One beautiful tank, thank you for showing us the build, it was very informative.
JJ Ocean's 420g Reef
- Thread starter jj ocean
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Creation Reef & Aquatics;861947 wrote: The tank looks fantastic. You did great job laying out the rock.... I know that Achilles is happy now
Amanda
Yes, he absolutely flies around the tank from spot to spot grazing. Probably covers 3 times more ground than any other fish in the tank. Definitely a happy fish ... actually eats flakes out of my hand now. Didn't do that in the other tank. Thanks for all the support to date.
Raz & Blue Spot - thanks for the comments. I posted it out there to share ideas - hope it helps.
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Exceptional. Well planned and well executed.
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">It has been about 3 months since my last update. The tank is doing well. I've been battling a little bit of dinoflagellates on the new rock and still working to finally kick it. I’ve been bumping up alk, ph and making sure the UV sleeves are clean to help eliminate it.</span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Calibri">The setup remains mostly the same. I did decide to change up the lighting a little bit. I displaced 2 of the AI LED units with two 400w MH units running radium bulbs. The remaining 8 AI units are mainly supplemental for ramp up & ramp down. Below are a couple pics of the changed lighting setup.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Calibri">The setup remains mostly the same. I did decide to change up the lighting a little bit. I displaced 2 of the AI LED units with two 400w MH units running radium bulbs. The remaining 8 AI units are mainly supplemental for ramp up & ramp down. Below are a couple pics of the changed lighting setup.</span></span>
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What about that sump? Did you have that custom made?
Yes, it is a custom sump. Got it through Creation. It is 48"x24"x20", (4) 1.5" drains and (1) 3" drain. (1) 1.5" return and (1) 1" return. It also has brackets for ATO switches and 3 heaters. Rated for 5,000 GPH flow. Works as spec'd ,,, very happy with it.
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very cool. By "creation" do you mean MRC? Are the drians from your tank 1.5 inches? I ahve a 225 with tow 1" drains. I wish now I had added better drainage. My return pump can easily outpump those two drains.
Edit: corrected spelling...sorry
very cool. By "creation" do you mean MRC? Are the drains from your tank 1.5 inches? I have a 225 with two 1" drains. I wish now I had added better drainage. My return pump can easily outpump those two drains.
#http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showpost.php?p=881401&postcount=76">[B]76[/B]</a> [IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/member.php?u=5798"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-size: 15px">michael grady</span></span></a> [IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/images/statusicon/user_online.gif" alt="" />
Atlanta Reef Club Member
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 82
very cool. By "creation" do you mean MRC? Are the drians from your tank 1.5 inches? I ahve a 225 with tow 1" drains. I wish now I had added better drainage. My return pump can easily outpump those two drains.
Edit: corrected spelling...sorry
very cool. By "creation" do you mean MRC? Are the drains from your tank 1.5 inches? I have a 225 with two 1" drains. I wish now I had added better drainage. My return pump can easily outpump those two drains.
#http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showpost.php?p=881401&postcount=76">[B]76[/B]</a> [IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/member.php?u=5798"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-size: 15px">michael grady</span></span></a> [IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/images/statusicon/user_online.gif" alt="" />
Atlanta Reef Club Member
[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/images/arcmember.jpg alt="" />ARC Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 82
very cool. By "creation" do you mean MRC? Are the drians from your tank 1.5 inches? I ahve a 225 with tow 1" drains. I wish now I had added better drainage. My return pump can easily outpump those two drains.
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Very cool. I'm about 6 months into a 225 and still wanting to go bigger. Any regrets? Anything you'd do differently? Are you using Ozone by chance?
Just a quick suggestion. I just added 2 MP60 to the top front of my 375DT to go along with 2MP 40 in the back and 2 on the sides and it really help to get flow across the front of the tank. You have to drop them 5-6" below the water line to avoid it sucking air but it really help and I could turn down the MP40 on the side to avoid blasting the corals I have in the top middle of the tank. Great looking set up and good luck with the balance of the build.
