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Author Topic: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium  (Read 13477 times)

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Offline Ashlar

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Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« on: December 02, 2011, 12:53:57 »
I've been keeping marine tanks for about fifteen years, but until about six years ago, never anything more than 20-30g.

In September 2005, a friend of mine who lives in Waco, TX called me. He was on vacation in Las Vegas, and he was freaking out. Hurricane Rita was headed for the Texas coast, and they were predicting it would run through Waco. His problem? He had a 175g tank and he didn't want to cut his vacation short.

So he had me drive from Dallas to Waco and catch the two fish (spotted puffer and monodactylus that he'd acclimated to full SW) and a horseshoe crab he had in his mainly empty tank, and temporarily house them in my 20g qt tank. (Yes, two fish and a crab were the only things in the tank.)

Rita missed Waco, thankfully, but when he got home he realized he didn't miss the water changes and maintenance. He offered me the tank for free, on one condition. I had to leave the Texas flag he'd painted on the back of it. So I drove down again and we loaded up the tank. I got it home and took stock-

* 175g tank, not reef ready
* 4ft fluorescent shop light
* tiny wet/dry sump
* rio return pump
* laguna "powerhead"
* two MJ-1200s
* maybe 10 lbs of "live" rock - really lace rock
* maybe 2" of sand
- no skimmer
- no ATO

First thing I did was ordered 90 lbs of pre-cured fiji premium live rock from DrF&S. When it arrived, I also picked up an additional 100lbs of live sand from an LFS.

I put the sand in the tank and let the rock continue to cure, since we all know that pre-cured rarely is.

Here's a shot of the tank after the sandstorm cleared.



While the rock was cycling, a buddy of mine decided to get out of the hobby and offered me his 55g tank for a song. I couldn't resist. I decided to set it up as a display fuge, dumping into the same sump. It had 4 x 54w T5 lighting, which is fine. I dumped in 75lbs of pavestone crushed limestone sand, and set it up next to the main tank, but quickly realized the little wet/dry sump I was using could not handle that much volume. I snagged some chaeto and caulerpa sp from friends, and away it went.



I trawled the local message boards and picked up 3 250w MH lights (two PFO, one Hamilton).



A local guy who works with acrylic made me a nice sump to fit under the stand of the main tank. It's in two pieces because the stand openings are narrow but tall and the center divider doesn't come out, and I wanted as much volume as I could fit in there.

At the same time, I picked up an AquaC EV-240 skimmer, and a couple of mag pumps to feed the tanks.



I really had to shoehorn the sump in there, and I was fiddling with those bulkheads for days to get them lined up without leaking.

That's the basic set-up I've been using. Since that point, I've added a hacked up ebay ozone generator, a DIY ATO, a Neptune AC II (replaced by an AC3 Pro later), a DIY dosing rack for two-part (later replaced by a re-purposed medical dosing pump), a rack mount UPS for the return pumps, a chiller, and four vortec mp-40s + battery backup.





That's it for equipment..

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2011, 12:57:19 »
Most of my previous tanks had been softies / zoas, so those were the first things that got transferred to the big tank once it was finished cycling.

Xenia, GSP, shrooms, zoas, leathers..













Since I actually had the light to support it, and the dosing to keep the calcium up, I started adding LPSs-











About that same time, I got an anemone hitchhiker. Little did I know it would take over a large portion of the tank :)

(cont in next post)

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2011, 13:00:35 »
Who knew that this..



becomes this..



Would become this..



Which leads to this!



We sold / gave away a LOT of anemones to local club members.

Eventually I wanted to get into SPS as well as everything else, so the last of the anemones was corralled and sold.



I'd had a few starter SPSs- monti caps, digitata, etc, but I picked up a few more..










Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2011, 13:05:20 »
Over the years, we've seen some really neat critters, and some have been intentional additions..

For a while, we had tiny ceriths reproducing in our fuge..


And we have some chitons reproducing in my qt..


Our tiger tail cuke came in as a hitchhiker (he splits about once a year and we give away or sell the new little one)..


This is a hitchhiker star from the caribbean-


We have four or five large brittle stars who mop up any leftover food, as well as one serpent star. The serpent star got a chunk taken out of him at one point, here's him regrowing a leg (you can't even tell which leg it was now)-


We have lots of asterinas..


And euplica sp snails reproducing everywhere..




We go through about 2 diadema urchins a year. We get them really small, and give them away / trade them in when they get massive-


And we have scutus sp. snails reproducing in the tank-



Offline dee99gt

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2011, 13:07:17 »
Awesome pics.  That's a huge anemone. 
- deejay

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2011, 13:10:00 »
So yah, I'm a computer nerd, too. I love to DIY and combine tech with tank.

I made my own battery backup air pump that only turns on when the power is out..


I hacked up an ebay ozone generator to run via AC3..


Here's the ATO refill gadget that keeps my RO/DI from bouncing on and off..


These are just fun things that I did..

