Introduction and Tank Upgrade Pics

[camaroracer214]

Hey guys, my name is Brandon. I'm from the Houston area and a Board Member on the MARSHreef website. Anyways, I'm a graduate of Texas A&M University Galveston with a bachelor's degree in Marine Biology. I lived in Galveston for a few years and had a 90 gallon mixed reef (although it leaned more SPS). After I graduated, I moved back home to Baytown, which is a little east of Houston, and upgraded to a 180 gallon tank I got off a buddy. The tank is a 180 gallon Aquarium Obsessed tank with 5/8" glass, has Starphire glass on three sides, has an external overflow box, and is Eurobraced. The sump is 70 gallons, but is only about 48 gallons functional. I am currently running a EuroReef RS250 protein skimmer and a Vertex 3L ZEOvit reactor with a whole slew of ZEOvit additives for filtration. For flow, I am using two EcoTech Vortechs and a Tunze 6105 powerhead. I'm also using a Mag 9.5 return pump. Lighting consists of nothing more than 6 80watt T5HO bulbs powered by two IceCap 660's. I currently have too many white bulbs in the setup since the lfs didn't have enough actinic bulbs, but that will soon change.

But enough blabbering...on to the pics:

Tank Pre-setup
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04372.jpg

Light Rack
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04429.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04434.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04436.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04447.jpg


Tank a few days after being setup (pre-ZEOvit)
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04477.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04478.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04479.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04480.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04481.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04483.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04484.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04487.jpg

Some equipment
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04650.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04642.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04820.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04880.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04881.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC04886.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/DSC05046.jpg


I'll post a more pics later...

[sharkboy]

nice setup!!!! more pics...more pics!!!!!

[apedroza]

Welcome to MAAST. Awesome set up. That is almost the exact same tank setup I'm looking for.

[MattK]

Nice first post!

[aggman]

nice entrance...

i am very interested in learning more on this zeovit process, not enough talk on these forums on this. hopefully you will bring much insight to this forum. welcome and thanks for supporting maast.:bighug:

~alex

[ErikH]

Welcome! Your knowledge will be great to have! Since youre going the zeo route, what's your fish and coral plans? :D

[rebelprettyboy]

Thats a top notch st up!
Lookin really good so far.

[oceancube]

nice picasso clown you got there!!

[camaroracer214]

thanks everyone.

about the zeovit method...

basically it's a way to reduce nutrients by using bacteria. it's a lot like prodibio, but supercharged imho (and a lot more expensive...no opinion there). it utilizes zeolithic stones which absorb ammonia, and i think some phosphates. the stones are put in a reactor (aka zeovit reactor) and have to be cleaned daily via pumping action. next is the additives. they do any number of things. some add bacteria to the system, some feed that bacteria, and some feed the corals. but the thing i've been most impressed with so far is nutrient reduction. about a month into it, my phosphates were all the way down to 0.05 mg/L (tested with Hanna Instruments digital phosphate meter). you have to stay on top of dosing and you have to do everything that's required (weekly water changes, changing zeolithic stones every 6-8 weeks, changing carbon monthly, skimming wet, etc). you also have to keep calcium down between 420-450 ppm, alk as close to 7 dKH as possible, magnesium around 1300 mg/L, and potassium (a very important element in the zeovit system) around 380 mg/L. the colors are amazing and polyp extension is awesome.

as for stocking goes...i have never been comfortable putting a lot of large fish into a confined space. i had one tang in my 90, and i'm only at 2 tangs in the 180. not saying i won't go with more tangs, but like i said, i just don't see the point of cramming huge fish into a limited space. i have a handful of fish though. i have a pair of pajama cardinals, pair of chromis (big school that dwindled over time), yellow watchman goby, blue sided fairy wrasse, royal gramma basslet, desjardini sailfin tang, orange shoulder tang, and a picasso percula clownfish. i would love to get a few more fish, but i'm pretty picky...and the only reason most of the above mentioned fish are even in this tank is because they came from my old tank and i do hold some sentimental value on livestock. the thing that saddened me the most though was the fish losses i had when i broke down my 90 and 24 nano cube and moved to baytown. i lost one of my picassos (had a pair originally) and a pair of helfrichi firefish. needless to say, that trip was $$$. but, i plan on getting another picasso eventually and i might try to grab up another helfrichi in the future. i've had my fair share of high end fish, and they are gorgeous (blue spot jawfish, sunburst anthias, helfrichi firefish, picasso clowns), but some are just to darn delicate (like the blue spot jawfish). i used to work for a local fish store and got everything at cost...so don't think i'm loaded!!!

as for corals...right now i'm in kind of an ora groove. i've recently been buying up lots of ora pieces from local fish stores and by trading frags or whatever. i would like to get my hands on a drop dead gorgeous colony or two though. but i don't see them much around here. houston is kind of sps dead except for one store which is like an hour or so drive away from me.

i would post more pics, but photobucket seems to be down for maintenance right now. but i promise to post more later.

[Jarob]

thats such a beautiful RBTA, if it ever splits, please let me know!

[ErikH]

Brandon, what do you think causes the bubbles in RBTAs to look like yours? Mine has them from time to time, and I have always wondered what triggers them????? :D

Why such low alk in zeovit? I have heard that alot of reefers use higher alk for faster growth????

[camaroracer214]

Brandon, what do you think causes the bubbles in RBTAs to look like yours? Mine has them from time to time, and I have always wondered what triggers them????? :D

Why such low alk in zeovit? I have heard that alot of reefers use higher alk for faster growth????

in my 90 gallon tank the anemone was usually stringy, but occasionally bubbled. in my 180, i've got more flow, stronger lights, and lower nutrients, so i'm assuming those are what makes it happy. in both tanks the anemone was hosting a clown and i don't feed the anemone either.

as for alk...it has a lot to do with stn/rtn and competition with bacteria. nobody has a 100% straight answer, but the one i hear the most is because of the ultra low nutrients and trying to match natural seawater levels, an elevated alk can lead to more frequent stn and rtn events. there are also rumblings of a higher alk competing with the bacteria being introduced to the system via the zeovit method.

but a higher alk in a normal tank has been shown to increase growth rates.

[SaltyJim]

Nice light rack. What did you use for the frame?

[camaroracer214]

for the light rack i used angled aluminum from home depot. i cut them to length and riveted them together.

photobucket is back up and running, so here are more pics...

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0081.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0087.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0003.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0009.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0010.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0011.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0018.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0042.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/camaroracer214/My%20180/IMG_0034.jpg

[chark]

Welcome to MAAST. Nice aquarium and great pictures. I like how you set up your T5's. What bulbs are you running? Also do you know what the coral above the acan is? I have one that looks like that and I do not know the name.

[camaroracer214]

as for bulbs, i'm not happy with the configuration. all bulbs are giesemann, and i'm running three actinic+, one midday, and two aquablue+. i originally wanted to run three actinic+, one midday, one pure actinic, and two aquablue+...but the lfs i bought them from sold the bulbs i ordered to someone else.

the coral you're talking about...do you mean the acro? if an acropora lossiette i believe. the color on it is amazing.

[texmex]

Very nice set up! How much flow you got in there and what are the demintions of your tank? And agian looks awsome!

[opium89]

That light rack is indeed very cool. How are the caps mounted? Did you just drill holes in the aluminum? I am also curious how you mounted it in the canopy.

[camaroracer214]

That light rack is indeed very cool. How are the caps mounted? Did you just drill holes in the aluminum? I am also curious how you mounted it in the canopy.

yeah, i just drilled into the aluminum and screwed the standoffs into the the frame. i then attached a pair of sunlight supply sunlifts to lift the rack up and down...although i never have to raise them or drop them. they're fine when raised all the way up.

[camaroracer214]

Very nice set up! How much flow you got in there and what are the demintions of your tank? And agian looks awsome!
it's a standard 180...6x2x2.

for flow i have two vortechs and one tunze 6105. i'll be adding another tunze 6105 eventually.

[gjuarez]

How happy are you with your T5s for your sps? Anything you would do different other than your bulb configuration?