Yes, I could definitely get more flow to the front by adding vortechs up there. However, I wanted to keep the viewing glass as "clean" as possible from mounted pumps. I'm not sure you can tell in the photos, but I have return lines run to both front corners to push flow across the front & side glass (via "y" fitting). I ran them there exactly for that purpose. They are concealed by the canopy, but you can see them with the lid open pics.
The flow up front is linear with the return lines vs. the random flow of the vortechs, but it was the compromise I was willing to make. Both were options I went through during the design. Thanks for the feedback.
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<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Sorry … just recognized I didn’t respond to your post. Yes, tanks can always be bigger, HP in cars can always be more and you could always be paid more $ for what you do … just life I guess?</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">No regrets. Two things I wish I did different from the start. 1) Metal Halides. I love LEDs and still use them as my supplemental lighting, but in my tank I feel I was losing color in my acros with just LEDs. Growth was fine. Changed it up. 2) Plumbing mistake. I was getting a back siphon and had no idea where it was coming from – assumed siphon breaks and check valve weren’t working. The issue was right in front of me! My media reactors were coming off my manifold and creating a siphon with my sump. You can see it in some of the photos. I completely missed it in my plumbing design. Out of embarrassment, I won’t even say how long it took me to identify it. The reactors have been moved across my fish room now into a different configuration to alleviate the issue.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Yes, I use Ozone. Large Ozotech unit injected into my second skimmer (AquaC 400).</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">A bunch of my equipment, refugium and tanks are on the other side of the room. A little over 900g total water volume. When I get some time I will take some photos and post.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Matt sees a portion of my paycheck on a fairly regular basis – good guy. You’ve got a nice selection of tangs in your tank. Would love to see photos of your 375.
I have 7 tangs now – lost a small regal blue a couple weeks after the transfer. He was there when I took the photos though. It is ironic that he didn’t show in any of the pics and he is the one that went missing. I think my magnifica anemone got him. His sleeping spot was WAY too close to it. Bad habit caught up with him.
The tangs I have now are Achilles, Sohal, Chevron, Blonde Naso, Purple, Powder Blue & Desjardini. I plan to add one more. I want it to be a clown tang, but most likely it will be another tiny yellow belly regal blue. The tangs all get along right now and I’m afraid a clown tang given their nature might upset the apple cart. With a small regal blue, I don’t even think they paid him notice due to his size.
Going from memory, the rest of the fish in the tank are mauritian clownfish pair, flame wrasse pair, lineatus wrasse, melanarus wrasse, cleaner wrasse, pictilus anthias pair, lyretail anthias (7), bluespot jawfish, flame hawk, royal gramma, sleeper goby & lawnmower blenny.
The fish on the list to be added are Marine Betta, Borbonius Anthias, Australian Copperband Butterfly, Bellus Angelfish (Pair), Yellow Purple wrasse and Golden Dwarf Moray. Would love a Gem Tang, but haven’t found someone willing to give it away yet. No hurry on the additions … will add them probably over the coming year.
</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Sorry … just recognized I didn’t respond to your post. Yes, tanks can always be bigger, HP in cars can always be more and you could always be paid more $ for what you do … just life I guess?</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">No regrets. Two things I wish I did different from the start. 1) Metal Halides. I love LEDs and still use them as my supplemental lighting, but in my tank I feel I was losing color in my acros with just LEDs. Growth was fine. Changed it up. 2) Plumbing mistake. I was getting a back siphon and had no idea where it was coming from – assumed siphon breaks and check valve weren’t working. The issue was right in front of me! My media reactors were coming off my manifold and creating a siphon with my sump. You can see it in some of the photos. I completely missed it in my plumbing design. Out of embarrassment, I won’t even say how long it took me to identify it. The reactors have been moved across my fish room now into a different configuration to alleviate the issue.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Yes, I use Ozone. Large Ozotech unit injected into my second skimmer (AquaC 400).</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">A bunch of my equipment, refugium and tanks are on the other side of the room. A little over 900g total water volume. When I get some time I will take some photos and post.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">
</span></span>
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Matt sees a portion of my paycheck on a fairly regular basis – good guy. You’ve got a nice selection of tangs in your tank. Would love to see photos of your 375.