A 27" scrolling sign in my office shows the current time, temp, ph, orp, and conductivity of the tank..


I used to have a 5" screen next to the tank to show parameters, when the ACII was under the stand..


But eventually I picked up a touch screen and wrote a VB app to display status of devices, graphs of parameters, etc



The latest toy I set up was a camera. I've integrated the xml from my signature program as well. (The MH's are on from 2-10 CST for best viewing)
http://srv.rowelab.com/fish/camera

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2011, 13:14:36 »
Oops, forgot about the fish!

Almost all of them have been rescues. We have a Kole tang that had HLLE (hasn't gotten worse, but hasn't improved as much as I'd like.) We have a bunch of chromis that had ich, along with the regal tang. Six weeks of hypo later, all good. We picked up a foxface to deal with bubble algae in our coral qt tank, but he had such personality (and was growing so fast) we moved him to the main tank. We have a couple of ocellaris, one won at a local club raffle, one from DrF&S.

This was the tiny clown in hypo / qt-


Mama clown happy in a nem-


Our chromis are fat and happy- so much so that we have two who spawn regularly..





Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2011, 13:17:31 »
I also have a couple of microscopes that I use to check out things living in the tank..


Here are some interesting shots I've taken..






Diadema sp. spine





Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2011, 13:18:34 »
I don't have a recent FTS, I'll take one today when the lights are on :)

Offline Kenn

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2011, 15:09:15 »
VERY nice post Ashlar !

Currently doing a 75g build | http://ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=16275.0| tanks of the past : 26g Bowfront LPS and Fish| http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=4858.0 || 37g a little of everything | http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=7751.0

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."   < K >

Offline Reefpete

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #10 on: December 02, 2011, 15:22:22 »

Offline HUNGER

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #11 on: December 02, 2011, 16:37:09 »
wow great tank  and great pics
SIZE DOES MATTER

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #12 on: December 02, 2011, 17:01:17 »

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #13 on: December 02, 2011, 17:15:06 »
.......

Add that to the file of "Things I wish I'd never seen.."

:)

Offline HUNGER

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #14 on: December 02, 2011, 19:22:36 »
u had to put that pic on here way to go brian
SIZE DOES MATTER

Offline Wall_Tank

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #15 on: December 02, 2011, 19:34:22 »
Very nice.   Love the Microscope pictures

Offline kattz

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #16 on: December 02, 2011, 21:48:04 »
Nice pics, nice setup.  You have lots of talents!  I have the same anemone, and it's definitely grown.
90g SPS and LPS reef tank, 35g sump, ceramic rock by The Alternative Reef, Neptune Apex w 2 X EB8's, Moonlight module, ATI Sunpower Dimmable 8 X 39W T5's, Octopus Extreme 160 skimmer, PM Kalkwasser Reactor, 2 X Vortech MP40's, Geo 618 Ca reactor


Various thriving montipora, acropora, stylopora, wellsophyllia, blastomussa, hammer, anchor, and frogspawn, lobophyllia, rhizotrychus, pavona, scroll, and pagoda SPS and LPS corals, but no fish because I was too stupid to QT...

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #17 on: December 02, 2011, 21:52:59 »
Nice pics, nice setup.  You have lots of talents!  I have the same anemone, and it's definitely grown.

I've often thought about setting up a dedicated tank for them. They are lovely.

Offline rancoo

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Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #18 on: December 02, 2011, 22:18:47 »
awesome post
-Brad
110 Gallon (48x18x30)

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2011, 15:44:17 »
I hadn't really been paying attention to this maze brain I got a while back, but I started looking through old pictures, and wow, it's taken off..

Here it was not long after I got it as a $5 frag at a LFS, in 2008 (wow, didn't realize I'd had it that long)..


In 2009..


October 2010.. (You can also see how I was being overrun w/ shrooms- thanks again, Paul!)


And here it is yesterday..

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #20 on: December 03, 2011, 19:43:27 »
Man that is some crazy good growth.

Offline HUNGER

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #21 on: December 03, 2011, 19:55:49 »
wow thats great
SIZE DOES MATTER

Offline DarinSchmidt

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #22 on: December 06, 2011, 09:21:58 »
looks nice. the first frag looks like it couldnt be more than 3 inches and now looks like its well over a foot. Can you get a mesurement? Interested to know as i have 3 brains im growing out as well.

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #23 on: December 06, 2011, 09:36:39 »
That first shot is a couple of months after I got it, too. It was maybe 2" x 3" at the start.

When the lights come on, I'll stick a ruler in the tank to measure it. It's also grown *over* the rock it started on, and is hanging over the edge of it. I'll see if I can't get a shot from below showing how much it's hanging over.

Offline DarinSchmidt

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Re: Ashlar's 175g + 55g refugium
« Reply #24 on: December 06, 2011, 09:50:34 »
Thats nice, its always neat to see photos from those who have taken periodic pictures of coral they have had for a long time and seeing how well it grew. Like a calm shell can show you a timeline of its growth.

 

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