my 46 Gallon
 

So far I got my tank drilled at OA (1 hole only because glass would be to weak). I also got sand in (caribsea aragonite 30 pounds) as well as lighting 2x 175w ushio mh and Hagane T5HO 2x actanic. I also have a seaclone 150 skimmer(i know not the best but im just starting off with it) a 200w hydro heater and 350 mag pump. Also have a marine test kit by aquarium pharmisuticals and hydrometer By instant ocean. Picture of my lighting


http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture016.jpg

If you need a hand I am not too far away.
Just over by Guildford.:wink:

k thanks

any suggestions:question:

Is that tinfoil your using as a reflector?

I have some real reflective material if you want. I live near The Delta Lion.

get reflector's if you can and your better off getting t-5 Reflector's man they will be alot more brighter.

HTH

other than that awesome job...

light reflectors
 

I got reflectors for my MH they are pritty good (I did the bad cutting job) THanks NateL for the reflector:biggrin: Defenitly better than tin foil
hears a picture.Attachment 1630

skimmer, mag pump and heater
 

Suggestions plz

I'd bail on the skimmer and get a better one, Seaclones aren't exactly stellar...

isent ok to begin with??

just a picture of lighting but now i updated it to reflectors

Tank shot
 

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture024.jpg picture of the full tank

Well it looks like by mid July befor i start adding water to the tank. Im planing on having 30-35 pounds of Live rock and im gona use Jakarta, Tonga ridge, and tonga deep water those are the main thre types im planing on using.
This week im planing to put the tank were its going to be located, plumbing and applying a background.

Do u guys have any sugestions on what kind of back ground I should apply??

I just lowerd my light canopy from 14 inches to 9 or 10 inches(dont realy remember:redface: ) but I have 1 problom... my ballasts are sitting on top of my canopy and all the wires are visibla and it looks realy ugly. Do you have any ideas on what i can do to hide the wires and ballasts.
hear are 2 pics of the ballasts and wires....
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture035.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture036.jpg

CRITTISISM PLZ:lol: :lol:

Abs
 

Is abs good for plumping the tank?

plumbing
 

I finished up my plumbing. I used abs plastic and i cant complain it defently works

stuff
 

I got some new stuff fro my tank. got carbon nylon bag for the carbon a soc and salt...sry no pics of nylone and salt but the salt im using is instand ocean and adding my own calsium suplament and for calsium im using purple up by caribsea.

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture041.jpg

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture040.jpg

finaly
 

I made some deionized water about 60 gallon and witch was exactly enough to fil up the tank and my 30 gallon sump. My spacific garavit is between 1.020and 1.021. Should i rais my salinity??????????

Lr
 

Today i got abou 30-35 pounds of fiji live rock from Tropical Paradise(a canreef member) he gave me a unbalivablt deal i got the LR for $40 and plus it nisly incrusted with pink and purple coralline algea exepth ther was a bit of buble alge wihch i picked of ther are also some sps coral and 1 softi and ther were abou 5 britle star.

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture046.jpg

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture045.jpg

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture044.jpg



I also made up my light schedual

7:00 am actinics on
8:00 am Left metal halide on
8:30 an Right metal halide on
9:00 am actinics off
9:00 pm actinics on
9:30 pm Right metal halide off
10:00 pm Left metal halide off
10:30 pm actinics off



Would it be a good idea to get LED moon lights??

Looks good so far. I like the looks of the last photo!

Yes I would recommend you raise your salinity, albeit very slowly, to around 1.025.

Can I ask why you've chosen such a short photoperiod for your MHs?

You may want to google info on Purple up. While I personally haven't used it myself, I've read a bunch of back and forth opinions on it.

14 hours doesn't seem like a short photo period to me more the opposite though not sure why you have the left on for 14 hours and the right on for 13 ?

So it kind of like sunraise sun set idea

That is quite a long photo period. Maybe switch the left one off first so the they are on the same amount of time. BTW the sun doesnt rise and set on the same side. Looking good and it is coming together nicely.

photo period
 

Thanks guys hears my "new":lol: photo period


7:00 am actinics on
8:00 am left metal halide on
8:30 an Right metal halide on
9:00 am actinics off
9:00 pm actinics on
9:30 pm Left metal halide off
10:00 pm Right metal halide off
10:30 pm actinics off

? all you did was change left and right but still one side is on for an hour longer and both on for a long time

Your plan seems sound for lighting. Is your tank near a window? What do you plan to keep with that lighting? SPS, LPS, softies, or mixed system? You may have to cut your photo period down temporarily in the near future if you develop an algae outbreak. Otherwise I don't see why you should run it for so long. I run mine for around the same time.

