My 125g Mixed Reef *** THE LAST DAY ***

 

It looks good. I can't wait to see the 225 set up!

 

Mike

 

Overall, I would say I'm very satisfied with the way this setup has turned out... In terms of hardware the biggest would have to go to the Odyssea MH light fixture. Considering the rock-bottom price ($600 new for a 72" 3 X 250 fixture), it has passed the year basically trouble-free. No shorts, bad bulbs, or overheating issues. Despite some critics over at RC, the stock bulb / ballast combo seems to grow everything just fine. I have 3 clams, 4 anenomes, and several SPS pieces all thriving under these lights.

 

Another  performer has been the API test kits... spot on readings compared to the more expensive Salifert kits; easier to use, reagents last longer before needing a refill. The "Reef Master" kit gives you nO3, dkH, pO4 and a Ca test for under $25 (Petsmart) total - the price on any single one of those in a Salifert kit... you can't beat that deal!

 

Also a  to my "Purewater club" 75gpd RO / Di unit - another budget buy that turned out just fine... complete with 2 sets of filters (including DI resin) for $99... I remember being flamed w/o mercy over on RC when I mentioned buying this... one of the so-called 'experts' there told me "you won't even get enough 0 ppm water out of that POS for the initial fill up of your 125 g tank!" and told me I had to go with a $400 Spectrapure MaxCap instead "...or you will never be able to keep any coral in that water..." Yeah, right pal. A year later and I am still getting output of 0 - 3 ppm consistently on an input TDS reading average of 220 ppm. Another expert spouting off without understanding the whole concept behind the science he quotes... (steps on soapbox, grabs bullhorn) You see, if I had 800 ppm tap water (like my RC 'expert' friend does) then, yes, I would need a hi-po unit. But my tap TDS is only around 220 ppm. The prefilters and RO alone brings it down to < 7 ppm (a 97% reject rate), and the DI cartridge takes care of the rest...I have changed out the filters (except the membrane, of course) once, since a "free" replacement set came with the unit. Although, in hindsight, I could have went a full year on the first set. The only negative on this unit is I do not get "75 gpd"; more like 50 - but that's no biggie for me...moral of the story? save your cash; check your tap TDS before you buy (puts down bullhorn and steps off soapbox)...

 

You may notice a pattern about now... < free advice for newbies > this hobby doesn't have to cost an arm & a leg... do your homework first; read up all you can, get advice from your fellow hobbyists, ask questions and make informed purchases. Some folks like to tout that old quote "You get what you pay for" as meaning that you have to buy only the biggest or most expensive name-brand hardware in order to be successful. I prefer to think of another famous old quote (P.T. Barnum): "There's a sucker born every minute"... Don't be a sucker.

 

Of course the biggest surprise (and ultimately, dissapointment) of the year was my Banggai Cardinal pair breeding. Great fun, a new learning experience, got to meet quite a few club members as a result

 

Unfortunately, the female didn't last too long and died while preparing to spawn a third brood... well, as they say "these things happen"... on the bright side, she was only the second fish I lost the entire year (including cycling) - the other being an Oscellaris clown who just disappeared one day way back last spring.

 

As far as coral losses, the only thing that died 'on it's own' was (suprisingly enough) a Toadstool Leather that never made it through acclimation and just shriveled up and started to waste away...

 

However, my big coral "mishap" involved a loose MH glass cover that fell into the tank and allowed non- UV filtered light in for around 5 hours before I discovered the problem. Without the UV glass for protection, most of the coral in the exact center of my display (it was the center glass that fell out) took a big hit. My Green Birdsnest lost all the tissue on the entire top half of the 8" piece... I completely fried my expensive Blue Tort frag (like $45 at the Aquarium) after watching it gain almost an inch of new growth in only a month  

A big Xenia colony that was growing up near the surface was badly burned. My Candy canes lost considerable tissue on every head... even the corralline on the LR is noticeably lessened in the area. Although I have kept all the pieces in hopes for some regrowth, I am not overly optimistic. When it actually comes time to transfer everything to the 225 I will have to make some decisions on what to keep, what to frag, and what is too damaged to save any longer.

Strangely enough, a colony of orange & brown zoos, a branch Hammer, and a Deresa clam all in the same area suffered no noticeable damage. Hmmm...

 

 

 

Mike

 

This set up was the first time I have tried using Korallia prop pumps instead of powerheads for flow... I have to say I am have been very impressed with the Korallias. Quiet, low power (the #3s I have use 12 watts to pump 850 gph each) and trouble-free... after a few weeks they get covered in coralline and become much less noticeable, too. And they are a great value; from $20 - 50 each depending on size and gph. I will definitely be transferring my trio of Hydors over to the 225 and I would consider them a "hit" 

 

"Homemade" 2 -part? definitely a hit in my book  easy to measure, easy to mix, and it works... I know that recently there have been questions regarding the "purity" of the CaCl that we have access to (excessive bromine, was it?) but until I see an adverse reaction in my tank - or any proof that the store bought alternatives are any safer - I am gonna keep right on dosing!

 

"Utah" rock and sand... all I have to offer is my own experience and opinion; and my opinion says BIG HIT

As long as you choose your collection site carefully, I really don't see any 'downside' to using LBTR in place of your standard imported Fiji or Tonga rock. Or using Utah oolitic in place of bagged aragonite. I have heard "stories" of contamination issues with some minerals - like copper, for instance - but have yet to actually see such rock myself. (Usually it's one of those "a friend of a friend told me..." kinds of story anyway.) And it
"purples up" just as fast and as fully as any store bought LR I have ever owned.

 

The "catches": Yes, it is not "live" when you bring it home. Yes, you have to wash it out (the high pressure hose at the local DIY carwash works wonders)yes, it is a little more 'dense' than the Carribean stuff - and yes, you have to collect it and haul it away yourself...

 

 

For those of us with larger tanks you are talking about a major cost savings. My 125 has about 150 lbs of rock in it. It cost me $20 for the gas to go to and from the collection site, and $5 to use the carwash to blast it clean. Oh, and about 3 hours of my own labor, total.

 

But 150 lbs of "premium" LR at any LFS is gonna set you back at least $750.00, if not more...

 

Same deal with the sand. Free vs. about $1 / lb for aragonite. I have 200+ lbs in my 125. Again, if you add the totals I spent $25 and got the same amount of rock / sand that would have cost very close to a thousand dollars if gotten the usual way... a total "no brainer" if you ask me

 

And if you are worried about the whole "live rock" aspect, do what I did. "Seed" you LBTR / sand setup with one lousy peice of $8 / lb Fiji... I got a 5 lb chunk that actually cost me more total $$$ than all the Utah stuff combined + gas to go get it + the carwash to clean the rock off.

 

The "misses" have thankfully been few and far between... Coralife's power strip w/ timers is one that comes to mind. $45 and it didn't last a month before the timer for the halides crapped out. 2 months later the timer for the actinics took a dump as well. So now I basically have what amounts to a $3 power strip that I paid $45 for...  totally useless crap.  I ended up buying a $10 digital timer from Home Depot for the halides; it has worked beautifully for the last 9 or 10 months.

 

But, all in all, I think most of the stuff I used for this setup were smart choices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool  !!!

 

Another "new trick" for an "old salty dog" like me !!!

 

Forgot the pic of the orange / brown zoos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 - One of my 2 Cinnamon Tomato Clowns is now defintely hosting in - of all things - the largest of my Condylactis anenomes  which I am fairly certain is an unusual event... most clownfish do not care for these Carribean anenomes as they are not native to the Pacific waters where most clownfish come from. So that is a cool development.

 

 - Up to 17 or 18 heads total now on the single Paly that I got from Jeff (Jeffras) maybe 6 months ago.

 

 - A "mushroom rock" I got from Nemo's 3 months ago has already doubled the # of shrooms on it and started spreading to adjacent rocks

 

 - Lately I have been getting bazillions of baby Stomatellas and my Kenya trees are dropping "sprouts" all over the place. When I dismantle this tank I am gonna have a lot of these things to scrape off and get rid of...

 

Speaking of "getting rid off", I started thinking about what I will be selling off once the switch to the 225 is complete. Obviously the 125 tank / stand / canopy; also the Skimmer (Coralife SS220 NW) that I have been using on the 125, 1 of my 2 Fluval 404s (I will keep 1 for running carbon and pO4 removal media via the sump), a couple of heaters, a couple of powerheads, probably 2 or 3 ten gal tanks, maybe a few other "odds and ends" that either won't fit my 225 or won't be needed. Plus a ton of live sand, some LBTR, maybe a few pieces of LR, too... we'll have to see how it all turns out. In any case, most everything I have is in very good working condition and will all go cheap so I expect a flurry of activity on the Buy / Sell Board (and visitors to my home ) the weekend I dismantle it... one of those "posted on Friday / gone by Saturday" kind of events...

 

Livestock-wise, I have way too much Silver Tip Xenia so I will only transfer over 1 or 2 "stalks" out of the 20+ I have scattered throughout the 125... Also not making the trip will be my oldest fish, Mr. Yellow Tail Damsel - he'll be somebody's "freebie" when the time comes ... then there's all those baby Kenya trees and I have a few larger hermits that are starting to use Turbo snail shells as homes (evicting the snails in the process) so they'll be gone, too. Otherwise I am thinking I will keep most of my other corals and pretty much all of the other fish...

 

I'll keep everybody posted as to when the changeover actually goes down and all the stuff goes up for sale... right now looking around the first weekend in May (maybe)...