64g Tokyo tank

[Anonymous]

Do it! It's always good to see other people putting together tanks. And while Acans may be a lot more expensive over there than here, you also get a much bigger range to choose from (not just Acans, but the whole range of coral). :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Do it! It's always good to see other people putting together tanks. And while Acans may be a lot more expensive over there than here, you also get a much bigger range to choose from (not just Acans, but the whole range of coral). :wink:

once I sell the 165, the 65 is gonna get ordered - the owner of the new LFS up the road from me has offered me a pretty good deal, his cost+$25 for the tank, stand and canopy(I might build the stand and canopy meself, as I'll have the room for doing so once the 165 is removed from my garage...in the meantime, I think I'm gonna research LEDs, and maybe make the switch, if economically feasible to DIY, as my electric bill is high enough with 4 adults living in the house.

 

[Anonymous]

Kind of wishing I'd been brave enough to make the plunge into LEDs myself now. There are an awful lot of new fixtures out there. The latest, Orphek, looks intriguing (Israeli made and very good looking), but there's precious little info out there at the moment about it.

The 65g is a good size - I'm enjoying the fact that I can do a water change without spending hours hefting buckets around (once the water is made up the whole process probably takes no more than 15 minutes or so). What dimensions do you want to go for? I'm glad I'm went for depth, but a little bit of extra height sometimes seems attractive.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I stayed up late tonight to watch my football team play and as a result got to see a side to my chalice that I'd never seen before (as a result it got its first feed - some mysis which it gobbled right down). Not a great picture because of the flash and lack of other light, but worth clicking twice on for the full size version to enable you to see the feeding polyps in all their glory. 8O

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010039.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Kind of wishing I'd been brave enough to make the plunge into LEDs myself now. There are an awful lot of new fixtures out there. The latest, Orphek, looks intriguing (Israeli made and very good looking), but there's precious little info out there at the moment about it.

The 65g is a good size - I'm enjoying the fact that I can do a water change without spending hours hefting buckets around (once the water is made up the whole process probably takes no more than 15 minutes or so). What dimensions do you want to go for? I'm glad I'm went for depth, but a little bit of extra height sometimes seems attractive.

most likely just the standard AGA(Aqueon) 65 gallon - 36x18x24 as my new LFS is offering the tanks for just a bit over his cost.
if I do go LED, I'll prolly be building my own fixture, the prebuilt fixtures are just way to far out of my price range right now.

 

[Anonymous]

yep all your fault Tom...I went ahead and put a deposit down on a 65 gallon tank, and stand on Sunday(I'll be building the canopy as I dont care for the shallow height most factory hoods are - simply too short to fit a MH fixture IMHO)

 

[Anonymous]

Very happy to take the blame for that one.

You realize that we will require a thread though don't you?

 

[Anonymous]

Very happy to take the blame for that one.

You realize that we will require a thread though don't you?

of course. Its gonna be a bit though, this LFS owner is pretty cool so far- I have no set time limit for the layaway - while I dont intend on taking too long, I'm not sure I'll be in build mode till after X-mas(its also the mid-point on our time plan for the wedding - thats at the end of May)

 

[Anonymous]

yaay JP!

 

[Anonymous]

I'll try and get up some more shots over the weekend, having picked up some nice freebies recently, just to keep you jonesing for that new tank. :wink:

Meanwhile, I'm having to deal with a E.divisia where half the polyps have seriously retracted and one is disintegrating. :x

Everything else looks dandy, so I really don't know what the problem is. Half the polyps on the same coral actually look just fine as well. :?

 

[Anonymous]

I'll try and get up some more shots over the weekend, having picked up some nice freebies recently, just to keep you jonesing for that new tank. :wink:

Meanwhile, I'm having to deal with a E.divisia where half the polyps have seriously retracted and one is disintegrating. :x

Everything else looks dandy, so I really don't know what the problem is. Half the polyps on the same coral actually look just fine as well. :?

please do - it'll keep me psyched up fo sho.

I still have all my MHs - dunno which wattage to go with just yet - I have a pair of 100 watt, a single 175, pair of 250s and I think a 400 watt system in the garage, plus 2 no flour. ballasts and 2 vho ballasts...question is, do I sell them off and invest in LEDs, or go with what I have and know quite well?(I'm likely building the hood, so height requirements arent an issue here, as I can build to suit whichever lighting methods get chosen)

Next is the sump, buy or build from scratch, or simply build one from a pre-existing tank?(the easier being of course, simply utting baffles in a pre-existing tank)
as far as a skimmer goes, I do have an old Berlin in sump, needs a new collection cup and pump, but I saw an add for a Current USA Fission Recirculating skimmer, for $125...it was pretty nice looking, despite being unusually inexpensive as far as skimmers go, but I have no experience with the recirc type skimmers. Any input? (I dont really want to go with the Berlin I have, cause I'm skittish about being jinxed with used equipment that has been in contact with water - if it touches the water, I want to be guaranteed its never touched copper or any other heavy metal)
[rimg]http://www.marineandreef.com/v/vspfiles/photos/RCU08106-2T.jpg[/rimg]

there was also a cone skimmer on a DIY site - all the parts are laser cut, you build it, that seemed nice too, and the prices for cone skimmer are outlandish

Havent decided on return pumps yet either...should Istick with what I know(Mag Drives) or should I go with externals?

and I've already started looking at, and pricing rock - thinking of starting with between 40 and 50 lbs, depending on what types...

sorry for hijacking your thread Tom, we can have the powers that be move this in to a new thread if you like

 

[Anonymous]

No problem at all. I might have a go at some of the answers tomorrow if you don't mind though, as it's just about to hit midnight here and I need to hit the sack.

