acropoorer

I like the D&D aquatics high sensitivity kit (Merck test method from Deltec). The range is from 0 to 0.1 and it's best to stay below 0.045 which a lot of kits won't measure to any level of accuracy. Usually run about $90 but they have over 100 tests and last forever.

Very Nice! Do you hire out?

First Light, First coral. Nitrates are still high but I'm starting to run lighting and will slowly add stuff this week (off all week). Pics:

Originally, I was using uri super actinic but now I use UV super actinic. I have been told that they are the same company, different name or something to that effect. If I'd have known about the cree 3 watt leds when I started buying this stuff I may have gone to all led for actinic. Still haven't seen the 3 watt cree's but Mike Delgado claims they are the bomb. Maybe in the future after I get an aqua controller...

We left out VHO T12's. Some old school people like their actinic. Here's mine with LEDs (finnex), haven't mounted the halides yet but they fit in the square holes with luminarc reflectors.

T5's have better bulb choices and I think higher par per watt, but if you want the bomb get t5's with a strip of blue LEDs. The leds will add a shimmer to any kind of florescent lighting not to mention they are incredible at night (1 watt blues look great and I hear great things about the 3 watt blues). If you aren't a build it yourself type, there are T5/led combo's available. I got mine from finnex they make led strips 2' x 2"x2". finnex also makes a combo T5 with led. I can recommend there blue LED but I know there's a lot of other stuff available from other companies. Cree has the best name for led bulbs but mine look great and I don't think they are Cree. I hear icecap has some great bulbs that can be overdriven with the icecap ballasts. Few people use pc bulbs any more except for specialized situations (spaces were a 2' minimum bulb is to big)

Probably to late to add anything, think I'm near the end. Just has taken a long time -- a month. Starting coraline and a few corals this weekend if the parameters look ok. Let me know when you are ready to start planning your tank build and feel free to call me if you want.

I have seen your posts, your tank is gonna be awesome! With regard to stand structure, I used a 3x6 plywood glue lam on the ends and 2.25x6 on the front and back. There is are six points of support to the floor as the front and back have a center support. I didn't use styrofoam, but leveled the base and built the tank in place. The bottom is 1" pvc landed on a 3/4" sheet of plywood. So far so good.

I will start soon, maybe this weekend if the nitrites get to 0. I plan to move slowly, not looking to lose livestock.

I mounted your 2 finnex lights on the side for a total of 8 led strips. Gotta get the shimmer and glow!

Free advise here! Always willing to help out and remember, bigger is better. I just finished installing most of my lighting until I take down my existing tanks and salvage the remaining lights I need. Still to add 3 luminarcs with 400 watt halides and one more icecap with two 6' T12 actinic but the heavy lifting is done. See pictures below. Next phase is to place the light hood on the tank to bring up coraline on my dry rock. Still waiting for the stuff to develop bacteria. My ammonia is 0 but the Nitrites and Nitrates are pegged on my tests. Not sure how long this will take and can't find much good literiture on curing dry rock. Everyone says use dry rock to avoid the bad stuff but then they tell you to seed with existing rock. How do you insure that you don't get bad stuff if you use existing live rock to start the dry rock? Been struggling with this. Let there be actinic! Lights off.

I have a couple of the 110 gal watering tanks with a side bulkhead plumbed in. Plan on using one as a cryptic fuge and place for sediment to collect under the tank (overflows will empty into tub) and will use a large single 3" drain out to the garage sump. The sump in the garage has a skimmer and physical filter and 2 return pumps - chiller on closed loop to main tank will also be in the garage. I am thinking of feeding my closet tanks to the tub to reduce the flow in the sump. The tubs are also handy for temporary holding when doing tank reorganization or cleaning tank out. I love the tubs, got them used for $45 each, very handy.

Interesting link. Regal plastics sold me an adhesive that also bonds plastic to glass which I didn't use(called E6100). I met a guy in Houston that had a small business building skimmers, fuges and an occasional tank (sapphire aquatics). I went with his recommendations on how to glue to the pvc bottom joint (he was quite certain the plastic to glass adhesives will fail). So far no regrets, but I still have to move the tank.

