 

I will post pics again after the Phosban Reactor install


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## Guest (May 21, 2007)

I'm speechless.


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## Guest (May 21, 2007)

Woa, that sailfin pic is amazing! Excellent shot!
And the color in that tank is mindblowing. Excellent job Bear!


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## Guest (May 21, 2007)

*keeps dreaming*

wow...it is absolutly AMAZING! i dream of the day i can get a nice looking reef tank. actually i dream of the day i can afford a reef tank. once that day comes i will dream of the day i can get a reef tank...lol

I love the sail fin. my favorite SW fish are tangs, yellow, sail fin, and hippo being my top 3. the next being powder blue, naso, and purple.

I also really like your fire fish. do you still have them?

Where do you get all of your fish from?

Andrew


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Lately I have been getting my fish from LiveAquaria and have come to the conclusion that the fish don't do so well with the shipping (I think its more of the local delivery men). I am going to be getting the rest of my fish from Local stores, but I will continue to be getting my coral online b/c of the guarantees.

As of now the fish list is
2 Clarkii
1 Neon Goby
1 Six Line Wrasse
(these in the QT)
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Blue Hippo
1 Baggani Cardinal


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## Guest (May 21, 2007)

Wow, Bear, just wow. Awesome tank and pics!


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## Pac-Man (Mar 18, 2005)

Looking awesome! It looks like a lot of work went into that!

PS: 56k warning on this might be good. My broadband took awhile to load this up! These pics are fantastic!


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## BlackArchFish (Apr 29, 2005)

Oh no! There's a puddle of drool beneath my chair now. Darn you.
It's SO amazing! And beautiful! I know it all came through had work just from reading your journal. GOOD GRACIOUS! I want SW, but don't think I have the patience or $.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

NO MORE CYANO!!!!!

Thanks Keri


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I haven't made an update in a while. I guess that's because, other than growth, there hasn't been much change. The tangs were added, Blue Hipppo and Sailfin. For some reason the hippo did not last long in the big tank, but to this day the Sailfin seems to be doing fine.

Thanks to the mistake of having sand sifting starfish all of my nass snails died so 15 of them were bought the other day and I plan to get some more. I also plan on getting a couple small sand sifting gobies and possibly importing some copepods from liveaquaria. I do think that for the most part only rics and zoas will be added to fill the rest of the tank, perhaps some nice monti cap if I can find some green and purple when ordering other corals.

Here are some night time pics:








GSP









FrogSpawns, which are beginning to sprout numerous heads!









Squishy open brain









Lookie how much the desera has grown!









Fiji Leather that has grown so much in the last couple of months that I am going to have to razor blade off a part that is hurting the zoos to its right....FRAG!

There are also a bunch more recent pics here:
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fish-aquarium-pictures/15919-new-pics-my-reef.html


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok just a quick lil update.

All the levels are good 

Yesterday we had a few additions to the tank. 1 Maxima Clam, 1 colony of orange booms, 1 small colony of un named zoos (rare!), and a 2" frag of a yellow and purple encrusting montipora with neon blue polyps.

The growth in the tank right now is crazy!









frogspawn growth!!! the head on top is splitting into 3 and there are 3 new visible heads....most likely others on the other side!









the orange booms!

Im gonna try and get more pics of the other stuff when i get ahold of a new lens

A SNAIL PIC


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

No pics today, just an update from the latest additions.

small colony of pink and green yumas, a couple orange green blue and purple rhodactis, 3 bright blue zoos, an orange ric, and a Sailfin Tang from the Red Sea.

I have not taken pics of the tank in for a little while now. Perhaps within the next few afternoons...


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2007)

lookin good!! can we get some up-to-date full tank shots please?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

with the arrival with a much needed new lens! 

Thx


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

ok, the new lens has come in and a couple things have changed with the tank 

While cleaning glass and feeding later today I hope to get a couple of pics for u guys.


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## cpm6372 (Sep 11, 2006)

Nice looking tank! I like those darker pictures. Hope that Red Slime/Algae goes away before it takes over...


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## Vinny (Aug 1, 2007)

Absolutley stunning pictures. Speechless....

Accent of colors are very pleasing to the eye.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

post #113 reads "NO MORE CYANO!!!!!"

but thanks for the thought 

thx 4 the nice comments


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## Guest (Aug 15, 2007)

Beautiful!  Your tank is amazing!


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2007)

absolutly amazing bear.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

I have spent the day buying timers and hooking up a Gyre flow system in the tank. So far I am more that completely ecstatic about the results. Im going to wait a little bit to make sure, but I will post pics to show the efect of the change.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Well I decided to try taking tank pics with the P&S again just because I still don't have a macro lens for my XTi.

