Dr.Felix Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hey everyone - heres some pics of my new tank full - id delayed filling it coz i was scared it would pop! dimensions 1220wide x 1220deep x 1100 high (whoa thats deep! must have been good glue ) lighting - arcadia 2x250W 14k bulbs 2 x t5 actinic - adjustable height off tank - at the moment 600mm above tank - will lower progressively as tank becomes biological. pics at the bottom - big size pics tho! has 4 chromis and 4 damsels in it at moment to provide some ammonia and starting to go brown! but what i really want to know is - your ideas on fish to stock it with ! and inverts! bear in mind that cost not really an object (glass to build tank cost 2400 alone) - the tank standing owes easy over 10k. and i can pretty much get any fish/invert (within legal limits). :-? I will put 4 nemos and 2 purple tip anemones and maybe a couple of cerianthus anem in soon. and a few royal grammas and mandarins/blenny/dragonets. so what to choose - blue tang, powder blue, powder black, sailfin tang, yellow tang, naso, pinnatus bat, zanclus - any favorites/unusuals youd like to see? (its on public display if u didnt realise from the pics!) a couple of pics show it in night mode with the t5s only. the room lights are mostly off. http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1628.jpg http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1629.jpg http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1630.jpg http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1631.jpg http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1632.jpg http://www.petworld.co.nz/fish/dscn1633.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 None of the pics are working Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 nice set up, cant see pics, you cant keep cerianthus with small fish, they will kill them. very high tank, will be a good leather tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 jeez how thick is the glass???? thats goona be a sod to work on, i'm looking after reef thats 765 deep and even thats to much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Fish only? or full reef? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Felix Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 15mm thick sides 20mm base. i had to swim in it to install the coral structure. interesting you say that cerianthus kill fish - ive never seen one fish lost to any and i had a tank once that was about 60L and had 2 cerianthus and about 6 clowns and 6 damsels! Links work now! full reef intention - we'll see how far it goes - all suggestions for fish/inverts etc gratefully received - the public will be viewing it so it should show off the hobby at its max! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Well, judging by the size of the skimmer in the photo's, I don't think you could really show off the hobby to the max, unfortunately. I would think that many reefers would say that a mixed sps reef would be the ultimate in the hobby... well to me anyway, and it is generally accepted that this requires ultra clean water (read big skimmer), plenty of water flow, and top quality lighting. (and Zeovit ;-) sorry I couldn't resist) Unfortunately, none of the importers in CHCH bring in these corals... mainly because they are not evenly remotely setup for keeping them, poor lighting (although that has improved recently) and inadequate skimmers seem to be the problems. It's probably the most frustrating things about the shops down here. Redwood bring in a wide variety of interesting fish, which is good, but on the coral side of things, we are pretty much restricted to softies, and lps. And, although Eddy (and friends and family) did a lot for the hobby, it's a shame to say that, in my experience (and others), his fish were often generally not in the best of health. He did however always bring in top quality clams, at very reasonable prices, these seem to be very hard to find now. Anyway that's enough of the rant. Where is the tank? Is it in Petworld new Northlands shop? Here are some suggestions for stocking: Anthias (Bicolour / Dispar / or Lyretail) - no reef is complete without these! Purple Tang - Red Sea fish, so harder (more expensive) to get hold of but look good. Yellow Tang - alternative to purple, maybe a small group of 5 or so. Large 6 line wrasse - very nice fish. Assorted bleeny's - add a lot of character to a tank, even the humble algae blenny, although there are some other very nice ones around. Inverts Due to MAF restrictions, there are only some importers who can (legally) get different soft coral in (none in CHCH), otherwise you're pretty much stuck with lobophytum's, and sacrophyton's. Capnella nice fast growing. Litophyton again very fast growing. Branching Montipora Staghorn Acroporas Table Acroporas Pocillopora Seriatopora Trachyphyllia and Euphyllias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Felix Posted May 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 a lot of what u say depends on what u see in a store here. what is in store is not what is available - its just what the tank in the store will keep alive. any more suggestions gratefully appreciated although i doubt ill post or visit here ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Tank does have great potential. I think you will need to invest in a very good skimmer, should be in now, as you need to start removing waste. Tunze stream would be a nice addition for water movement. Very underestimated, as it does make a big difference