100g Volitan/Rhinopias tank build.

[cranberry]

We were planning on making our new 100g into a reef tank and we actually have all the supplies bought already (lights, pumps, chiller, oceansmotions, Reefkeeper elite etc), but it seems the Volitan, after 3 years, has decided to have a growth spurt and outgrow his 65g.
So, we changed out mind and decided to make this his tank but include two frienda... our R. frondosa and the R. eschmeyeri.
Right now it is just a "blank" tank that we had originally planned on installing an internal overflow.
The tank measure 48"L x 24"D and 20" high.

The overflow is rather large and will take up a lot of swimming room, so we are having it converted to a external overflow and are having the back of the tank slotted. This will be done this weekend.
We are going to go without a canopy and have decided on these lights.

They are 6X 54 Watt T5 HO, 48'' long X 18'' wide and 2.5'' tall
We are going to suspend them on bended hanging poles that you've seem peeps doing lately. We'll see how that fun project goes...stayed tuned for that.
We decided to go with the Iwaki MD40RLT for the closed loop a Little Giant 'Quarium Pump 4-MDQX-SC for the sump pump.

I like chiller's on my tanks.This one has a 1/3hp Dual Prime Modular In-line Chiller.

I also have the Reefkeeper Elite ready to go...once I figure it out. Not sure how I am going to mount it yet.

Going to have to have a skimmer with that bioload. The Euroreef RC180 Re-Circulating Protein Skimmer should do well.

 

[cranberry]

So, who's going in here? You've seen the pictures before, but I'll pull them all into this thread because it's my official build thread
The volitan

Here's a comparison of his growth in the last 6 months.
Then...

Now...

 

[cranberry]

The frondosa

 

[cranberry]

The eschmeyeri

Well, the yellow guy has changed from be yellow to first orange....

And now this colour....

 

[crypt keeper]

man are those fish sweet!

 

[meowzer]

WOW...They are some cool looking fish....I'll be watching this build....everything you do is always so beautiful....

 

[crypt keeper]

Cranberry do you live across the pond?

 

[small triggers]

is he trying to be like the frondosa???? I didnt know they changed colors,, thats awesome...
Great idea for tank,, i think it will be alot of POP and you can totally still do a reef,,, just have to pick special corals

 

[cranberry]

I live in California, I am, however, from Newfoundland... the east coast of Canada.
Originally Posted by small triggers
http:///forum/post/3057350
is he trying to be like the frondosa???? I didnt know they changed colors,, thats awesome...
Great idea for tank,, i think it will be alot of POP and you can totally still do a reef,,, just have to pick special corals
He actually isn't in with the other 2 but is still in QT. He's changing colour to blend with the coralline.
I can't keep coral with the volitan, he's a proven coral killer. I don't know what his problem is, but he went from coral to coral, perching on them until they would no longer extend. And it wasn't that he lived a certain area. If we moved the coral, he moved with it.

 

[shrimpy brains]

I'm subscribed!

 

[tr1gger]

Wow he got big!
Congrats on that VLion

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by tr1gger
http:///forum/post/3057533
Wow he got big!
Congrats on that VLion

I remember when he was just a baby in a 5 gallon.

 

[rdub62]

i'm glad you are getting them into the 100g.
but still one wrong move...STING!
are leaf fish really reef safe? i read a couple mixed reviews lately.

 

[cranberry]

What have you heard exactly??

 

[rdub62]

hmm there was a video on youtube someone made while scuba diving showing leaf fish scraping up against stuff which i assume would not be good.
but
i read on another online store than the were not reef safe or to use extreme caution? so i was curious^^

 

[cranberry]

Naw, don't believe them. They don't perch like my lions do, so I can't see that being a problem.
You do have to be careful of the dorsal spines... but that wouldn't make them not reef safe. They are very docile little guys. Their food items have to be pretty small because they have one of the smallest mouth/total body size ratios of the scorps.

 

[crypt keeper]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3057535
I remember when he was just a baby in a 5 gallon.

he actually looks huge in that tank until you look at the thermometer. Then his size really hits you. That thing guy was itty bitty

 

[cranberry]

He was indeed such a cutie!
The tank is back..... this is what the once blank back now looks like.....

 

[cranberry]

We went with a single horizontal slot instead of vertical slots. All the fish are large.

 

[crypt keeper]

I like that look. That tank sitting in your room look slike it belong in the magazine or website you ordered it from. what camera is that you take pictures with?