ThePremiumAquarium Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Well guys I decided that sense I was moving back up to Salem from Corvallis that it would be a good time to start a new tank. I went down to the Coral Reef Pet Center and talked to Jason about ordering me in a reef ready 125g. After looking at all of the tank demensions I figured this would be a nice upgrade with lots of extra room for additions. Well after much consideration and help from Jason, I came back a few weeks later and ordered a 210g. I figured that should hold me over for a while. That was about 2 months ago. After ordering the tank I really wanted to have as consistent a system as possible with very little temperature fluctuation, as that seemed to be my biggest problem with my last system. So I started looking around for a nice used chiller that would work to chill a tank of this size. I almost had to have Jason go grab me a new 1/4hp unit because I wasn't finding anything to great out there that would work for my system. Then on a random visit to Advanced Aquarium I happened to notice a used half horse chiller in the front of the shop. I asked Roger what he thought Ryan would be selling it for and he gave him a call. Ryan said that this particular chiller was in need of some service, but he had a 1hp chiller thar he was all cleaned up and ready to go for $500. I thought wow, since a new 1/4hp unit was going to cost me just about the same why not just go bigger and better for the same price. So I told Roger that it was sold! Then I started to ask about a skimmer upgrade since I new my RPS-1000 designed to handle up to a 125g system just wouldn't work. It just so happens that Ryan had a nice used RPS-3000 that was in need of a home. So I picked it up. Now I was finally ready to start building the stand and hood. I had all of the real essential components and could begin to get this thing going. This was about 1 month ago. Over the next week I built the stand and hood, so that I could get ready to set this giant up. The process went smooth and all the pieces came out looking pretty sharp. The stand ended up being 36 in tall, which puts the tank in perfect viewing range. In the hood I mounted 3 standard PFO metal halide reflectors with XM bulbs on the outside and a Radium in the center (all 20k) along with 2 VHO actinics and 4 lunar blue led units. The plumbing for the tank took a while, but turned out very nice. Using a 1" bulkhead and a burrowed drill bit from Jason, I was able to nicely make a hole for the pump to withdraw water from to return to the tank. First the water leaves the sump into the pump and then into the chiller, which then heads to the main return back up to the 2 outputs into the tank. After getting everything built and the tank in place, it was time to start adding some sand. I went with 200lb's of Southdown Carribean white sand along with another 200lbs of live sand in various sizes, much of which was able to be carried over from the old tank. Then I started to transport the 250lbs of live rock over from my 90g on over. The tank was extemely cloudy for several days even after numerous sock changes and lots of rinsing of the sand. Turns out the skimmer really did a nice job along with some tank clearing stuff from Seachem that Jason sold me. After running for about a week it was time to move over the inhabitants that I was planning on keeping from the 90g in Corvallis. I was expecting to lose alot, but ended up not losing a single coral or fish. YAY! These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. The tank is running perfectly and the chiller keeps it at a constent 78 degrees give or take 1 degree. The skimmer is working excellent pulling out lots of nasty proteins and crap. I have added many coral frags and a few nice corals since these picutures. I will try and post some newer ones as soon as I can. The only loss of any life noticeable in the new tank was my cool little Lawnmower Blenny. He decided he wanted to try finding more ocean beyond the glass of the tank and jumped out. The first time this happened we were able to rescue him, but the second time which was a week ago, we were unfortunately not around when he went adventuring and we lost him. I have replaced him with a new Lawnmower that seems to be content just swimming around in his new large home pecking on the glass, rocks, and sand. Hope you all enjoy and thank you to all of you who helped make this thing happen from start to well not finished yet... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted July 2, 2007 Author Share Posted July 2, 2007 These pictures were from 2 weeks ago. I have added several corals since and a new blue linkia star to go along with the orange one. I have also done some cord managment and several minor adjustments and aditions to the equipment. I plan on adding about 3 times the amount of live rock and of course many, many more corals. Hopefully I can add a calcium reactor and kalk reactor as I add more demanding coral life loads to the system. I would also like to eventually increase the flow in the display and add an ozone reactor to the system. Thanks for checking it out and let me know what your think. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Looks great Garrett! Keep coming with those pictures. I kinda hate you thou for having such a large tank, (lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Nice looking set up how long has it been running? Also what are the dimensions on that tank? I really like the bigger tank only problem is filling them. I know my wife would kill me if I had a tank that size. You spent how much for that(wife) what were you thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted July 2, 2007 Author Share Posted July 2, 2007 spectra I hear yah there. The dems are 72x24x29 and I have had it running now for just under 1 month. Thanks for all the great comments and the pictures will definately keep on coming. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Looks great! Makes me want to upgrade, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Very nice setup! I really like the way you have your rock arranged. Thanks for sharing!!!! PS Keep those pictures coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Here are some updated pics of some of the tanks inhabitants. So far the tank is doing great and everything is growing nicely. In the next month or so I will be pumbing all of the equitment to a shed that I am building outside of my house. I am also going to set up 2 100g rubbermade tubs and 2 75g frag tanks out in the shed. The tubs are going to be plumbed together with true union ball valves between them so that I can close of the frag system from the display system. I am also going to set up a quarantine system out in the shed to make sure all fish are in perfect health before acclimating them into the display. All together there should be around 600g or so between the frag tanks, disply tank, sumps, and the seperate quarantine tank. I hope to also add a nice refugium to the system in the near future. I just want to get the shed all up and running first. These pics aren't too great, but here ya go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Very nice looking for a new tank! I hope your happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Looks great Garrett!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 What a beautiful start. Can't wait to see this evolve. Nice work, Cuda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Did you build the stand, or just retrofit it to your specs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Thanks for all of the wonderful comments guys and gals. Doran, I built the stand and hood after buying the tank. The hood is temporary until I find a design I really like. The stand will probably be painted with a new gloss coat after the new year. On the next post I will give a bit of an update. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Alright, Here are some updates. I actually have replaced som of the left rock structure with a couple of really nice xl pieces of rock form Ryans shop since these photos. I will post new pics soon. Hope you all like. Garrett Right side Middle right Middle left Left side Some Montis close up The new carpet anemone The now 2 month resident and 8" Naso tang "Pearl" Newer Tonga yellow leather A piece of the Ricordia and Zoa garden Green Pocillipora Super large 16" across toadstooll leather Green with purple rim Monti cap sp. Full tank shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Tank is looking swell. I think I recognize a couple of those corals Thanks for taking such good care of them. That green with purple rim monti cap might be my favorite in that tank. Super nice. Great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Very nice pictures!!! In the middle picture I see a pretty green coral.... What is it? Its on the bottom in the sand. How do you keep your sand so white? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Tank is looking swell. I think I recognize a couple of those corals Thanks for taking such good care of them. That green with purple rim monti cap might be my favorite in that tank. Super nice. Great work. Thank you! Your corals are doing great! I really enjoy them and they have grown quite a bit. How are the frags doing? Oh and the green one in the middle is some kind of brain. It is so bright I had to pick it up! Thanks everyone for the great comments Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lquidglass Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Sweet tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 All the frags are doing great. I lost one of the zoo's due to a turbo snail accident (he gets blamed for any disapperaing frags, but everything else is just dandy. I didn't realize the green mushroom would get so big. It was a bit larger then a quarter when I got it from you, it's well over 6" across now. Things are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 27, 2007 Author Share Posted September 27, 2007 All the frags are doing great. I lost one of the zoo's due to a turbo snail accident (he gets blamed for any disapperaing frags, but everything else is just dandy. I didn't realize the green mushroom would get so big. It was a bit larger then a quarter when I got it from you, it's well over 6" across now. Things are great! Awesome! Yah, I have 4 of those mushrooms and they are all about 6" across now. Its crazy how big they get and how quickly they reproduce! Sorry to here about the zoa loss. I too have a critter I tend to blame for any losses in my tank Mine is a giant sally light foot crab with an evil looking grin on his face! Good to here all is going well with the tank! Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newreefer02 Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 dude seriously you need some new pictures up! The tank looks WAY different now...Alot better in my opinion! Plus you have to include the clam orgy in the photo!!! Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 I managed to grab a couple of new shots of the tank this morning and thought I would share. I will post some more soon. This is a massive blue acro stag I picked up from Ryan about a month ago. It is doing great and has some really nice new growth from peices that broke of during transport. Here are a couple of really nice zoanthid colonies I have aquired in the last couple of months. 1 has a couple of hundred polyps of really awesome blue zoas, and the other has about one hundred polyps of really awesome rainbow palys. This picture is after fraging about 100 polyps off of the rainbow palys. The frags are looking great and have some nice new babie polyps poping up. And here is a cool picture of the hot pink bubble I got just over a month ago. It is now home to two of the 4 pink skunk clowns in the display. The color hasn't changed to the expected rose bubble color yet. It is doing great and has grown nicely. Thanks for checking the new stuff out. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 When I'm ready can I get a frag of the LARGE acro, please. LMK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 No problem. Just let me know when. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 [language filter] I know where Im gonna get some frags from. Nice pics Garrett!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.