The Road to DanaMcK's 240g and 180g Dream Tanks

[gimmito]

Dana,

Nice pic's !

[Danamck]

Dana,

Nice pic's !

Thanks. BTW - how's the Black Cap doing? Any less shy?

[Reefbaby]

Great shots Dana!

So...are you going to stay with this number of fish? Your corals and aquascaping look great as well!

[gimmito]

Thanks. BTW - how's the Black Cap doing? Any less shy?

Dana,

He's still shy, but he built a nice little cave for himself.

I was getting a little worried that he was'nt eating, so I bought some live brine shrimp.
He started eating that, but does not eat with the rest of the fish.
What did you feed him ?

He's a gorgeous fish though.

How's everyone getting along in your tank ? How's the arabian angel ?

[Danamck]

Great shots Dana!

So...are you going to stay with this number of fish? Your corals and aquascaping look great as well!

No - I'm already pushing the fish load as it is, and the Scribbled Angel and Sailfin Tang are only going to grow. My guess is I will have to trade in the Scribbled, as the larger he gets - the less reef-safe he will become. I will also trade in the Solar Fairy Wrasse, as he is probably my least favorite fish in the tank (and pales by comparison to the Coral Sea Wrasse.) Beyond that - we shall see.

BTW - thanks for the complements.

[Danamck]

Dana,

He's still shy, but he built a nice little cave for himself.

I was getting a little worried that he was'nt eating, so I bought some live brine shrimp.
He started eating that, but does not eat with the rest of the fish.
What did you feed him ?

He's a gorgeous fish though.

How's everyone getting along in your tank ? How's the arabian angel ?

The Blackcap ate EVERYTHING I fed - including:

Frozen Mysis
Frozen Krill
H2O Shrimp Mix
All Tropics Red
All Tropis Green
Formula Two
Angel Formula
Spirulina Formula
Emerald Entre
Mega Marine
Mega Marine Algae
Mega Marine Angel
New Life Spectrum
Formula Two Flake
and a few others. I really like to mix it up. He is shy, so he would usually wait for food to come to him, but he will get bolder.

My fish are doing OK. They seemed to have worked out a pecking order, but the male Coral Sea Wrasse still only hangs out at the right side of the tank.

[gimmito]

Dana,

That's some food list !

I'd get some of thst H20 shrimp mix , but as I recall someone bought it all ! LOL !

Did you order your lights yet ?

What are you doing on sunday ?

I'm going to hiep's house in sunnyvale to checkout some zoos (around 1-1:30 pm).

Checkout some of his corals:

http://www.reefragz.com

[Danamck]

Dana,

That's some food list !

I'd get some of thst H20 shrimp mix , but as I recall someone bought it all ! LOL !

Did you order your lights yet ?
What are you doing on sunday ?

I'm going to hiep's house in sunnyvale to checkout some zoos (around 1-1:30 pm).

Checkout some of his corals:

http://www.reefragz.com

Have not ordered lights yet - but did get my coral prop tank set up and running.

Sunday I will probably be on a plane to Mississippi. My step-father passed away today and it looks like the funeral will be Monday.

I would love to meet you there some day in the future - nice web site and some stunning frags.

[gimmito]

Any pic's of the frag tank ?

I found a cool place for frag supplies:

http://www.OceanWonders.com

Let me know when you want to hook up...we can checkout hiep's and tong's tanks.

My condolences for your loss.

[Danamck]

Any pic's of the frag tank ?

I found a cool place for frag supplies:

http://www.OceanWonders.com

Let me know when you want to hook up...we can checkout hiep's and tong's tanks.

My condolences for your loss.

Yep - lots of pics. Will see if I can post them before I leave for a few days. Have a very interesting story about Euro-reef skimmers to share as well.

I will be in touch when I get back and things settle down. Thanks for the link.

[Reefbaby]

Dana - my condolences for you and your family. Take care.

