acropoorer

Put me down for 5 buckets of coralife.

I agree that Eheim is a superior product. My first pump was a 1262 which I have run for over four years and only cleaned once -- still going strong. I have had 2 mags die on me and they all get salt creep around the seal when you run them external.

However, if you were to see a 3 degree bump running a mag 7 internal there would only be a marginal improvement running a 1260 internal. Has to do with conservation of energy. The mag 7 burns 70 watts and the eheim 1260 burns 65 watts. You need to take the pump out of the water or all of that energy will end up as heat in your tank. Both pumps will work external, but the mags develop salt creep around the seal ( all my mags have done this over time). Good luck.

Pink and white from my iphone so it's a little blurry. The little green spec in the lower right has grown into two more rics since this photo was taken.

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.

I'm an analog IC designer at Freescale semiconductor. I have lots of stuff in micro controllers, so if your remote control doesn't work, car windows won't roll up or if your airbag fires randomly on a cold day, it's probably my fault. Forget what I said about the airbag.

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.

Incredible pics. Guess I need to get macro lens for my iphone.

The real challenge of a large tank is to build it yourself. If you want to give that a try I would be happy to share my experience. Still haven't got my new tank fired up yet but I'm very close. Hope to get it in the house about the same time as you, but I'm going to run it in the garage in the interim.

Sounds to me like you've made up your mind to go for it. Live the dream! Bigger is Better! All your friends think it's a great idea too.

Isn't the challenge why we do it? Bigger, better, more stuff, but not really harder if you get a good setup. More risk is the biggest challenge -- very easy to end up with 10-15k in rare and exotic critters that you have to keep alive. BTW, I can help you fill it with coral.

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 just started researching my evenings impulse buy, (yes, I know better) and I am having an 'Oh, Crap' moment. My pretty fish is difficult at best. So I am turning to my fellow reefers and hoping someone has advice for me. (Other than to quit impulse buying.) Has anyone kept a black leopard wrasse successfully? If so, what did you do special. Thanks!

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.

Looks great Brooks! Love the anthias, a real nice touch and my favorite species. Are you going to add a male?

Some triggers eat corals and most get big -- probably pushing it for a 48 gal. A six line wrasse is a good fish to have with coral and might be good for a first fish. Also, clowns are nice for smaller tanks and are fairly easy to keep.

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.

I tried to jump in (had a few questions for the expert) but then it said I was kicked out. Guess I'm not cool enough.

Thought you would qualify as an expert Clint. I have a question for you on 3 part dosing and trace elements. Mainly what trace elements do you add, where do you get them and roughly what do they run per month for you tank size.

Dale

My understanding is that AGE uses a UV hardening adhesive for their tanks.

Can/will you share a rough cost of the materials for your tank? My guess is that AGE would run in the $5K range for one of that size. I understand if you don't want to, just curious from a comparison standpoint.

I have no desire/space/money/spousal approval for something of this nature, simply curious so if you don't feel like sharing publicly, I get it.

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

Great build.

Quick question. It would appear that you are building just like AGE does(PVC bottom) and some of the mystery is how they get the glass to seal to the PVC. So, how did you do it?

This is a long answer and a secret of those that know. So, I will say that I used silicone and 1" pvc plus a secret ingredient. The pvc is thick for a reason other than it is needed to carry the weight -- think of a channel in a channel -- vertical and horizontal. I used the channel in a channel concept and I am convinced AGE does as well. I already purchased my glass and pvc when I happened to meet the owner of saphire aquatics in Houston and was talking to him about the tank I was building and he shared the other key adhesion secret with me and I don't think he would want me to publish it on the web. So if someone is seriously interested on building a glass to pvc tank I would share the secret off line so that they could have a successful build -- just don't want to publish it. There are also some secrets to avoiding bubbles in the seal that I can share that I couldn't use on my tank (My seams didn't come out as pretty as I'd have liked)

I don't believe the brand of silicone is critcal, but I bought mine from glass cages and the brand is Dow Corning 732 multi purpose sealant.

I saw this tank the other night and I must say it is the nicest most thought out tank I have ever seen,storebought or otherwise.Dale has mad skills. Now if I could just convince him to build me one too

You know I have offered to help you and I've already started thinking about how we would do it. Think about how great those chalices will look through starphire.

I was wondering if you would make a "build thread" out of this.looking good.

Whats a build thread Mike? If you help me I'll do it.

I recommend 3 little fishs from Marine Depot, the have a red color that doesn't stand out to much. It sets up faster than the sticks from home depot and the color blends.

I liked reading about this but one thing worried me. I noticed your overflows are on the outside of the tank, all good, however you say that you put a film tint on before adhering the overflows with silicone? Would that not lead me to believe that you do not have a good seal between the tank and the overflows? What happens when the tint begins to degrade and lets go of the tank? It just worries me that without a bulkhead between them, that water can find its way between the film and the overflows, or worse yet, a slight bump could pull the overflows and tint from the main tank. It sounds as though all of the strength relies upon the adhesive of the tint.

Cheers for not "overbuilding" your stand. It looks massive enough, yet most would have started threads about using 4x4's and 2x8's on 6" centers.

Mike,

The film is cut back 1/2" around the overflow and caulked with black caulk. The silicon to plastic is the concern -- there are tricks for that.

In one of the books I have, it says expect between $35 to $50 per gallon for a saltwater tank. Right now, that's roughly $12,600 to $18,000. Maybe couple more grand for the sump?

Fear and awe. It's mixed emotions. I'm complex like that.

Don't believe everything you read. I will have under $3800 in the tank, stand and hood (including hardwood and 8 solid oak doors -- I do 1st quality cabinet work). I have $600 in a used 1HP chiller/heater and panworld chiller pump (hooking this in closed loop). Sumps can be cheap if you don't get fancy, I'm using a 110gal livestock tub that I picked up for $50 and my 50 gal oceanic sump from my original setup. I admit the rock was a little pricey (3.50 lb with shipping from bulk reef supply}. Most everything else is reuse from my old tank except for the t12 bulbs and 2 icecaps to drive the extra lights (~$450). Oh yea, I expect to have about $100 in the overhead pulley system for the hood and another $100-$200 in plumbing and maybe $150 in cooling fans. Remember, this is DIY. No way my wife would let me spend $12K on a tank.

By the way, I meant silicone not silicon. My bad.