my 135 rimless - updated with new LED build!!

[johnanddawn]

Tank specs:
custom 135g 36x36x24 glass cages rimless with starphire front pane
custom built oak stand
8 x 39W T5's in custom oak pendent on 2 660's and ice cap reflectors
F --> B UVL actinic, current blue, act white, blue, aquasun, blue, act white, actinic
flow provded by 3 tunze and 2 maximods and return

building the stand

finishing the stand

tank arrival jan 09

 

[johnanddawn]

I basically decided to start over with inhabitants but kept my favorite rocks and a few corals and fish that i have had for many years, almost everything else went

initial rockwork - changed a bit over the months

i kept a few zoas and shrooms

and a few LPS

and my fish and clam (but i lost the little sailfin somewhere along the line)

 

[johnanddawn]

newest additions a few lps first

an aussie "war type"

an aussie scolly

 

[johnanddawn]

and a few sticks

pink milli

blue tip stag

tort

 

[johnanddawn]

and finally a peak under the hood (or in the basement it would seem)

water enters a 40 long with skimmer and settles out

then goes into a 125 lite fuge with cheato, live rock and a little room for frags

finaly the water goes to the 90g cryptic fuge with more rock covered with sponges and a mag18 return pump

 

[johnanddawn]

so there you have it - my tank

afew comments on husbandry;
2 part solution by hand
top off kalk with a dripper
vodka and bacteria
bare bottom
dose iodine weekly
do a 5g water change on the weekends
actually a very simple system

i'm 9 months into the build and so far it is going pretty well
i plan on taking some updated pics this afternoon after the lights come on, but feel free to post comments, questions and suggestions

 

[Cully]

That's legit!!! Nice collection and great looking tank. Very nice!!!

 

[Murfman]

very nice tank!!!!

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks

ok just snaped a couple pics, but the camera and i aren't getting along too well today so this is it for now

a couple sps group shots

and a new fts

 

[ahayes13]

wow, beautiful tank !

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks

couple more pics

top down of some zoas - most of these came from the previous tank

a couple unnamed acros starting to color up

my all time favorite coral ORA "chips" and and unhappy ORA red planet - seems to be a bit of a border dispute with that monti

 

[aquarius77]

Cool tank you got goin there, neat setup! You have a great collection of corals and them zoo patches rock. That chips is SICK man, i wish i could have got mine to look like that..

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks for the comments
but yeah i agree, the chips is def one of ORA's best corals - although i do not have a lot of named corals, that one was the top coral on my want list when i decided to start over with this build. it is just hard to top- great color and huge open polyps

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Your collection is stunning, thanks for all the great pics of it.
How happy were you with the GC tank? It seems like thay have really upped their quality the last few years.

 

[ficklefins]

How many swigs of Carlo Rossi are incorporated into the weekend reef maintenance schedule? J/K

That first top down shot is pretty killer! Nice colors

 

[johnanddawn]

those wine bottles are awesome for mixing two part up and obviously one has to empty them first and i can't drink the vodka it's for the tank

Your collection is stunning, thanks for all the great pics of it.
How happy were you with the GC tank? It seems like thay have really upped their quality the last few years.

thanks,
i am very happy with it. when i was doing my research, i had read some bad reviews, but i also talked with some people who were happy with theirs.
the black silicone seams have a few very small aesthetic issues that only i can see and it is def not a structual issue.
the bottom was "eurobraced" all the way around to reinforce it and also has a double pane of glass where the holes are drilled.
another complant some people had was the top edge not being polished but mine although not polished is still completely smooth
the overflow is well built but massive - nice when you have to get your hand in there but does take up some space.
the customer service was great when i taked to them on the phone and finallized all the decisions
they have that scheduled truck route which really saves on shipping
- all and all it is a very nice tank

the only regret is that i only had them put starphire glass on the front and i should have done all three sides as with the cube design one finds themself looking at it from all angles equaly as often

 

[amore169]

Very nice!! Really nice colors.

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks amore

i thought i should post a pic of my old tank for reference
this is the last FTS of my 125 before i decided to start over. this tank ran continuously from jan 1993 - dec 2008 - 15 years. during that time it went through many changes of course but this pic represents its high point imo. not that i didn't like this tank but i just needed a change. the tank itself is now part of my sump system that i posted earlier. i kept some corals, sold many, and unfortunetly lost a few, but i didn't want just a new tank - i wanted a new beginning.

 

[reefer357]

Very nice looking tank and nice photos.

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks here are a couple more pics
here are three corals i've had for a while
1st pics are from the day i got them and the 2nd from today - couldn't tell you how long that is, 3 - 4 years maybe? the lighting was dif on my old tank (MH and actinic then now T5)

blasto

hairy shroom - at least 20 now

goochters - can only see about half in this pic