My 150 gallon reef tank
- Thread starter Rhino
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CaptFloppy
New Member
Thats a gorgeous tank you have there D: wish i had the time for a salt water tank but thats more in my girlfriends hands. She has quite a bit more experience than i do.
PantherVeileD
Avid Member
I like those black and white clown fish! I wish these suckers get along with other species of clowns. Also wish I have a 100 gallon - 150 gallon as well..
I have a 60 gallon tank that i have for 7 years now.
I have a 60 gallon tank that i have for 7 years now.
Thanks for the compliments everyone. I only have 6 fish in the tank, the black/white ocellaris clowns (the bubble tip anemone in the pic hosts these 2 clowns), 2 true perculas (all 4 clowns get along quite well), a flame angel and a vlamingi tang.
The corals are the true beauty of the tank. I try to get as many different colors as I can. The blue/pink lobo in the pic above is my favorite piece. It's from Australia and those colors aren't seen too much (at least here in NY, those of you in CA get the good stuff that never makes it here!) I have maintained this tank for 2 years now and think it's time to try something new.............so chameleons here I come.
The corals are the true beauty of the tank. I try to get as many different colors as I can. The blue/pink lobo in the pic above is my favorite piece. It's from Australia and those colors aren't seen too much (at least here in NY, those of you in CA get the good stuff that never makes it here!) I have maintained this tank for 2 years now and think it's time to try something new.............so chameleons here I come.
luevelvet
Avid Member
Those Aussie corals are sure beautiful though I could never bring my self to pay the big bucks for a single polyp of acans, lobos etc...
I was into reefs before zoo's had special "morph" names. GARF was the largest producer of aquacultured corals (if you can call them that) and we used Plenums instead of super duper skimmers. Ahhh...the early 90's.
Nice clowns. I've still have the second clown fish I've ever owned (A. Frenatus), going on 17 years now ,so I've never been able to get any of the ocellaris or percula variants. I've always loved those black ones.
Luis
I was into reefs before zoo's had special "morph" names. GARF was the largest producer of aquacultured corals (if you can call them that) and we used Plenums instead of super duper skimmers. Ahhh...the early 90's.
Nice clowns. I've still have the second clown fish I've ever owned (A. Frenatus), going on 17 years now ,so I've never been able to get any of the ocellaris or percula variants. I've always loved those black ones.
Luis
I've always been a sucker for the acans. I've spent as much as $30 a polyp for some really nice colors. I'll try to get a good shoe of my orange/green/white with red mouth acan. It's simply amazing and I haven't seen anything like it since.
Reefing is a complete addiction, much like I'm sure keeping chameleons is. It's near impossibly for me to walk into a nice saltwater fish store and leave empty handed.
Live rock in a store cost $6 - $8 a lb. On a forum I am part of it costs $2 - $3.50 a lb depending on who has it and how much you buy.
The flame angel has been a model citizen thankfully. It may have picked on a acan enchinata once, but I didn't catch him in the act so I cannot convict him.
The starfish is fake. My daughter is a big fan of finding nemo and all around my tank (on the walls) are stickers of the fish from nemo. She wanted "peach - the starfish" on the tank so I allowed her to place the sticker there.
The flame angel has been a model citizen thankfully. It may have picked on a acan enchinata once, but I didn't catch him in the act so I cannot convict him.
The starfish is fake. My daughter is a big fan of finding nemo and all around my tank (on the walls) are stickers of the fish from nemo. She wanted "peach - the starfish" on the tank so I allowed her to place the sticker there.
robmd1
Avid Member
nice reef tank ive had two 55 gallon tanks up and running for over 7 years just combined em all into my 150 gallon tank few months ago before i got into chams now tryen sell it ebay all together but noone bit so ima prolly haveta part it out just didnt wanna hassle with that but gettin rid the reef meens more room and money for chams
Rob,
You have any local forums in your area? There is a great tri state site here that I use daily and makes it easier to move full setups or 1 piece of coral whenever I need to. You should look into it. Chances are somebody is looking for a new setup and you can sell them yours as a plug and play. Just a thought.
Mike
You have any local forums in your area? There is a great tri state site here that I use daily and makes it easier to move full setups or 1 piece of coral whenever I need to. You should look into it. Chances are somebody is looking for a new setup and you can sell them yours as a plug and play. Just a thought.
Mike
They are quite expensive to setup and maintain. THe equipment is crazy expensive especially if you want good equipment. I don't have an ro/di unit so I pay $1 per gallon of water for topping off and water changes. I spend rough $200 a month on water.
robmd1
Avid Member
tks rhino ill haveta check into that i hate to part as it has brought me years of enjoyment while ive been goin threw my treatments its just to much to take care of now that ive really gotten into chams i hear what ya sayen bout the water i dont have an ro unit either i get it 5 gallon jugs of ro water from outside the grocery store here 1.50 for 5 gallons one of my friends keeps tellin me they want it but havin a hardtime comin up with the 800 i told him he could have it for he dont hurry up ill search out the reef fourms like ya talkin bout lol need get rid of it i need a few more chams.. again tks for the info
robbie
robbie
Pure
New Member
I was pretty sure that Star was fake. Nice of you to let your daughter do that. I think you made a good compromise vs a real one. lol
Half this could be spent on a RO unit from ebay and fulfill your RO needs for the next 2 or 3 yrs. I've been through 5 ebay RO units all have worked just fine. No need to drop 300 plus on one.
Edit: I just reread what you said. Why in the world are you going through that much water a month? 25 gallons a week should be more than enough water changed if you have a good Refugium and a decent Protein skimmer.
