[pogodzib]

I just found this site this morning and thought that I'd introduce my myself and my tanks. I have been keeping reef tanks for about 4 years now. Here are a couple pics of my tanks as of a few months ago:

125 gallon reef



45 gallon reef

[darkwolf29a]

VERY Pretty.

Welcome to RB.

I look forward to more, and to picking your brain.

[RyanG]

Welcome to RB! We need more pics!

[glampka]

Welcome to RB!! Sweet looking tanks!!

[Krazy]

Welcome to Reef Builders !!

Those are some nice tanks you have there !!!!

Please let us see more

[rlcline76]

Sweet.
Welcome to RB!

Becky

[rstroede]

Welcome to RB! Those two tanks are awesome.

[Coma]

Welcome, check out the Tank of the Month threads while you're here!

[pogodzib]

Here's a couple more pics.




Now for the some more info about my 125 gallon tank. The pictures posted are how my tanks looked as of this past December. Everything was looking much bigger and better (except for my lime green monti cap) up until two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, I dosed some Chromoplex that must have gone bad and I lost 10 SPS corals and the remainder of my SPS corals have lost their color and have very little polyp extension. I ended up fragging my remaining SPS corals and put frags in my 45 gallon tank just incase they keep going downhill. I'm hoping that they recover fully quickly. All of my LPS and softies closed up for a few days, but they are doing much better now. I'll take some more pics and post them once everything soon.

[sarha]

your tanks are wonderful i shure hope all your corals pull out of it

[dfurbee]

Nice looking tanks!!

[jimw369]

Very nice! More pics. Please tell us some particulars about your set up! GREAT!

[jvharding]

I am so happy you found your way here, But sorry to here about your misfortune. Hope things get better.

I would like to have you check out the tank of the month thread. Maybe you would consider nominating yours. Your tanks look great!


http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/t...html#post11589



Welcome to Reef Builders!

[pogodzib]

After going for four years without any problems and then having my tank start to crash a couple weeks ago, I don't think now would really be the right time to pick my tank as TOTM. Maybe once my tank recovers or I get my 240gal (8'x2'x2') in-wall tank built this fall.

Here's my current tank specs:

125 gallon tank w/ 40 gallon sump
300+ Lbs LR w/ 2" SSB
Lighting: 3 - 250w 10k XM MH (6 hrs/day) & 2 - 140w VHO superactinics (11 hrs/day)
Skimmer: Modded AquaC EV-150 w/ Mag 9.5 pump
Chiller: 1/10 HP JBJ Lighting
Ozone: Red Sea 50 mg/hr & ORP controller
Heaters: 2-250w Jager Heaters
Circulation: 2- Quiet One 4000 through the sump & 3 powerheads
Pinpoint pH meter

45 gallon tank (no sump)
Originally turned into a reef tank as a growout tank for my 125
50 Lbs LR w/ 2" SSB
Lighting: Current-USA Orbit 2x96 PCs (12 hrs/day)
Skimmer: AquaC Remora w/ MaxiJet 1200 pump
Heaters: 1-250w Jager Heater
HOT CPR Aquafuge (Medium) w/ 1x18w Current-USA Satellite light
Circulation: 3 powerheads

[pogodzib]

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures from the tank ends

[ACE]

I'm in love with your tanks they look very awesome love the coral very nice pictures!!!

[jimw369]

Thinking of doing ozone instead of UV. Whats your thought as I see you do ozone. Pros? Cons?

[pogodzib]

First off, I've never used an UV sterilizer so I cannot compare them side by side but I have been around plenty of fish stores and other reefers that use them. Secondly, I run ozone on my 125 gal reef, but not on my 45 gal reef so I have a good comparison between using ozone and using nothing.

With that said, I would definately recommend ozone to anyone that has the money to buy an ozonizer and ORP controller. One of the first comments that I always hear about my 125 gal tank is how clear the water is. When I do a 5 gallon water change, the water coming out of my 125 gallon is crystal clear whereas the water coming out of my 45 gallon is yellow and dirty looking. Without knowing what water is taken from the tank and what water is new, you would not be able to tell the difference. When I stopped using ozone for a while to see what would happen, the water become less clear and my skimmate didn't smell nearly as bad. With the ozonizer hooked up, my skimmate stinks really bad.

The ORP controller isn't a must have, but you need to be very careful without it that you don't overdose ozone into your tank and kill everything off. Ozone gets a bad wrap because it can be dangerous if you crank the ozone up. Most people that have ozone say that the ozonizers made for reef tanks aren't large enough to be dangerous. I personally can smell ozone in the air if I remove the carbon from the ozone output and crack my unit all the way up. I typically only dose ozone at a rate of 12 mg/hr which is only 0.1 mg/gallon tank volume and that is enough to keep my water crystal clear and skimmate smelling. Most people recommend that you dose at a rate of 0.3-0.5 mg/hr. My ozonizer only gets cranked up to that range if something is wrong with my tank.


To sum it up:

If I had to choose (again) between ozone and a UV sterilizer, I'd still pick ozone. The two previous pics that I posted are taken from one end of the tank shooting down to the other end (6') You can get a good indication by looking at the pictures how clear the water is. I won't even attempt to take an end of tank shot on my 45 gallon (3' long) tank due to how yellow/dirty the water is.

Pros to ozone: Crystal clear water, smelly skimmate, kills pathogens, decreased dissolved wastes, etc...
Negatives: Can be dangerous if overdosed

If you haven't already read these articles, here are the best articles that I have found

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php - Part 1
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/rhf/index.php - Part 2
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/rhf/index.php - Part 3

[jimw369]

Thankyou for the great info! I am going to get reading tonight. I appreciate the time you took to write that response. JIM

[pogodzib]

I took a few new pics of my tanks last night. I guess when you look at the pics, my 125 gallon tank still doesn't look too bad - just knowing that I lost 12 SPS corals and my tank still hasn't returned to normal makes me mad. The white spots in the pics are bleaches SPS corals. Some of the corals have had some major fragging since the December pics while I was trying to save them incase my whole tank went under.

125 gallon



Here's a couple close ups

[pogodzib]

And a couple more.

[ACE]

nice pictures cool tank if you don't mind me asking what type of camera do you use???

[pogodzib]

Canon Powershot A520. Not the best camera in the world and you need to make sure that your taking the pictures straight through the glass or it gets very blurry, but it does the job.

[jtravapd]

if you dont mind me asking, what is the dark forrest green looking coral you have growing in the very first pic, dead center covering a bunch of your live rock....?...im new to the hobbie, and i would love to have that color in my tank to go along with my other stuff....

[ACE]

Thank you for the info on the camera I appreciate it !!!