FishProfiles.com Message Forums

thats what i thought about the SG,

The amount of rock that you end up having depends on a lot of things.....the look you want, the type of rock, etc. I had ove 400 lbs of rock in my 180 and It still needed a couple more pieces IMO.

Go with what looks good to you!

Good point, i can always add more, its hard to think of how much space so many pounds of LR is going to take up and what sizes im going to end up with.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Well taking advice, im going to start a log on the new tank! Its been sitting upright for about a month now, but this weekend i finally got it set up.

The tank is a 180 gal aga, with two corner overflows.
Currently i have a sump/tirckle set up, holding about 40 gals. w/ skimmer and pumps. i plann on drilling it (its acrylic) and adding a ref. on with a ball valve but right now im just sticking with the basics.
Lighting i have 3 150 watt Mh with 6 act. blue pc.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Sounds like a nice setup!

I Agree! Good start. 180 is a great tank size, it opens you up to a lot of options as far as livestock is concerned.

What are your plans for this tank? Is it going to be FO reef or FOWLR?

I'm guessing reef since you have metal halides.

Let us in on the stocking plans.


EDIT: Ok, im officially an idiot...

the title of the thread is REEF log hahah...

what types of corals you looking into ?

Last edited by Ferretfish at 06-Nov-2005 11:32

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Right now mainly sps, different acropora's and Pocillopora for corals, im still thinking about them and reading up. I like Zoo's too, somthing about the coloration that attracts me to them. But otherwise on corals, im open for suggestions, im still choosing.

Im going to start of with some hardy fish, clowns maybe, a lfs store near me has a breeding pair of maroons that i might be able to get ahold of. I plan on putting in some BTA and possibly a form of a long tent anen. Later on i plan to add a few tangs, regal and/or naso. Firefish, pearly jawfish and gobies are some other smaller fish im looking at.

As far as inverts go im still looking. Shrimp are definate, either Stenopus hispidus(coral banded) and or Lysmata amboinensis (cleaner). I was looking at Tridacna Maxima and Tridacna crocea, but i have to see what i can do compatablity wise.

as always this list is going to change, some of it will happen and some wont, we'll see.

Once my budget allows, i may add on a calc. reactor for the corals, not too sure.

As of now, i just mixed the salt this morning, the Sg is about 1.023 ish maybe 1.024 its right between the two.

Im shooting for a DSB (about 4" with plenty of rockwork, about 160 pounds of LR, which i plan to have in the tank scaped by the end of next weekend.

The canopy is almost finished being modifed. im placing fans on each end for heat. The hard part is going to be figuring out what im going to do with the lights. I bought three seperate pendants instead of one long one (price difference between ($600 and $1200). So Origionaly i was going to mount the lights inside the canopy. Now im going to attempt to build a frame that goes across the width of the tank (72) and hold each individual light off the galss top. This way, the weight of each light is placed on the frame of the tank, not on the center braces. The problem with mounting them on the inside of the canopy is that the entire light would be lifted wach time i do tank mantinence, not only would that be kinda heavy, the lights would be shining in my face, not the tank.

Hopfully ill be going primie sometime soon, if i don't within the next week, ill link some pictures once i get the rock in. Thanks greatly to both of you btw, when i first thought about getting into salt, both of you answered all my questions and gave me suggestions!

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

SOUNDS GREAT!!!

Your tank is basically just like mine, cept bigger, but my lights are stronger. Make sure you keep the SPS up top so they get some good light.

Regals are a very challening angel, and depending on how they were raised they may nip at clams. I'd be delighted to see another aquarist have success with them.

Sounds like you've done a good deal of research. Good job.

EDIT: IMO you can bring your salinity up a bit. Many SPS keepers including myself target their numbers towards 1.027ish.

Just a warning, your canopy will probably forever be modified. I know mine always is. I'm changing the fans on it right now.

Last edited by Ferretfish at 06-Nov-2005 12:45

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

EDIT: IMO you can bring your salinity up a bit. Many SPS keepers including myself target their numbers towards 1.027ish

Definately raise your salinity to atleast 1.025 if you are going to keep sps!

And I agree on the lighting being a little week for a 24 inch deep tank...250's would be better if you dont want to just keep sps at the top of the tank.

I can always change the lights, it was the best i could do for the amount of money, its still a decent amount of light, with the pc im looking at about 650 watts. I know wpg isn't a good way to look at light.

