Jasonanatal's 120 gallon "Advanced Complexity" Reef Aquarium

[spanko]

Thanx!!

So when you say rocks, what exactly is rocking? Is the stand flexing? is the floor flexing??? Was there too many adult beverages consumed prior to cranking up the guitar hero gig and the eyes and brain were flexing????

[Jasonanatal]

Thanx!!

So when you say rocks, what exactly is rocking? Is the stand flexing? is the floor flexing??? Was there too many adult beverages consumed prior to cranking up the guitar hero gig and the eyes and brain were flexing????

Spanko, the aquarium is rocking back and fourth like a cheap picnic table with all the heavy bottles of soda and beer.

[spanko]

Ah, so I am guessing a cheap stand flexing then correct??

[Jasonanatal]

Ah, so I am guessing a cheap stand flexing then correct??

Spanko, as Jacque would say from Finding Nemo. Yes, I am ashamed.

[spanko]

Scary but hopefully fixable. Nice saw!!!!

[Jasonanatal]

Scary but hopefully fixable. Nice saw!!!!

Spanko, I have a plan. You will see more shortly.

[rroselavy]

Jason-

How are you planning to keep the little Frag from tampering with your controllers? I know the RK2 does not have a lockout feature, and the Ecotech driver has a rotating knob, a button, detachable power cables, and a pretty LED light in different colors. Pretty alluring for a youngster...

[Jasonanatal]

Jason-

How are you planning to keep the little Frag from tampering with your controllers? I know the RK2 does not have a lockout feature, and the Ecotech driver has a rotating knob, a button, detachable power cables, and a pretty LED light in different colors. Pretty alluring for a youngster...

Rrosalavy, I'm actually using this minor setback of the stand rocking to make something better. Once I reinforce the stand using the 2x4's I'm going to build walls for the stand and attach 2 doors in the front. The equipment will then be housed and protected by an acrylic cover with a lock. The doors will also will have key locks. That should do the trick.

[CarmieJo]

Jason, cool project and a good excuse to get new tools!!! Smart idea about locking things up. Toddlers are INQUISITIVE!

[Jasonanatal]

Jason, cool project and a good excuse to get new tools!!! Smart idea about locking things up. Toddlers are INQUISITIVE!

I for some reason always have an excuse. LOL

[Jasonanatal]

Livestock: Powder Blue Tang "Acanthurus Leucosternon" & Achilles Tang "Acanthurus Achilles" (Best Buddies for Life)

Maximum Length: 9.1 in.
Care Level: Expert Only!
Family: Acanthuridae
Reef Compatibility: Good
Minimum Aquarium Size: 120 gallons
Range: Indian Ocean
Diet: Herbivore- herbivore preparations, macro algae
Water Conditions: 74-80° F; sg 1.020-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4

Well as everyone knows I'm addicted to Tangs. However, with a nano aquarium I was never able to keep one. Well know with this 120 gallon All Glass Reef Aquarium build I wanted to keep both. According to reading the best chance of acclimating two or more tangs together would be to introduce them to the aquarium at the same time. Well the odds of finding both a Power Blue Tang and an Achilles Tang in one store in New York City would be... well lets just say I could catch a taxi quicker then getting these two fish at one store and the same size but I found them. So I bought them home and acclimated them over a period of 4 hours each in seperate containers. Then they were introduced and immediately is was battle royal! The scuffle lasted about 15 minutes and now there playing nice.




Photograph - Sunday, December 07, 2008 - My Powder Blue Tang "Acanthurus Leucosternon" drip acclimating over a period of 4 hours.


Photograph - Sunday, December 07, 2008 - My Powder Blue Tang "Acanthurus Leucosternon" swimming alone.

Maximum Length: 9.4 in.
Care Level: Expert Only!
Family: Acanthuridae
Reef Compatibility: Excellent
Minimum Aquarium Size: 120 gallons
Range: Hawaii
Diet: Herbivore- herbivore preparations, macro algae
Water Conditions: 74-80 F; sg 1.020-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4



Photograph - Sunday, December 07, 2008 - My Achilles Tang "Acanthurus Achilles" drip acclimating over a period of 4 hours.


Photograph - Sunday, December 07, 2008 - My Achilles Tang "Acanthurus Achilles" swimming alone.

Continued Below...

[Jasonanatal]

Photograph - Sunday, December 07, 2008 - My "Acanthurus Leucosternon" & Achilles Tang "Acanthurus Achilles" swimming nicely after a 15 minute scuffle from being intoduced together. Now there playing nicely.

[rayme07]

Those are some beautiful tangs those are two of my favorite tangs as well the purple but that's another story. Anyways beautiful tangs and glad they stopped fighting. Thanks for sharing them.

