barebottom
 

Are you going bare bottom? I am aware of the huge debate... but can you give us newbies maybe your top 3-5 (or more :lol: ) reasons for going bb, or if you still plan on sand, same thing? Looks good though.

Nano

Nano,
Yup this tank will be BB. Sorry, but I don't think I can contribute any more to the debate than what has already been said. My advice would be to just try it both ways and see what you like better. Start with sand and if it starts to give you trouble, syphon it out. If it doesn't give you trouble - then rock on.
For me, BB allows me to keep a way cleaner system with higher flow and easier cleanup of detritus. I don't have/plan to have any sand dependant livestock, so my reason for keeping a sand bed would be purely for aesthetics. Now that alone is a pretty good reason - I put a lot of effort into trying to have things look good - but for me, my sand beds have only looked really good for about a week. After that golden week, the sand loses some of its brilliance and gets dulled by the bio-film that grows over each of the grains. I have tried different sifting critters and daily stirrings but I have never been able to maintain that beautiful white look. At that point, aesthetics is no longer enough reason to overweigh the drawbacks of sand and I go back to BB.
This time around I am going to try and cover the bottom of my tank with meadows of gsp, zoos, and mushrooms - should look alright...

- Chad

Reply
 

Hey Chad, that red pump with the pulse dail, what kind is it?

Starting to get exciting :) :)

..................................Dave

Haha.. thanks Dave.
It's about time... this project has been slowly creeping along..

Danny,

That is a diaphragm metering pump made by Advantage Controls. It is not reefing equipment but is made for industrial/laboratory applications. I use it to add ro/di topoff water to my tank. It adds 0.31ml 9x every minute.

- Chad

To Do:

- I am planning on picking up a new Geissman Actinic + bulb for my hood. Right now I have one Geissman and one UVL Super Actinic but the UVL has dimmed to the point where I don't think it is even helping. It is a shame because the UVL was a real nice purple colour and seemed to add more variety - I think it is probably just a bad bulb but the Geissman actinic looks great too and seems to put out a lot more light.

- I am going to add some more LR to the display, add a pair of little clowns, and slowly build up my soft coral collection.

- I am also debating building a coil denitrator... great one more project...

- Chad

reply
 

Cool, I was kind of hoping it was some kind of new pump with a built in wave controller. Some one should invent one.

Ya, right - that's all I need, one more piece of expensive equipment that I will 'have to have'.

Inventors: please disregard Danny's post. Don't invent anything else... just work on ways of making our current equipment cheaper. :razz:

What kind of light (brand) is that? Sorry if it was already stated but I did not want to read all the pages. I ordered a high output t5 also just waiting for it

I ended up going with the Tek 24" 4-bulb from Gold's. The tank is 30"x18"x18" and it provides great coverage.

- Chad

Update photos
 

Well, sorry that I have been away for a while. Here are some recent photos of the tank. I have added some zoanthids and some rics and a pair of clowns. I think that the clowns will be the only fish I put in this tank - now to build it up with some more nice softies.


FTS (please excuse the diatoms on the bottom pane, I haven't cleaned the glass in a while - but there's some coraline growth there too):

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../070513001.jpg




blurry photo of the clowns - at least the rics were standing still:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../070513020.jpg



This is the same zoo colony I posted before but I wanted to show how much the palys have colored up. This pic doesn't even do it justice - the skirts are an fluorescent green even under the daylight bulbs. I have never had a coral this bright before - I wish I could get the camera settings right so you could see what I mean:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../070513009.jpg



- Chad

Looking good Chad.
No need to adjust your camera settings.. just send me a frag of the palys so I can see in person.. :razz:

curious
 

I am really interested in hearing how your T5 lighting system is working with the coral growth and such, is it as good as you thought, or better!!?:biggrin:

Hey npr, sorry I didn't respond earlier. Actually I couldn't be happier with the t5ho. I only kept soft corals in my tank but I got excellent growth from my zoanthids. I was worried that I would miss the shimmer of halide but, among the current lighting options, I would still choose t5 - the colour, cost, and life of the bulbs is awesome.



Having said that, I have decided to part with this system. You can check it out over in the for sale forum... but unfortunately the lights are already spoken for.

All the best,

- Chad