The first 5 or so are messed up due to bad editing...sry about that, they looked good b4 I goofed em up...oh well

composition, exposure, etc. are all off. These are for purely to show off coral 

Later in the day, after most of the pics a new blue zoa/paly/micromusa rock about the size of 2 fists was added along side a pink tipped elegance coral

There is a pic of the elegance coral at the end....I luv that coral


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)




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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Hey Awesome Elegance coral, i've been eyeballing them. How long ya had him?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

not 24 hours yet 

I had never seen a pink tipped one that this b4


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## Fish Muffin (Aug 25, 2007)

Dude your Tank is Crazy I love it! Im starting a reef myself =]


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2007)

wow....*is speachless*


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## hacket (Sep 18, 2007)

that's exactly the kinda stuff i wanna have someday!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Hmm....wow its been a little while. Well it will most likely be a little while before I can get some decent pics of the tank up, but here's this











All of the corals have grown like crazy! There have been a few deaths due to a sand sifting goby...the little jerk

Besides that all is good, Ive got a hot pink leather that has gotten faaar too big so the frag plugs were ordered this afternoon. The tank has also seen some new fish, lost one, but the other 2 seem to be fine. 6" Yellow tang, and a 8" Blue Hippo, a 8" powder blue was lost due to a tank wide scare when the suction cups failed on a SEIO 1100.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

It has been a very long time since the last update so I'm gonna fix that right now 

Due to school work the tank had been neglected over the past few months. Yesterday I pulled out buckets and got to work. Huge WC, scrubbed glass, # of frags off of the big finger leather in front, moved more stuff to the right side.

The fish in it now are:
1 Blue Hippo
1 Sailfin
1 Yellow Tang
--(the first few days with these two were scary...now their nice and friendly and have been for a few months)
2 Clarkii clowns
1 Sand Sifting Goby (if ne one knows how I can get rid of this guy without tearing apart my tank please let me know)
1 6 line wrasse
3 chromis

Every other day they are fed a mix of mysis, squid, cyclopeeze, seaweed, and formula 2 small pellets. Everyone is healthy and behaving qutie nicely. A few very nice coral additions have been made and they were all killed by the stupid sand goby.

I will try to get some pics of the tank tomorrow so that u guys can get a peek at it.

I have told a few that the tank will be coming down and as far as I know it will. Right now the house is being remodeled and when it comes to do the family room, where the tank is, it will have to be moved if not completely sold. If it comes to that I will most likely buy a whole new smaller set up for my bedroom, I'm thinking a 40g breeder with the works. I will miss the tangs and all others that wont make it, except of the goby, but hopefully things will work out and I'll be able to keep my zoos and clowns


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Ok, it's been a very long time.

Not much of an update. Everything is doing fine and now I can start keeping LPS on the sand again due to the sand sifting goby moving out.

Nothing has or will be added to the tank for a while. It will either be moving or will be replaced within the next year so we will see what happens with that when/if that ever happens.

Here's some recent pics.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

A few changes have been made.

The current fish list:
1 x porcupine puffer
2 x clarkii clown fish
1 x Sixline Wrasse
1 x Copperband Butterfly
4 x Chromis
1 x Spotted Mandarin

The coral list has shrunk, but besides some straightening up not much has changed from the pictures in the last post. Some of the more damaged LPS and SPS that were beyond repair have been removed. So the tank seems much emptier than before. 

The family room is being remodeled and each day there is a new time frame due to ambiguous deadlines and indecision. It was planned that the tank would move to another house and become an agressive tank, hence the puffer, but from some more recent news I've learned that it will be staying a while longer. Learning this I feel much different about the tank and feel that a nice change of aquascape is due. Hopefully I will get around to that tomorrow. If so I will make sure to take pictures of the undoubtedly cloudy tank.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

It will be very nice to see some new pictures! Great to hear from you!


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Today the left side of the tank has been completely reaquascaped and the frog spawn and fiji leather don't look too happy about it. Nothing that a few hours wont fix. 

Aside from the rearranging; I did my best to rid the tank of GSP. I was only able to get my hands on about half of it and I have a feeling it wasn't enough.

A 75% water change was done due to all of the nastyness that I thew into the water column and I am heading to the fish store later this evening to hopefully pick up a frag of something soft and pretty.

I planned on taking pictures of the tank, but right now I am waiting until the frogspawn and fiji decide to open back up.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

All of the corals have either opened or are beginning to open after the big WC on tuesday. Today I did another WC, this time only 15 gallons. 

After changing the nasty green water earlier this week I have actually come to like my new bulbs combination of 4 6000k bulbs and 2 fiji purples. Instead of nasty yellow and purple the tank now looks like it has white bulbs with purple actinics that emphasis purple.

For the smaller tank, whose plans are drawn and construction is near, the 4 bulbs that will go in it are 1x 12000k, 1x blue plus, 1x 6000k and, 1x fiji purple.

Just as a quick note on the new tank: the size is 36"x18"x19", just over 50 gallons. The stand and canopy will be custom made and made of maple. The chiller will be going into the stand to keep a clean appearance so 4" fans will be placed in the stand to create circulation to keep the chiller from overheating.


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## linhely (Jun 2, 2011)

My 120G has the same lighting and NO chiller. Can't notice the heat at all. And no noise when there is no chiller. Buy that woman a bottle of Bailey's and ask her to chill.










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