RobR

So it took me most of the day on Thursday to move everything over and get an aqua scape that I was happy with. Here's a short video of the tank finally up and running. Broke a whole bunch of corals so there's a bit of a mess on the sandbed along with some frags that I am trying to get acclimated to the mh's. Lemme know what ya think.

Looking good man! Love the way the canopy came out, that's a great way to hang your lights! You gonna cycle the new tank before you move everything over?

Schools done finally got some time... Today is gonna be move day.....

Question. Where are you storing those big heavy m80 ballasts? They can't exactly be mounted on the vertical walls of the stand, and two m80s would take up ALOT of valuable real estate on the floor of the stand, are too heavy to safely put on top of a canopy, and too ugly to just set out in the open next to the tank (according to most wives I'd assume). I don't see an auxiliary side car equipment cabinet next to your stand. Are yours just underneath next to the sump?

Sweet can't wait to see what you have in store!!!!!

Love the way the radiums look on the tank! They really bring out the colors of your corals.

Sounds like you may have the hook up with the cabinet builder!!! Any progress on the canopy?

Here is a quick video of the 55 prior to getting moved to the new 140.

Tank is looking great Ty!!!

For those of us with little patience this is a terrible hobby to be in. I'm ready to see pics of a fully stocked tank!

you are correct patience is one of the hardest parts of this hobby now it's just a waiting game, gotta wait for the new rock to cycle and then the fun of moving everything over.

Yes you bring up a lot of great points there. The other option would be to buy some window screen from home depot/lowes and cut like 4 or 5 pieces to put over the tank. You would start with all 5 pieces and the Remove a piece each week until you had none left. This would give your corals time to acclimate to the new lights without having to shorten your photoperiod or raise and lower.

That's a hard choice if you know you are going to upgrade, but getting the coral acclimated now IMO will save them some stress when you move to the larger tank. If you can get the light acclimation out of the way i would think the livestock would go through much less stress than trying to do both at once. It sounds like you have a very good plan to get the new tank off the ground form fragging to cycling.

There are some pretty cool custom canopies that I have seen where they have built tracks every two inches on the side so that you can raise and lower the lights as needed for bulb changes/acclimating. Dunno how complicated it would be to do something like that but it may be something to think about.

I see you are in round rock and college station, if you are ever in round rock I am not too far from ikea and you are welcome to come take a look at the lights in person if you think it would help you make a decision on what you want to try and get with your supplemental.

Cool, thanks.

I'm hoping to get the screen finished so I can get some fish in it this weekend. A "friend" is going to hook me up with a pair of black snowflakes.

Awesome, cant wait to see them!! Black snowflakes are some cool looking fish!!!

This is a helpful tool from ecotech.

http://ecotechmarine.com/calculator/

Just enter in your tank dimensions and glass thickness and it calculates how much flow you need for different corals. Not an exact science, but it may give you a starting point... Hope it helps if you haven't seen it before. Btw corals look great!!!

Hey I was wondering what your plan was to acclimate the corals to the new lights? Are you going to shorten your photoperiod and slowly ramp up until you get where you want? Or were you planning on raising the lights and then slowly lowering?

Rob is that pic with the super actinic strip running also? Same spec ballast and bulbs as you but yours look a lot bluer than mine. How do you like the super actinic alone? Is it obnoxiously blue? Adequate for that footprint as a stand alone supplement?

Yes it is with the super actinic running as well. In real life it's not as blue as the pic looks with the radiums on, it's just my lack of photography skills. The super actinic is nice but it is very blue when it's on alone. I do like it as dawn/dusk. Of course I have not seen my corals or fish under it yet... It's right next to my 55 and I'm running the same bulb combo as you on an aquaticlife fixture as well. I will see if I can get a pic for you side by side so you can see the difference. The super actinic is bluer than when just the 2 blue plus are on in the 55. It's def is enought coverage as a supplement on the 140.

Ha love it that you are going to be running the radiums on M80 ballast, that is awesome!!!! The pics of the new combo look great, cant wait to see the new tank upgrade as well. You should def go with the 120 if you can find one, that is a great tank footprint IMO.

Yeah for the metal halides! Don't think you can go wrong with them. What bulbs do you plan on running?

Well it took me three days to make enough water to fill this guy up but she is officially up and running!!! Only took me 6 months also here are some pics with the halides on and the initial aqua scape it will change when when everything gets moved over from the 55 and all the rock and corals get moved as well. Seeing the halides next to the t5's on the 55 is crazy there is no comparison as to how much brighter the radiums are!!!

That sure is blue. Interested to see how they look in conjunction with the radiums. I'll be running radiums also and wanted a BML strip to extend the viewing hours, rather than vho or t5. Torn between a super actinic, radium clone, or a custom spectrum. How do they look run together.

I'll try to get a picture of them together tomorrow for you... In real life it's really not that blue... It's my crappy camera skills and the iphone pic. I really like the super actinic... Dunno how the corals will don under it yet, your welcome to come look at the combo in person later in the week if you like...

Not much to look at right now... Not even full with saltwater yet, but the new rock and sand are in... Transferred some live rock and sand form the old tank to get things started... And boy those BML super actinics sure look blue in the pics.... Anyhow the cycle is finally under way!!!!

Ha I'll see what I can do, but prolly won't be able to top your catchy beats Ty. Got a rough aquascape done and some sand and the first 32 gallons of saltwater in there now... It is pretty cloudy, so after more sand and water and some time to clear I'll get some pics up...

If you're able to sustain pod populations and/or able to feed multiple times a day, and train one to eat prepared foods, a nice leopard wrasse is like a crown jewel in a tank to me. Favorite fish. They're difficult to keep and VERY non-aggressive, but if you get a healthy and confident one they're a spectacular fish to have I think as far as wrasses go

Leopards are def nice looking fish. They are fairly delicate but some are hardier than others. If you get a healthy specimen they are very cool fish and will get along with most other fish. Sometimes some of the LFS will get some in that look pretty good. I have an ornate in my 55 that I've had for about a year and a half. Very cool fish. They do bury in the sand at night similar to the halichores wrasses.

What were you thinking? Most of the fairy and flasher wrasses are fairly peaceful. There are some pretty nice halichores as well.. Mysteries and six lines get pretty aggressive and may limit other wrasse choices.

Hopefully get to work on some aquascaping this weekend as well as add the first batch of saltwater!!

Yeah a kole or tomini would def be a great option for your tank. Great active fish. You could def look into some blennies as well to help with algae control. The starry is a pretty cool looking fish. Of course there's always the old standby the lawn mower. If you have the stuff to build the cover might as well build it to be safe. Plus the with your size tank you could add some wrasse!! Tons of cool looking wrasse that could go into a 75.

Sorry double post