[Danamck]

Hello everyone. I'm back. Here's a quick update on the 240:

Everyone seems to be doing well. The aggression seems to ebb and flow, but overall things have settled down. For whatever reason, most of the aggression seems to come just after feeding. Perhaps they are upset I'm not feeding enough and are taking it out on each other.

With the dramatic increase in bio-load, I have noticed a few things: mainly that I'm starting to get some green algae on the live rocks (not hair, just a green color) and the chaeto in my refugium is growing like a weed (it would appear it has a new food source with the addition of 5 new fish.) I am doing my best to keep things under control by upping my water changes to 50 gallons every 2 weeks. At some point I will need to remove a fish or two.

The Flagfin and Scribbled Angels are now being good and are no longer picking on corals. It would appear that I have removed the tasty ones!

Finally, I would like to say "thank you" for everyone who offered their condolences on my recent loss. They really helped.

[gimmito]

Dana,

Glad to have you back.

Are you going to the marine expo conference ?

MarineAquariumExpo.com - Homepage

It's a good excuse to visit my sister and checkout some cool stuff !

Jim

[Danamck]

Dana,

Glad to have you back.

Are you going to the marine expo conference ?

MarineAquariumExpo.com - Homepage

It's a good excuse to visit my sister and checkout some cool stuff !

Jim

Interesting,

I never got an email alert letting me know you posted in this thread. Oh well.

Nope - not going to marine expo. All my play money is going to Sharks playoff tickets, and the food and drink that must accompany professional sporting events!

[V]

D - we gota get you back on the gravy train of laughter again bud, cause your somber overtones & lack of wise cracks really sucks!

Your now required to post a pic of something funny within your tank, just to counter the thread scales of practice, - or maybe your own face being warped by the glass will do it! Cheer up bud, great to have you back, & we'll rock on again soon enough!

Who are the sharks? NFL?

[gimmito]

Veriann,

The san jose sharks are a "hockey team."

GO SHARKS !!!

Dana,

I'll try and take some pic's at the marine expo.

[Danamck]

V - a pic of my son Kyle and I at a San Jose Sharks game. I think the photo was from last year. Between fish, my audio/video equipment, and hockey season ... it's amazing I have time to sleep.

I'm working on the funny picture. (I beat you to it - as in "thanks for the funny picture!"

[V]

No No NO!

Something is wrong with this picture, & its not that fact you have just stuffed that whole packet of jaffers into your gob! No, wait..... its coming to me now............. where's the damn beer? Everyones drinking water or pepsi..lol

& you call yourselves sport fans...sheesh!

[CarmieJo]

Dana, it looks like you have a carbon copy.
I'm bummed about my Hurricanes.

[gimmito]

Hey Dana,

Long time no hear !

How's life ? The tank ? Ever get those lights ?

Sorry to hear about the sharks...wait till next year.

We should be starting our remodel next week. I did'nt feel like tearing down my 75 dt and 40 gal sump twice in the next few months so I traded a vortech pump for a 34 gal red sea max. It's pretty much plug and play.

I'll give you a call when I'm getting close to putting that home theater room.

Take care,

Jim

[Danamck]

Hello all,

I'm back. I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 months since my last post. What the heck has kept me so busy that I couldn't find a few seconds to pop on line and post a few words to my on-line buddies?

I have no definitive answer.

I could blame work ... and that would be a good one. For all intents and purposes, I have started a new business and we hit the ground running. First there was 2 of us doing the work of 4. Then 3 of us doing the work of 6. Now there's 4 of us doing the work of 8. According to my math, I could hire as many people as I need and we would all still be doing the work of two people! What's up with that?

I could blame hockey playoffs ... except the Shark's got booted out in the second round ... again! So how do I deal with the frustration of a team that many expected to win it all ... and didn't. Simple ... I became a season ticket holder! Oh yes! 41 regular season games. And hopefully lots of playoff games. I figure I need to start composing my posts now so they are ready to go during hockey season! So if they all start sounding a bit generic, you'll know that I wrote them many months before!

