gio28's 36 gallon bowfront reef

[gio28]

Hi everyone, I thought I'd go ahead and make a tank thread to help me document my tank, as well as get input from others as I progress.
Anyways, I have a 36 bowfront (on a 46bowfront stand ) that has been up and running for the past year and a half since I started this hobby. I recently got a 20 gallon sump ready to be hooked up to the DT (which I plan to do shortly). Oh...and there's around 30-40 lbs of LR and around 20 lbs of LS.
For equipment I have:
-Aqua C remora skimmer (in the sump)
-Aquaclear HOB filter (to be replaced by sump)
-2 Koralia 2 powerheads
-150 watt heater
-150 watt MH in canopy (Phoenix 14K)
-and lastly the (soon to be hooked up) sump, including: a skimmer chamber, a fuge chamber for chaeto (and bad hermits), mutiple baffles, and a return chamber
For livestock I currently have:
-1 misbar clown
-1 firefish (with a new buddy coming this Friday)
For inverts I have:
-1 serpent star
-1 emerald crab
-1 fancy nassarius snail
-1 small nassarius snail
-a bunch of empty snail shells

lol (stupid hermits!)
-a bunch of hermit crabs
I feed mysis shrimp occasionally, along with garlic pellets and cyclopeeze once daily.
Pictures will follow shortly ...

 

[gio28]

I need to get a good FTS still, but here are some shots of the critters.
BTW The picture quality sucks haha...I'm still trying to figure out how to work my dads camera
The firefish (Feathers):

The snail killing king:

The clownfish is a camera whore lol...but he wont stay still! I need get a few good ones of him/her
Also...I bought a T5 4X24" retro with ReefGeek reflectors!

I saw a test conducted by GrimReefer...they have almost the exact same performance as ATI reflectors! I ordered 3 ATI blue+ and 1 KZ fiji purple bulb(s).

I like it blueeeee. And they shipped same day...so hopefully I get them tomorrow or Friday

 

[meowzer]

LOL...I have to take 50 pics of my clown just to get one good one
congrats on the lights.....love the firefish....and I'm waiting for the fts

 

[nikesb]

good combo!

 

[gio28]

its the darn upwards and downwards wiggle they do! LOL
And yup...finally decided on lights after like 40 hours of research haha...
hmmmm I need some opinions people...since my canopy is 30" long and the lights are only 24"...should I line them all up or stagger them slightly?

 

[gio28]

thanks. I'm hoping the combo works out good...someone on NR is running it and it looks awesome!

 

[meowzer]

I want to see a pic when you get it.....maybe I'll check into it for my 54G

 

[gio28]

I will post pics of it for sure

And good luck on your lighting search...and hey...if it isn't that hard of a retro...maybe you will be tempted to try it

 

[nikesb]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3283303
thanks. I'm hoping the combo works out good...someone on NR is running it and it looks awesome!
i saw that. the combo was pretty sweet. stagger your bulbs if you want, but i dont think its needed

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3283311
I will post pics of it for sure

And good luck on your lighting search...and hey...if it isn't that hard of a retro...maybe you will be tempted to try it

LOL....ok...whatever

My new skimmer gets here Friday.....that will be a big enough project for me (or should I say my husband

)

 

[gio28]

actually I'm probably not gonna stagger them cause your right...it's unneeded... and cause I might put some Cree LEDs in the canopy too if I need more light for SPS...and to double as moonlights maybe.
lol I hope your husband has fun meowzer

 

[gio28]

yay! the light is scheduled to arrive friday!
and more pictures will be up tomorrow...once I have the good camera.
Oh and I have a rough idea of what other fish I plan to have
current fish:
-1 clown
-1 firefish
and listed in order on future fish:
-1 more firefish (picking it up this friday)
-either a small wrasse (McCosker's maybe) or a blenny (striped or tail spot)
-1 flame hawk
-1 flameback or pygmy (cherub) angel
hopefully the hawk will leave the firefish alone...
what do you guys think?
as for corals:
pretty much everything lol...for starters I'm gonna get some mushrooms cause they are pretty easy to take care of...

 

[nikesb]

i wouldnt start with mushrooms. if you do get some, get some rhodactis or ricordeas. the other ones tend to multiply at a stupid rate over-running the the tank

 

[gio28]

thanks for the warning. kinda like xenia is guess. the last thing I want are a bunch of mushrooms taking over my tank before I even get the coral that I really want.

 

[gio28]

got the lights today!

I wired them...but my dad want's me to wait before I fire them up so he can double check them when he comes home.

and I still need to find the best way to mount them in my canopy...

 

[gio28]

ok so the lights are up! but my dad left the camera...AGAIN...at his shop...

these things are BRIGHT! Its crazy...I look at them for 3 seconds and they totally distort my vision.
the have them set up front -> back as:
-ATI blue+
-Fiji purp
-ATI blue+
-ATI blue+
its odd...when I first walk in the room the tank is a deep blue with a noticeable red/purple tint...then the more I look at the tank it looks more white (despite no white bulbs) with a strong blue/purple tint. My clownfish's colors are amazing though. The white bands glow cause of the blue bulbs and the orange is VERY intense cause of the fiji bulb I placed closer to the front. The coraline algae also pops...which is nice cause I have no coral yet so my tank looks colorful
the tank dosen't look washed out at all...its very crisp actually...probably due to no white bulbs, which IMO wash a tank out. Its hard to look upwards cause the light kills my eyes lol...
anyways...I'll post picture soon...before I go on vacation I hope. I'm gonna head on down to the LFS to put the other firefish and some green star polyps (first coral!) on hold for when I come back so I can monitor them for a while.

 

[nikesb]

make sure you isolate the green star polyps! many people who move on to sps tanks regret putting in gsp

 

[gio28]

I'm gonna see how they do on the sandbed...I was reading about them last night and its pretty much unanimous by everyone who keeps them that they need to be kept away from other corals. I dont want them anywhere on my rock cause then they will be a PITA to remove.
fragging them is pretty easy right? I want to keep a small colony of them on the sand so they are easier to maintain.

 

[meowzer]

That's what I did with mine in the 225.....on the sand...except I just added a piece on a rock that is kinda by itself.....I think it would look good if it grows and covers it

 

[gio28]

Thats what I'm hoping.
Any other beginner coral recommendations anyone?