New Tank

squibley2

squibley2

Reefing newb
A friend of mine is giving up the hobby, so sad to see someone leave but his loss could be my gain. He meantioned today that he was getting out of it and wants to get rid of his tank (as in like give it away) so of course I meantioned that if he really wanted to get rid of it I could probibly find a nice home for it in my house. He said he would get it to me in the next couple weeks after he has taken it down and everything. He is also giving me the stand (I am not sure if it has a hood or not) and the filters and everything that he had for it. FREE gotta love FREE! He is not sure if it is a 175 or a 200 Gal but he said it was something like that all brand new stuff less than a year old! I feel like I just won the lotto (oh wait if I had done that I would have bought a small ocean).

Just thought I would share with everyone. I am obviously going to need a lot of help getting this one up and running HEHE.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :^: :^: :^: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
 
Hey everyone,

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this thread, I was waiting on my friend to move. (he closed today - translation - I am picking up the tank on Sun morning) There have been some adjustments to the size of the tank. At first he said it was 6' then he said it was 4' so if it is 4' it is not a 175 or 200 it is a 55-75 which is fine with me it is still free and still at least tripple the size of my current SW tank (the FW is a 90) I am planning on moving all of the coral and the clownfish with the LR to the new tank (no john not when I get it on Sun :) ) I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on turning the current 20 into a sump/refuge? Has anyone ever used a tank as the sump/refuge and how did it turn out. I was also wondering if there was a good way to transfer the LR without transfering the bristle worms and apparent Mantis shrimp that I have been trying to catch for a week with no success. I am also going to switching to a DSB from the CC that is the current substraite. So if anyone has some extra bags of sand that they are not using please let me know. I will be using the sea clone from the current tank untill expendable income allows an upgrade (unless someone has one cheap). I will be upgrading the light to MH lights this will be done on a budget as well the light I will be using will be one of these
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=279
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=275
Depending on if it is a 55 or a 75. I already have a nice Jager heater for the tank that I got really cheap on sale for 10 bucks. I will probibly be using HOB filters untill I can go to either a canister or a wet dry need to do some more research before I make that purchase.

Any Comments, Tips or anything glaring that I totally missed let me know please.
Thanks again
Kevin
 
nice choice on the lighting system. pics when you can. keep dsb at 4 to 4 1/2 inches deep and use a substrait with .5 to apprx. 1.5 mm max. just my thought on the matter. if larger substrait then deeper substrait. nice score. good luck.
 
Squirl;

I used a 10 gallon as the sump for my 55 for almost 3 years no problems.

I now have a homemade ~22 gallon acrylic tank as my sump on my 92 corner.

You might want to look into reviews of those lights a bit before ordering. I was going to order those before as well and ran across numerous articles of the ballasts having meltdowns with smoke, burned plastic, etc.... I can't say for sure thats the exact same, but it sounds familiar. Something to check up on.

Brandon
 
I think that was with there ealier gen MH system.I had one of there 130 watt compacts and it was good light with no issues and a friends is still using it.I eneded up with a canopy so went with a retro fit.I you get it and have problems let me know they are about 20 minutes up the road from me.I go argue with them(i like that)
 
cool ok so it was just the earlier models... i just new i had read about it in the past and wanted to give a heads up.
 
I appreciate the concern Brandon, but after some research I could not find anything about the later models having problems so I think I am going to give it a try.

I was still wondering if anyone had any suggestions on moving the LR into the new tank but not moving the bristle worms or the mantis shrimp that I have been unable to catch. There will be a six line in the new tank but not for quite some time.

Thanks Kevin
 
I would think a freshwater dip would kill them, but you would also loose some of the other desirable things.

Don't know how practicle something like this is for you, but places that cure live rock elevate the rocks up out of the water on a trey type shelf then spray water over it... all the pest will drop off...
 
I am game to try that would that work on the mantis shrimp as well or just the bristle worms? Also how bad would that be for the coral? Most of my LR has some kind of coral on it, ranging from zoos to acropora. I would not be that concerned about the acro due to it ability to survive long periods out of water as long as it is kept damp but The zoos and alike I would be concerned about. What do you all think is this worth a try or would the FW dip be a better choice. I am more concerned about the mantis shrimp then the bristle worms but it would be nice to get rid of both in one single move.
 
If corals are attached i wouldn't do either. Corals get exposed to air all the time at low tide and I let my stonies stay exposed during water changes, but I wouldnt' want to be held responsible if something went wrong.

I would try and figure out which rock has the mantis and deal with it individually. Bristle worms will always be around and a sixline and a trap can significantly help on that.


Good luck.
 
Well today ended up being new tank day. I went and picked it up this afternoon it is obvious that he did not care about having fish anymore due to the fact that there were 2 silver dollars in the tank and they were so diseased that it is inhumane to keep them alive. The water level had also dropped about 8 inches from the top of the tank I can only imagine what the water parameters would have been if I had run a test on the water. I am in the process of partially filling and draining the tank to get all the crap out of it. The water is still coming out black and I am on my 5th rinse.

I measured the tank and it is 48" x 12.5" x about 19" so I am figuring it is about a 50G. That being said it is still a lot more tank then the current 20G. Although a lot smaller then he said it was but hey it was free.

I am thinking about going with this light

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=279

I am thinking that 542 Watts is enough for a 50G what do you guys think? Or should I go with this one.

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=275

I think 717 watts is probably a little overkill isn't it? Considering with rock and sand and everything there is probably only going to be maybe 40G of water with the 542 I will be at 13.55 watts per gallon. The only concern I have is the 2 versus 3 MHs for coverage of the tank.

The new tank
Photo_070106_001.jpg


The new stand
Photo_070106_002.jpg


Another view of the tank
Photo_070106_003.jpg


How dirty the tank is even after 5 rinses
Photo_070106_004.jpg
 
Don't let the watts per gallon confuse you to much.

A coral placed 8" under a 250watt halide in a 20 gallon tank wll do the same as a coral placed 8" undera a 250watt halide in a 200000000 gallon tank, assuming everything else equal.

Usually the depth of the tank and what you want to keep at a depth of X is what you need to look at when determining the light. If you plan on keeping clams or sps in a 24" deep tank on the bottom you will defenitly need 250w or 400w halides..

Hope this makes sense. I personally prefer pendants because the allow flexibility in the future.

Brandon
 
No I agree with you but I use the watts per gallon as a guideline not as a rule. I was figuring with the sand bed in there of about 4" the water column will only be about 15" or so plus a few inches above the water for the lights so I think the 175s that are in that unit should be fine I was just wondering what you guys think as far as the 2 versus the 3 lights for disbursement over the tank.
 
The two metal halide 175's should be enough for your 50. just my two cents. and what a deal on those units. very nice discounts. good luck.
 
bkv1997: cool ok so it was just the earlier models... i just new i had read about it in the past and wanted to give a heads up.
Click to expand...

i heard about problems with them as well. i heard they have a tendency to catch fire after a few months using them. for my :twocents: if you think you are game you can go to hellolights.com and get all that for less and its just plug in the right hole and you are ready.
 
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