therman's 12 year old SPS system...top down shot, starting to enjoy this tank again

[Sea MunnKey]

Wow!!! That was a huge clam indeed!! Sorry to hear about the loss ...

Thanks for sharing

 

[SneakyTortuga]

can we get pictures of some of the other 6 tanks???

sorry to hear about the clam. that clam was just epic

3 are just boring prop tanks like these I posted in my sale thread, one is 30 gallons of Chaetomorpha, and 2 more are quasi-display. I'll see what I can do with the new camera though.

[/QUOTE]

What you think is a “boring prop tank” is an absolutely epic acros tank to me! I only hope I one day get a tank even close to these

 

[Ultraman]

Beautiful setup!

What do you incorporate for flow?

 

[declanisadog]

Most excellent! Really great work! can we get an equipment rundown? lights? flow? dosing?

 

[therman]

What do you incorporate for flow?

Most excellent! Really great work! can we get an equipment rundown? lights? flow? dosing?

Flow in most tanks is provided by Maxspect Gyres of various sizes. One at each end works well for the 2'x6'x1' tanks, and I have one vertically in one corner of the square tank with an MP40 in the other corner.

Lighting is DIY Cree fixtures over some and Reefbreeders Photon v2 over others. The Photons are really nice and finally reached a tipping point where the cost, quality, ease, and colors they are bringing out in the corals made them a way better option than building my own. I still have 4 DIY fixtures running, 3 of them for 8+ years with only minor maintenance and growing corals great. The newest one I built in 2015 has given me the most problems...it seemed like the quality of light was dropping, so I would turn up the LEDs...then I realized the optics over the blue LEDs were clouding and even getting brown burnt spots blocking the light. I am replacing all of those optics this week.

Calcium/Alk/Mg is provided by a Geo818 (TLF ReBorn and Brightwell NeoMag media) that I removed the effluent control valve from and upgraded the tubing to 3/8" to increase flow. My demand has nearly maxed it out, so I am faced with either going to the biggest Geo or starting a second system again.

I do very sporadic water changes, maybe 10% over the course of 2-3 months, mostly just topping off for removal of water for swap tanks or shipping. I have used only Reef Crystals salt for the past 12 years on this system.

The only "dosing" I do is inconsistent feedings of ReefRoids/ReefChili and Polyp Boost every few days to few weeks when I think about it.

 

[Mpal771]

I am not good at sharing images of my tanks. I'm terrible at keeping glass clean. I really enjoy seeing corals grow out into healthy colonies from small frags.

On that note, this 36x36x18 tank was set up first in 2010, moved to a new house in 2012, and nearly crashed (due entirely to my neglect) in 2013. After the near crash it was consolidated into one system with an older SPS setup, and the whole thing has evolved into a sprawling ~730 gallons across 7 aquariums and a stock tank.

I tragically lost a stunning ~18" blue squamosa that I cherished at the start of this year, but that has freed up almost 1/4 of the tank to adjust the aquascape. I'm still not quite sure how exactly I want it laid out towards the back left, but I'm really liking the interplay of color and form of the Skinny Love/24k Leptoseris/Hawaiian Pocillopora combo through the middle. This shot is taken from the right side looking across towards the left side, so the front panel of the tank is the one in the left of the frame.

Enjoy

That lepto is outrageous. The contrast it provides is stunning.

 

[Nami]

Thats an epic clam. Its amazing that you got it to 18in/max size from initial 3in. Is there an equipment malfunction or the cause of death unknown?

 

[Burks]

Amazing tank! That is the perfect size tank for my liking. One day.....one day....

 

[Bugsy_Barboza]

Do you have any/many fish? Wondering about your feedings/what you feed? Also what intensity you running the reefbreeders? And how long? Do you run heavy blues? Beautiful clam, just was looking at a 6in this past weekend couldn’t imagine that big boy, you (I assume) in the pic wit it really puts it into perspective or it’s size.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Dude that 3' cube is a crazy beautiful tank! Makes me want to pull the one out of storage I have. I would have to rip the overflow out though that's my only concern with the cube tanks. That acro on the bottom is huge and colored so nice. Well done again!

