thrlride's 90 gallon mixed reef

[thrlride]

I started this 90 gallon tank in February of 2005. Some of the contents were transfered from my 29 gallon reef I had but tore down due to the 90.

Over the 15 or so months the 90 has been working it has seen some changes. I went from the idea of a closed loop to a pair of SEIO m1500's to a pair of tunze 6100's. Lighting went from XM10k 250 watt SE's to phoenix 250 watt 14k DE's.
In addition to that a calcium reactor, phosban reactor, kalk reactor and ozone was added.

I won't bore you with a ton of pictures but will start off with the first few pics and the latest.

Here is the tank after getting rock and water added:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/DSCF1786.jpg

I will add that the stand and canopy was made by myself.

Fast forward 15 months:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank%202/IMG_1036Small.jpg

Tentively on May 21st this tank will be torn down for a 210 gallon system I am almost done building. Again, the stand and canopy was built by me on the 210.

[Rob]

beautiful tank..
thanks for sharing it with us.. :)

[Reefbaby]

Hey that's great! Wow, your tank looks very healthy with wonderful diverse corals.

So, what are you going to do different with the new set up? Anything you've learned from your previous two tanks that you wouldn't do with the new one or vice versa?

[CarmieJo]

Hi Thrlride,

Welcome to TR. That is a beautiful tank!

[cabbagehead]

thrlride,
Welcome to Talking Reef!! I have been following your thread at RC. Great job on the tank. I can't wait to see it in the 210. For all those who have not seen the build up of the 210 the wood workmanship is awsome.
Jack

[pham411]

very nice dude, does that sailfin tang munch on any its not suppost to? i want to get a tang so bad but im scared it might eat away my star polyps

[Rob]

very nice dude, does that sailfin tang munch on any its not suppost to? i want to get a tang so bad but im scared it might eat away my star polyps
tangs are almost always very reef safe..

[fat walrus]

tangs are almost always very reef safe..
i agree. one thing to remember is that when the tang reaches good size, they can really pick up and toss around unsecured corals and clams. also in smaller aquariums, tangs become an ever increasing bio-load.

[Reefbaby]

My sailfin is fine with the corals. I've never seen him nip. However, he is the boss when it comes to the other tangs and fish in the tank.

[pham411]

tangs are almost always very reef safe..

every1 says this but some of my friends say they had personal experiences that their tangs... well salfin and purple mainly, mowed a patch of pipe organs and green star polyps. eventually they were all removed. talk about bad luck.

[thrlride]

Hey that's great! Wow, your tank looks very healthy with wonderful diverse corals.

So, what are you going to do different with the new set up? Anything you've learned from your previous two tanks that you wouldn't do with the new one or vice versa?

Thank you Reefbaby!

There are a few minor differences between the 90 and 210. The main difference is I'm not trying to stuff a ton of flow through my sump rather keeping it somewhat slow. Maybe 800 - 1000 gph...

Also, the refugium is seperate with the addition of a small prop tank lit by a 250 watt XM10k driven by an icecap ballast. I'm hoping the overflow of light from the prop tank will light the refugium to save electricity.

The only other difference is the construction of the stand and canopy. The 90 gallon canopy had a 2x2 frame inside that the oak plywood skin was attached to. It works fine but was overly complex and heavy. The 90 was also made with oak plywood and required trim on the corners to hide the plywood edge. The 210 was assembled with oak hardwood instead which looks a lot nicer. I also made the sides of the stand accessible on the 210 with large doors. That had me worried with the integrity of the stand but it's held up in the garage.


Hi Thrlride,

Welcome to TR. That is a beautiful tank!

Thanks CarmieJo!


thrlride,
Welcome to Talking Reef!! I have been following your thread at RC. Great job on the tank. I can't wait to see it in the 210. For all those who have not seen the build up of the 210 the wood workmanship is awsome.
Jack

Thanks for the kind words cabbagehead! I will start a thread on that progress if you guys want. I didn't want to start a thread when the tank isn't even up yet but if the demand is there I will.


very nice dude, does that sailfin tang munch on any its not suppost to? i want to get a tang so bad but im scared it might eat away my star polyps

My sailfin has been a model citizen. If anything, he gets picked on. I haven't witnessed any agression but it's there because his fins are getting chewed by someone. I'm hoping the tank switch will change the dominance structure of the tank.

[Rob]

every1 says this but some of my friends say they had personal experiences that their tangs... well salfin and purple mainly, mowed a patch of pipe organs and green star polyps. eventually they were all removed. talk about bad luck.
hence me saying almost...
no species (IMO) can bee 100% reef safe, or 100% non-reef safe.
there is always a chance they it will nip at polyps, and for those that are said to be non-reef safe, may never nip at polyps.

it comes down to the specific fish, and involves you watching them closely.. that's all.. :)

[dreams]

yes, my little boy ocellaris has to taste everything in the tank, while my little girl ignores everything

that goes other things, as well.....the bigger one, of my skunk shrimp, litterally pulled both of my feather dusters out of their tubes and ate them (and this not an underfed shrimp)....the little one has never been aggressive towards anything

[clownfish4me]

very nice dude, does that sailfin tang munch on any its not suppost to? i want to get a tang so bad but im scared it might eat away my star polyps

i keep three tangs, a sail fin, blue hippo, and a yellow tang in my tank and none of them have messed with my star polyps in fact they have doubled in size in the last 3 months. but i am aware that not all of the tangs are well behaved!:). by the way its a really nice tank! i can,t wait until i get mine looking as nice! it seems always a work in progress!:)