My 180 photos

sean · 11-16-2003, 11:30 AM

This is the left and right sides of my 180 reef ready. It has been running for almost a year now.
I run 3 VHO 140 watt actinic days and 3 175 watt MH under a spider reflector. The VHO's are on from 9AM to 10PM and the MHs come on from 2 to 8PM.
I have four 30 gallon rubbermaids plumbed together and filled with live rock and macro as my sump.
The majority of the reef is filled with corals and cuttings from my local fish club (Fishheads.org).
It is 95% soft corals with a 6 inch blue crocea clam, two SPS, and two large bubbles.
I have a blue hippo tang, yellow tang, red sea sailfin tang, a pair of jet black percs, a gold bar maroon (all living peacefully), four green chromis, a pair of pink squareback anthias, a blue belly fairy wrasse, a red filament fairy wrasse, and two blue damsels.
I need to add another inch or so of sand, once I can find some Southdown here in KC, and get a better skimmer, but right now everything is doing great.
My 12 inch rose BTA split last week! Unfortunately, they had already closed up for the night when I took these pics.
I hope you enjoy it!
Sean

MontanaRocknReefer · 11-16-2003, 11:38 AM

Very beautiful reef system sean!! How do you like your pink squareback anthias? What do you feed them? I would like to get three or four of these for my reef.

sean · 11-16-2003, 12:17 PM

Hi and thanks for the complimant!
I love my pink squareback anthias. The male is always out swimming and just seems to love to show himself off. The female spends most of her time peeking out of the rock scape and swims around mostly in the late hours. She is a really pretty orange/yellow and I wish she were out more.
I make my own fish food every two weeks or so. I buy a frozen bag of mix seafood (shrimp, squid, mussels, etc.), add a fresh oyster, some salmon, a sheet of nori, a few cloves of garlic, a couple of teaspoons of flake food, a cup of RODI water, and sometimes some selcon. I mix it all together in a blender, freeze and break off chunks to feed. Usually a 1/4 pound of this will last for a month or more. My anthias, actually all my fish, go crazy over this mix. I have not had any luck getting the anthias to eat flake just yet.
I think that a trio of them would be great, but I had to consider tank size and the fact that I would like to add some more anthias in a few months.
If you are looking at getting a trio or more, you should check out www.exoticfish.com. They have the squarebacks for $15 each. Not a bad price even when you add $30 for over night shipping. Unless of course you can get them cheaper locally. Around here anthias are going for $35 to $40 each.
Thanks again for the compliment.

tkjeffrey · 11-16-2003, 12:33 PM

awesome looking tank!!! how old is it? Man I could stare at that all day. Way to go.

sean · 11-16-2003, 12:43 PM

Thanks Travis! The tank has been running for almost a year now. I started it with a 9 for $99 special from exoticfish.com and a bunch of frags and cutting from local reefers here in KC. They have all grown to show size in this last 9 to 10 months or so.
I have changed the rock scaping three times and think I finally have it the way I originally intended. I do spend hours just watching it.
I am trying to get a digital camera so I can take better quality photos of it. These aren't the best and really don't do the reef justice. Once I figure out how to resize pics, I will post a full front shot of the tank to put it all into perspective.
Again thanks for the complimant.
Sean

CAT · 11-16-2003, 03:04 PM

Very nice

love all the softies.

Reefdude5 · 11-16-2003, 03:06 PM

Very nice Sean!
I love softies! Beautiful tank!

sean · 11-17-2003, 12:53 PM

Thanks reefdude and CAT!

Geoff · 11-17-2003, 01:51 PM

how about a full tank shot!

i like eye candy.

G~

sean · 11-17-2003, 07:03 PM

Hi Guys,
You can see a full tank shot at
http://www.fishheads.org/viewtopic.php?t=1705

The quality of the full tank shot is not that good, but it gives you the idea.
Hope you all enjoy it.
Sean

WildPraire · 11-18-2003, 12:32 AM

Beautiful tank Sean, looks fantastic.

How much substrate do you have on the bottom?

Thanks for sharing,

Sue

sean · 11-18-2003, 05:15 PM

Hi Sue,
I only have about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches of live fiji sand, but I am on the lookout for some Southdown or for someone that might be breaking down a reef to get more. I plan on adding about another inch or so when I can find some.
I will also be adding some more to my sump.
Thanks for the compliment.
Sean