Simon's 450

[ca1ore]

A picture can be deceiving. Friends, right? Nope, these two 'hate' each other .....

 

[User1]

Hate is too strong of a word. Maybe dislike, yeah?

Nice photo.

 

[ca1ore]

Sometimes I do think they actually hate each other, but mostly just intolerance .... thus the use of scare quotes. I tend to use them a lot in my conversational writing .... Probably too much.

 

[ca1ore]

1 1/2 of my favorite fish .... well, among my favorites ....

 

[ca1ore]

Been playing around with a better camera. these pictures are much more faithful to how the tank actually looks (maybe a tad too dark still). No absurd color push like so many pictures I see online.

 

[revhtree]

Awesome tank!

 

[ca1ore]

Had some major bangers go through Stamford today and 1/3 of we are out of power. Good, first test for the new generator. So far so good. Even though I told the kids I got it for them ...... I really got it for the reef tank.

 

[ca1ore]

Feed me ....

Trio of Zosters finally going in this weekend.

 

[ca1ore]

This tank will have been running for a year next month ..... so of course I've started designing/ brainstorming the next one. 450 gallons is just too restricting. Am thinking 2,500 gallons, give or take. 16 feet long, 4 feet high and 5-6 feet deep. Probably build it myself. Will require a new/different house ..... so it's going to be awhile LOL.

 

[Janci]

This tank will have been running for a year next month ..... so of course I've started designing/ brainstorming the next one. 450 gallons is just too restricting. Am thinking 2,500 gallons, give or take. 16 feet long, 4 feet high and 5-6 feet deep. Probably build it myself. Will require a new/different house ..... so it's going to be awhile LOL.

Do we not all have those plans?
I actually plan smaller... smaller display, bigger sump.

 

[ca1ore]

LOL, of course. Of all the tanks I have designed in my head, some even making it to paper, probably less than one in twenty have cone to realization.

 

[Victoria M]

LOL, of course. Of all the tanks I have designed in my head, some even making it to paper, probably less than one in twenty have cone to realization.

ME TOO! Except even less than that see the light of day. I just love to think about this stuff.

 

[ca1ore]

Yes, it is fun. I enjoy the design and build phase of a tank far more than any other part. Once it's up and running it becomes a bit of a yawner. Bit like Chevy Chase's reaction to the Grand Canyon when they finally got there ......

 

[saltyhog]

Simon, I couldn't find the dimensions of your tank on the thread. Is it 36" front to back? 120" long?

 

[ca1ore]

Simon, I couldn't find the dimensions of your tank on the thread. Is it 36" front to back? 120" long?

36" front to back but a paltry 96" long. I wanted to go 120", but the room wasn't cooperative. I could have fit 104", but the incremental cost was high for only a small size jump.

 

[ca1ore]

One of the things I have noticed about this tank over the last 11 months is how much less it takes to heat. I imagine it's partly the superior insulating properties of 1" acrylic versus 1/2" glass on the prior tank; but it's also partly a function of less surface area per volume. The downside of this has been that my chiller was needed earlier and presumably later than before. The cool September nights just don't have as much of an affect on this tank. The upside is that I am able to get away with much less heating than I had assumed. OK, I use a larger pump on this tank than the prior 265, and it adds heat to the tank, but I have actually found it requires less total watts than before despair having added almost 200 more gallons to the system. Interesting.

 

[ca1ore]

Finally in 'the box' ...... these guys marinated in QT for almost 2 months.

 

[albano]

Looking good, Simon... My new 500g has been up and running for a few months, but I am now in negotiations to buy a new home...so I'm also planning that next, bigger, better fish home.

 

[ca1ore]

Hey Alfie, hope all is well. I'm really happy that I took your counsel and went acrylic. Are you keeping a home in this area?

 

[ca1ore]

Trying to decide on what will be the last few fish for this tank (for real this time). I'm currently tempted by a pair of masked swallowtail angels, and would still like to add an asfur and an Achilles .... and maybe a leopard or two from a species that I don't currently have (have multiple meleagris, bipartitus, moyeri, and lapillus).