to coral and fish love it. Upgrading to 400w would not add much more light as 250de are almost as bright as 400 se. Also you can’t get 400de as they are not out yet. I would add another 2x250w halides and a serious skimmer as organics are starting to build up looking at the rocks. I would add a school of yellow tangs and purple tangs. trachphllias at the bottom would look nice, also I would add mainly leather corals and a few hard corals. Also don’t add too many fish as it would be hard to keep organics under control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 well... a lot of what I have said is the truth, the fact is, is that if the importer can not keep it alive for the 3 week quarantine period, then it is not avaliable, whether or not they can obtain it from their wholesalers, or whether or not it is allowed into the country is not in question. It is common knowledge that both importers down here have been stung for (whether knowingly or not) importing soft corals which are not on the allowed list. As far as fish go, those fish allowed in, are generally avaliable without too much trouble. When it comes to corals, you find that (in CHCH) no one imports SPS, only soft corals, and LPS. On many occasions I have requested of both importers down here to import different SPS, but none of them ever had (or have not had them survive quarantine). I only commented on the skimmer. Depending on your intentions, it may be fine for a fishonly, or maybe even a sofies tank, but will not be adequate for keeping SPS in optimal condition. The lighting seems good, 250w de are powerful, but the tank is deep. Again, most here would agree that 6 times tank turnover is a little low, even for softies, are you going to have any powerheads? The reason I bring up these points is not to shoot you down, it is simply because of past mistakes, or observations that I have made with my own tank. As soon as my waterflow was increase, I noticed much increased polyp extension and growth. As soon as I upgraded to Halides, my coral growth rates increased dramatically, and coloured up even soft corals changed colour. The aim was not to flame, but rather say it how it is. What do you mean by the skimmer as an "interim measure"? are you going to run skimmerless? Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 That tank is huge and the skimmer is way small. You mentioned that money was not an object, thats great! In fact I would say thats about the only way to run a reef tank here in NZ. So before you start stocking the tank any more, lets see a nice big skimmer on there. DelTec 902 or bigger, but whatever you use make sure its up to the task. Water movement is going to be very important, for the reasons mentioned above and because of the high dimentions of the tank, maintaining o2 levels may be an issues. Tunze streams are my pic but would look ugly in a tank like that, you should have planed a little more and used closed loops through the floor of the tank, 'stealthing' all plumbing. However use whatever you have and try and stealth the pumps as best as possible. Stocking levels. You tank is full of dead (was dead, looks to be covered in brown diatom algae now) rock. Mandarins need to be 12 months or further away or they will die. Shoals of purple tangs or yellow tangs look awesome. If its a reef, I personally belive that 'less is more' on the fish front. 1 big fish (rabbit fish, large shoal tang or something cool) and a few odities, 1 small shoal of antheas or chromas. Blue tangs get very large, as do sailfin tangs, so be carefull adding more than 1. Hawk fish are awesome and by far the best personality of most fish. They will eat shrimp and can be a bit aggressive, but I like that in a fish! Lighting. Reefs comments are good regarding 250 vs. 400 but the 400s will penetrate better than the 250s, now much better, but better, and with a tank that deep you are going to need all the light you can get. FORGET fluros (this includes T5s) the tanks just too deep. Money is no object? 4x 1000watt MHs is what I would use (2x blue, 2x 6500k) and a blue PC for nightime viewing. Corals. SPS is where it is at. Without 1000watt MHs (and that big skimmer) I don't think you will have too much success. I would look at lower light corals, mushrooms and leathers. SPS is where the 'buzz' is, but they need more 'care' and getting into that tank is going to be a hastle. I would add 'fire and forget' corals. Soft coral tanks can look stunning, and are a little easier than SPS tanks. Also a bad SPS tank looks shite, and I think you will find it to difficult to maintain an SPS tank (+ the lighting issue). Anemones. Not much light for them in a tank that depth. I suspect they will just roam around and be unhappy? Again 1000watt MH will help. I suspect (based on the 'dead rock' you have used) that the tank will need to cycle for at least 6 months. Just a guess. Thats lots of time to do the rock work, get the skimmer and lights upgraded. Let the copepod population build (you will need to see the tank, lots of mushroom rock would help). I would love to see some higher res photos, email me them if you have no-where to post them. Good luck with the tank. Most (all?) display tanks I have seen in pet shops are shocking, so you have a real chance to make yours stand out. However its size and un-usual shape are going to make that more difficult than ever. I hope it works out as it could be a real stunner. All the best Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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