ThePremiumAquarium

I think I am going to get an MP40W. I really like the wave ability and wireless controller. Plus it will put out as much flow as both of my other pumps and will allow me to create a more random flow environment. I am not 100% convinced, but I am pretty close. I have heard of several people having problems with the wet side and a few with the dry side. They have great customer service but for $400+ they should work flawless to begin with. Tough decision. I may try to find one that is slightly used to save some coin. Garrett

They are pretty sweet and should do fine with any fish larger than their own mouth as mentioned previously. One thing to consider is that they poo alot! You would probably want to do more frequent water changes, skim harder, etc. if that became an issue. Garrett

Yah, You should be fine. I would eventually upgrade to a 1200w fixture or 400w every 2ft if you find that you are keeping mostly sps, clams, or other high light demanding corals. I had 400w HQI's running over my 210g and in many areas still wished I had more light, though it definatley worked just fine Garrett

Awesome stuff! Congratulations on the conversion. It already looks better and it only has one rock in it!(just playin) I think this will be a pretty sweet tank. If you do the 70w hqi conversion you will need to have a pretty powerful little fan to get the heat away from the tank. I totally think it is doable without a chiller but it could get a bit nasty in the hot parts of summer. I would think that the light you have on it would be ok for mushrooms and some leathers. Anything else and I would at least double it if it were me. Nice start!

As long as you have enough gps hour I would say go for it. There shouldn't be any problems. If there is too much flow for the skimmer then you can always place a ball valve after the chiller returning the excess water to the sump. Sounds like you have it all figured out though. Garrett

It is called a Majano anemone and in general they are considered a pest much like an aptasia. If possible I would probably remove it. Some people keep them isolated on a rock by themselves as they really can be quite beautiful! Welcome to the site! Garrett

Sounds like its gonna be a nice setup! Keep us posted on how it goes and if you need any help or anything let me know. Garrett

I second the 14k pheonix but if you decide not to run actinics I would definately consider the 20k Ushios. I run them over the display and have been very, very happy with their performance! Garrett

Thanks Mike! I am glad you and your son got a chance to swing by and check ou the system. I hope your tank continues to recover and you stay in the hobby! You will have to stop by again sometime soon once you are comfortable taking home a few frags! Garrett

I have always thought about getting one of those. Hard to stomach after spending a benjamin on a nice refractometer already. Sweet stuff though. Garrett

Erik, The pic below your green bubble tip is of either green pocillipora or stylopora. The pokerstar? looks like it could turn out to be a rainbow or superman moni. BTW nice pics! Garrett

Great looking update! I love the rockwork! It is really looking nice as you stock the tank up. The tailspot blenny is awesome and the naked clowns are very nice! p.s. If you ever want to come down this way and check out my system, I have some nice corals that you might like. Some sweet zoas, lps, sps, etc.

Mike, You need to come checkout my system. I will toss a couple of frags your way aswell. Garrett

These guys do some great work! It is amazing how beautiful most of the corals come in and how nicely grown they are. They grow incredibly quick in comparison to in our tanks which is alos quite amazing. I have been really impressed with almost every coral that I have gotten from these farms and will continue to buy all of my corals either from mariculture facilities like this or through aquaculture in our hobby. Great stuff and excellent videos! Garrett

I will take it sending a PM. Garrett

I will take it. Sending a PM. Garrett

Defianetley coming along! Looks great! I would suggest making sure teh green star polyp rock is either towards the bottm, and/or sort of isolated from rocks that you don't want it growing onto. Those suckers growth incredibly fast. Mine usually growth over an inch a month on each side so place it somewhere that you want it to be permantently. That is a great looking rock of star polyps. That is probably my favorite variety aswell. Sweet stuff! Garrett

I had a similar experience to coralreefer. I went in May and had a great time! I really enjoyed the entire place but it was really crowded! I would definatley recommend getting there as early as possible so that you can get tickets to the planetarium and such as well as have time to walk through the rainforest dome and a few hours to stare at the reef system. Check out the shallow part on the main level. It is pretty sweet and probably my favorite part though the display is breath taking. Also make sure to go up on the roof Garrett

Lance, I think you will be fine since you are only changing out half of the bulbs. I have never had a problem just swapping out bulbs. Corals should all adjust quite well. Garrett

As everyone has mentioned, wider is better If I had a choice I would go with a 26-28" height, 120" long, 48" wide. That being said, You want to make sure that you have good access around all sides of the tank if you go with something wide. Plan to have 3-4 ft miniumum around the sides and the back of the tank. Also consider having the tank come out of the wall about 8-10". I have seen this done a couple of times and to me it is well worth it. You will be able to see a ton more that way. Glass or Acrylic is all up to your budget and personal preference. I would go glass if at all possible but as mentioned above in a tank of this size you would be getting quite spendy. Acrylic is probably the way to go when it come down to it due to the fact that we have a great acrylic shop, it weight substantially less, and glass in this size would cost a ton more. Also think about what you will need for lighting. I would think whether you go with a 36" wide tank or a 48" wide tank that you will need to run two rows of halides for every two feet of tank length. If you are running all t-5's, you will want a bulb for every 2-2.5 inches(probably 24x2 bulbs if you want a really well lit tank) and you will have to use either 2 sets of 4ft bulbs if you go 8ft or something along those lines if you go 10ft aswell. I would personally go halides with a few t-5s for supplimentation but remember that heat could become an issue, so you will need to probably have a 1hp-2hp chiller aswell. I would have one anyway for times like this last week. All in all the tank will be your most expensive cost most likely. Also consider how much live rock and sand you will need for a tank of those dems. I would guess for a nice looking amount of rock you would need between 800-1200lbs. I would probably use mostly dry rock to cut down on the cost some and then use 100-200lbs of really nice live rock mixed in. This is some really exciting stuff but remember to take your time and plan out every detail as much as possible. Builds like these always do better when they are thought through really well. Also remember that this will be expensive to do right. Make sure not to skimp in areas that you will regret later(like not getting a chiller on a tank that cost you $10-15K). Spend some time thinking it all through and ask lots of questions. Look at large builds on reefcentral to help give you good ideas and to lead you away from even uncommon or unthought of mistakes. Good luck! We have some great members on here that have or have had large systems and their knowledge will help a ton! Garrett

Ebay has a ton of each available by various sellers. Both algaes require a fair amount of flow and are excellent food sources. Also for the sea lettuce, you might want to try and look under the name Ulva sp. Garrett

Sent you a PM

Looking good! I love the new concept. That snowflake is a great looking fish as are all of the others in there. I like the idea of the rose bubble in the flower pot. You will probably have eggs in there before long if you havn't already Garrett

If it were me I would use a couple of #1's or just 1 #2. I think that will be just the right kind of flow needed. It will still be plently of flow even for sps. I wouldn't mess with #3's unless you have just one in there and are really careful on placement of your corals. Garrett

Acanthastrea enchinata