Renton's Evolution from 200 to 440 gallons

[RJKain-777]

I was getting close to 700 par at about 1" below the surface of the water, around 550 at the top of the rocks and around 250 on the sand bed with the lights at 100%. I dialed them back some but have not measured again.

That’s perfect, I was looking for around 150-200 par on the sand. Thanks!

 

[biecacka]

Nathan, would you guess them to be about 20 inches off the water line?

corey

 

[Renton777]

Nathan, how huh above your tank are your lights? How tall is your stand?
Here is my fixture but on a smaller scale for 2 Orpheks before paint. My ceiling is about 8ft and I really like the sleek look of how yours sits so close to the ceiling but I don’t know if I can do that without having a tall stand.


corey

The stand is about 34", tank is 26". The lights are about 18" from the surface of the water.

 

[aquavista99]

Upgrade looks fantastic, Nathan! Stunning collection of fish and corals.

 

[Renton777]

Quick update

I had a good amount of cyano growing on the sand and starting to cover the rocks. My nitrates were just about undetectable and I wanted them higher. I tried feeding even more but that did not do much. I ran a treatment of chemiclean and that did the trick, eliminated the cyano and raised nitrates a bit which several corals appreciated.

I had an ich outbreak between my powder blue, powder brown, Achilles and blue hippo tang. I have had ich in the system for a long time but I think having several ich magnet fish was creating something of an ich farm. Some friends and I were able to capture the powder blue and get him into qt at Tidal gardens. I now have a fish trap and may try and get the powder brown out as well. Since the removal of the powder blue the Achilles is looking better.

Most of the corals are looking good and colorful

 

[Renton777]

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking great!!

 

[Renton777]

Quick Update Video:

 

[Renton777]

This tank doesn't clean itself! Sometimes it takes a pretty face (me) to keep a pretty tank! Photo credit to the daughter

 

[tripdad]

Puts a real scale to that bad boy, bigger than I thought.

 

[McPuff]

Puts a real scale to that bad boy, bigger than I thought.

I was thinking the same thing! Very nice tank and great choice in lighting! I have been super thrilled with my Atlantiks over the past year+. Just added a couple OR3 bars as well (blue+) and that makes it even better, believe it or not.

 

[Renton777]

I was thinking the same thing! Very nice tank and great choice in lighting! I have been super thrilled with my Atlantiks over the past year+. Just added a couple OR3 bars as well (blue+) and that makes it even better, believe it or not.

It is hard to capture the scale of the tank in pictures and videos. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around how big it is when I am working on it and I have have had for over 8 months, lol.

I do love the Atlantiks! Oh man, now you have me thinking about adding OR3 bars, lol.

 

[Renton777]

Oldman Leopard Wrasse 7/1/2011 to 5/14/2021 RIP

Oldman wrasse was one of my oldest fish and has been in all stages of my systems over the years, started in my 93 gallon cube, moved to the 200 gallon tank when I upgraded and made the last move to the new tank.

Over the past year or two he was really starting to show his age. He finally tuckered out. Fun fact about Oldman Wrasse, when I got him he was a small female

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Oldman Leopard Wrasse 7/1/2011 to 5/14/2021 RIP

Oldman wrasse was one of my oldest fish and has been in all stages of my systems over the years, started in my 93 gallon cube, moved to the 200 gallon tank when I upgraded and made the last move to the new tank.

Over the past year or two he was really starting to show his age. He finally tuckered out. Fun fact about Oldman Wrasse, when I got him he was a small female

I'm sorry for your loss, man, but that's a great run for the old guy! 10 years is excellent! Definitely a testimony to the great care you give to your reef inhabitants!

 

[Ryan Doolittle]

How is the spread on those Orpheks? Curious what kind of drop your getting under the lights and towards the outside edges?

 

[Renton777]

How is the spread on those Orpheks? Curious what kind of drop your getting under the lights and towards the outside edges?

I feel that the spread is excellent. On the display tank the bottom of the tank is pretty uniformly at 175 to 200 par with the lights at full strength

 

[Renton777]

Some recent quick video clips of the system:

Frag Tank After Feeding:


9 Feet of Reef:


Breakfast Time:

 

[Renton777]

And a couple videos into the chaos of my mad scientist equipment room

 

[Marty's Reef]

Beautiful system. Who was the maker of your display tank and sump?

 

[Renton777]

Beautiful system. Who was the maker of your display tank and sump?

It was made by Ocean Life Aquariums out of FL. He did great work!