O ya, and I realize I have a bit of a cyano and GHA problem. I think it's due to some trace phosphates. However I'm not doing anything drastic because everything else is doing great and the blenny loves the GHA. I did manage to snag a MJ1200, MJ900, and a 200W heater for $27 on ebay. Hopefully the added flow will help a little...

Wow, some very nice pics of a fantastic tank.
On a side note--what's the best LFS for getting some Ricordia, I have only seen them at Fish central, in his small clam tank?

I bought the yuma at boardroom, and all the florida ricordea from Ken at Sea Life Inc. I picked them up from his facility in Key Largo, but shipping wouldnt be too expensive. This is his website, he has the best prices of ricordea online that I've seen.

http://www.sealifeinc.net/catalog/index.php

Nice tank.
Do you have a Phosban Reactor? I got one of those for my Cyano problem, it slowed it, but theres still something in there thats letting it grow.

Have you had any problems with your Skimmer? Mine overflowed a couple weeks ago. I havn't been able to turn it back on yet, no more plugs to use!

very nice!
How do you like the T5's ?

--marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

No i don't have a phosban reactor, but i've actually been looking to build a cheap phosban reactor out of pvc tho. And my CSS65 has overflowed twice. once due to the venturi line getting clogged and the other due to a change in water level of the sump. Overall I think it's ok just a little tempermental i guess, but when its working it pulls out nice skimmate.

I really like the flexibility of the T5's with the 4 bulb set up,and everything's grown really well...but I'm also kinda jealous of the shimmer on my bro's 29G which has a single 250watt pendant over it. Also I want to switch out 2 of them because I don't like the bulb choice the person before me set up. Once I get the cash I'd like 1x6500K GE, 1x1200K ATI, and 2xActinics, as opposed to the 3x actinic/1 10,000K setup i have now. I just have to scrape together some cash first, I think old bulbs are also contributing to my algae problems since the bulbs are between 12-18 months old..

I personaly don't really like the really dim lights. My favorite lighting is the really blue color, it's not super dim and it's not bright.

My lighting is too bright and white, I need to replace a white bulb with a blue one.

I'm not sure I'm following you...The lights I have are very bright it just looks a little dim due to the exposure being a little too low on my camera. Also the blue bulbs look cool but aren't really needed. The provide little usable light to the coral and they just make their colors appear more vivid. Natural sunlight has a color temperature of around 6700K. But this is usually too yellow for aquariums that's why actinics and higher kelvin bulbs are used. If you had all actinics it would be very hard to grow any light demanding corals.

Nice tank! It looks familiar, I like what you've done with it better though.

I would say definately get rid of some of those bulbs. Now that you mention the algae, I had the same problem....but worse!

hahaha are you the FGCU student I bought it from?

Also, today I made a trip down to Ace Hardware to pick up parts for two media reactors. They had all the fittings I was looking for and, unlike Lowes and HD, they sell pvc by the foot. I spent a total of $24 and change.I built them following the Phosban reactor design. They are pretty self explanatory, water goes in the top, down the bottom, up the the larger tube, and out the side. I'm planning on running carbon in one and phosban in the other.

I've got 2 Super actinic VHO's and 2 Actinic Blue VHO's. What the store gave me for softies and LPS. I will eventually upgrade to Metal Halides though.

If you you go Fish Central, and you look at the big 200ga display, or however big it is, it has the brightness and color I want my tank to have.

I didn't notice that algae in your tank, you should really get/make a PhosBan and try pulling some out.

Where is Fish Central, Naples?


^^^ That is the pvc phosban reactor I made today...also the pic of the tank overrun with hair algae isn't mine. It's the tank I have now but the previous owner's setup.

Yep, I wish I would have kept that 50g and sold my 90g instead. The 90 is a lot of tank for being in college.

Here it is now. Looking to upgrade yet?..jk

Look into T5's - draw less power, create less heat, bulbs last 2-3 times as long as MH or VHO bulbs, and dependent upon which ballasts you have, switching may just require new endcaps & bulbs.

take care,

marco

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer."

haha no the 50 isnt for sale, I'm just beginning to finally stock it. I've pretty much kept it the same tho. The only things I changed are the returns, put the t5's on individual reflectors, and changed the baffles to 1/4" glass after I punched through the thin glass when working in the sump.

Yeah I wasn't sure where to get 1/4" glass. Where did you get it at?

I bought it at a place called beach glass and mirror inc. It was pretty cheap too

Fish Central is on the corner of Davis and 41. Great store.

today I made custom magnet mounts for all of my brother and I's powerheads using 1" neodymium disc magnets and clear epoxy resin, pics tomorrow. Total cost was $30 for 5 powerheads.

The magnets I bought are just a little bit too weak, they hold up the MJ's but not securely...ordered some stronger magnets today.

Picked up this little guy at Glass Ocean..

GBTA:

my BTA is still pretty bleached, I've been feeding it every day, should i keep feeding it every day until i can see more zooanthelle, or cut it back to every other day. Anyone have any experience. Also it moved around a bit but then picked a spot up high in the light and has stayed put for the last 2 days which i think is a good sign.

Figured I'd update this:

Kevin gave me contol of the tank when he created the 5.5 so I tore down the 29 and moved the contents to the 50. Moved it and made it a peninsula tank. Pics: