It's been over a month since my last post. Things are going great with the 240. Water parameters are near perfect. The fish and corals all appear to be doing well. There is no sign of ich on the Powder Blue Tang (the sound you don't hear is me knocking on wood!) And the best part is that I'm spending more time enjoying the tank, and less time messing with it.
My maintainence schedule is as follows:
Daily:
Feed fish
Add appropriate water additives
Twice weekly:
Empty skimmer collection cups
Feed Heliofungia actiniformis, Catalaphyllia jardinei and Turbinaria peltata
Feed Green Brittle Star
Replace make up water in drip system
Weekly:
Clean front and sides of tank
Every other week:
Replace micron sleeve
Replace Poly Filter
Replace Chemi Pure
Once a month:
40 - 50 gallon water change
This schedule seems to be working very well, and gives me lots of time to just sit back and enjoy. I have decided to hold off on the 180 change over until after the holidays. I really want to take my time and set this tank up correctly the first time! (Famous last words!)
Here are some photos. I really need a better digital camera!
The third and fourth shots are looking down each side of the tank. I love looking at the tank this way - I can imagine what it would be like to have an 8 foot deep tank!
The Colt Coral is about 15" W x 13" H. I've already split him in half once before. The Long Tentacle Plate Coral is over 10" in diameter when fully expanded. The Xenia has become a weed, though I can't imagine a prettier weed! It's time to put Rob's excellent Video Podcast on fragging Xenia to use soon! My new favorite coral is the Pipe Organ (second photo - center). It was the first time I saw a specimen in a LFS that was fairly large and still in excellent shape. These corals are amazingly fragile. But he seems to love the tank conditions.
I have a question. Why am I refering to all my corals as males? I guess calling them "it" seemed a little too impersonal!
Thank you all for the kind words. It's truly going to be hard taking it down. I'm sure I'm going to prefer having a 180 in my Living Room where it can be more easily enjoyed than having a 240 in the garage. And it will be nice to have a tank that is nearly silent thanks to housing the filtration equipment and pumps in the garage.
I have decided to add a frag tank to the rack that will house the sump and refugium. It will be fun to frag some of the corals that are taking over the tank and trade with fellow hobbyists.
Again - thanks for the support and the kind words. TR members are the best.
Happy New Year fellow Talking Reef members! Here's an update:
Well, it's a good thing that I didn't purchase the stand and canopy for the 180 - I've decided not to set it up. That's right - the 240 stays in the garage. Why the change of heart? Well, I had lots of friends and family over during the holidays, and I had a blast showing off the tank. When I mentioned that I was downsizing to a 180, they all thought I was crazy. So one night, I sat alone in front of the tank - just enjoying it. After a year of ups and downs, the tank really has just become everything I dreamed it would. Everything is healthy, and I'm spending less and less time on maintenance. Why mess with success?
And so the 240 stays. There are so many advantages of having it in the garage. No chiller needed - the garage stays cool in the summer. I don't have to worry about pump or water cascade noise. The area I make up my RO/DI water is 4 feet from the tank. Minor spills are no problem - it's a garage. And heaven forbid a major disaster struck (I do live in earthquake country) any leaking water would flow out onto the street.
So my goal is to make the garage a nicer place to hang out. It's a completely finished garage. It's never even had a car parked in it! It's carpeted. I wired in a zone of music. It even has a TV. All I really need to do is get the boxes of stuff organized and make a good dump run. I also plan on setting up our treadmill there, so I can get lost in my aquarium and loose a few pounds at the same time!
So there you have it - at least for this week! I've got to find a buyer for my brand new, still in the box 180. My wife still thinks I'm crazy, but she understands my reasoning. And she's happy that she gets a wall in the living room to decorate. Little does she know the other plans I'm making for the garage and my fish and reef obsession. I've often joked/dreamed of having a fish room. But I'll save that for another post ...
Here's a couple of shots of my new Yellow Leather. This was the toughest coral for me to QT, due to the fact that when it's fully expanded, it's about the size of my 10 gallon coral QT tank! It's actually 2 separate Leather's on the same piece of rock. It might have split on it's own. As an added bonus, the rock is covered with 2 different colored Favia corals. There's probably a total of 15 heads! Problem is, there was no way to mount it in the tank to show the Leathers AND see the Favias. So the only time I see them is before the Leathers expand each morning. Still very cool!
While not the largest coral in the tank - it has become the centerpiece.
(Sorry for the quality of the photos - I really need to get a better digital camera. Before I can do that, I need to stop spending my extra money on fish and corals!)
Hello fellow reefers! It's January 25th, and I am here to say that I have the greatest wife in the world. Allow me to explain -
If you've read through the thread, you are aware of my trials and tribualtions with my 240. You are aware of the plan to downsize to a 180 to allow the tank to reside in the Living Room. And you are aware of the decision to keep the 240 in the garage. What you are not aware of is my wife's decision to allow me to keep the 180, and set it up in the garage next to the 240. How cool is that?
The 180 will be located on the wall to the left of the 240, so that 1) both can be viewed from the same position and 2) neither will reflect into each other. The 180 will be a FOWLR tank, as I really do miss many of the angels and butterflies I used to keep before switching over to reef. The 180 will have a completely separate filtration system, to minimize the risk of a disease outbreak in the 240. Of course all the fish will be QT'd. I have a 46 set up for
icon under there name and give them Reputation points
ryan 