 

[maroun.c]

Great setup love the colors you're getting. That ultimate efflo is just amazing. Always wanted the trio, 500 dollars, ultimate and green efflos.
Don't have it under high light high flow?

 

[therman]

That lepto is outrageous. The contrast it provides is stunning.

Yes, I really love the way it highlights the blue color in the Skinny Love. I'm trying the make a "cascade" of golden yellow Leptoseris flowing through the middle of the tank all the way to the front. The other encrusters will be removed as they get in the way.

Here is a closer shot of the Skinny Love, a really cool clump of volunteer black barrel sponge, a mini carpet, and other miscellaneous life in an opportunistic assemblage on that rock:

 

[x2uranium]

amazing corals.

 

[therman]

Thats an epic clam. Its amazing that you got it to 18in/max size from initial 3in. Is there an equipment malfunction or the cause of death unknown?

I added a couple small Hippopus elsewhere in the system a month or so prior, and slightly tweaked the lighting intensity a week before it suddenly declined, spawned, and then died. Eventually 2 other clams in the system died too, which had been thriving. I honestly don't know exactly what did it, but suspect some disturbance or pathogen from the Hippopus

Do you have any/many fish? Wondering about your feedings/what you feed? Also what intensity you running the reefbreeders? And how long? Do you run heavy blues?

That square tank has a yellow tang, Potter's angel, pair of springeri damsels, long nose hawkfish, and a 12 year old royal gramma. In other tanks on the system there are a few dozen other fish, the biggest of which is a majestic angelfish that is about 10 years old. It lived in the square tank until last year when it got upgraded to a 180 on the other side of the room.

The 180 is sort of a display, and has the most fish and some "pet" corals that I want to grow big into 10"+ colonies. Fish in there:
majestic angelfish
coral beauty
one spot fox face
3 McCosker's flasher wrasses
Fiji Christmas wrasse
yellow wrasse
4 tuxedo damsels
4 springeri damsels
5 dispar anthias
pair of orchid dottybacks
4 red firefish
1 purple firefish


I feed with Eheim auto feeders, a mix of Formula 2 flake and NLS pellets, and a few times a week add some DIY frozen blender food. I feed my prop tanks a couple times per week with Reef Roids and Reef Chili.

I run the reef breeders tanks at 100% on all channels except for one smaller fixture that I dial back the whites on because it is has denser emitters than the 48". The reef breeders tanks are all colors on/off for 9 hrs/day. 2 of the DIY fixture tanks, including the square one, I run blues for an hour or so at the beginning and end of cycle. I definitely do NOT run heavy blues, and prefer a more natural daylight look.

That ultimate efflo is just amazing. Always wanted the trio, 500 dollars, ultimate and green efflos. Don't have it under high light high flow?

The efflo is under high light/flow but it is kind of crammed in a corner now, so only parts of it are really colored up and growing well. There is a Maxspect Gyre directly behind it in the corner of the tank.

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes, I really love the way it highlights the blue color in the Skinny Love. I'm trying the make a "cascade" of golden yellow Leptoseris flowing through the middle of the tank all the way to the front. The other encrusters will be removed as they get in the way.

Here is a closer shot of the Skinny Love, a really cool clump of volunteer black barrel sponge, a mini carpet, and other miscellaneous life in an opportunistic assemblage on that rock:

Those are mini carpet anemones?

 

[therman]

Those are mini carpet anemones?

Yes, they were what were called mini carpet anemones before "Maxi" mini carpet anemones became popular in the hobby. They are much smaller, don't get much more than 1.5" and are always a mix of green, purple, and white.

 

[shred5]

Beautiful as always Tim.
I need to stop by sometime. I am in Ohio all the time.

 

[tripdad]

Dang, I'm glad I found this thread! It's really nice to have some of the "old guard" on the board. Your cube is of the hook. I am aiming for big colonies as well, as I like to try and create a little sliver of reef in my home. The volunteer sponge is super cool, yeah, I know, I like the odd little things though.

 

[dantimdad]

I absolutely love your cube!

Setting up a 93.

This is the kind of tank that proves that you don't need an insanely complicated setup or routine to grow amazing corals and fish. BRAVO!

You have made my day posting this!

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Yeah I agree, made my day as well, thanks therman