twisteds salty adventure

[ChicagoReef]

Twisted you have a very nice setup....and that piece of rock looks awesome. Can I ask how much it cost a lb?

[twisted]

Twisted you have a very nice setup....and that piece of rock looks awesome. Can I ask how much it cost a lb?

thanks! that stuff is 12.99 a lb. that piece was 11 lbs. they had alot of real nice pieces too. id like to get some more to start getting ready for the big build. i need about 200 lbs of that stuff. this week im gonna build a curing tank for all my rock i plan to use. yesterday i picked up about 150 lbs of dry stuff that will go in first for a month then 200lb of the pricey stuff. i got a huge watering trough from a friend so im gonna frame it and hook up a pool pump and get some water from the ocean to get things rolling. this is going under my house and will also be used as a sump/refugium type dealy when the big tank goes in.

[twisted]

i think the thing im having the toughest time with is what dimensions to go with...i do know the width will be 3 ft. height and lenght cant make up my mind. im thinking 8 ft long by 3 ft high, but kinda thinking 4 high

[Steve McKay]

The height is what matters,think about the lighting factors.A tank with more surface area is better for gas exchange too.

[twisted]

The height is what matters,think about the lighting factors.A tank with more surface area is better for gas exchange too.

i think 3 ft high should be nice. i plan to use 2 or 3 400 wt mh for my lighting...i think a 4 ft deep tank will be too deep for good light to the bottom....im still researching that end...

[Steve McKay]

I don't know much on MH lighting and how far it will penetrate water,Charlie is your best bet on that.With a tank that small if you have good light all the way to the bottom it will give you more room for corals,plus I just thought of this,if you want clams you'll need good light at the bottom because some clams prefer a sandy substrate.

[twisted]

I don't know much on MH lighting and how far it will penetrate water,Charlie is your best bet on that.With a tank that small if you have good light all the way to the bottom it will give you more room for corals,plus I just thought of this,if you want clams you'll need good light at the bottom because some clams prefer a sandy substrate.

my thoughts exactly....i do want clams and all....i should get good penetration at 3 ft but now that i think about it a 4 ft height will get me a nice deep substrate so i think that is gonna be what i go with...that will give me about 3 1/2 ft of water...that puts the tank at around 650 gal plus a 200 gal sump/fuge...if i did my math right...

[Parrothead]

my thoughts exactly....i do want clams and all....i should get good penetration at 3 ft but now that i think about it a 4 ft height will get me a nice deep substrate so i think that is gonna be what i go with...that will give me about 3 1/2 ft of water...that puts the tank at around 650 gal plus a 200 gal sump/fuge...if i did my math right...

No matter how you do the math, can we say "Beautiful Beasty"

[Steve McKay]

That's a lot of water,let me know when you get done and we'll go rafting.

[twisted]

yeah, it's gonna be real nice....my neighbor is doing the drawings on the wall cutout and little closet we are gonna put in for electrical and plumbing from under the house to the tank. im planning on using a 3/4 hp super pump from hayward since i carry them in my store. i think it should be enough to drill returns around the tank and build a manifold for equal flow. cant be any different from plumbing up a hot tub or pool right? i also plan to use an 11kw no fault spa heater for temp control. it will be plumbed inline on the return end. the heating element is on the outside of the sleeve and will not touch the water so i wont have to worry about metals. i also plan a vac attachment that will gravity feed to the sump with a little giant pump to return the extra water back to the tank. the gravity fed vac line will have a cartridge filter to remove all the crap..........i hope my tank is big enough for me to scuba in

[Steve McKay]

What are you talking about,you can probably get a jet ski in there.

[twisted]

i hope so...
on a different note. over the past week ive noticed my live rock seems to be covered with micro bubbles....i am certain that they do not come from my equipment. is this normal? it looks like the rock itself is emmiting them

[Steve McKay]

It's algae or diatoms releasing O2,during the day they consume CO2 and release O2.I have that myself.

[twisted]

It's algae or diatoms releasing O2,during the day they consume CO2 and release O2.I have that myself.

nothing to worry about then.....phew!

[Steve McKay]

Just don't smoke around the tank,that's O2.

[twisted]

heres a pic of my fat little happy mandarin

[Steve McKay]

Nice looking pod eater,have you been able to train him to eat other types of food?

[twisted]

Nice looking pod eater,have you been able to train him to eat other types of food?

as a matter of fact i have! he loves bloodworms and shrimp...so he gets an ample amount of pods all day and extra snacks at dinner

[Steve McKay]

You got lucky on that.My fish don't like bloodworms that much for some reason,they'll eat them but I can tell they don't like them that much.My Sun Coral didn't like them at all,it ate them then spit them back out.So I'm not buying anymore of those.

[ChicagoReef]

Well an 11 lb rock at $13/lb should hopefully have some cool hitchikers for you. Hopefully non of them are pesty. I think $13 is the most expensive rock i've seen at the LFS...not sure what kind it was. I know it wasn't fiji. Your mandrin is super cute. I love those little scooters...I hope to have one once my reef is all set up.