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

**Danamck** · 03-04-2008, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by Reefbaby

Dana - which light fixture are you going with??

Thomas Pohl wrote me back. He said if you go to Zeovit.com, all of the distributors are listed that have or can order KorallenZucht's products.
He recommended 2 X 54W version (120cm each).

Just curious...

Right now it looks like the Aquactinics Constellation. It's a 14 x 39 watt T5 HO fixture. Here's a link:

Aquactinics LLC | Marine Aquarium Lighting Specialists

I have not ordered it yet, and I will take a look at the Zeovit web site before I do. I promise!

**Danamck** · 03-04-2008, 10:47 AM

DAY 4

Things have truly started to mellow out - with one exception. The Flagfin, Scribbled, and Sailfin are all free to wander the tank. And thus far, no signs of coral damage except the previously mentioned Orange Zoanthids. Even the female Coral Sea Wrasse is being left alone, which is a good sign. Unfortunately, the male is not having such luck. My (insert strong swear word here) Six-line is not leaving him alone. Even when he goes to hide, the Six-line just continues to search for him. The good news is the male Coral Sea Wrasse did come out briefly and eat, and he looked pretty good. But the stress of constantly being "hunted" can not be good.

If only I could reason with my Six-line ("Knock it off, or I'll trade you in to some newbie with a nano-reef")

BTW - no offense to newbies or nano-reefs.

**gimmito** · 03-04-2008, 03:48 PM

Dana,

We have an appearance by the blackcap !

The flame angel will come over and try to keep him in check...but he is getting bolder a little by little.

Hopefully your buyer comes through for the 180 (it's a nice setup)....Gotta pay for the T5 set up !

I was thinking of doing a coast to coast overflow when I do my upgrade. Any thoughts ?

**Danamck** · 03-06-2008, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

Dana,

We have an appearance by the blackcap !

The flame angel will come over and try to keep him in check...but he is getting bolder a little by little.

Hopefully your buyer comes through for the 180 (it's a nice setup)....Gotta pay for the T5 set up !

I was thinking of doing a coast to coast overflow when I do my upgrade. Any thoughts ?

I am happy that the Blackcap has decided to grace you with his presence!

I have several offers on the 180, but nothing firm yet. I'm pretty sure it will be gone this weekend.

In the meantime, I'm having a blast setting up the 46 at work. I've just been pulling coral frags from the 240 and bringing them down. The mated pair of Purple Firefish love having a whole tank to themselves, though that will change as I have a African Flameback Angel in QT that is destined for the 46.

I took pictures, but now I can't find my camera. Oh wait - I just look in my car and there it was! I will try and post photos tonight.

Oh, coast to coast overflow ... I assume you mean the ones that span the entire back of the tank. Love them, as they don't need to be as deep to get the same water flow, and tend to be a lot quieter.

**gimmito** · 03-06-2008, 02:24 PM

Dana,

Ahh...I see you visited the lfs ! Did you go to the one in concord ?

The african flameback is a beautiful fish..it can be aggressive in a small tank from what I've read.
Are you going to keep filamentous algae in the 46 ?

Thanks for the thoughts regarding the coast to coast overflow. I was listening to a anthony calfo presentation on reef videos. He mentioned better protein skimmer performance, more room in the tank, & visual appearance as some benefits.

**Danamck** · 03-08-2008, 03:25 AM

DAY 7

Well, it's been a week since moving the 5 fish from the 180 to the 240. Here's an update:

* The PBT has started picking on the Scribbled Angel again. Not as bad as when first introduced, but it's annoying to see this. I thought they had "worked it out."

* The Sailfin Tang is doing well. So is the female Coral Sea Wrasse.

* The male Coral Sea Wrasse still hides most of the time, except at feedings. The Solar Fairy Wrasse has pretty much given up picking on him, but the Six-line has not. What a little bas***d he is.

* The Flagfin ... well, the Flagfin has started taking a liking to a few corals. Bummer. I have a rock that is covered in Green Zoanthids. Yesterday he decided they were tasty. Today I moved them into the 46 at work. He also decided he loved my cantaloupe-sized Candy Cane Coral. He liked to eat the feeding tentacles. The CCC is now in the 46 as well. Thus far, he has left everything else alone. if he decides to continue to try other corals, I will have to trade him in. That would be a shame, because a thriving Flagfin Angel that has fully adapted to tank life is a rare thing.

I've got lots of pics to post of the tear down of the 180, and the 46 at work. I will post them tomorrow.

**Danamck** · 03-08-2008, 03:31 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

Dana,

Ahh...I see you visited the lfs ! Did you go to the one in concord ?