Half this could be spent on a RO unit from ebay and fulfill your RO needs for the next 2 or 3 yrs. I've been through 5 ebay RO units all have worked just fine. No need to drop 300 plus on one.
Edit: I just reread what you said. Why in the world are you going through that much water a month? 25 gallons a week should be more than enough water changed if you have a good Refugium and a decent Protein skimmer.
This tank is not just mine, it's my daughters too. She helps me pick out the fish and corals for the tank. I'm hoping she'll show the same interest in a chameleon when I make that jump.
I have t-5 lighting, so I took the glass tops off the tank to allow the light to penetrate better. Since doing this, I top off about 3 gallons a day due to evaporation. On average, I buy 30 gallons a week of fresh RO water just to top off the tank. I try to do 40 - 50 gallon water changes every two weeks (like you said, 25 a week.) That's where the 200 gallons comes in. My water levels are pristine and I like to keep them that way.
I know what you are saying about the RO/DI from ebay and I have looked into them. But, as I stated above, I like to change 50 gallons at a time. So I would need a 50 galllon drum to hold that water and another drum to hold fresh water for topping off and then I'd want to buy an ATO unit that will auto top off my tank. It's just getting too crazy. I am a creature of habit and am stuck in my ways. I'll continue to pay for water like I am now. Usually, to offset the cost of water, I frag some of acans/chalices and sell the frags.
I have t-5 lighting, so I took the glass tops off the tank to allow the light to penetrate better. Since doing this, I top off about 3 gallons a day due to evaporation. On average, I buy 30 gallons a week of fresh RO water just to top off the tank. I try to do 40 - 50 gallon water changes every two weeks (like you said, 25 a week.) That's where the 200 gallons comes in. My water levels are pristine and I like to keep them that way.
I know what you are saying about the RO/DI from ebay and I have looked into them. But, as I stated above, I like to change 50 gallons at a time. So I would need a 50 galllon drum to hold that water and another drum to hold fresh water for topping off and then I'd want to buy an ATO unit that will auto top off my tank. It's just getting too crazy. I am a creature of habit and am stuck in my ways. I'll continue to pay for water like I am now. Usually, to offset the cost of water, I frag some of acans/chalices and sell the frags.
Pure
New Member
LOL that's cool I certainly understand and can appreciate that. But if you ever change your mind. You don't need 50 gal drums. Some new large garbage cans with a small hole drilled in the top to connect them with fish tank tubing will keep them both (or more) equally filled. Just be sure to run the tubing all the way to the bottom of both cans. And really if you have it set up with an auto top off you would only need 25 to 30 gals a week. Most RO units for around 100 bucks will do 100 gpd provided you have adequate pressure in your home's water lines. Not trying to change the way you do things..just giving you all the options.
Oh, an auto top off unit can be built for pennies compared to what aquarium supply houses sell premade ones for.
LOL, smart move getting your daughter involved. When I tried it with my son he started crying "dad please don't put any tanks in my room". In his defense we did have 40 tanks all over the house. And at times many more depending on what we had to grow out. Guess he was scared his room would end up like ours with wall to wall tanks.
Oh, an auto top off unit can be built for pennies compared to what aquarium supply houses sell premade ones for.
LOL, smart move getting your daughter involved. When I tried it with my son he started crying "dad please don't put any tanks in my room". In his defense we did have 40 tanks all over the house. And at times many more depending on what we had to grow out. Guess he was scared his room would end up like ours with wall to wall tanks.
My other problem is the tank is about 50 feet away from where my sink is. So I would need a lot of hose to get the line from the sink (which is the same place where I would store my drums, garbage cans, buckets, etc...) in order for this to work. It's a great idea, and I thank you for it.
Pure
New Member
Yeah that would be a problem, LOL honestly I'm so used to it. Hoses running along the wall for tanks didn't even come to me as a problem. It's just what happens.*hides 75ft python*
I'm the same way now. I don't want lines all over the new place for the chams. But I still have a fishy mindset so yeah, they aren't a problem when you need them for tanks. Depending on what you're doing, there may not be any other option. I've even put small holes through the walls for tubing.
Now that I think about it. Thank god I don't have that any more.
Can you get us some more close ups of the corals? I've never kept a full blown reef tank, but I can definitely appreciate one.
You said your using T5s, what WPG are you running with those? 150 is a lot of gallonage to fill with light. I can see where 3 GPD are going to evaporation.
I'm the same way now. I don't want lines all over the new place for the chams. But I still have a fishy mindset so yeah, they aren't a problem when you need them for tanks. Depending on what you're doing, there may not be any other option. I've even put small holes through the walls for tubing.
Now that I think about it. Thank god I don't have that any more.
Can you get us some more close ups of the corals? I've never kept a full blown reef tank, but I can definitely appreciate one.
You said your using T5s, what WPG are you running with those? 150 is a lot of gallonage to fill with light.
I can see where 3 GPD are going to evaporation.Being that the tank is in my basement, dubbed by the wife as "the man cave" I could probably have hoses and wires everywhere but I don't. My daughter comes down there and I don't want her tripping. Plus, the iguanas and beardies need space to run around when I let them out.
I'll post some close ups tonight when I get home.
I have an 72" light with 8 bulbs each giving off 80 watts. so I have just over 4 watts per gallon. The lights go on at 7pm and off at 7am (so I have time to appreciate the tank, and do any necessary work while the lights are on.)
I'll post some close ups tonight when I get home.
I have an 72" light with 8 bulbs each giving off 80 watts. so I have just over 4 watts per gallon. The lights go on at 7pm and off at 7am (so I have time to appreciate the tank, and do any necessary work while the lights are on.)
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