[Jasonanatal]

Those are some beautiful tangs those are two of my favorite tangs as well the purple but that's another story. Anyways beautiful tangs and glad they stopped fighting. Thanks for sharing them.

Rayme07, your most definitely welcome.

[CarmieJo]

Very pretty fish!

[rayme07]

Hi Jason I forgot to ask but what size tank is that you are acclimating the tangs in its very nice. Thanks

[Jasonanatal]

Very pretty fish!

CarmieJo, thank you. I have been literally dieing to get my hands on these guys for a very long time.

[Jasonanatal]

Hi Jason I forgot to ask but what size tank is that you are acclimating the tangs in its very nice. Thanks

Rayme07, the acclimation tank is a standard 2.5 gallon All Glass aquarium.

[Jasonanatal]

Equipment: Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer (Damn Good Bang for Your Buck)

As most of you know I have a love affair with Deltec and other High End name brands within the aquarium hobby. Well I have been in the market for a new Protein Skimmer for this aquarium and all that could think of was Bubble King or Deltec. But I remembered seeing an a review for the Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer on ReefBuilders.com and decided to give it a try. What is the worst that could happen? I could have positive evidence to convince my wife that this Protein Skimmer blow more then just bubbles and that I have to purchase a Bubble King. So I made a trip to my local Fish Store and picked it up.

Setup was extremely easy since the majority of the unit comes assembled with the exception for the Recirculation Pump, Air Line Tubing, and Feed Pump (not included). You have an option for the feed pump you can have a powerhead connected or you can tee off from your return pump. I personally choose to connect a powerhead to the feed input (I am using a Maxi-Jet 1200). The feed line states that it must be between 300 gph to 400 gph in order to get optimum results. I played with the skimmer for 2 days making minor adustments to the air intake as well as the control of the water outlet which adjust the height of the Foam. The Neck washing system is a real plus but it doesn't have a squeegee like the $1,000.00 Deltec a Bubble king counterparts. So placing the Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer in an accessible area is a must since the neck washing system is manually controlled and should be done daily.

My overall opinion of the Protein Skimmer is that it is large and give you the most bang for you buck. The foam and Micro bubbles are amazing and as you can see in just 4 days it's pulling out some nasty stuff. I say Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe FTW (For The Win)!




Photograph - Friday, December 12, 2008 - Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer.


Photograph - Friday, December 12, 2008 - I'm a big guy so you can see Santa came early and left me a big gift.



Photograph - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - 4 days running and look at all the nasty stuff it removed.

[Jasonanatal]

Equipment: Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer (Videos of the Action)

As promised I took some time out of my crazy schedule to take some videos of the Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer in action. I also took a second video to display the Neck Washing system in operation, Unfortunately the skimmate has gotton to think in the Foam View Window to really show how the Neck Washing system normally performs. It's great at removing small clumps of think skimmate. I also zoomed in to show you the size of the bubbles being produced and I am quite impressed... you may be as well.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXaqML7HR4U]YouTube - Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer.[/ame]
Movie - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer in normal operation.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWNapuqK63Q]YouTube - Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer Neck Washing.[/ame]
Movie - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - Red Sea C-Skim 1200 Deluxe Protein Skimmer in neck washing operation.

[rroselavy]

Thanks for the vids Jason. I see the bubbles come right back after the rinsing. Great. I also see that the heavy crud at the top of the neck isn't cleaned off. Not so great. How many days of crud is that? The manual says to use the rinsing feature every day...

[Jasonanatal]

Thanks for the vids Jason. I see the bubbles come right back after the rinsing. Great. I also see that the heavy crud at the top of the neck isn't cleaned off. Not so great. How many days of crud is that? The manual says to use the rinsing feature every day...

Rroselavy, that video shows approximately 6 days of crude. I am actually utulizing the Neck Washing feature every day. The Neck Washing is great at remove the small skimmate buildup but once it gets thick like the amount at the top the amount that is removed is slim to none. But its still better then not having the feature and having skimmate collect in the rise tube twice as fast.

[Jasonanatal]

Do It Myself (Wife Helping) Project: Reinforcing a Iron Stand Continued...

I finally managed to get my wife and son out of the apartment for a while in order to rev up the saw and start to cut the some of the peices of wood for the reinforcement of the iron stand. However, I ran out of materials again and need to make another run to home depot. Here are photographs of the project so far. I haven't completed it and already their is a dramatic increase in the rigidness of the iron stand, there is almost no movement.




Photographs - Sunday, December 21, 2008 - Wooden skeleton to reinforce the iron stand.




Photographs - Sunday, December 21, 2008 - L Brackets holding the wood together.

[rayme07]

Jason that stand looks 100% better. Awesome job I like it.

[Jasonanatal]

Jason that stand looks 100% better. Awesome job I like it.

Rayme07, thank you. It's still not doing I'm going to add to it in a week or two.