The african flameback is a beautiful fish..it can be aggressive in a small tank from what I've read.
Are you going to keep filamentous algae in the 46 ?

Thanks for the thoughts regarding the coast to coast overflow. I was listening to a anthony calfo presentation on reef videos. He mentioned better protein skimmer performance, more room in the tank, & visual appearance as some benefits.

I actually picked him up at a store in Campbell. It seems as if every store got a few in. Dolphin has three, and this one was by far the nicest. I have never seen one with this much orange. And he is already eating flake food. I'm not too worried about the aggression, as it's pretty much going to be him and my pair of Firefish in the 46. And no to the algae. I have an auto feeder that will feed a small amount of Formula Two flake once a day, and I will add a little seaweed every few days. Plus a little frozen food during the week when I am at work.

**gimmito** · 03-08-2008, 11:04 AM

Dana,

I've been thinking...have you thought much about aqua culturing ?

I was listening to a anthony calfo seminar on reef videos and he suggested by aqua culturing we could have our tank pay for itself.

I think with the amount of zenia and various corals you have there would be a market for them.

Just a thought.

**Danamck** · 03-08-2008, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

Dana,

I've been thinking...have you thought much about aqua culturing ?

I was listening to a anthony calfo seminar on reef videos and he suggested by aqua culturing we could have our tank pay for itself.

I think with the amount of zenia and various corals you have there would be a market for them.

Just a thought.

Funny you should mention that ... I have been! I told my wife that if I wasn't in the audio/video field, I would want to open a business that only sold tank-bred fish, inverts and corals. There's another podcast (sorry) called 120 gallons, and the last episode was a roundtable discussion about this such topic. It got me thinking ...

BTW - I saved the 50 gallons sump from the 180 as a coral prop tank. I just need to order a new pump for an old Euro-reef skimmer I have, and get some lights.

**Danamck** · 03-08-2008, 12:05 PM

I finally found a buyer for the 180. After several days of no phone calls, suddenly I had 6 different people call me on the same day wanting the tank. The lucky person who got that tank was a guy named Peter, who drove almost 2 hours to pick it up. I had him bring buckets so that he could take the live sand with him as well. The only problem was that we couldn't fit everything in his Escalade, so he's making a second trip this morning for the stand.

While waiting for him to arrive, I took the tank apart and really cleaned all the pumps, skimmer, etc. I know a lot of people just hand it over and want the buyer to deal with it, but this way I know the pumps will run a long time. Plus it's one less thing for the new buyer to worry about.

I must say - I did spend an enormous amount of time on the phone educating people about our beloved hobby and trying to share some of my knowledge. I think there are a lot of people out there who would love to get into this hobby, but they are uncertain because they get bad or conflicting advice on how to do it. I can only hope that i have started them down the correct path.

And so I say goodbye to the 180. Below is a picture of the 180 after taking out 50 lbs of live rock for the 46 at work. The second photo is the 5 fish waiting to be transfered into the 240. No - the Flagfin is not dead!

**gimmito** · 03-08-2008, 05:20 PM

How's the fish doing ?

**Danamck** · 03-09-2008, 02:30 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

How's the fish doing ?

Which one?

**Danamck** · 03-09-2008, 03:05 AM

So it's time for some 46 Bow Front photos. This tank was set up at work, using pieces that I already had (except the tank) and livestock from the 180 and 240. It's a very simple design. No sump. Just 40 pounds of live sand and 50 or so pounds of live rock from the 180. I'm using an AquaC Remora skimmer off of my 10 gallon coral QT tank, a Magnum HOT canister filter (for carbon only), a MaxiJet 1200, and a 200 watt heater. The lighting is three basic Coralife T5 fixtures that I had lying around, each puts out 42 watts for a total of 126. It should be plenty, as the corals here will all be easy ones.

The livestock consists of a male/female Purple Firefish pair, a Sand-Sifting Star, and assorted hermit crabs and Astrea snails, all from the 180. A Flameback Angel is in QT and is destined for this tank.

I initially started with some Xenia, Kenya Tree, Star Polyps and Green-stripped Mushroom Anemones from the 240. Thanks to my Flagfin Angel's appetite, I have been forced to add a large Candy Cane Coral and a rock of Green Zoanthids. The photos below were taken right after the tank was set up and do not include the Candy Cane or Zoanthids.

Because this tank is at work and will be left unattended on the weekends, I installed an auto feeder to feed the tank a small amount of Formula Two flake food once a day. This far, everything appears to be doing great, and my co-workers and customers really like the tank.

**gimmito** · 03-09-2008, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by gimmito

How's the fish doing ?

