tank wars!

[Twins Guy]

alright now that one of the sheriffs is gone for the holidays (not that we're happy you left dave) it's time...

i'm tired of greg and derek hijacking innocent threads in order to rip me or lawn-boy porter...so here we go. king of the hill format-last tank standing wins (nothing/steet cred). all tanks and participants are open to criticism (harsh comments welcomed! ) greg-if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen-or just don't come it in in the first place!

i will start things off with my 5.5 gallon nano. your objective-trump it (pictures of your own tank welcomed!) or insult it (or the owner-but you might pick your enemies!). rebutals welcomed! no holds barred. in the end i want to see a kick a**, well thought out system and or ideas for improvement.

think of this like one of those robot war shows-your secret weapon might be your powersweep which pulls double duty as a powerhead AND a heater or it might be the steam-hidden in the deco rock!

my 5.5 tank specs:
tank-old gerbil cage with chewed out silicone
heater-sits on radiator
lighting-burnt out
air stone circulation copyright Eng
yellow tang-yes

see picture

[Twins Guy]

oops
bring it fools-be constructive (or destructive)!
tg

[Graham]

Why is your tang hiding???
I think it needs a companion.

[mnreefgeek]

Rich - it's nice of you to finally show us a picture of your real tank. Nobody believed all of that "Not so Nano"!!

[otolith]

3 or 4 more tangs would be ideal....

Remember to do water changes with tap water without dechlorinator every couple years or so.

TG, apparently you're not busy enough at work.

[mnreefgeek]

I am particularly fond of the pretty rocks/gravel in his tank. Since I went BB on my current set up he's given me a swell idea on how to cover that bottom glass.

[civil]

When the water gets to about half in the tank, I go to the store buy some more salt water and dump it in. This way I top off and do a water change at the same time. I don't use lights, just set it in the window and use sunlight, natural is the best.

My purple tang, clown trigger, queen angel, lion, and snowflake eel are all toing just fine in my 29.

[Graham]

TG,

You also may want to consider purchasing a 3rd dimension for your tank. I've found that having that 3rd dimension really gets things going. Which makes me wonder how that tang is able to hide behind that red thing...

[David Grigor]

Convert an old toilet into a nano. Water changes are real easy...

[Twins Guy]

3rd dimension-ROLFLMAO (rolling on lab floor...)

but i really like flat fish (that's why i have the 3 yellow tangs-sorry i forgot to put the "s" as in plural on tang)-flatworms less so but i have some of them too-they seem pretty hardy!

the gerbil's fine work "facilitates" my constant water changes- so no worries there!-i have a 450 gallon top-off reservoir where i premix my "makeup" saltwater-it's hooked up to the 5.5 via a float switch.

gravel-chad that's a good idea!-then i could siphon out all those beer bottle shards!

speaking of toilet-sheriff-i have been contemplating a refugium/surge device operating off a toilet valve-SERIOUSLY!

dan-you have a lion in your 29-swheeet!-must be a lioness i hear they stay a lil smaller-and shed less!

thanks for all the ideas fellas
tg

[Graham]

TG,

On the "serious note", are you familiar with the "Borneman Surge Device"? In fact, most surges utilize tiolet float and flapper systems. (I'm not sure if you are being facetious with your idea or not)...I know that RC has a plethora of info about them. Try searching for the "Borneman Surge Device" or "RCDS" Reverse-Carlson Surge Device or just "surge device". Also, Eric's "Aquarium Corals" book has a layout and instructions for building his unit.

[Twins Guy]

hey graham-
i have indeed seen some of the toilet flapper devices (and Carlson and RCDS-thanks) and all the bubble/noise issue have held me back to this point! that said, my idea-my twist was to have the device double as a refugium-it seems to me you would sweep a bunch of pods back into the tank on every surge which would be awesome! that said how do you protect a sustainable population therein-and/or macroalgae with all that water emptying?-i was thinking some kind of smaller reservoir-even partitioned off-inside the surge bucket which would only drain part way? whaddya think?
tg

[Graham]

Rich,

You could use a partial partition or else have the output drilled up from the bottom. Macro may be a problem, as you wouldn't want it to clog the output - though you'd probably have a safety overflow on the surge end...pretty much required to prevent floods in case of fail. A partition may be the better way to go.

I have wanted to use one as well, but that would mean another hole in my wall and alot of hassle....maybe in the next house.

[civil]

Hold on a minute here, who let this thrad get serious. This one needs to be kept on track. Now what would be really cool is to make the surge device out of an old toilet tank reservior.

[SawCJack00]

TG, I think that pic of your nano is photoshopped!!!