190 officially started

[Joshua]

250 lbs of live rock cured in it for 4 weeks, in hindsight I am never doing that again. There is so much detritus from that rock it's just unreal. Anyhow I just finished aquascaping and moved my anemone in there so the tank is officially started. After hunting season is over I guess I'll start amassing corals and working on the frag tank. :) Here's a few pics I just took, but I forgot to wipe the "glass" before taking them, sorry for the quality they're from my cell phone. It's hard to see the depth from a picture, but that 30" wide tank is just awesome in person.

http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190shots/190-1.jpg
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190shots/190-2.jpg
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190shots/190-3.jpg

Here's where it all started with the empty tank:
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190-Beast/beast3.jpg

Here's a shot of what the closed loop plumbing looks like:
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190-Beast/tank5-web.jpg
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190-Beast/tank1-web.jpg

Sump and refugium and Dart pump for the closed loop, the return is a submersible you can't see as it's hidden in a chamber behind the 'fuge portion of the sump.
http://www.knutsonclan.com/pics/Reef/190-Beast/tank4-web.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Looks great, I especially like some of those table live rock pieces!

[Joshua]

Looks great, I especially like some of those table live rock pieces!

Yeah I got lucky and ended up with some really fantastic live rock, some of those pieces push 25 lbs all by themselves. Aside from some small chunks that entire section from the RBTA's rock left is only 8 pieces of rock.

[cpreefguy]

Looks awesome! I love the aquascaping. I do think you need some mangroves though :D

[Joshua]

Looks awesome! I love the aquascaping. I do think you need some mangroves though :D

Yeah I had a source for some, but I'm beginning to wonder if it'll ever work out. :p

[cpreefguy]

Just let me know when you're over this way :)

[fishypets]

You'll be pleased with that depth. What are the other dimensions? That sand sure looks sugar fine, have you cranked up the closed loop pump yet?

[g-ray]

I really like the way its getting started post some more pics!!

[Joshua]

Just let me know when you're over this way :)

Hey shoot me your phone number in case I don't have it, I may head over to that side of town to take the kids shooting after work tomorrow or Wednesday.


You'll be pleased with that depth. What are the other dimensions? That sand sure looks sugar fine, have you cranked up the closed loop pump yet?

The tank is 60Lx30Wx24H and I just love the dimensions. It just so happens I had that 30" wide sump/fuge built by captexas from long ago that I'd used in my closet and couldn't believe it worked so well under the stand for this tank and was able to reuse it again. The sand is Southdown, 4.5 bags in the display which gave me about 2.5 to 3 inches depth. Yeah the closed loop has been running for a while and I have to keep those outlets pointed carefully, there's not much velocity coming out of there but it still manages to dig through the sand pretty quickly if I'm not careful. I have a huge hole and sand wall on the right side where I'd put a rock near the outlet and I couldn't see anything because the tank was so cloudy so didn't notice until it cleared up.


I really like the way its getting started post some more pics!!

I'll get on it after I get some of my other chores done, probably next week though.

[rpc]

250 lbs of live rock cured in it for 4 weeks, in hindsight I am never doing that again. There is so much detritus from that rock it's just unreal.

Joshua,

Just curious by what you meant by this. Did you 'cook' your rock for 4 weeks and didn't like the results? Or did you cure live rock that you just bought?

What would you do next time instead?

I am in the process of cooking about 150lbs of algae covered live rock and would love to hear your input?

Thanks,
Richard

[Joshua]

I ordered fresh rock and cured it in my tank, the right thing to do would be to cure it in the two nice empty 40 gallon water containers that I have, which I've done before. That way you can shake the rocks up and get the detritus off before putting it in your tank and keep your tank nice and clean. Curing it in my tank has left me with a constant film of detritus on everything and I have no way to get rid of it other than siphoning with water changes and getting critters to eat it which I don't have yet.

[rpc]

I see what you are saying.

I use a turkey baster to blow the detritus off of the rocks into the water column and hope that it gets caught in the filter sock. Not the most efficient method, but about the only way that I can think of to clean up after the tank is all set up.

Great looking setup, by the way.

[tropheusmaster]

looking good man,,,real nice tank

[ErikH]

Been waiting for this one. It looks great man!

[fishypets]

Any updates on this one?

[Joshua]

Any updates on this one?

Not a whole lot, it's kind of been on auto-pilot while I spend money building up my summer fishing gear. I've got a lawnmower blenny and a purple tang now and they stay fat without me having to do anything with the tank, one big mexican turbo snail and a bunch of SPS frags, oh and of course my old RBTA I've had for years. Oh if anyone wants any cyano I can provide a good amount, but better hurry because it's declining rapidly and will be gone in a couple weeks. This tank is still breaking in I think, once things stabilize and I get a calcium reactor built I'll start really stocking it and posting up some pics.