Twins

Picture one shows the canopy on the extension on the tank and the two MH's mounted to the inside of the top of the canopy.

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Picture two shows the 2 VHO bulbs just below the canopy door opening. You are looking at the tops of the two bulbs next to each other.

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Oh, and the water temperature rose to 79 degrees by the photo-period's end.
 
I am admitting defeat on buffing out Tank 1. It is beyond me. So with defeat comes new challenges. I will need to find another tank to replace it, either an Oceanic 58g or a modern 65g RR.
 
Get this, after emailing Dallas North Aquarium about my dilemma they email me back and say they have access to "New Old Stock" for Oceanic aquariums. I have always liked Oceanic aquariums construction. This one is of their Ultimate line. That means it comes with a Starphire front glass and the Reef Ready package for the drain. I went ahead and got the glass top just because it was such an incredible find. This was one of only two left of the 58g size.

I am just so happy that I don't have to buff that other tank out.

I picked up the new one today and have it sitting on its stand. Now I am faced with wiring and how to do it so it finally looks nice instead of a rats nest.

So I am thinking Tank 1 will get the same Eheim 1260 for a return, Koralia 3 for circulation, a Jager heater.

Currently I have no idea of what livestock to put in it.
 
Tank 1 is up and running. I do not have a proper sump but am using a plain 15g tank. I have a little strip light for lighting.

I still need some decent light and probably a real sump.

Also I am in serious need of fish. I have spent days going through LiveAquaria.com but still cannot seem to pick out some fish.

Please someone make a suggestion, or several suggestions.
 
Tank 1 finally got a proper sump thanks to my brother who came and put it in for me. It is a little taller than the 15g tank that was under there. It has a 300 micron filter sock, one baffle, and a sponge between the baffle dividers. I think the sponge is to keep bubbles out of the return. My brother also helped me troubleshoot and fix a cheap 2x39w T5 fixture for Tank 1 also. Fixture is running ATI Blue Plus and ATI Actinic. Its better than nothing.

I still need to do a better job of leveling out my water parameters. And I need to figure something out to level out my temperature.

Tank 2 is filled with dead algae from the use of the new Phosban Reactor. I don't know how to clean up the algae without making a bigger mess.

I put all my Coral Farmer's Market frags (7) in Tank 2 in hopes that they will grow. I also received two lyretail anthias females from LiveAquaria.com which are also in Tank 2. This is my first experience with anthias.
 
I read through this and was thinking the twins would be run on the same system, suprised your not going this route. I love my 58, perfect shape. definately looking good so far.
 
I gave it a lot of thought, running on one system, but I could not figure out the physical location of the sump/refugium given the two stands I am using already.

Update:
I got some live rock from an LFS and was very disappointed when I got it in my tank. Some of it turned out to be "Real Reef Rock" which despite its name is actually a man-made product and not like Marco Rocks at all. In fact I was so disappointed I ordered live rock from liveaquaria.com. It comes delivered damp but not wet. I got 52lbs of rock in a box plus about 15lbs more from the LFS. I figure that is plenty.

I wanted to go minimalist but I can't find data on just how much rock that would be and do I have to supplement filtration in that case.

Anyway, I got the rock in the tank and now am guessing that even though its live rock, I should probably let it repopulate with bacteria for a couple of weeks. I kind of thought I would get a hitch hiker of some kind but so far the rock looks very clean.
 
I finally got some fish, a Melanarius wrasse, a PJ cardinal, and 3 green chromis. The cardinal was not a good pick for this tank as its coloring blends to much with the rock. Maybe the rock will change color over time. The chromis were to get the wrasse to come out more.

I still need a skimmer for this tank and I think I will start saving for LED lights.

I am pretty happy with the sump purchase and the mail order rock.
 
Tank 1 has a bad case of cyano. I have cut my lighting down but not the feeding and of course I do not have my skimmer set up yet. I thought I would have completed that way before now.

I know I could have purchased a new skimmer for not much more money than I have spent on this one but I have learned things in the process of research that will make me appreciate it more I think.

The chromis have disappeared. I did find that I have 2 flame cardinals in Tank 1.

I moved most all my zoanthids to Tank 1 with its slightly less intense light. I am only running 2 T5HO bulbs. The SPS in Tank 2 seems to finally be growing slowly now that the phosphates are gone. I guess I did not understand about the phosphates before, thank you for setting me on the right path.

The anthias seem to be doing just fine. I do see them resting on the sand bed sometimes but they do the same thing at night.
 
I have been following your build and it looks like you will have a pretty cool view once all the kinks are worked out. [smilie=wink.gif]
@Tinyfish wrote:
The chromis have disappeared. I did find that I have 2 flame cardinals in Tank 1. said:
You lost me here... where did the chromis disappear to and where did the cardinals come from???
Click to expand...
 
I guess I missed posting the when on the fish additions for the chromis and the cardinals. I got the chromis to bring the wrasse out so it was shortly after the wrasse purchase. The chromis dove for the rockwork and never came back out. The cardinals I got thinking they might provide the same type of calming effect that chromis normally provide for my fish. I had gotten three flame cardinals. One was DOA and the other two dove for the rockwork. One came out about three days later and is now out most of the time. About a week after that I spotted a second flame cardinal that still does not come out except to feed.