You could start your tank build thread now of course. No need to wait until you've actually got the tank. I think a few pages of planning is legitimate before we start hounding you for pics.

 

[Anonymous]

I still have all my MHs - dunno which wattage to go with just yet - I have a pair of 100 watt, a single 175, pair of 250s and I think a 400 watt system in the garage, plus 2 no flour. ballasts and 2 vho ballasts...question is, do I sell them off and invest in LEDs, or go with what I have and know quite well?(I'm likely building the hood, so height requirements arent an issue here, as I can build to suit whichever lighting methods get chosen)

As someone who's using LEDs I'd say if the 65 you're getting is a 4' length, don't go LEDs. The number of fixtures you'd need is just too many to make it economical at this point. If the tank is 3' long they'd be worth considering. If the tank is a 2' cube, they'd be competitive price wise and seriously worth considering. The biggest problem with LEDs is that they so little spread.

there was also a cone skimmer on a DIY site - all the parts are laser cut, you build it, that seemed nice too, and the prices for cone skimmer are outlandish

Look at Bubble Magus, they make cones for very little money at all. I've been thrilled with the BM NAC3.5 I've been using.

 

[Anonymous]

I've also got a friend here who loves his Bubble Magus and has just upgraded to a larger one. I think from what he's said that they're competitively priced. More thoughts in your new thread (I hope you don't feel evicted from this one - I just selfishly wanted another tank thread down here to keep this part of the forum alive ).

Anyhow, some more photos from me. The usual poor quality. I really do need a new camera. :roll: And a tripod. :roll:

A new frag of Tosaka coral. "What's that?" you might ask. Well you might, as I don't know for sure. It's sold everywhere here as it's mari/aquacultured in Okinawa. It was a freebie from a fellow reefkeeper here who said that it grows like a weed in her tank. In the time it took to get home, one arm fell off, but I attached in another place nearby and thought of it as a bonus. I had a slight mishap as a result of attaching the main part too tightly with an elastic band, which led to it being cut through. When I noticed this, it was already too late, as it had detached, but I didn't have time to deal with it (it was in the morning and I was off to work). But when I got home I noticed that it hadn't moved from the position it had ended up in and decided to leave it, hoping it would attach naturally. Sure enough, that's what it did. It looks a bit odd now, but the branches are starting to point upwards and some nodules have developed on the side of the trunk which look to me like new growth. Here's hoping I get a nice thicket of the stuff.

As to what it is, well I think I may have narrowed it down to Stereonephthya, but I'm not sure. The previous owner didn't target feed it AFAIK, which would indicate that it's at least partly photosynthetic.

Main part (you can see the little nodules on the right)

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010039-1.jpg?t=1288090054[/rimg]

Smaller part

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010038-1.jpg[/rimg]

Freebie green chalice. It was bleached when I was given it and looking like it was about to start losing tissue. But it's already colored up nicely in my tank. I think the original owner's tank's LEDs were too bright for it.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010037-1.jpg[/rimg]

And some new Blastos. I've removed some Mushrooms that were growing on the bottom of the skeleton (by snipping off the part of skeleton with the shrooms on it, I didn't want to leave any shroom tissue) as they were clearly irritating the Blasto in the short time they were in the tank. Another freebie, generously given by the same lady whose Angel had taken a fancy to its polyps and it was badly ailing as a result. One head on the skeleton had barely any tissue left on it when she gave it to me, but it's now well back on the way to being a proper polyp (on the far left in the first picture). It's nice to know after my last experience that Blastos are not doomed in my tank...

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010036.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010035-1.jpg[/rimg]

And finally, a couple of new shots of my pink Acan. A couple of the polyps on the bottom were only half polyps when I first got it, but they're starting to grow round and I hope will be full polyps before too long. There also appear to be some new polyps forming. Irritatingly, there are some very persistent strands of algae that emerge from the holes in the old skeleton and probably irritate the healing polyps, but they seem to be overcoming that.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010033-1.jpg?t=1288091086[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010031.jpg?t=1288091117[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Nice Tom. I like the softie, but can't give you a real ID on it. Stereonepthya is possible, but it doesn't look "spikey" enough and the dropped branch is characteristic behaviour of other families. Nepthea, capnella, lemnalia.... they're all possibilities. As long as it does grow without target feeding it really doesn't really matter.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks CJ. To be honest, I have a feeling it's looked spikier. I'll see if it changes in appearance and also try and get some better shots at some point, as there's a fair amount of blur on those.

 

[Anonymous]

Tom, has your hitchhiker coral shown any more of itself?

 

[Anonymous]

Actually no, I moved it to a different position in the tank and have since discovered that it's now being irritated by the slime from a worm of some sort which is ensconced next to it. I'm going to try and remove the worm this weekend.

 

[Anonymous]

Didn't get round to removing the worm this last weekend, but did spend a fair amount of time removing a few troublesome patches of Dictyota, essentially by removing the rocks they were on and not just trimming the growth off, but also scraping the rock clear of any fragments left attached with a cheap knife. There are some other small patches which haven't ever really taken off which I didn't touch because they were on rocks which were less easy to remove. Here's hoping that they'll not now take off.

I'll take some update shots of the tank sometime soon, once I've got a few of the corals that are still on the sand bed puttied into place. I need to get myself some plumber's putty first and life hasn't provided the window for a trip to the LFS yet.

I did manage to buy this last night though. Should arrive on Friday. Here's hoping it looks nearly as good under my lights.

 

[dain45yl]

Thought that was a dissassembled protein skimmer sitting in your tank at first... only on a second look did I realize it's the overflow and return. Really interesting. Glass or plastic?