Dave's 90 gallon reef story
- Thread starter mogurnda
- Start date
Oops, just saw this.colesy said:
I used playsand as the base. Then added about 45 lbs florida live sand, which is fairly coarse. I love the fresh live sand, it has so many worms and stars and things.
Now there's a layer of broken coral branches and other rubble on top of all of it. It's not really intentional, I just keep smacking into the corals.
Had a little time to shoot photos tonight, so I thought I'd do a little updating.
After I got the huge, cheap gorgonian from Florida Pets, I had to shift things around. Also did a little pruning to show some of the corals, like the orange cap and the brain, better.
Here's a closer shot of the platygyra brain. It has been hidden by the gorgonians for months, so I moved one and pruned another.
Here's the new gorgonian, an angular sea blade.
Details of the polyps:
Here are some zoos I got last year from Dr Mac. Nice color, but didn't photograph well.
After I got the huge, cheap gorgonian from Florida Pets, I had to shift things around. Also did a little pruning to show some of the corals, like the orange cap and the brain, better.
Here's a closer shot of the platygyra brain. It has been hidden by the gorgonians for months, so I moved one and pruned another.
Here's the new gorgonian, an angular sea blade.
Details of the polyps:
Here are some zoos I got last year from Dr Mac. Nice color, but didn't photograph well.
This is always fun. Growth sequence of an acropora frag I got earlier in the year. Whatever species it is, it has been so hardy, people around here call it the "weed staghorn."
Early August, it's just a little green nub:
Late September, it's coloring up and getting branchy:
Tonight (mid-November), looking like a small colony:
Early August, it's just a little green nub:
Late September, it's coloring up and getting branchy:
Tonight (mid-November), looking like a small colony:
Wow, tank looks amazing Dave. Always loved your leather coral. It's actually the reason why I got one. Keep up the good work.
Looks great! That's incredible growth out of the acropora frag in only 3 months. So that's the kind of results you get with metal halide...hmmmm... 
...upgrade..upgrade...
...upgrade..upgrade...Yeah, it was my first real coral. Always wonder how big it would be if I never fragged it. I almost lost it a few months ago, when it started rotting on the inside. Turns out I had mounted it temporarily on a wooden toothpick a few years ago, and forgot to remove it. Rotting wood isn't good for corals. Doh!Sregnar35 said:
It's been interesting to see what a difference upgrading the lights can make. You think your corals are growing fast, but....richtpe said:
Dave, I love the float valve you have designed and installed in your sump. I was looking at the one thats $15 from Marine Depot, and I think I may order it. Ever since solving my overheating problem by removing the glass tops of the aquarium, ive noticed a huge amount of evaporation and im finding that I need to top up a little bit of fresh RO+DI water every few days. This is getting very annoying. I dont mind tank maintenance, but to top up every couple days is frustrating. I was thinking of running a waterline from my 4 gallon RO resevoir tank right to the float valve. Think it would work ok? I believe the pressure is about 40 psi when the tank is full. I dont mind drilling the side of my sump, and by the looks of that float valve, it should fit okay in my return pump chamber. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dave.
PS- your tank is beautiful
-Dave
PS- your tank is beautiful
-Dave
I'm glad you like the tank 
Your plan sounds good, but I can't tell you how dependable the valves are under pressure. Mine has been completely dependable for over a year, but it is under very low pressure from the reservoir, so I don't know how it would deal with 40 psi.
Drilling the sump, rather than a baffle, will probably be a good idea. I would have preferred to drill the side of the sump, but didn't feel like dealing with drilling glass.
Your plan sounds good, but I can't tell you how dependable the valves are under pressure. Mine has been completely dependable for over a year, but it is under very low pressure from the reservoir, so I don't know how it would deal with 40 psi.
Drilling the sump, rather than a baffle, will probably be a good idea. I would have preferred to drill the side of the sump, but didn't feel like dealing with drilling glass.
Something just occured to me.... Im not sure that I could ever sleep at night knowing that if the float valve was to get stuck open, I would have a never-ending amount of water flowing into my sump and overflowing (since the RO resevoir tank is constantly being kept full since its connected to the tap). Even worse, when i go away on business or holidays, i could return home to a real huge problem... my home could be floating down the street! Maybe I will look into one of those electronic sensors which activate an auxilary pump to pump water into the sump. I could then set up a 20 gallon resevoir like yours in the basement full of RO water. Then the worst case scenario would be a 20 gallon mess, rather than a never-ending mess.