I have 7 tangs now – lost a small regal blue a couple weeks after the transfer. He was there when I took the photos though. It is ironic that he didn’t show in any of the pics and he is the one that went missing. I think my magnifica anemone got him. His sleeping spot was WAY too close to it. Bad habit caught up with him.
The tangs I have now are Achilles, Sohal, Chevron, Blonde Naso, Purple, Powder Blue & Desjardini. I plan to add one more. I want it to be a clown tang, but most likely it will be another tiny yellow belly regal blue. The tangs all get along right now and I’m afraid a clown tang given their nature might upset the apple cart. With a small regal blue, I don’t even think they paid him notice due to his size.
Going from memory, the rest of the fish in the tank are mauritian clownfish pair, flame wrasse pair, lineatus wrasse, melanarus wrasse, cleaner wrasse, pictilus anthias pair, lyretail anthias (7), bluespot jawfish, flame hawk, royal gramma, sleeper goby & lawnmower blenny.
The fish on the list to be added are Marine Betta, Borbonius Anthias, Australian Copperband Butterfly, Bellus Angelfish (Pair), Yellow Purple wrasse and Golden Dwarf Moray. Would love a Gem Tang, but haven’t found someone willing to give it away yet. No hurry on the additions … will add them probably over the coming year.
Nice collection of clams. That's a high CA goal - watch you mag & alk values if you end up running CA in that range.
Never kept a black tang myself, but have seen several in person over the years. Matter of fact, I saw one the other day at pure reef. It was a small one. I appreciate the uniqueness and their longer snout, but for some reason straight black doesn't have the pull for me. Take that with a grain of salt though, I have some higher than normal priced clowns that look just like clarkii's to most people. To each his own i guess.
Never kept a black tang myself, but have seen several in person over the years. Matter of fact, I saw one the other day at pure reef. It was a small one. I appreciate the uniqueness and their longer snout, but for some reason straight black doesn't have the pull for me. Take that with a grain of salt though, I have some higher than normal priced clowns that look just like clarkii's to most people. To each his own i guess.
I'm a big fan of refugiums if you have the space. I've got a large magnifica anemone that's hosts my clowns. Gasters are still hard to import - government restrictions and long transport times have reduced the frequency of imports. I've had them for probably 2 years. No eggs to date. Hopefully soon.
phishfoodie
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Any updates on the tank? How has the lighting change worked out? Let's see some photos!
The tank is doing well. I have most of the corals I want in there now. On the fish side, after I put in the 3 that are currently in QT I will probably only add 1 or 2 more. My biggest issue to date has been dealing with dinoflagellates on the new base rock. All the rock transferred from my old DT is fine. I think I’m winning the war with the dino, but it is slow going.
On the lighting front, I’m happy with the MH addition. Color is getting better and growth has improved slightly. My Red Planet and Hawkins Blue responded the best to the switch. I’m sure the color will continue to get better. As expected, the 400w bulbs are heating up the water more than the all LED setup.
Here are some updated photos from earlier today. I turned the blue and royal blue LEDs off for the pics to try to get the most natural color. The color is still off, but it’s the best I can do given my camera.
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On the lighting front, I’m happy with the MH addition. Color is getting better and growth has improved slightly. My Red Planet and Hawkins Blue responded the best to the switch. I’m sure the color will continue to get better. As expected, the 400w bulbs are heating up the water more than the all LED setup.
Here are some updated photos from earlier today. I turned the blue and royal blue LEDs off for the pics to try to get the most natural color. The color is still off, but it’s the best I can do given my camera.