I could blame World of Warcraft. No - I'm not playing it. But my wife and son are, and they love to play together, so that means my computer is usually tied up.

I could blame American Idol. But then I would have to admit I watch the show ... which I don't. OK, I do. But just a little. OK - a lot. But I've never voted. Until this year. But just a little. OK - a lot. All I can say is the person who should have won (David Cook) did, so I guess I'll be back next year. That is, if I watched the show. Which I don't.

I could blame it on the summer movies. But other than "Iron Man" and the new "Indiana Jones", I haven't been to any. Too busy I guess!

I could blame my tank. But actually, that's going pretty well. I did have to remove the Scribbled Angel and trade him in, as he started munching on many more corals. Bad fish! It sucks, because he was really gorgeous. So the only "non reef-safe" fish that lives in the 240 is the Flagfin Angel. He is doing well, but seems to be on a bit of a hunger strike. It might simply be the extremely hot weather we are having. We shall see. I am having a heck of a time with my Xenia, which is, as far as I am concerned, almost as bad a pest as Aptasia. But other than that - the tank seems to be doing well with a minimum of maintenance. About the only change I have made was changing my PC light configuration. Previously, I had (2) 10,000K, (2) 6700K, (1) 420 Actinic, and (1) 460 Actinic. Now I have (3) 10,000K, (1) 6700K, and (2) 460 Actinic. The overall color is a little more blue, but brighter, and the corals responded with increased growth rates, particularly the montipora digitata and the previously mentioned Xenia.

The frag tank has turned into a bit of a pain, so I plan on taking that down. Nothing really went wrong, I'm just trying to simplfy my life and gain a little more free time.

The 46 at work is doing great. I have never had a tank that requires so little work. I just skim 2 1/2 gallons off the top every week and replace with new saltwater. Every other week I replace the carbon. And about every 3 days I clean the glass and clean the skimmer cup. And about twice a week I feed a little frozen food (the tank is fed a small amount of flake food daily with an auto feeder.) That's pretty much it! Turns out where I set up the tank it gets about an hour of afternoon sun. The corals love it.

So if you've made it this far ... I'm sorry. I wish this had been more exciting or funnier ... more worth your time. Perhaps my next post, which I promise will be sooner than 2 1/2 months!

[Danamck]

Hey Dana,

Long time no hear !

How's life ? The tank ? Ever get those lights ?

Sorry to hear about the sharks...wait till next year.

We should be starting our remodel next week. I did'nt feel like tearing down my 75 dt and 40 gal sump twice in the next few months so I traded a vortech pump for a 34 gal red sea max. It's pretty much plug and play.

I'll give you a call when I'm getting close to putting that home theater room.

Take care,

Jim

Hey Jim,

Let me know if I can be of any a/v help with the remodel. And I still have your fish trap I need to return. How the Blackcap doing?

[CarmieJo]

Hi Dana! I've missed you. What kind of auto feeder are you using?

[gimmito]

Hey Jim,

Let me know if I can be of any a/v help with the remodel. And I still have your fish trap I need to return. How the Blackcap doing?

What's up Dana !

Welcome back...so did you open your own a/v company ? I will keep you posted regarding the home theater room and big tank plans. I down graded my 75 aga and traded a vortech pump for a 34 gal red sea max...very cool ! I still have the blackcap, flame angel, and the pair of ocellaris clowns/ bangaiis. I'll try and send pic's when I get a chance. Go ahead and keep the fish trap...I think you need it more than I do at this point.

Now to the important question...How do you like the new sharks coach ?

Jim

[Danamck]

Hi Dana! I've missed you. What kind of auto feeder are you using?

Thanks, Carmie!

I got the AquaChef. I think I got it from Doctors Foster & Smith for around $25. You can program it to feed up to four times a day and twice per feeding, but once a day is all I use it for. It has never failed (at least that I know of!)