We have water and Nh3. Been waiting two weeks now and still have high ammonia ~2ppm. Water still looks pee yellow and I soaked my dry rock 3 times in RO/DI for a week before going with salt. I'm new at this dry rock thing but was hoping for faster results. Just changed out my carbon tonight. My plan is to move all my stuff out of my existing tanks to the new monster in the garage. The setup is temporary and halides will move one at a time with the coral. I have the big panworld pump doing all the work and man does it rock. 1850 gal/hr thru my chiller and back to the tank, the final system will only be 1000 - 1200 gal/hr on the returns and the pan world will be closed loop for my chiller only. Borrowed a few items from friends to run temporary for the change over -- deltec skimmer and a phos reactor. Working on my lighting now to get ready to grow some coraline. The skin may be a while, need to get a week off from work. After going over to Mike Delgado's spring break I decided to add 6 finnex led strips for moonlight but will probably run them all the time for supplemental light. They only burn 9 watts per strip and never burn out, so why not. As a moonlight, the view is like going another planet -- never seen anything like it! Thought he put something in my drink! No! It's not what it looks like, the color is from the dry rock.

Enjoy and thanks for the visit.

The superman generally does fine in high light--faded blue will recover it's color as long as the polyps are healthy. Also, I can hook you up with acro advice and nice size sps frags at a very reasonable price if you are interested (post me if you want). Also, there are bargains posting all the time in the for sale section.

I use a Precision Marine Pro media reactor and like it. The three little fishes leak after a while and it's tricky to tighten the lid. PM makes various sizes, but the middle pro size is nice quality for not too much money(around $170). I run rowa phos and have never seen an issue from too much. It's difficult to reduce your phosphates to 0 with gfo as more is always being produced even with a reactor. I've measured the water out of the reactor (merck test) and it is very close to 0 but the tank never falls much below .03 mg/l.

Good to have you on board, You'll find plenty of good advice here!

Sorry, didn't see the other post requesting them.

I'll take the caribbean blue zoes if you still have them.

The flatworms you are describing sound like red planeria. They should be harmless unless you kill them with flatworm exit in which case they can emit a poison that will cause problems in your tank (not a problem unless you have a lot). Generally they require a lot of nutrient in the water, so a cleaner tank will generally reduce there numbers. When I first had them I went with what all the lfs's advised but was surprised to see that the most aggressive eater of these guys was the blue green chromis. Reef stores will sell you sixlines, mandarins and gobbies for the problem but I have only observed blue greens eating them. I have always had them in my system, but never see them in my show tank since adding the blue greens. You can use flatworm exit which in my experience hasn't had any ill effects on other specimens. However, if you have a lot of them you have to be careful about the poison they emit when you treat. Cleaning up built up nutrient will help more (built up crude in sand beds and tank bottoms). I have a bare bottom frag tank and when I let crap build up in the bottom they over populate on the crude. As a rule I don't worry about them as they go away when I clean the tank bottom and the chromis keeps eats most of the ones that are more visible. Treatment never seems to completely get rid of them (come back in a few months) but might if you treat multiple times. Again, they should be harmless to corals unless they are the acro eating type (which will stay on acro's not all over your tank). You should be able to blow or suck them off your coral. Good luck.

I had one for a year and half. It did quite well and ate frozen mysis -- getting it to eat is the trick. If it won't eat mysis try mixing mysis with live brine shrimp to get it started. I lost mine when I went bare bottom -- got stressed when it didn't have sand to sleep and hide in. Beautiful fish and if you can get him to eat he should be fine. Enjoy.

I had a yellow tang and a sailfin that got along great. I added a copper banded and the two of them ganged up on him constantly for a few days then eventually left him alone. Sometimes it's luck.

Robb, I am not convinced that AGE uses anything other than silicone. I poked around their tanks and if there is something other than silicone in the pvc/glass joint it is well hidden -- saw/felt rubber on both sides. I did get a quote from AGE, but they didn't quote exactly what I asked for. Based upon their quote, my guess is that to get what I wanted (close to what i built) would have been in the $9K range with tax and drop shipping included. AGE and their dealers will never tell you how they do it, but they will make it sound complicated and technical. That makes them exclusive and they can charge more for their product. Not to say that they don't have a great product because they do. Love the pvc bottom. I have about $2800 in the tank and expect to have an additional $1000 in the stand and hood (lighting excluded of course). I could have saved $400 on the tank if I would have been willing to meet glass cages delivery truck in San Antonio, but decided to have it delivered to my house and part with the cash. The biggest expense on the stand is the Oak for the moldings ($300) and 8 raised panel solid oak doors ($400). Dale