In-wall 380gal tank - cut out options

[karimwassef]

Wow. Thanks. I'm no hero- just very stubborn, umm tenacious

If my thread helps you make your reef experience better, then that's excellent. I love learning from other people's mistakes. It's so much cheaper than making my own new ones.

[karimwassef]

Here's a recent view with my seaweed feedwe

http://youtu.be/2jBZVCdlVh4

[Michael Hoaster]

Looks great!

[karimwassef]

Thanks!

Here's my latest little addition



and the growing frag plateau






This used to be pvc and concrete..

[karimwassef]

community likes the artificial rockwork and the surge too.

[Michael Hoaster]

Your corals and fish all look happy! What's the orange coral in the 4th pic? I don't recognize that one.

[karimwassef]

The pink coral is a satosa (montipora satosa). It's a low light coral and I haven't been successful keeping it in my ultra bright, ultra high flow tank in the past. So, I put it on the lowest rock I have and in the middle where it can get residual flow from the surge instead of main flow.

Its polyps are opening so I'm hopeful. It's supposed to have a wild growth pattern, encrusting, branching or plating all at once depending on light and flow.

[karimwassef]

[karimwassef]

This one is an undata (another monti)

[karimwassef]

[Lavoisier]

Nice video. Your tank looks great.

[karimwassef]

I hide my flaws well.

I've recently been having trouble with a few frags. I have light bleaching unless the source was also a MH tank. The ones that come from ultra-smooth LED light flow tanks seem to struggle in my more harsh environment with surges and MH 400W.

A few go nuts and grow like weeds though. Some of the ones that bleach recover and start changing color, then bud and branch out quickly - like they were on survival mode before.

I even try to put them on the lowest rock next to the sand, but the reflection up seems to be too much and they bleach from the bottom. The only sections that do well are the ones completely shaded!

Completely shaded coral??

I may need to rethink the zoning of my tank so these "gentler use" corals don't die.

[karimwassef]

I think I may have gone overboard with fish...



What do you think?

[jason2459]

Looks great to me. Normally I don't like rock walls and tanks full of rock but you really pulled it off nicely. I really like it.

[karimwassef]

Thanks.

I actually don't have much rocks. Most of the visible area is really composed of very thin artificial rock surfaces intended for coral placement. There's more space behind the rocks than in front and the rock shapes are convoluted so there's lots of places to turn around and swim inside and between them back there.

I think it's the ability for change direction that allows more fish to successfully cohabitate? It's hard to corner a smaller fish and pester it to death.

Most of the rocks hover above the the sand instead of sitting on it too, so there's a lot of places to hide for wrasse and gobies.

[karimwassef]

Here's the truth behind my fake rocks:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2391044

[jason2459]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I normally can't stand the look of what most people do with the fake rock walls. You did a fantastic job doing it right. Great flow though and swim lanes and I agree that has to help with aggression.

[Michael Hoaster]

The fish look great! Love the yellow tangs!

[karimwassef]

Thanks. I think yellow tangs don't do well unless they're in large groups or solitary.

It's interesting. When I watch tangs feeding in the wild, they move in a school over the reef with a lead fish guiding the way... they literally graze from one part of the reef to the next. They're like sheep moving across a hillside. No aggression at all. They can even go around in a large circular path, but the grazing behavior means that they don't over-consume the algae in one area.

[Lavoisier]

Great video. I do not think you have too many fish! Your idea about the tangs is interesting. They are certainly getting along in your tank. I have two and one keeps the other "cooped up" at one end of the tank. I wondered if I could add 2 or 3 more at this point and achieve a peaceful community?

[karimwassef]

I think that there's a critical mass... Not sure what it is. In small tanks, it's impossible to achieve so there will always be hostility.

I have 7 yellow tangs and one purple tang. These would usually not get along, but seem ok.

I think the key word is this: if it's two fish, then one fish will want to dominate and they will fight. This is because the aggressor has nothing to fear... It's one on one.

With three, the aggressor can still be a pain, but it has to keep two other fish in line assuming they're both smaller. This distraction means that each of the two smaller fish has less damage. Also, if it's two big fish and one small, the big fish will have less ability to pick on the small because they each also have to watch their own back from the other big fish.

It's this constant fear about becoming attacked while preoccupied with a weaker fish that keeps all fish in a group calm. I think that very small or very big fish can still be an issue, but if they're all relatively close, they will defer to accepting that the territory they're living on can't belong to any one fish- they must share.

Also, tanks can usually be designed like prison blocks where all fish see all other fish all the time. That pretty unnatural and means that weak fish really can't avoid bigger fish. It's a glass prison with a hostile inmate who never stops looking at you! The weird rock placement and shapes makes it so there's more places to hide than be visible. If the fish get spooked, they can all disappear in a flash. Not one fish is visible - looks like an empty rockscape even though there's two dozen fish in there.

1 very large blue hippo tang
1 large two stripe rabbitfish
1 large desjardini sailfin tang
1 medium make naso tang
1 medium purple tang
1 medium Indian Ocean sailfin tang
7 small-medium yellow tangs
1 large dragon goby
1 large starry blenny
1 dusky jawfish
1 medium melanarus wrasse
2 medium six line wrasses
1 medium yellow wrasse
1 medium female lyretail anthias
2 medium green chromis
1 large male green mandarin dragonet
1 medium copperband butterfly
2 false percula clownfish (mated in RBTA)

In 27" x 96"

It's just my take on it, but I'm sure there's a critical number or ratio that controls school behavior for tangs and other fish.

[karimwassef]

Hmm... Looking at that list, I wonder if in not feeding enough. I usually feed 2 cubes a day.

In the summer months, I have a large influx of mosquitos that fall into the tank. It's probably the equivalent of 3 cubes but I don't think the fish eat them. They turn into algae for the tangs or skimmer effluent.

During the winter, this goes away... So I might need to adjust my feeding?

[Novice101]

How do you have mosquitos getting into your house that much lol

[karimwassef]

It's not in my house. The tank is in the garage and I live by the lake. Every afternoon, when my wifes opens the garage door, a swarm gets in.

I have a massive zapper, and multiple layers of plastic. They still get through though.

[Novice101]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

It's not in my house. The tank is in the garage and I live by the lake. Every afternoon, when my wifes opens the garage door, a swarm gets in.

I have a massive zapper, and multiple layers of plastic. They still get through though.

The tank doesn't get cold in the winter?