Yes, the kinks. Thank you for the thumbs up. I am getting more used to the setup myself and think the concept works for me.
 
A lot of posts with no pictures. Maybe soon though. I need to get over stomach flu and pain from shoulder surgery. I hate pain.

I did put in an Odyssea PS75 skimmer on Tank 1 because I got it free with no pump. I tried an MJ900 but that was not right. I got a Rio 800 rejuvinating pump on there now and the bubbles are much better. I will replace it when/if I ever get a pump on my DAS EX1.

I purchased a Kent Phos Reactor because it was only $15 but it did not have the barbs on the tube ends. I emailed Kent today to see if they could help me.

I also purchased an Ehiem compact 800 to pump the water for the reactor because it has a volume control and I wanted to try one of their small pumps out.

Most likely I will use PhosBan on this one also unless someone wants me to compare something else.

I have mostly zoanthids in Tank 1 because I still have no lighting solution. Tank 2 needs fans for heat control and some type of controller. Will the Apex controller do multiple rooms wirelessly? I have tanks all over.
 
Yesterday I got the chiller hooked up at least initially. I had to run an extension cord to a bedroom to get on another electrical circuit because of the chiller draw. I am using a PSK 25000 for a feeder pump. This chiller has a thermostat so I can set a temperature and leave the unit alone.

Both Phosphate reactors seem to work just fine.

I am still disappointed that my skimmer did not fit the sump for Tank 1.

I think someone told me a 29g tank would fit under a 58g display. I will look into the fit for my cabinet.
 
Yesterday I got my RODI unit hooked up finally. The tap water TDS = 204, the water out of the DI unit = 0. I was using condensation water from a dehumidifier before now and it measured 27.

I had some difficulty with the connectors since I had never used those kind before and pushing things together is almost impossible for me with my shoulder the way it is. The other thing I had a problem with was that my drain line, the black hose, is about a foot too short.

I mounted the unit in my garage above and to the left of my washing machine. My thought was that it is easy to get to in that location and easy to see.

Is there a post somewhere telling about running water out of the filters for a time before running it through the DI unit? It seems like Marc wrote something like that.

I wish I had gotten this in the beginning of my hobby experience. I always considered it a luxury item instead of a must have but now think its a must have.

I also put a gate valve on my skimmer. I have yet to get the adjustment right.
 
That RODI unit from Marc is wonderful.

The phosphate reactors have filter pads in them. Mine keep getting clogged. I rinsed the media before putting it in so the only thing that makes sense is that it is breaking down while in the reactor. That would seem to point to not adjusting it correctly.

I have an idea to change my setup to run a parallel sump. It requires drilling holes in the bottom of the sump, one for in and one for out.

I installed a new skimmer yesterday. I got a DNW 110 Recirculating from Reef Octopus. It sure is big even though it is the smallest size they make, 4". It seems to make nice foam but I am having difficulty in getting the water level adjusted. I suppose it has to break in for a period. It just barely fits in the sump I have but would fit fine in the new proposed sump. Plus this skimmer handles 125g which will be very close to the combined water from both tanks.

I would like to get a new LED fixture for Tank 1. I like the idea of the 5 color controllable fixture. Even though they are only 24" I think they would cover a 36" tank, I hope.
 
This is the first time I have had lighting of the same fixture over a tank for over a year. Tank 2's lights declined starting about month 10. I decided to replace the 2 Ushio 14,000k 175w + Blue Plus VHO x 2 with 2 XM 20,000k + Actininc VHO x 2. Even though I just put these in and they are not burned in or anything, I like the colors already. The XM 20,000k bulbs have gotten good write-ups so I went with them.

Although Tank 1's lights are not as old, I never did put in a permanent solution for lighting. Although I can't afford to I went ahead and purchased an EcoTech Radion XR30w.

I think this will be especially interesting to have the two lighting solutions side by side. It may take me awhile to figure out the mounting and then of course figure out the programming.
 
I got the Radion XR30w bolted to the top of the canopy for Tank 1 after hooking it up to my computer for "programming". So things I did not put in my review of the light are that it does shine a bright spot in the middle. That is OK with me. I just love the colors of my coral now. I like the "cloudy skies" part and the true dawn and dusk dimming and lightening. I have all zoanthids in Tank 1 now so I am sure the light will be adequate. If I was going to use it over my SPS tank I would have to get two units to reduce the dark areas.

I have made an additional filter pad set for the Phosphate Reactor for Tank 1. Almost ready to try it out but not sure if it will fit since the skimmer now takes up most of the room. I am a little disappointed in the Reef Octopus Recirculating Skimmer. It has turned out to be difficult to get the water level correct and the bubbles keep bursting too soon and not making it to the cup part. Also I thought it would do better than my old EX1 but it doesn't. I just thought newer would be better.
 
I reprogrammed Tank 1 light unit thanks to help from the Tech Support.

Tank 2 SPS are beginning to die back. I checked my water and I don't think the parameters are very far off. The thing that has changed recently is the light. I have removed the SPS I want to save and put them into the seagrass tank for now.
 
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