[c_gil]

Awesome!!!!

[AMS]

how do you like the deltec equipment? pretty rad stuff, eh? that AP1004 is a stud skimmer

[mocker]

dude that is amazing i hope i can do that one day. How much did it cost you?

[clown shrimp]

just looking at one of the pics i see a juvinal emperor angel. why do you have him? wont eat your corals and inverts?

[e_baer]

i think angels are fine wiht reefs, as long as they get enough to eat, just like the mithrix crabs.

[jejton]

Beautiful tank! Beautiful job on the hardware. I have a few questions:
1.) Why three refugiums in addition to the sump? Isn't that a bit redundant?
2.) Why did you choose to cycle with damsels even though you had all that live rock?
3.) With all that electrical work and plumbing, what safety precautions ( i.e. GFCI's ) did you take?
4.) What is your feeding regimen?

[cbui2]

c_gil - thanks

AMS - its a beast and skims in no time. you always get what you pay for. i will order the self cleaning head soon.

mocker - thanks, but i stopped counting after the main display, stand and sump was purchased.

clown shrimp - thats my kids favorite fish, he eats romain lettuce all throughout the day and frozen mysis more then anyone else in the display besides my female crosshatch. both angel have never touch any of my corals (knock on wood) since i have added them in couple weeks ago. my wife love to do the feeding and is done 3times daily

jejton - thanks,
1. i have only two fuge setup, 1st one is located next to sump and 2nd one gravity feed to main display which will house some of my aggressive fishes. IMO more water volume will not change overnight keeping my water parameter a little more stable.
2. i promised the kids when display was finished taking them to LFS, and whatever fishes they choose i had to buy even if it was damsels. i knew my tank didnt need to be cycled since live rocks and live sands was used.
3. GFI beakers was used on the main panels.

another reason why the 1st fuge 150gal hasn't been setup, total sump below main display is 300gal volume, 1st side 150gal sump & 2nd side 150gal fuge. 2nd side will probably used as backup in case of power failure. if power is ever lost the display would empty about 100-150gal where are the loc line are 3" below water line. since it will take a matter of mins to drain all that water, the generator have about 10min before kicking on. after that said and done the backup sump will filled back into main sump of course float valves on both side getting the water level back on track instead of topping off with 100-150gal of RO making my water parameters off track.

4. my wife loves this part, feeding is done 3 times daily. here's my special mix.
fresh shrimps, crabs, squids, mysis, blood worms, brine shrimps, DT's oyster eggs, zooplank, marine algae, small pellets and flakes mix at the end of blend, selcon and 2 cups of sw water is process but not too fine then is placed in small ice cube trays. this will thawed in mins making it simply and easy for my wife to feed them.

[cbui2]

here are some pics from last week purchased

[cbui2]

[e_baer]

that is a good idea to put it in ice cube trays.

are those all divers den purchase's?

[cbui2]

this is all i can do now since no camera yet.

[Tonz of fun]

Are you by chance adopting at all? Im 24 and a very hard worker!

[AMS]

little bit of advice re: your deltec equipment.

a) be very careful with your adjustments on your calcium reactor. the rowalith media has a buffering component, so a misadjustment doesn't just raise your calcium level but will also jack your kH up as well. i had to watch as nearly all 400 sps in a 3500gal reef died off (as well as about 15 really nice tri. clams) because the calcium reactor was over adjusted and the kH went from 10 to 17 in under a week. not cool.

b) speaking of kH, really monitor your kH when using that big phosphate liquid reactor. rowa-phos is very good at adsorbing phosphate and silicate, but unfortunately it is also very good at adsorbing bicarbonates as well, so if you're not careful, you will find you kH (and subsequently your pH) sliding down. and test w/ the salifert test kits. don't rely on any computerized monitoring equipment, especially for pH and kH.

in other words, get ready for a lot of juggling between these 2 pieces of equipment.

i'm anxious to see how everything looks....get that camera!

[mtfabel]

What type of tang is that in the first pic?

[cbui2]

Originally Posted by AMS

little bit of advice re: your deltec equipment.

a) be very careful with your adjustments on your calcium reactor. the rowalith media has a buffering component, so a misadjustment doesn't just raise your calcium level but will also jack your kH up as well. i had to watch as nearly all 400 sps in a 3500gal reef died off (as well as about 15 really nice tri. clams) because the calcium reactor was over adjusted and the kH went from 10 to 17 in under a week. not cool.

b) speaking of kH, really monitor your kH when using that big phosphate liquid reactor. rowa-phos is very good at adsorbing phosphate and silicate, but unfortunately it is also very good at adsorbing bicarbonates as well, so if you're not careful, you will find you kH (and subsequently your pH) sliding down. and test w/ the salifert test kits. don't rely on any computerized monitoring equipment, especially for pH and kH.

in other words, get ready for a lot of juggling between these 2 pieces of equipment.

i'm anxious to see how everything looks....get that camera!

