Thanks Adam!

Here are some tank specs...

Set up Nov 2002

120gal (48x24x24)
27gal sump
Mag12 return
2 x 400w (360w) 20k Radiums on Son Agro ballasts
Canreef skimmer w/Mag18
DIY Ca reactor
6 MJ200 powerheads (ugly!)
85lbs LR
50lbs base rock

Livestock includes
Foxface
Blue tang
Bicolor blenny
3x chromis
Purple pseudochromis
Pearly jawfish
2x Ocellaris clowns
Green bubbletip anemone
2x tuxedo urchins
2x tigertail cukes
Bunch of hermits and snails
2x emerald crabs
2x cleaner shrimp
2x peppermint shrimp (in the sump)

Re: Some various pics...
 

I always wondered how you could keep so many fish in your tank and not have it crash! Your tank seems to defy all the laws of physics or something...and it looks great doing it!

Do u still have higher than average nitrates now?


[quote="Samw"
Now that I've got my nitrate to <25 and have lightened up my fish bioload, my corals are starting to pick up speed in growth. I hope to have similar growth rate as you soon.[/quote]

Re: Some various pics...
 

It had been betwen 50-100 for over a year. Its slowly coming down now though. Still not <10. But soon. The things that the high dissolved organics and nitrates affected most were acros and montis. While those animals stunted in growth or receded, other animals were fine or flourished.

Re: Some various pics...
 

Get those nitrates down Sam! Well, you're not the only one with coral problems. My sun coral has never fully opened since I got it. The polyps will only open enough to expose their mouths, eat, then close again. Talk about a PITA feeding them. My gorgonian frag is also being difficult, only opening in the dark and closing up when I try to feed it. Maybe I need higher nitrates to keep these non-photosynthetic corals!

6...count'em six nasty Maxijet 1200's! I'd like to do a closed loop but it's not really in the budget right now :frown:

If it aint broken dont fix it. Looks like its working for you pretty good!

Re: Some various pics...
 

Have you looked at it at like 3am? I find mine looking its best at that time. :smile:

I don't think its the nitrates that you need for that coral but the amount of food. In my opinion, the red gorg needs to be fed constantly because their polyps are so small that they capture only small amounts of food at a time. The problem of course is that if you feed them the proper amount, the uneatened food that lands in other parts of the tank could create a water quality problem for your acros and montis. Hopefully, its located in a spot where your food blows around the most like near a corner maybe.

I think it's pretty sweet! :cool: Are the pics accurate as far as the "blue-ness"? Man, that is other-worldly, all the blue.

Thanks! The "blueness" in real life most closely matches the least blue pics which were taken on Adam's camera. The Radiums really wreak havoc on cheaper digicams. Some shots on my cheaper camera come out so blue that everything looks washed out.


Sam, I haven't looked at the sun coral at 3am but that's not exactly the time I want to feed them! I wish they would open up as soon as the lights turned off so I can feed them more easily but they won't. Right now I have to take the colony out of the tank and bucket feed. The polyps don't come out so the food has to land right over their mouths or they don't eat :mad: