Alex's 180

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

The last piece was another tower with a shelf.

Finally I took the rest of the rock and made a pile on the left side. I think of that as the fish condos. Eventually I plan to make it a permanent structure.

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Alex · Sep 21, 2016

this is me said:
It will be better than my tank.
Don't panic about algae during initial set up. It will eventually goes away with good husbandry and some tangs.

You sir are too kind. I checked the output of my rodi and it had jumped up to 190 going into my DI resin which of course got used up very quickly leaving all my top off at close to the same number. No beuno. I got more GFO running and replaced all the filters. Back to a nice 8 in and 0 out. Definitely heading in the right direction. I had grabbed some cheoto but it melted on me so I need to restock and get the fuge up and running. Long term it should be good. I have three tangs in there. Yellow, Hippo and a clown. The clown is how I'm going to justify the 8 foot tank to my wife in a couple of years.

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

this is me said:
The rocks now are mostly junk. All these "sterilization" (and maybe eco-friendly) really killed the cool looking rocks that we got from the ocean 15 years ago. Some of the pieces in my tank are from my 2002 tank!

Right. I remember picking the rock up and something crawling out of it. It was light and full of so much life. Live rock meant a lot more than some bacteria back then. It seemed like there was a big shift in this hobby after all the Acro and then Monti eating flat worm outbreaks. That and the rise of ULN reefing. I don't want a tank full of hair algae and mantis shrimp (but I would love a species tank with one) but I believe a little gunk is ok and bio diversity is half the fun of having a reef. Rock back then rocked.

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

This what it looked like once everything was in.

Jeff.:P · Sep 21, 2016

Looks great in the room. More SPS!!

Curren007K · Sep 21, 2016

Very nice, makes me want to build another. ::

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

Jeff.:P said:
Looks great in the room. More SPS!!

Jeff I'll be by with the clippers later tonight.

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

Curren007K said:
Very nice, makes me want to build another. ::

You can never have to many tanks.

Jeff.:P · Sep 21, 2016

Alex said:
Jeff I'll be by with the clippers later tonight.

hah my whole tank could fit in your sump

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

Jeff.:P said:
hah my whole tank could fit in your sump

There are plenty of shiny things in that tank to snip. ::

IPWitan · Sep 21, 2016

Is this number accurate - 36x24x24 90 gal with 40B sump? My 75 gallon is 48x19x22 or something like that. I guess I am asking because it looks like you have way more room than I do. I am a bit jelly. That rockwork is very cool. Makes me want to pull some of my rocks out.

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

IPWitan said:
Is this number accurate - 36x24x24 90 gal with 40B sump? My 75 gallon is 48x19x22 or something like that. I guess I am asking because it looks like you have way more room than I do. I am a bit jelly. That rockwork is very cool. Makes me want to pull some of my rocks out.

lol no my signature is very very dated. I'm running a standard 180.

KSC · Sep 21, 2016

Alex said:
Thanks Nick. If it looks half as good as your tank I will be very happy.

I actually kept twiddledogs sand. I gave is a serious washing with the hose then gave it a long rinse in rodi. Seems to be working out ok so far. I had a bit of an algae outbreak that I'm starting to come back from. Initially I chalked it up to a new tank but then I realized my rodi filter all needed to be replaced. Otherwise the sand bed seems to be in good shape.

That looks like it might be the famous Southdown sand. How deep is it?

Alex · Sep 21, 2016

Hmmm maybe. I remember it being finer but it might be.

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Alex · Dec 13, 2016

Some updated pics.