tank build(NEW PICS)

[clone]

After my 110 show tank crashed i decided i wanted to set up a tank that Felipe had hooked me up with.It's the cube tank he had in the corner next to his counter.
I got the tank over to my place and started with pealing the old silicone and resealing.
After i sent Ace a pm to build me a black overflow to match the back of the tank,witch i had painted black.
Then i went over to a friends house and started on the stand. After three days of working on the stand,we finnaly got that done,and sent my sump to get baffels added.

tank is 36x30x18=84.2 gallons
octopus extreem 150 skimmer
2 x 250w magnetic ballest/w 15k hamolton bulbs
2 x39w t-5ho's
sump built by Jermey at B&B
1090 coralife external pump
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/newtank.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/newtank2.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/nt4.jpg

Im going to be put black sand and setting up my rock something like this guys
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1288059

[RayAllen]

Looking good, cool measurements on the tank.

[clone]

yeah i love the dimensions aswell, it'll give me lots of room to move stuff around.

[JimD]

Thats gonna be nice! Why did your other tank crash?

[SKNR]

Looking good!

[MissT]

love the tank size! Looks like you're off to a good start

[clone]

tank crashed due to my stupidity and rush to get a water change done.
The salinty was way out of wack and a heater broke in the sump.

[SABOB]

I remember that tank from Fin-Addict, can't wait to see what you do with it.Any ideas on how you will stock it?

[ErikH]

I am anxious to know how that skimmer performs!

[sharkboy]

very nice! the suspended lighting is cool!

[clone]

SABOB-hum it will be a a mix of sps,zoas,and a couple lps, but not just any corals ima try to get my hands on nice stuff.As for fish a small school of anthias,one tang,and a copperband.
Nice dogs by the way, i have one but hes all white.
SCORPION-i am aswell,i wanted to put it in some water to break it in but a couple of wise men told me to hold my horses.

[clone]

so after about a month.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/tank2.jpg
i had this problem ^^^,with diatoms,but won that battle.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/tank.jpg
this is what it looks like today 4/12/08 ^^^

[clone]

this tang lets me pet it,and feed it form my hand
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/staang.jpg
and this is what the tank and my 5fish produce
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/skim.jpg
and this is what will keep my sps growing.when i start to add them.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/ca.jpg

[clone]

well came home today and found the star dead.other than that my reactor is killing me cant get it to work right.

[rz1a]

what brand is the reactor?

[clone]

its a coral life reactor

[dustint21]

Clone I like your tank! Got any updates?

[clone]

Ok so many to tell.
lets start from 3 months ago.
the tank was filled with about 10 acro colonies and about 30 acro frags growing out.
everything was looking GREAT i had 6 fish.naso,bottelbrush tang, 2anthis, lawn-blenny and a long nose hawk.
EVERYTHING WAS LOST IN ONE DAY.
my reactor let to much CO2 into the tank and lowered the PH to 6.3.
after doing a couple wtaer changes i got the ph at the right level.
A month down the road i got a frag from a buddy and it had a very nice friend called BRYOPSIS on it.battled that for a while.
so since then been trying to get back on my feet aquaring small frags at a time.

[BioCube14]

sorry for the bad luck

[dustint21]

Sorry to hear that! I hope everything gets better! When it does post some pics!

Thanks
Dustin

[cpreefguy]

That is terrible! Sorry to hear...

[ErikH]

Have you put new media in your reactor since the crash? That media that's in there may be toast... Call me!

[clone]

nope havent put any new media since.its just been their,but today jeremy's going to come by and hook everything up so i dont mess up again.

[clone]

ok took a few shots today.
not much to show,but remember this is after the ph crash.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/fts.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/ftsl.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/ftsr.jpg

[clone]

some new acans i picked up from B&B
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/acans4.jpg

[caferacermike]

If you are digging those Acans I would suggest hitting the Aquadome in Austin. Their stock smashes what Felipe is keeping at B&B. I'll bet you come home with several pieces.

[apedroza]

MIke is correct. The acans at aquadome are phenomenal!!! Lots of bright colors

[clone]

do ya'll have price ranges?

[apedroza]

They range from small frags (4+head =$50) to whole colonies over $150!!! Greta selection and BRIGHT colors!!! Lots of chalices also.

[clone]

couple acors.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/acro1.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/clone_03/acro2.jpg

[clone]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3381/3219114298_bf6cde57ab_o.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/jrsatx20/CLONESTANK.jpg

[Mr Cob]

BEAUTIFUL Kevin!

I want it all!!!

What is your fish load?

[hobogato]

outstanding!!! i really like the look of that black sand. you are really getting better with that camera too :wink_smile:

[g-ray]

I do to the black sand looks good!!

[Mr Cob]

The black sand makes such a nice contrast!

[princer7]

Very nice looking tank!

[jrsatx20]

kevin fixed your pic so we didnt have to click it. n looks good. ur chalice is looking nice in my tank. i see u still have the yellow tang.

[aquasport24]

Good job Kevin.

[clone]

thanks guys,
i only have 4 fish still Rob,wating another weekend to get the trio of sunburst.
and as for the tang Ruben ,hes realy hard to catch, but not messing with any thing since i tryed to catch him.
I messed with contrast and white blance for a good 3 hours on sunday,and also took your addvice and picked me up a macro lense.

[fishypets]

Kevin,

I had no idea you tank looked like this. One of my favorites on this site by far. You photo skills have improved leaps and bounds since your first picture too! I'm jealous.

[sharkboy]

the 15k's really bring out the colors...awesome!

[clone]

thanks guys heres a macro shot.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3339/3227594730_d3f8bb2914_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3218254329_96220831ac_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/3207008790_cd4d003da7_o.jpg

[Mr Cob]

That first one is killah!

[Dee]

So are the 15K hamilton's Metal Halides? Is that what is making the color that nice blueish and making things pop?

I just replaced my 150W MH and got 14K's, but my husband just grabbed the dang coralife bulbs off the shelf and didn't care that I was wanting to research more on bulbs. He likes the look, but I want the colors to stand out more. We went from 20K's to 14K's because someone told us that the 14K's are better at stimulating growth. I may convince him to let me buy something else and sell those on Ebay or something.

Anyway, I have a 150W 14K (I believe) Phoenix bulb in a clamp on I got from someone and the color is much better with that.

So the question is...what's the deal with these bulbs making such a nice color...and from your experience would you guys recommend switching to them? And if there is some other type of bulb that is even better, what would that be?

Thanks!!!

So

[Texreefer]

things are looking very nice Kevin

[clone]

Dee-ive been using thoses 15ks since i set the tank up.the only thing is that i supplement them with 2-39w and 2-24w t5's.
another thing is that ive been dosing brightwells low nuterient system,AA,BF,MB7 and KC.
ive also been feeding REEFUEL from coraldynamics.com
jeremy at B&B had some phoenix 150w,and i would have to say they are really nice looking,realy blue,when im ready to change out my bulbs i might go with either those or XM 20k.

[Dee]

So you would buy the Phoenix over the Hamilton's next time...good thing to know because your tank looks great now, which means you think it would look the same or better with the Phoenix's, right?

The T5's are definitely adding to the color then. I've got a coralife unit with the 96W actinics so I can't really add T5's unless we make something ourselves to hang next to the Coralife. I can change out the bulbs to Phoenix bulbs though...which I'm thinking would definitely help with the color. My 24 gallon looks nice with the Phoenix and the frags i put in there have much more color than when they are in the main tank under the coralife MH and actinics.

Dee