Simon's 450

[ca1ore]

I would wager any damsels in the Chrysiptera family would be fine.

Good point, I think that's probably true.

 

[ca1ore]

Noticed the other day that my chaeto seems to be dying back. Typically it grows like the proverbial weed. Hmmmn! May have to actually do some water tests (I pretty much only do alkalinity anymore).

 

[CoralWealth]

Noticed the other day that my chaeto seems to be dying back. Typically it grows like the proverbial weed. Hmmmn! May have to actually do some water tests (I pretty much only do alkalinity anymore).

Same thing happened to me this week, I still need to do the test. Hard to bring myself to do tests when the SPS look great haha

 

[mattgsa]

You have an amazing tank. Really enjoyed reading through the ten pages.

 

[TangTank]

Great tank. Love the choice of fish as well, and glad you got the numbers up! Like you, I'm more interested in the fish with corals mostly for decoration. (Heretical around here, I know.)

I'll be setting up a tank that's similar in size soon. Got quotes from some tank builders, but haven't even cleared the space in the living room for it yet.

Can I ask the physical dimensions of your tank? I know it's 450 G - would that be around 120 * 30 * 30? Or is it "shorter and fatter"?

I'm planning mine for 136 * 30 * 30, and pondering the aquascaping at the moment. Somehow yours seems shorter than I expected, and I might need to reduce the number of bommies I'm planning...

 

[ca1ore]

It's 96 long, 30 tall and 36 wide (front to back). It was sold to me as a 400, but I always refer to it as a 450 because the normal tank sizing convention is to measure from the external dimensions. For example, a standard dimension 220, with 1/2" glass only holds 200 gallons of water; so in my case, my tank is 400 gallons of water and 50 gallons or acrylic.

I really could not fit more than an 8 foot long tank, so went wider.

 

[ca1ore]

A few folks have inquired as to my feeding schedule for 80 fish. It's substantial. I'm always a bit surprised at the meager amounts some reefers feed their fish. Mine are essentially pigs with fins, particularly the tangs. Key, in my view, is to make sure you have adequate export mechanisms. Though imprecise on some level, algal turf scrubbers are 'sized' based on number of cube-equivalents of food added daily. Figure ATS, skimmer, chaeto and water changes are all contributing to nutrient export. If your nitrate/phosphate is within acceptable levels, you aren't over-feeding.

So, I feed:

1. 8x8 sheet or nori in the morning that generally lasts about 5 minutes - nominally 5 CE
2. Mixture of frozen mid-day and then again mid-afternoon (spirulina bribe, Calanus, massago roe and hikari mysis) - each feeding 4 cubes, lasts maybe a minute.
3. Late afternoon snack is one of those New Era algae grazer rings (on my last tub, so going to have to figure out a replacement) - nominally 2 CE
4. Evening I feed misc. stuff including chopped squid, LRS, PE mysis, pellets and large krill - I figure 5 CE
5. Once a week I night feed the corals with ova, rods coral mix and reefroids; this typically draws out my zebra eel who gets a large table shrimp or two - I figure this adds 1 CE.

In the range of 20 cube-equivalents a day to keep the tangs, anthias et all in bickering shape.

 

[TangTank]

Cool, thanks! It's a hard decision about going wider - my proposal to do exactly that got vetoed by her ladyship, but at least she agreed to 12 feet long. Fits nicely on the wall space, so might as well use the entire available length.

Looking at your tank, I'd have another 4 feet or so, which makes sense. Like yours, I'd have a larger "mountain" on the left, and then about three bommies spaced out towards the right. Lots of free swimming space in between. At least, that's my current thinking. All might change once the tank gets here!

Looking forward to setting this up.

 

[User1]

@ca1ore I like the feeding regiment. I tend to feed a lot too but the way I see it, it is necessary. Fish are constantly eating in the wild so I tend to over feed. That and watching my 4 lyretail anthias constantly swimming about shows me just how much energy they burn doing it. So I know they need to eat. I don't have as many fish at the moment has you (smaller and less mature tank) I will be adding more Lyretails and Damsels once it does fill in.

Like you said - if you can manage the nutrients why not, right?

 

[ca1ore]

I'd have loved to go to 10', the room just wouldn't cooperate. 36" front to back is awesome .... until I have to retrieve something from the back bottom or access the rear overflow box. Fortunately neither happen very often. Maybe after I retire I'll find a smaller house with a spot for a bigger tank.

 

[elisa h]

I'd have loved to go to 10', the room just wouldn't cooperate. 36" front to back is awesome .... until I have to retrieve something from the back bottom or access the rear overflow box. Fortunately neither happen very often. Maybe after I retire I'll find a smaller house with a spot for a bigger tank.

Do you have to worry about aggression in this size tank? Like with all your tangs, were most of them added all at once or one at a time?

 

[ca1ore]

Tangs were added sequentially. Assuming adequate swimming room, socialization box and mirror did the trick. Yellow and purple appear to hate each other, but there's enough space for them to mostly coexist. Only real issue was my black tang, which is a wimp. It now lives permanently in one of my refugium tanks.

 

[ca1ore]

Answer: 6 1/2 months .......

Question: how long will it take for the first coral to grow up to the water's surface?

A fragging we will go, a fragging we will go , hi ho the merrio, a fragging we will go .

 

[sergio706]

Looks great!

 

[Victoria M]

Answer: 6 1/2 months .......

Question: how long will it take for the first coral to grow up to the water's surface?

A fragging we will go, a fragging we will go , hi ho the merrio, a fragging we will go .

I think when my tank gets there, you should mail me a frag Yep, I think that is a great idea.

 

[ca1ore]

I think when my tank gets there, you should mail me a frag Yep, I think that is a great idea.

I just realized that you were (are?) Mrs. Music on that other forum. Getting a bit slow in my old age LOL. PM me when your tank is ready.

 

[User1]

Lol - gifts! And that ladies and gents, is how this hobby can be self sustaining.

Side note - someone was asking in another forum about damsels - I replied go for it and that they should check out your tank. You have 30 something in yours I'm guessing they poo'd a brick.

 

[ca1ore]

The reality is that most of the SPS in my tank is pretty common stuff ..... and they grow pretty fast so I generally just give away frags otherwise I'd just end up tossing them (which I hate to do).

 

[Victoria M]

I just realized that you were (are?) Mrs. Music on that other forum. Getting a bit slow in my old age LOL. PM me when your tank is ready.

yep, that is me. I was a silent stalker of a few of my favorite tanks on RC for years. An RC lounger friend sent me here to read articles for DIY shut off valves. I discovered several of my favorite reef tanks (I mean reefers) here, and so here I stayed. I REALLY enjoy the R2R culture. xxoo to you all. Although I was being a smart alec about sending me those frags, I would feel lucky to have a piece of rubble from you. I am sure it would bring me good luck!

 

[Victoria M]

The reality is that most of the SPS in my tank is pretty common stuff ..... and they grow pretty fast so I generally just give away frags otherwise I'd just end up tossing them (which I hate to do).

That is so awesome. I recently gave away many BTA to my local club memebers. All of them gave me something in return. I offered the BTA for free but it turned into a trade! It was quite fun. I had never done that before. I dipped all of the gifts in a Bayers dip. Everything was great for awhile but then things went south...which led to my rebuild.