Thinking about taking the plunge!!

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alexmir

Guest
Ok, so i am thinking i am going to have to downgrade my tank from a 60 gallon.
My wife said that I can have a 26 gallon that will i will move my fave. coral into, and i then i can set up a small tank on the side since i will have a decent amount of extra money from selling my tank and some of the coral.
SO, i am thinking about doing the non-photosynthetic tank that i explained in the other thread.
I am thinking that i will use a 20 gallon as the DT,have about a 4 inch sand bed with LOTS of critters in it. this tank will be full of snails, no hermits for this one.
The sump would be 20 gallons, with LOTS of chaeto, and rock rubble.
I have created a food mix that i think would work perfect for the Non-photo coral, it has worked pretty well with my non-photo gorgonian so far. I just put some fresh shrimp and scallop, pellets and fish flake with some RODI water into the foor processor, and destroy it until its pasty. For all of you experienced people, does this sound like succecient food? I am pretty sure it is small enough, it almost looks more like a smoky miture, no chunk to it. As i said, it works for my gorgonian.
the lighting would just be a small t-5 setup just to be able to see the coral. This setup would be alot cheaper than a reef tank, since lights are the most expensive part of the tank.
How does this sound to you guys?
 
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alexmir

Guest
Thanks! I dont know if any other people on here have a completely non-photo tank, so theres not as many examples to go off of. Im trying to plan i all out.
 
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alexmir

Guest
Hes got alot of awesome dendros in that tank. I am actually wanting to go more towards carnation's, gorgonians, and sponges with mabye a few sun coral.
All of the dendros i have seen are REALLY expensive. Thanks for the link though, do you know if he still has it up?
 
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alexmir

Guest
Well went to look at some tanks to see around what it would cost, I am trying to decide between using a 20 gal long tank, or a reg. 20 gallon. THEN, i am trying to decide if i should use a 20 gallon as the sump/fuge. OR if i should go with a 40 gallon breeder as the sump/fuge.
Not sure about whats going to happen, but the problem i am running into is the stands, i cant find on that will fit all of my needs, so i may end up just building a stand, which i could imagine would turn into a disaster.
 
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alexmir

Guest
Well my wife ok'ed it, so i will set this tank up instead of the frag tank if i do indeed downgrade my tank. I think i have decided on using a 20 gal tall tank for the DT, and then building my own stand. I will 2x20 gallon talls as the sump/refugiums. They will be one on top of the other. I know, why not just use a 40 gallon as a sump/refugium..............I just think it would take up too much room to be able to fit that large of a tank under the stand. PLUS, the DT would look goofy sitting on top a stand that was way too big for it.
one of them will be a straight refugium, full of cheato. The 20 will have the filtration, lots of live rock rubble, and some cheato in there too.
There are a few things i am trying to figure out....
1: Should i use a protein skimmer? My first instinct says yes, but....That would take out all of the food for the filter feeders. So, i am thinking that i may skip on the skimmer, and just do a few more water changes.
2: Should i use a drip method to feed the tank, or just feed it 1-2 times a day? I have read online where some people used the drip method with good success. The problem i have with that is that i would have a difficult time measuring the ration between food and water.
3: Which food should i use? I have made a home made "paste" for my gorgonia, and it has worked really well..... I am pretty sure that this would also work great for the carnation coral, chili coral, other gorgonia and sponges.
I know that excess nutrients could cause havok on a tank, but i think with that much filtration it will turn out ok. I plan to have a lot of snails, hopefully alot of pods, and really good live sand. There will not be an algea problem because there will be no light in the tank, only when i use the t-5's to see the tank. And if one arises, i could simply leave the lights off for a week or two! There will be no coraline so if i did have a slight phosphate problem, it wouldnt affect coraline growth, or algea blooms. (the chaeto will take care of it)
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
So if you get around to it I have a 45 gallon 36x18 breeder that I NEED to get rid of if you are interested. PRSI on marsh also was selling a sump (a little to expensive imo) that would fit well under a tank with that footprint...
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Why wont you just put actinics or 20k bulbs over the the tank? Algae doesn't grow under actinics or 20k bulbs, except coraline I think.
 
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alexmir

Guest
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2689266
So if you get around to it I have a 45 gallon 36x18 breeder that I NEED to get rid of if you are interested. PRSI on marsh also was selling a sump (a little to expensive imo) that would fit well under a tank with that footprint...
Thank you very much for the offer, but i do not really want a tank that size. I am trying to stay a little smaller since i havent done the complete non-photo tank before. BUT, if i decide that i want that size tank, i will for sure let you know. How much do you want for that tank?
 
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alexmir

Guest
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
http:///forum/post/2689463
Why wont you just put actinics or 20k bulbs over the the tank? Algae doesn't grow under actinics or 20k bulbs, except coraline I think.
I hate the blue of a 20k bulb, and i know i would hate all actinics over a tank too. I think a 2 bulb t-5 fixture will do nice over the tank. It will probably only come on for around 2hrs a day, when i know i will be home.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by alexmir
http:///forum/post/2689618
Thank you very much for the offer, but i do not really want a tank that size. I am trying to stay a little smaller since i havent done the complete non-photo tank before. BUT, if i decide that i want that size tank, i will for sure let you know. How much do you want for that tank?
I want frags. I was going to try and get 40 and sell with glass to baffle it.
 
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alexmir

Guest
Well, i have got it all planned out if i am going to go through with it (which i think i am).
Heres the plan as of now.
WIll be a 20 G DT.
40 gallon breeder sump/refugium
Will have 20 lbs of rock in the DT, and around 20/25 lbs in the sump(will be more over time).
2 bulb t-5 light
Turboflotor skimmer i got a good deal on
a wave maker with 3 maxijet's (160gph) for the DT
I have decided to grow my own phytoplankton, i have found some good directions to do so, and it will be VERY easy. I will use that to feed the sponges, carnation coral, feather dusters....
I will use a homemade mixture of blended and pulverized fresh shrimp, scallop fish flake and quality pellets to feed the chilicoral, and gorgonians.
I will use an IV style dosing system to drop drops of phytoplankton throughout the day. Probably about 8-10 drops an hour. So around 200-250drops a day(about 5 capfuls of traditional phyto) I will decide after a few weeks if that is too much, or not enough. thats alot i know, but since my skimmer is rated for a 250 gallon tank, it is overkill for a 60 gallon system, so i am counting on it taking alot of the extra phyto out. And since i am growing the phyto for free, i am not worried abotu going through alot of it

The gorgonians and chili coral will be fed daily, and the sun coral will be fed 3 times a week.
Stock list:
Carnation coral
Chili coral
various gorgonians
sea squirts
sponges
coco worm/feather duster
sun coral
MABYE a tunicate (doing research
And other non-photo coral i find on the way

Critters:
Everything in the live sand
LOTS of snails, not hermits
pods
AS MANY baby brittle stars as i can find.
I am thinking about going bare bottom to help with siphoning out junk that settles on the bottom.
I am planning on doing a 6 gallon waterchangeevery 4 days, so 10% water change every 4-5 days to help keep water quality high.
HAHA, i know no-one is responding to this thread, but people are reading it, and i am just putting my thoughts out there

I cant wait to get this started. PLEASE PLEASE give opinoins, experience in any of this.
 
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alexmir

Guest
I will have lots of pics up when i start, hopefully beginning of next month.
 
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alexmir

Guest
Thanks, but i am going to grow my own, and am planning on starting the culture with a bottle of DT's phyto.
Am also thinking about using baby brine shrimp since they're smaller, and cheap
 
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