Pics of my 180G

[Mark Ralston]

Hi,
I thought I'd share a couple of pics frim my 180 G tank now that my algae is under control. The tank has been up and running since July '04 and has been through two bouts of GW and a semi-major thread algae infestation. I tried limmiting every type of nutrient combination and finally fixed the algae issues by going full-bore with Tom Barr's recommendations. As you can see from the pics, it seems to work (too??) well for fast growers. The first picture is on 11/30, the day before my vacation.

[<img src="uploads/MarkRalston/Z6F_before_cropped.JPG" border="0">

I had my neighbor stop by every other day to feed the fishies. Every fourth day she would dump a baggie of macros and a baggie of liquid micros into the tank. Water changes were skipped for the two weeks. Here's what I came home to on 12/13.

<img src="uploads/MarkRalston/67A_after_cropped.JPG" border="0">

I'm happy! Now I need to figure out how to make my tank look like the pieces of art everyone else has.

Tank Specs:
180G
4x96W AHS in a DIY hood
DIY 30 gal. sump
Pressurized CO2 bubbling very, very fast
Mil. controller for the CO2
DIY stand
1 large, expensive stump that floats
1 piece of PVC to hold the stump down

Let's hope the pics work....
Mark<edited><editID>Mark Ralston</editID><editDate>38338.649849537</editDate></edited>

[Larry Grenier]

You're well on you way to the "Work of Art".

Please describy you overflow/sump/return setup and what's in the sump. Do you feel you loose alot of CO2 with that type of setup? You plants seem to be happy <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley32.gif" border="0"> <edited><editID>Larry Grenier</editID><editDate>38338.6722222222</editDate></edited>

[SCMurphy]

<img border="0" src="smileys/smiley29.gif" border="0">

<img border="0" src="smileys/smiley32.gif" border="0">

Nice, have fun trimming.

[Aaron]

Nice growth there Mark. I too use the more is more method of dosing. Just keep an eye on the nitrates. I've overdosed them before. My fish let me know by acting wacky and a quick water change fixed everything. Had I not been home though it could've been bad news.

[Mark Ralston]

Larry,
My overflow is called a "Mega" (??) overflow from Oceanic. Instead of having two overflows in the back corners, I have one large one on the short side so I can have three viewing sides. I built two 1 1/4" Durso standpipes for the returns. Underneath the tank both returns are either vertical, or at a 45 degree slope. I put two ball valves in them to restrict some of the flow. The returns dump into the 30G sump about 1" underwater. The sump holds some floss, sponges, the heaters, pH probe, and the CO2 reactor.

I know I'm losing a ton of CO2 with the current setup as I'm using a 20 lbs cylinder every 3 months. Nathan told me he's using 5 lbs every 3 months on his 120 with a sump. Once I have more time I'm planning on re-plumbing the returns so they aren't quite as vertical. Hopefully that will keep more of the CO2 in the water. But that's for next year....

Mark

[Mark Ralston]

Aaron,
The nicest thing about a big tank is that dosing is much more forgiving. I don't think I could ever OD on nitrates as my current dosing is 1 tsp twice a week. One time I didn't pay attention and dosed my PO4 as if it were NO3. Luckily I dose dry chemicals in my sump, so I immediately turned the pump off and changed the water in my sump a couple of times.
Mark

[Larry Grenier]

Thanks for the reply Mark. I used to have a reef and liked putting all my hardware down there. I had the return go through two 45 angles and empty-out just under the surface. Maybe I'll do that with my next big planted tank.