Liana, i was actually talking about Paracanthurus hepatus, the blue tang. Ive seen it called a regal tang too.

but now that you brought it up, ive wanted to keep one angel, but i wasnt sure of the angels compatablity in a reef, so i didnt put it in on the list.
I fell in live with Euxiphipops navarchus, the first time i saw it, but i wasnt sure how it would do with inverts and corals. I do know that clams and angels dont mix.
whats your take do you think i could keep one, or is it pushing it?

nick

EDIT: i just got home a noticed my skimmer going nuts! heh this is good, it wasnt doing much before. also, my water looks like it has small particles floating in it, im going to give it some time to circulate.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 06-Nov-2005 16:47

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

I looove when my skimmer goes nuts. :%) Makes me feel like it was worth spending close to 400 bucks on it.

Euxiphipops navarchus you say? Majestics are pretty angels. I've seen them at my work at least two or three times within the past year or so. A very delicate species I might add...hard to get eating, therefore usually you need a lot of live rock. My guess, is he'll nip at most softies and LPS...but not so much SPS. All angels usually nip at clam mantles. They aren't impossible to keep alive, assuming you can get them to eat, but they aren't exactly the best fish for a true reef tank. A FOWLR tank with an occasional coral would be much better for this guy IMO.

EDIT:

And Paracanthurus hepatus is the hippo tang, aka dori. The regal angel is something completely different. Hippo tangs do absolutely fine in reef tanks 99% of the time. If you buy one with good color, and feed it a good diet, they'll be a star in your tank.

Last edited by Ferretfish at 06-Nov-2005 19:02

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Right now the sg is 1.024, im may add some more salt before i go to bed tonight, only a bit, i was thinking of holding it at around 1.025-1.026.

Will a higher SG place any extra stress on fish?

And finally with LR, i know the typicall amount is about a pound per gallon, would i do alright with 135 pounds in a 180 tank. I want enough swimming room for fish, but i want plenty of rockwork for corals and inverts. i think about 135 would work. Any opinions?

nick

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 07-Nov-2005 20:25

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Will a higher SG place any extra stress on fish?

It will make them work a bit harder to Osmoregulate, but nothing that they cant handle...1.025 will be fine if you dont want to go any higher.

I keep an SPS dominated tank, and prefer to keep my salinity at 1.027 mainly because trace elements are higher with a higher salinity.

And finally with LR, i know the typicall amount is about a pound per gallon, would i do alright with 135 pounds in a 180 tank. I want enough swimming room for fish, but i want plenty of rockwork for corals and inverts. i think about 135 would work. Any opinions?

The amount of rock that you end up having depends on a lot of things.....the look you want, the type of rock, etc. I had ove 400 lbs of rock in my 180 and It still needed a couple more pieces IMO.

Go with what looks good to you!

I think you're going to end up wanting more live rock...I know that I have at least 100 pounds in the main display of my 72...and it's starting to look pretty full finally.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i think im probably going to go with 180 pounds, i want quite a bit of rockwork, and if i need my sps to be near the surface then the rockwork should be relativly high.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

180 lbs? I think you will end up with closer to 300! Thats just from my experience though

Question: as of right now the best place to get rock is online, but the shipping charges are going to be about 230 bucks for 180 pounds of rock....any ideas? the places around here dont have very good live rock...

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

If you cant get it locally---

Do you have a local reef club? That's how I got my rock...from somebody taking down their tank.

Look around reef central and on ebay. You can find great rock on there a lot of times.

There's also a couple of great places for buying online.

I cant find the link to my favorite one, but I know Nate has it. (The one that I think Kip ordered a whole bunch of rock from...)

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i found a good deal on ebay, $1.99 a pound for fiji, 4 day ground standard second day air, and next day air. If i go with the 4 day ground, it will cost about 100 in shipping plus the cost of the rock. So about $450 total opposed to $580-600. Thats the best i can find right now.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

I spent $375 for 120 lbs of live rock I think.

That should work out to be a little under than $3 a pound. And it was a local pick up, therefore no shipping costs.

You just get lucky sometimes. Keep your eyes open for options. It's going to be expensive no matter what.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Yeah, i just kinda live in a bad area for it i guess, not much here in cincinnati.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Ohio is BIG into the hobby. If you can't find anyone in cinci, try cleveland, it's not that far from you. I'd drive a few hours for good cheap live rock.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients