New Pics/ Baker's Dozen

mrstwig

mrstwig

Member
I am so impressed, it's gorgeous!! I really want the variety that you have in your tank and I know that lighting has a big part. Where might one look to buy the lighting you have? Did you buy it like that or put it together yourself?
The monti's......did you start out with small ones and they grew larger? I just have "softies" because I only have PC's on my 90 gallon, but I have to be so careful with placement so they don't touch and aggravate one another. It appears that your's are pretty close. Do my eyes deceive me or are the spaced more than I can tell?
Again, I will use you as the kind of color and variety I hope to someday have.
Thanks again for sharing!! :happyfish
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
More thanks everyone. Mrs Twig, that is the highest compliment anyone can give...that of wanting to emulate what you have created. This tank has been through many, many changes! I started with LOTS of GSP and softies. Moved to monti caps and digitatas. Took out the stinging anemones and euphyllias, and alot of the toxic mushrooms and leathers...and finally advanced to harder to keep sps and touchy LPS. The montis, and most everything in this tank started as a small frag. I had an orange cap get so big in this tank, it almost did'nt fit out of the top of the tank! I attribute my success to various things... making sure my TDS is 0 on my RO/DI, frequent water changes, dosing and top-off daily, LOTS of flow, and good healthy specimens to begin with. I also feed my corals. Another thing I do is since a little sand is often taken out with each water change, I replace it with new batches of live sand from the Keys, several times a year. I believe this gives the substrate an extra boost of micro-organisms.I think they are one of the most important components of a healthy tank. It's why alot of people who use only dead sand and mostly base rock often have problems. Their tanks are basicly dead. As far as coral placement and close proximity, it is something you have to watch very closely. a coral may seem out of reach of another, but maybe a nice big water change makes them expand greater one day..and ZAP...they sting each other. Or they may have very fine but long sweepers that you do not notice, since they only come out at night. Some corals on the other hand, learn to tolerate each other. The purple rim cap in the center, and the torquoise stag next to it...are growing together! Another few things to remember about corals....many of what we try to keep together in one system would never encounter each other in the wild, as they are all from different regions. When a new coral is placed in the tank, others often react with chemical warfare. Look up Allelopathy to further understand.
 
mrstwig

mrstwig

Member
I just enjoyed your tank shots yet another time!! I want, I want, I want.
Could you give me some suggestions are far as how and where I should look for similar lighting and do you have to run a chiller? I have a canopy top and really want to keep it.
Keep more pictures coming please!
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
Champion Lighting & Supply is where I got all my lighting equipment. Ushio 2X 250 10 K metal halides on 2 Blueline E-ballasts, and 4X 110 URI VHO's running on a single 660 Icecap ballast. The ballasts are as important as the bulbs. German endcaps are important too. Good reflectors are a must for the halides...the URI VHO's have built in reflectors. I also bought my external Blueline pumps from them. No chiller... there are 4 small fans on top of the canopy, and 1 personal fan runs over the sump. It loses about 2 gallons a day in evaporation..give or take. The components to the lighting were put together by my hubby.
Thanks again for the compliments.
 
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