dread240

Figured I would actually toss up some pics of the setup so I can come back to them later and see the progress.

Tank started off a few years ago as a FOWLR setup, as I never really thought a 29 gallon could make a decent reef setup. After seeing a few others (melev's being one of them) I decided to take the plunge and get it going.

As it sits right now, I'm using 2 current usa nova extreme x2 fixtures (they don't make a 4 bulb t5ho in a 30" length, so I purchased 2 of them and have them covering the tank)... it's 96w of t5ho lighting, with individual reflectors, 2 10k bulbs, and 2 460nm actinics, bak pak II protein skimmer with a maxi-jet 1200 pump on it, another maxi-jet 600 for circulation, and a generic petco pump on the other side to keep things moving.

Stocked with about 50lbs of live rock, buncha red leg reef hermits (the smallers ones, I had to trade my monster hermit in as he was destroying some of my softer corals), a few coral frags I picked up from a local reefer off of craigslist with some pics below.

Nice Orange Ricordea I picked up for 15 bucks. I can't quite find the sweet spot for it, as it always seems a bit scrunched up to me. I've tried near the top, on the bottom, under a ledge, dunno, just can't get this thing to open up fully


Some green zoo's I picked up for $10 bucks at house of tropicals


Condy anemone (Honestly was hoping my clown would host in it, even though I know they're not natural... was a juvenile so figured I'd take a chance)


I believe this is a green slimer... it seems to be very happy under the t5ho lighting and is always open


A very very very bright orange mushroom. I got this from the local guy, and I've never seen this coloration in any stores. He said it's fairly rare up in this area, and it flouresces, so I was a fan :-P


Frogspawn... another one that seems to be very very happy under the t5's


This is a very nice blueish purple and green acropora. It doesn't open alot though... I only see it extended a few hours a day at most... so I hope it will grow out on it's nice table I gave it.


Obligatory FTS... This is the barren wasteland as it sits right now.


Heh, so many projects in one picture too. This is a hang on the back refugium I'm building to increase capacity on the system. It's 5" x 20" x 16" tall. With it complete, it should be giving me close to 6 gallons of extra capacity, which is a nice 20% increase over what I have now. Going to supply it with a nice deep sand bed, and a single flourescent bulb. Friend donated a mag drive 250 for it as well too... and instead of the generic plumbing coming back in I'm going to do a cascade out the side of it back into the tank. Ever since I learned the trick that distorting the surface stabilizes the ph, I'm always looking for more ways to accomplish it :-P
The Other projects you see are putting back together the mazda 3 on the left (it's the current record holder for pump gas, 501whp on a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder), building our own custom turbo setup for the caliber srt-4 with a gt35r to hopefully push it to the 600whp barrier on race gas, and our monstrous completely custom and 1 off build happening on the mazdaspeed 3 you see on the lift... gtk-650 turbo, custom sidewinder t-4 turbo manifold, custom intake manifold, 85mm throttle body, clutchmasters twin disc, arp l19 studs and much more... Hopefully that car can break into the 600whp range on the stock ecu with a secondary port injection fuel system (can you tell I have expensive *** hobbies yet and why I don't have thousands to throw at a big tank )