As for your earlier question about your ballast ontop of your canopy, you could try tie wraping your cords together to clean it up a bit. Do you have other placement options for your ballast?

How about another full system shot? I see in your lighting photos that you have a sump and skimmer under your tank.

Hi everyone.
Yes my tank is near a window but sunlight never realy strikes the tank at all. Also applyina a back groun any ideas on what colour backgroun I should apply.:smile:

Im goning to have a mixed system a bit of everything and also some fake corals that look like acroporas the are acctuly a copy of acroporas. But yes im going to have mainly real corals. Planin on geting10-15 sps 10-15 lps andaround 10 soft coral.Im not very crazy about softeis but I do gota edmit ther are defenetly some nice ones.

Yes im cuting my phot period down a bit during cycleing but i might go back to my old one or stay with this one.
6:30 AM- actinics on
7:00 AM- 175 watt left halide on
9:00 AM- -175 watt right watt halides on
9:30 AM- actinics off
5:30 PM- actinics on
6:00 PM- 175 watt left halide off
7:00 PM- 175 watt right halide off
8:00 PM- actinics off



Yes I will tie up the wires to clean it up a bit (thanks Cathrine) and build a box on top of my canopy for the ballasts.

No i dont realy have any other placement optens because the dresser is going to be relocated soon.

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture050.jpg <---- that is a full system shot with the halides on

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture049.jpg <full system shot with actinics on


http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture051.jpg <left side of the sump


http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/a...Picture052.jpg <--- right side of the sump



Sorrey that i couldent get a better picture of the sump because A- their is a bar running down the middle of the stand and B- I couldent back up because ther was a couch ther.:cry:

Chromis
 

Do you guys think i could get away with adding two or three blue green reef chromis because the LR is about 5 years ol ther is about 25 pounds?

The pictures look great, and they give me a great visual on what your whole system is like.

I would say blue or black for a background, but I'm kind of a traditionalist in that sense. Some people have painted the bottom black and then transitioned into a blue to give the illusion of depth.

I see you reduced your photoperiod. Did you choose the early on & off times because they coincide with your lifestyle? If the sunlight doesn't hit your tank, it probably won't affect it that much.

So what is your next step? Just waiting for everything to finish cycling? Are you going to be adding a refugium, or reactors?

Any thoughts on what you eventually want to keep for livestock?

Yes I am going to add a refugeum but it might be quarantine tank(quarantine tank will be refugeum as well as hospital tank) I wil most likley add a calsium reactor with in the next year and half.

lol for the lighting i chose the shorter light span because of the heat the MH generate and my + my heater is a bit to strong but this morning when i checked the temperatue it was around 73 deggers much beter than befor when it was at 80 degrese. To cool the water i froze a water batle and placed it in the sump and honestly it helps alot.

my livestock plans are as follows
2x true percs
3x blue green reef chromis
fire goby
tiny tiny naso tang
orcird dotty back
yellow wachman goby
lawnmore bleny

Maby list
flame angle (nice fish but it nips corals)


Invert
rocca clam carpet anenmoe blue leg hermits red scarlet hermits
bumble bee snails
nassarius snails
cleaner shrimp red sea star flame scalope

One suggestion that I have heard from a lot of people is that the flame scalops dont live very long.

Thanks that one is of my list:lol:

I would scratch the orchid dottyback. pretty fish but it can get mean. you know the naso will outgrow that tank... plan to upgrade or have someone who will buy it off you.

I would also skip the flame angel for the same reason you listed. a better dwarf angel is a coral beauty... not quite as prone to coral sampling, but still no guarantees.

Some people complain that their lawnmower blenny spills sand over all their corals which stresses them. just be aware of it.

hermits have come under fire lately... many people dont consider them reefsafe anymore. I dont. only ones that are even close to it though are the scarlets. some agree, some dont.

definitely skip the flame scallop.

as a general rule of thumb, i discourage sea stars in any but the most mature tank in the hands of a conscientious capable disciplined and experienced aquarist. lol unfortunately you dont qualify (and neither do i). maybe one day though.

Ya for the naso i know that he/she will out grow my tank so im gona eventuly trade it once it gets to big.

One problom with the dottyback my mom ABSULUTY LOVES THEM and i dont know if she will listen to me(:lol: )

Lawnmore maby off my list---more like probably

Hermits i dont know scarlrts defenetly

sea star latter on

thanks JustineL

You may want to opt for a pair of shrimp, as their eggs are often a good souce of food for other inhabitants.

how often do the lay eggs?

My pair seemed to do it about once every week or two. Its pretty cool to see.

lol do fish go crazy over the eggs?