Happy 1st Birthday!!!

[gatorwpb]

Well my 65gal turned 1 year old yesterday. I didnt do a build thread, so I figured I could show you all the progression from the beginning to now. Its been a pretty smooth ride so far, with only minimal bumps along the way. Lots of research, research and research, with some smart design, have made this a pretty low maintenance tank. Im getting great results in growth too.
Stats:
65 gal. RR AGA tank. 20 gal fuge w/ cheato and 3" ls bed.
105 bls of LR, 80 lbs LS.
65 CSS Skimmer, Mag 7 return.
2 Tunze 6025s modded, and a MJ1200.
Sunpod 2x150w 14k HQI with 21w t-5 actinic.
Bulbs are about to be replaced and Im thinking of getting 10k bulbs to get some more growth and add another 21 w of act.
Flame Angel
Blackcap Basslet
Banghai Cardinal
Blue-green Chromis
2 Onyx Clowns
Dog wasnt too sure what was happening...

Filling:

First round of aquscaping:

Next aquascaping:

 

[gatorwpb]

Then came the clowns and a RBTA:

First corals:

More and some fish:

FTS:

 

[gatorwpb]

First SPS:

NOW

 

[seasalt dreams]

wow! awsome tank!

 

[crt81]

I'm looking into building my own refugium/sump and I am looking for a few measurements!
I too have a 65 gallon AGA RR (just picked it up on Saturday). And I want to have a 20 gallon sump/fuge as well so I'd really appriciate it if you could let me know what each compartments dimensions are!
(I'd like to know the skimmer section, the fuge section, and the return section!)
I'm looking into getting the EuroReef RS80 and it says that there must be a 9"x9" space in the skimmer section to be able to fit the skimmer!
How much flow (gph) do you have in your entire tank?

 

[gatorwpb]

Thanks seasalt!
I just measured my skimmer section last night because I wanted to upgrade the skimmer since I am getting into more SPS. It looks like my skimmer section will only accomodate a 6.5" by 11" skimmer, so my options are limited. I could have probably reduced the size of the return section to get another inch or so on the skimmer.
As for the flow, I think its somewhere around 2800 gph. Thats assuming around 1000 for the modded 6025 tunzes.

 

[triga22]

Looks really great for being 1 year! Great transformation

 

[prevwon]

Originally Posted by seasalt dreams
wow! awsome tank!
Hehe exactly what I was thinking

Good work!!

 

[nemo_66]

i like how your xenia grew so much, why did you put egg crate under it?

 

[azfishgal]

Happy 1 Year!!!!

Looking good!

 

[zanclus]

looks great keep the pictures comming!!!

 

[gatorwpb]

I used the eggcrate because Ive been fragging pieces of Xenia and running out of sand to put them on. I trade them for SPS lol at like a 4 : 1 ratio, but hey, free sps and the xenia grows like crazy.
Here's some more tank shots.

 

[gatorwpb]

Oh and thanks for the comments all!!!
Without this website, I couldnt have done it!!

 

[gatorwpb]

And here's some Onyx Clownfish growth and color progression shots...
Soon after I got them:

One month after that:

Now (11 months after getting them and they were just fed

):

 

[j-j_02]

love the angel. i jus got back rom sacramento picking one up today. its a flame. i drove bout 45mins to get him and it was worth it. do ur damsles fight with him?

 

[coraljunky]

I used the eggcrate because Ive been fragging pieces of Xenia and running out of sand to put them on. I trade them for SPS lol at like a 4 : 1 ratio, but hey, free sps and the xenia grows like crazy.
Here's some more tank shots.
How long have you had the flame angel? Does it try to taste/eat any coral?

 

[gatorwpb]

I love the angel, he is one of the biggest ive seen at the lfs.
I dont have any problems with the angel fighting with the chromis, but I think that he/she is nipping at some of my corals, including 2 acros. I recently have noticed small chunks taken out of them and the stringy material coming out from the damaged site.
Also, I lost my sixline to my blackcap basslet several months ago, which surprised me because the 6-line was bullying the basslet up until that point.

 

[ric maniac]

awsome tank! good job