Cabbageheads 135 gallon reef

[cabbagehead]

This tank is the product of two years experience in this hobby. I know I still have a lot to learn but I decided to get a tank that would give me the ability to keep a wide range of corals and fish. All of the rock and coral were transplanted from my old 55 gallon. I decided to start over with the fish population so I traded in all of my old fish. The stand is made from bird's eye maple and was framed with 2x4 and 2x6 to give extra support. This is the stand about 75% complete.
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This is the stand complete before staining and poly coat.
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[cabbagehead]

This is the stand with the lights installed 3x175 MH 4x65 PC
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This is a picture of the tank after the transplant ( sorry about the flash)
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These are some pictures of my favorite corals
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[Rob]

tanks looks great.. thanks for sharing...
hope to see some more soon...

[badu11]

good job on the stand. I really like the grain of the maple. It gives the stand a professional look! I know you weren't able to walk into a HD or Lowes and pick up wood like that. Where did you find that wood?

[cabbagehead]

Thanks badu11 & Rob
I got the wood at a local cabinet shop that also deals in hardwood and trim. I was originally just looking for a high quality maple with zero nots but when I saw this piece I had to get it. The bad thing is that it put me about two months behind on my budget. I also took my time cutting it as it could not be replaced easily. Thanks for the positive comments!

[gwen_o_lyn]

Awesome tank- looks great!!

[cabbagehead]

Just got a monti cap frag today. Looks like it is already starting to sprout.
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[ghostbear29]

now thats a nice tank. great clean job! looks nice.

[mopecula]

I just love the wood work, nice job!!

[cabbagehead]

Well good news to report today as I have reduced my nitrates to less that 1ppm. My new sump configuration has had a positive effect on the performance of my skimmer. I think for the past year I have been under powering my skimmer through some bad plumbing methods. I was able to shorten the length of flex hose and eliminate two elbows and now my skimmer is producing a thick foam all day long. Most of my diatom bloom is gone and all other tank parameters are within normal ranges. I did lose two fish over the past week but that was due to a new local fish store that I tried and the less than experienced clerk. I bought two skunk clowns from this store at $9.99 each (great deal I thought!!) Well it turns out theses little guys had been in a tank with a trigger fish that had stressed them beyond recovery. I went back and talked to the owner who explained what had happend and said he never planned on selling those fish to anyone. Needless to say I got credit. Future plans for the tank include new MH bulbs ( I bought the ones I have used). I planned on getting 14000k but after listening to the most recent podcast I think I will read Dr. Sanjay Joshi article in reefkeeping mag before I make my decision. I would also like to have some feedback on my aquascaping as I am planning a remodel. I want to limit the spread of my GSP and put my clams in a more visible location.
Thanks to all who have posted
Jack

[pham411]

bad plumbing can effect skimming? you mind sharing that story cabbage? i ask because i just got a new euro-reef 180 and it seems to be having problems producing foam.. maybe its my plumbing..
thanks

[cabbagehead]

When I plummed the mag7 for my skimmer I had the intake line to the skimmer plummed using elbows and way too much flex hose. This resulted in not enough flow to the skimmer and foam production was very limited

[cabbagehead]

Greetings!
Well my tank is coming along nicely. I changed the aquascape a little to go along with my original plan to have a lot of open water. I do have a problem a big problem
Cynobacteria...
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This has spread to various places in my tank and is a real eyesore. I have done three
40 gallon water changes in the past three days and it has not seemed to affect it one bit. Here are my tank parameters as of 03-04-06
Nitrate- 15
Phos- 0
PH - 8.1
Calcium- 480
Salinity - 1.025
Am - 0
Nitrite - 0

I was gone for a month and the instructions I left for the tank were followed to the tee!! I only feed one cube a day of either Formula 2 or mysis. This is my current fish list:
1 Yellow tang
1 Hippo tang
1 Purple tang
1 Six line wrasse
1 Pink skunk clown
35 nassarius
15 mex turbos
15 hermits
2 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp

I know that this is a lot for a tank that is only 3 months old but everything came from an established setup. This is my first experience with MH lighting and the retro that I bought was used including the bulbs (3x175 MH 4x65 PC). So now I have some questions

1. Could the old bulbs be the cause of the cyno. Should my next purchase be new bulbs?

2. With a nitrate of 15 I have some kind of nutrient in the tank that is not being processed what could it be.

3. I currently have 110 pounds of live rock in a 135. Do I need more for it to become an effective nitrate processor.

4. Flow... I currently have 4 maxi jets which I know is not enough for my tank. my return pump is a quiet one 5000 at close to 900gph at my head. Should my next purchase be a set of TUNZE?

Sorry for all the questions.. Now for some NICE pictures of the tank
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[gwen_o_lyn]

Feeding less and adding flow seems to rid cyano. If I see even a teensy little bit, I skip the meal and see how it looks the next day. I feed every other day. You are importing more than you are exporting when you have a cyano or algae problem. Also would work on doing water changes to get rid of the high nitrates.

Talk looks great btw- love the clam.

[Jimm]

I love that stand. Nice job.