Dary's tank!

[Dary421]

All looks good Dary. Keep them going strong, how long have you had the tank now since your first coral was put in?

This particular tank has been setup and running since last October but I had transferred everything from my old 75 into it at that time ,..so for all practical purposes two or three years now(?) .... My girl friend was checking out the tank the other night and thought everything looked so "beautiful", she asked me " how much coral can you put in there?" my only answer was " we'll see" ... Glad to say that ( with fingers crossed ) everything looks healthy and happy at this point.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Wow.. Soo lucky. All I ever get is " where are all the fish?"

 

[Sniperhank]

I love reading this thread. There any updated pics Dary?

Your tank has kept inspiring me to do new things with my tank. The chiller still going strong? How does it work exactly? Did you have to plumb it into your system or did you just run it off a pump? Do you ever have to change the "coolant"?

 

[Dary421]

Wow.. Soo lucky. All I ever get is " where are all the fish?"

Lol,...Laura understands that my whole purpose of my tank was to raise a rectangular triggerfish ( Hawaiian state fish and our favorite fish to see snorkeling in hawaii every year ) and she also realizes that they're very aggressive so she totally understands why there's only one fish in the 135 gal tank,..but,..she also loves the look of the coral garden even more.,says it looks like " pandora" from avatar .. " lucky" ??? ,..you just haven't met Laura yet ! ( just kidding ,..she's a sweetie)

 

[Dary421]

I love reading this thread. There any updated pics Dary?

Your tank has kept inspiring me to do new things with my tank. The chiller still going strong? How does it work exactly? Did you have to plumb it into your system or did you just run it off a pump? Do you ever have to change the "coolant"?

Thank you!! ...it's all just a work in progress right now,...re. The cooler,..it's only been set up for a week or two now BUT yesterday, it was VERY hot out here and I actually got to see it first hand working to my benefit ,. There's a inlet and a outlet line on top of the cooler unit itself,..I ran my sumps return pump ( danner mag 12) line to the inlet of the cooler and the cooler'r outlet line back up to the tank,...it simply just circulates your aquarium water thru the coolers lines until the cooler needs to kick in to start cooling the water,You physically set your cooler for whatever temperature you want ( digital keyboard) in my case 78* the cooler will kick on when the tanks water temp reaches 79*and will cool it back down to 77* before shutting itself off.
I really feel that this was a fantastic addition to my tanks hardware,..absolutely no regrets about purchasing it...as far as changing the coolant,..kinda like your home refrigerator, I seriously doubt you'll ever have to do it.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Funny you should mention Pandora. Cameron took a great deal of inspiration from the reef to invent Pandora. Everything from giant Christmas Tree worms, to phosphorescent organisms. It was the first thing I though on my first SCUBA dive...I had entered another world.

 

[Dary421]

Funny you should mention Pandora. Cameron took a great deal of inspiration from the reef to invent Pandora. Everything from giant Christmas Tree worms, to phosphorescent organisms. It was the first thing I though on my first SCUBA dive...I had entered another world.

Greg,..although I'm just a Hawaiian snorkeler ,..every single time I enter the water and gaze down on the reefs i am simply awe struck,..it is truly " pandora"..,I feel so fortunate to have been able to see their world,...counting down the days until we go again ( sept.30th) ...can't wait !

 

[needmorecowbell]

I was hoping someday to to Fiji, its where a lot of our stuff comes from so I feel I would be most familiar with everything there. But honestly, anything would be great. Do you guys have any pics of your trips?

 

[Dary421]

I was hoping someday to to Fiji, its where a lot of our stuff comes from so I feel I would be most familiar with everything there. But honestly, anything would be great. Do you guys have any pics of your trips?

It's just something that ya just gotta do at least once....we wanted to go to Fiji too but unfortunately the budget wouldn't allow it,...I'm sure that fiji the indian ocean,bora bora or Australia etc would have much more diverse and far more beautiful corals than Hawaii has but that's about as far as me and the budget allows ,.its still pretty awesome to be able to explore a reef and float over the top of a big coral head and watch all the tangs,triggers,wrasses etc that we are so accustomed to seeing in our own tanks.,start saving your money and maybe one day you can take "that" girl to see for yourselves,. I'm sure you'll have a far a better understanding and appreciation for what you have in your tank and see at your lfs.

 

[Buffy]

I lived in Hawaii for 4 years, went snorkling once or twice and don't remember seeing this stuff, maybe I was just at the wrong beach LOL. Maybe I should make a jaunt back there.

 

[Jlsardina]

Hey Dari-

You ever use or look into denitrifiers that also dose calcium? I got one in a tank breakdown and snagged it for my personal tank.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Yep, I'll definitely do it someday. I just hope it doesn't have a negative effect on me.. Seeing huge schools of tangs in the ocean or something. It would make me feel that even a 6' tank is way too small to hold one.

Jisardina, ive never heard of one, could you explain what it is? Sounds amazing lol.

 

[Dary421]

Hey Dari-

You ever use or look into denitrifiers that also dose calcium? I got one in a tank breakdown and snagged it for my personal tank.

Jodi,...no I haven't ,.although at this point since I've been cautiously using the brs kalkwasser kit and doing a larger water change weekly, all my readings are up and Dary's a happy camper for the time being,..tank looks good too.

 

[Dary421]

I' m Just plugging along here,...seemingly,everything's ok and running strong. I did pickup a tiny little red and a lime green monti frag the other day from my buddy at my lfs,... My last green monti frag has quadrupled in size since putting it in the tank.,.
The only other thing worth mentioning is that I have two blue/ purple encrusting monti's coming via LA due in tomorrow sometime. , so that'll keep me occupied for the time being,.. Pictures to follow if all goes well.

 

[Jlsardina]

No news is good news! Anxious to see the new coral!

 

[Dary421]

Whoa ,..we just lost all power out here,...mad scramble to the garage for generator and gas can,...all systems now up and running strong "whew"

 

[Jlsardina]

Glad everything was taken care of quickly

 

[Dary421]

Glad everything was taken care of quickly

Yeah , me too..... Nice to have a back up plan ready to go.... Plan "b" ( beer)...,

 

[Jlsardina]

Lol. Nice B plan. I have an 8 plug battery back up right now. But with hurricane season I should probably invest in a generator. Only problem there is I live in a condo. Where would I hide it???

 

[Gregcoyote]

Honda makes a tiny 1000 watt generator perfect for apartments or small homes with fish tanks. 1000 watts is more than enough to keep flow operating and that's what counts.