Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[mr_X]

fts, and a shot of the spaghetti above....

I'm going to connect all 4 pendants to a rail of some sort to keep them straight and to be able to adjust them up and down all at once.

As for losses, I've seen some tissue necrosis on one of the montis and the cyphastrea (seen in the picture with the clowns and rose bubbles at the bottom left)
and I've lost the algae blennie. He may still turn up but as of now he's MIA.

 

[mr_X]

wow, that looks amazing! i love the two separate islands, are you going to keep it this way or when you get the extra rock are you going to fill in the space in between?

I'm going to try to keep the sand bed and area in between open. I don't like the solid rock wall look. Thanks!

 

[Gti_Leo]

are you going to leave the back open to view or do you plan on covering it?

 

[mr_X]

I'm not sure about the back ground yet. I do like looking through all panes, and that's the reason I didn't go with a plywood build. If I do cover it, it will be a removable cover.

 

[Convict2161]

Man I'm jealous!! Awesome tank!! I hope on day to have a tank like that!!! Just KILLER!!

I know I'm an amateur in the saltwater world but for what it's worth that tank I just SICK!! Awesome lights too!! I showed my wife and she gave me the stare... You that stare like don't even lol.

 

[Bschowa]

i think keeping the background removable if you can access the back of the tank is a good idea, it will make life much easier if you have a missing fish/coral rather than having to move rocks

 

[rdnelson99]

Tank looks fantastic Doug. Love the use of "Negative Space" in your aquascape. I plan on something similar in my 125 if I ever get to that point. I also agree about being able to view the tank from the equipment room. That will be a big help when maintaining the tank. I like light blue backgrounds but in this case, unless it is removable, I would consider nothing.

Great job. But then I expected nothing less. :-0

 

[Reefnoob84]

Very nice doug!

 

[needmorecowbell]

maybe instead of doing a full background, maybe tint it? that way you can still see what your doing, but you dont see everything behind it as clearly.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Hey Doug...nice tank! I have the dimming LED panels that look like yours in now and they are pretty slick.
I sure would make the background detachable as that tank would look nice sticking into a room so you can see both sides!

Also made up some fresh food last weekend but used salmon instead of white fish. Added some Zoa vitamins and a bit of garlic extract. The fish absolutely love it. I didn't use a food processor because it introduces too much water, I just fine chopped everything with a knife and made a dough that then flattened into a freezer bag. What a savings even using canned oysters (I live in Missouri, I am not feeding these fish flown in food $$$), etc. and has to be better for the fish as well.

 

[ccCapt]

Looks great.

 

[mr_X]

I have to make some food tonight actually. I ran out of my frozen stuff yesterday and noticed my file fish munching on my encrusting hydnophora just a minute ago. He's probably going to have to be ejected, since he's got the taste for coral now.
How does a food processor introduce water? Isn't the water already in the meat anyway?
Thanks everyone!

 

[Gregcoyote]

I have to make some food tonight actually. I ran out of my frozen stuff yesterday and noticed my file fish munching on my encrusting hydnophora just a minute ago. He's probably going to have to be ejected, since he's got the taste for coral now.
How does a food processor introduce water? Isn't the water already in the meat anyway?
Thanks everyone!

My wife is the expert...and she said after she drained the various fishy stuff, that she would need to add water to the food processor to make it work right. And we were both worried we would get carried away and make soup. I wanted some chunks they can tear apart, so dicing it worked great. I would guess we ended up with the same product, but I was just trying to introduce as little extra water into the mix as I could.

I had a file fish years ago and had the same problem. Now I have a gang of canary wrasses that have literally figured out that if they hang together that they can push all the other fish around.

 

[Sqasnatch]

I like how those overflow boxes work. I just had my second bulkhead break in a year, and mine are in the bottom of the tank, hard to get at to replace with a tank full of water. My next tank will defenetly have side mounted bulkheads. Just wanted to know if you found any cons of it being side mounted like that. Oh yeah, super nice by the way, and how do you find the starphire viewing panel

 

[scottayy]

I'm thinking of getting two of those LED fixtures for my 55 gallon. Would it fry Soft/LPS corals?

 

[Gregcoyote]

I would use a pair of 60-90 watt fixtures or only one of the 120 watt. 2-3 watts of LED per gallon is sufficient if the tank isn't too deep.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Doug...I had forgotten how much the fish love the fresh food. There is an actual war that happens when I drop it in. Every single fish, even the shy ones, wade in for a piece. It had been years since I took the trouble to make any...but with the cost savings it is a no brainer. Hope all is well with your new tank.

 

[mr_X]

I don't add any water to my mix. I don't find a problem with the processor. maybe you are putting too much in at one time? Things are going good with the tank thus far, thanks. I'm just getting used to it and am anxious to get the wall closed up.


Scottayy, I would use 2 of the fixtures I purchased for a 55, simply to get even coverage. I don't find the wattage per gallon rule to work for this application. No, your softies and LPS will be ok.

Sqasnatch- I'm thinking if I used a stronger return pump, they might get a bit noisy, and I'd have to use airline tubing or something to quiet them, but no, I don't see any issue with the overflows mounted on the back for an in-wall tank. they would never work for a free standing tank due to the extra distance the plumbing would force you to keep the tank away from the wall however.
I don't regret my decision. I would be miserable giving up all that space to standard overflow boxes.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I don't add any water to my mix. I don't find a problem with the processor. maybe you are putting too much in at one time? Things are going good with the tank thus far, thanks. I'm just getting used to it and am anxious to get the wall closed up.

Scottayy, I would use 2 of the fixtures I purchased for a 55, simply to get even coverage. I don't find the wattage per gallon rule to work for this application. No, your softies and LPS will be ok.

Sqasnatch- I'm thinking if I used a stronger return pump, they might get a bit noisy, and I'd have to use airline tubing or something to quiet them, but no, I don't see any issue with the overflows mounted on the back for an in-wall tank. they would never work for a free standing tank due to the extra distance the plumbing would force you to keep the tank away from the wall however.
I don't regret my decision. I would be miserable giving up all that space to standard overflow boxes.

That's a lot of light Doug...equivalent to a 400 watt MH on a 55 gallon tank. Glad the tank is up to your expectations.

 

[mr_X]

It's not the equivalent of a 400 watt halide, per my PAR numbers. 125 on the sand bed is 125 on the sand bed. Just because his tank is shallower front to back doesn't mean the intensity will be greater on his sand bed.