I meant the new additions from the 180.

That 46 is coming together nicely.

**Danamck** · 03-09-2008, 01:24 PM

DAY 9

Nothing has changed that much from Day 7. The PBT is still being a jerk to the Scribbled. The Flagfin has stopped eating corals (now that i have removed what was on the menu), the Sailfin Tang and female Coral Sea Fairy Wrasse are doing great. The male Coral Sea Wrasse still hides most of the time, is still getting wailed on by the Six-line Wrasse, and has a nasty cut above his left eye. I am going to use the fish trap that Gimmito so kindly loaned to me, to see if I can catch him. better still, I would love to catch the Six-line and move him to the 46. That would be the best thing that could happen.

**Danamck** · 03-09-2008, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by gimmito

I meant the new additions from the 180.

That 46 is coming together nicely.

See above for fish update. And thanks for the compliment ... i am really enjoying having a reef tank at work, though it can be a little distracting!

**gimmito** · 03-10-2008, 12:19 AM

Dana,

I forgot to mention...

Have you tried the mirror trick with the pbt to eleviate the aggresion ?

**Danamck** · 03-10-2008, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

Dana,

I forgot to mention...

Have you tried the mirror trick with the pbt to eleviate the aggresion ?

I have not heard about this. I assume using a mirror would elevate his aggression, not eleviate. Please explain.

**gimmito** · 03-10-2008, 01:36 AM

Dana,

Yes.

Instead of the pbt going after newly introduced fish, he will think there is another pbt in the tank.

I saw it on reefvideos and the guy said it worked very well for him in eleviating aggression for newly introduced fish.

**Danamck** · 03-10-2008, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by gimmito

Dana,

Yes.

Instead of the pbt going after newly introduced fish, he will think there is another pbt in the tank.

I saw it on reefvideos and the guy said it worked very well for him in eleviating aggression for newly introduced fish.

I shall give this a try - thanks!

**Danamck** · 03-12-2008, 04:10 AM

DAY 11

Well, the mirror trick worked, but in a different way than it was supposed to. Let me explain.

The Powder Blue Tang went crazy. I thought he was going to kill himself. I knew PBTs were aggressive, but really! Had I tried this, I could have saved the Scribbled Angel and the Sailfin Tang a lot of hassle.

The Six-line reacted in a completely different way: he was terrified. He refused to go anywhere near the side of the tank where the mirror was. And in the process, he completely forgot about the Coral Sea Wrasse, who was able to come out from under his rock and spend some quality time with his mate. It's not over, but it is certainly better.

Thanks for the tip Jim!

**gimmito** · 03-12-2008, 04:05 PM

Glad to hear it worked !

Sorry I forgot to tell you earlier...I had a Dori (from nemo) moment.

V · 03-12-2008, 09:58 PM

Day 12

veriann opens the thread & yells WTF!

Nice one D, so little time & so much reading to catch up on

I'll have to get back to you on that one!

**Danamck** · 03-13-2008, 11:47 PM

Got the camera out and started snapping away. I must have taken 100 pictures, and only a few came OK all right. So here we go ...

The first is the left side of the 240. The second is the right. As you can see - things are a little crowded at the moment. I've decided to up my water change regime to 25 gallons a week, just to keep the water quality in check. I've had to remove several corals that were becoming meals for the Flagfin, but they have found a nice home in my 46 bow front tank at work.

The third photo is the Flagfin Angel. Man, he loves to pose! You can see the Sailfin Tang in the corner. He does not like to pose, and I was unable to get a decent solo picture of him. The fourth photo is the Scribbled Angel. He looks a little beat up, as my Powder Blue Tang really went after him. Above him is Satan, my Six-line Wrasse. I never ever name fish, but he is such a little #@%$ that I thought Satan was appropriate.

**Danamck** · 03-13-2008, 11:56 PM

Here are some additional fish shots. The first is my Powder Blue Tang, the king (or queen) of my tank. As aggressive as he is, he is still one of my favorite fish. The second photo is RG, my Royal Gramma. I know I said I never name fish. My wife named him RG, not I. The third photo is the male Coral Sea Wrasse. It's nice to see him out and about, though he is still shy and hangs out in the right corner of the tank. The fourth photo is the female Coral Sea Wrasse. She is not nearly as pretty, but I love the fact that I have a male/female pair. The fifth photo is probably my favorite fish photo I've ever taken. You must understand i have a really cheap digital camera with no macro lens. I also need to guess when using the manual focus. But this one came out nice - and I love the Flame Hawk's pose. He has such a personality, and it comes out in this photo.