omg sorry to hear that and thanks for heads up, i will be having help setting CA+ reactor up soon, as of now about 15sps small size colonies, so many fish and few sofies are in my display. as of now i'm using phosban 3600G in the reactor. i will not be adding anything else for next two months until hurricane season is over. after CA+ setup will be adjusted over period of the first month, then 2 large colonies will be making into display waiting another 3 weeks before adding 2 more and so on. i will tried my best adjusting the reactor everytime colonies and be added also i will probably add few more fishes and that will be it.

water parameters past sunday, currently using salifert
Temperature: 78 deg F +/- 1.0
Salinity: 1.025
pH: low 8.2 high 8.3
NO3: undetectable
NO2: undetectable
NH4: undetectable
PO4: undetectable
Ca: 460ppm
Alk: 8.5 DKH
Mg: 1300ppm

[cbui2]

Originally Posted by mtfabel

What type of tang is that in the first pic?

Acanthurus maculiceps - Rare spot face surgeon

[AMS]

just out of curiosity. who (if anybody) did you have consult on/install this project? this is way beyond most LFS capabilities, so i want to see how close i am on my hunch.

[AMS]

Originally Posted by cbui2

as of now i'm using phosban 3600G in the reactor

phosban, phos-lock and rowa-phos all work the same way....they're both ferric hydroxide (or some derivation thereof) so they tend to "grab" any compounds with a net positive charge. just keep an eye on it, especially when you change the old stuff out and replenish with new.

Originally Posted by cbui2

water parameters past sunday, currently using salifert
Temperature: 78 deg F +/- 1.0
Salinity: 1.025
pH: low 8.2 high 8.3
NO3: undetectable
NO2: undetectable
NH4: undetectable
PO4: undetectable
Ca: 460ppm
Alk: 8.5 DKH
Mg: 1300ppm

that's about what you can expect all the time with that system. i would try to get that kH up to 10-11 (i know natural sea water is usually about 9)....its a little easier for pH control in a closed system if you bump it up, as over time you will experience a build up of decaying organic matter regardless of your maintenance routine. but it sounds like you don't have the CA+ reactor hooked up yet, so that will probably resolve itself once you do.

with your system, especially with that skimmer and a good refugium, you can feed the crap out of that tank. i would recommend the reef nutrition products by reed mariculture for all inverts and planktivorous fish.

looks good...i'm anxious to see what this thing does as it develops.

[cbui2]

AMS - thanks again, my next thing was to bring alk level to 9-10 by dosing baking soda, yes i do feed my corals at lights out. yes this have been fun for me. i had nobody to consult with when putting the entire system together. well it all started new year eve when my friend ask to look into fish tank for his new home. with 3 LFS down here in New Orleans, LA at the very first store had 800gal display which i fell in loved with it right then. since the depth of his display was 4' and looks nice, so i stop looking at the 300gal with only 30" depth. for the next month i did tons of research on the internet, going through reef forums, asking all the LFS different questions about the system. all i did was incorporated everyones setup, ideas and put my system together. IMO if you learn the process and put all the puzzles together is was pretty easy. i am still in the process of learning the chemistry part. then i started looking around to see where i can install a large system without having the entire setup in the house where 4 kids are present. turning my garage into the fish room was my only choice . i wanted to used all commercial grade not only for redundacy but longevity. i went big for one reason so no upgrading needed to be done . the entire project was done by me with no help at all. the only time i needed help was getting the display onto the stand where my friends was glad to stop by.

[AMS]

well, let me just say congratulations. setting up a system like that can be a daunting task, especially if its your first time through.

kudos on going with the deltec equipment....that decision alone will make your life a lot easier (except the CA+ reactor can be a pain to deal with). that equipment combined with a good refugium will keep your water quality top-notch.

[aquasalt]

What an absolutely incredible display! I can't even imagine the amount of thought, time, and dedication that goes into a project of this magnitude.

If ever you decide to put up your house for sale, I recommend advertising on this forum. I have a feeling you might already have several prospective buyers!

Thanks for sharing your journey.

[cbui2]

thank you AMS & aquasalt, yeah i say it was a challenge putting 1 and 2 together. i dont know about selling it, but i know for sure i will enjoy watching it mature.

[Dustin1300]

I love looking each day to see what else you've added to your reef...It looks great and keep up the good work. I hope someday I'll be able to do one this immense but can you give me an idea of your total investment at this point so I can just prepare myself for the future...

[SweeTang22]

if your any good with computers you could just make your own website. this way you can set up tabs for fish and coral so we can see each and every coral. a photo gallery, which will be everybodys favorite. i tell ya i would be on it daily looking at all your coral and fish. thanks again for posting all your pics and progress, its making me want to do something similar, but of course not the same.

[Br14n55reef]

Holy crap nice tank and it's your first sw tank..Congrads....I hope every thing goes smooth for you and your family ..Best of luck to you..