16 foot Reef by Elder1945

[Elder1945]

OK I am back .. I went on a extended holiday and now am back to the forums.

Here are some update pictures... Still no fish yet but soon they will come. I am in the process of rebuilding my QT tanks. I am switching over to the Nuvo Fusions two 10 gallon and one 20 gallon.




Old QT.


Also would like to share some of the sump setup and what runs this tank. Here is a top down view of the sump.



Here is the shot of the apex and what runs everything. I just got the DOS system and still have to add it in the mix working on that in the next few week.

 

[Newtybar]

so clean. I love the dimensions and how you went out in the middle.

 

[gidenski]

Way to think outside the rectangle! Have you noticed anything about the flow in the protruding area? Seems like it can be used to your advantage as a feature to create a high flow or low flow area for specific corals (depending on powerhead placement of course).

 

[ryan weiland]

Sweet tank

 

[Elder1945]

Removed.

 

[Elder1945]

I have my list of fish that I want to start stocking up on. This might change over the next few weeks but it is a start.

10x blue/green chromis I have purchased 25 witch now have 24 as one decided to jump to freedom.

4x yellow tangs this was originally going to be 20. The idea was to have just a yellow tang tank but this has changed. I will end up buying 8 or so to QT and pick out the best 4.

2x purple dottyback due to the price of this fish I might pick up 8 and pick the best 2.

2x diamond or something gobys with accompanying shrimp. I will also pick up a few and pick the best ones for the DT.

1x Blond Naso Tang... I would like one in the 4" range. I will be picking up 2 for sure and again picking the best one for the DT.

4x Clown fish still looking for what I would like to have as now there are hundreds of choices.

This will be my base to build on. I will end up adding a quite a bit more fish but this will get me started and I want to get into the full swing of my new QT/buying habit.

As you can see I have a new idea/plan on how I am going to buy and QT fish. When I walk into a fish store and look at fish to buy I do not usually have the time or they do not have the time for me to fully examine the fish or to see them eat properly. This has always aggravated me and I have decided to just buy over and above what I want to put in my DT and chose from there. This will allow me to better understand and evaluate the fish I purchase. I do not feel like standing in a fish store for 3 hrs a day over 2 weeks to make a fish purchase.

There is a draw back in the initial investment of the fish but this in my mind is outweighed in me having the best possible chance of success with my main display tank.

In the full picture I will be selling the fish I do not wish to keep at a reduced price to help offset the cost. The one thing I can offer to my friends and other people I know if the hobby is fish that have gone threw a full QT cycle. I think in the end this would be beneficial to me and my friends in the hobby.

 

[gidenski]

So what changed your mind about going with the Yellow Tang tank?

 

[Elder1945]

So what changed your mind about going with the Yellow Tang tank?

After talking to quite a few people that have way more knowledge on Tangs and fish in general. They sold me on the idea that to curb aggression the overall food intake of the tank would not be conducive for a my reef tank and the overall future of my reef tank.

In short more food = bad

This would have looked cool though.

Way to think outside the rectangle! Have you noticed anything about the flow in the protruding area? Seems like it can be used to your advantage as a feature to create a high flow or low flow area for specific corals (depending on powerhead placement of course).

Yes the center was interesting to get the flow just right. It is still a bit to low of a flow for my liking. I do put low flow corals here and they seem to do great. I also noticed when I was holding my friends 4 pipefish as he was upgrading they hung out in the middle of my tank 95% of the time. I have wanted to try seahorses in a reef but we will see. I have kept them before successfully and they are interesting creatures.

 

[Elder1945]

I wanted to take the time today to thank Reefsupplies.ca for all of the support and the amazing customer support. Without them this build would have taken months longer and I would have ended up with the wrong skimmer.
There are a lot of places to order from in Canada but I must admit that Reefsupplies made my life easy on this build. They spent the time to go over all the equipment choices I made and discussed each one in depth. This in my opinion and experience in the hobby hard to find. They did not try to sell me the most expensive thing off there shelf but rather what would work best for my tank. This is why 90% of the equipment including my new QT system came from them.

Ok just wanted to say something as customer service in general is going by the way side. Tank is doing well will post some updated pic's later. I am toying with the idea of re wiring the whole setup to make it cleaner. This would be a interesting endeavor considering there are 100000 wires .

The Blue/Green Chromis are doing well in the QT I ended up giving 2 to my friend already as he just started in the saltwater hobby with a 29 gallon bio cube. The 22 I have left are doing great and seem to not have issues as of yet but still in the Copper faze of the QT.

In other news I have changed how I do water changes and would like some impute. I used to do large 30% changes once a mouth but now do 25 gallons every 3 weeks. This was more of a way to streamline the time and effort made on the tank. I have the DOS system that will hopefully be setup this weekend and in my mind will help with the lower amount and volume of water changes. I wouldn't mind some input on this as I do not know many people with large reef aquariums. Let me know what you guys do on your 300+ gallon reefs for water changes as this will help me better understand the ramifications of moving to this new schedule. Why 25 gallons just because that is what fits in the brute trash can lol.

I will be posting some more pic's later on the tank and will show the new lid's I have made. No more acrylic lid's warping all over the place. I changed them out with lexan so the top of my tank now looks a lot cleaner.

 

[Elder1945]

Update!

Decided to Rebuild my sump in white acrylic.


Still working on fish will update that soon.

 

[roadrashpaul]

This is awesome. Keep the updates coming!

 

[cameronh]

What in the world! Can you swim in it?

 

[cameronh]

I like that alot! Right now I have 247 gallons less than you. Hopefully one day I can have a massive tank

 

[Elder1945]

I like that alot! Right now I have 247 gallons less than you. Hopefully one day I can have a massive tank

I started with a 29 gallon biocube.

 

[knukles55]

So I was paying close attention to your first picture and thought I knew those letters from somewhere all I Have to say is for the horde!

 

[cameronh]

I started with a 29 gallon biocube.

I just ordered a 14 gallon biocube. It will be here tomoro=)

 

[Elder1945]

So I was paying close attention to your first picture and thought I knew those letters from somewhere all I Have to say is for the horde!

LOL yes played alot.. now not so much.

I just ordered a 14 gallon biocube. It will be here tomoro=)

That is cool it is always fun starting a build. Let me know of you start a build thread I always can learn somthing off others.

 

[cameronh]

LOL yes played alot.. now not so much.

That is cool it is always fun starting a build. Let me know of you start a build thread I always can learn somthing off others.

Will do!

 

[ws6kid]

This tank is pretty nuts! Sorry to hear about the fish. The tank itself is looking good.

 

[Elder1945]

This tank is pretty nuts! Sorry to hear about the fish. The tank itself is looking good.

Thank you I don't know if my fish loss was the worst thing in the world. It made me step back and take it slow. It also made me learn quite a lot on how fish interact with a coral reef. Back in the day I would go to the fish store and just buy fish that looked cool as long as they were reef safe. Now there is a lot of thought that goes into each one of my fish and coral. Without the mass loss of my fish I don't think my tank would be at the point it is at now.

Even though I wish they all lived.