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Doug's 180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Very nice tank, Bryan is right about the GSP, they grow fast and take over anything in their way. Also that fish as a hitchhiker is very funny.
 
BTW that goes for the mushrooms too. Ask Christina 99sf or a couple of other the wonderful time they are hacing in their tank because of mushrooms spreading everywhere.
 
Thanks everyone! I guess I'll have to reconsider the star polyps.
xcarat: I would love to take you up on your offer!
So the "hitchhiker" is actually a candy hogfish.
 
Doug I see that your return pump is right below your skimmer. I am concerned about micro-bubbles being blown into the display. I recommend you move the return pump to the opposite side of the sump from the skimmer and display drain.
 
Star polyps and mushrooms are great as long as you can control them. Just by all means if you are going to keep them in your tank, make sure you contain them to a selected area, they can get out of control quickly and give you fits down the road. Both can be really hard to remove if they get everywhere.
 
Some advice I have heard but not really tried:
Only get mushrooms that do not like a lot of light.
They take over in the dark areas, which is generally a good thing.
So all of the normal corals are out in the open, and the overhangs/etc are covered in shrooms.

The problem I see with that advice is actually finding/picking mushrooms that are low light specific enough.
 
I definitely agree with Bryan on the mushroom explosion problem. They have an amazing ability to reproduce by detaching from rocks and attach to all surfaces of the tank. They were even growing all over the back of my acrylic tank with its previous owner. I have had nice LPS corals lose to the mushrooms in coral warfare. Great hitch-hiker fish!
 
Thanks guys its very helpful advice. I will watch the star polyps and make sure they stay on that one rock. The mushrooms...I will need to reconsider. They are only on the one rock at the moment so I can always remove that rock and be done with it.

Erin: The output of the skimmer actually shoots into the middle compartment of the skimmer and into the collection of cheato. So the bubbles actually don't make it near the return pump.

xcaret: Im afraid Ill be in vegas during the next meeting. Blackjack here i come!
 
Nice rockwork =) I just bought a yellow coris wrasse, and you got it free u lucky!

+1 Xenia's are a nuisance too, Plus they branch up and can block light to anything below.
 
Sorry I haven't updated in a long time! The tank has been up now for about 3-4 months. Everything has been going fairly well. No fatalities and corals seem to be doing fine. I'm finally finished with the algae blooms, and parameters seem fine (SG 1.025 / amm and nitrite 0 / nitrate about 2.5 / ca 420 / KH 9.0 / mg 1200 all by salifert).
I finally upgraded to a Vortech mp40 (only have one at the moment, placed on the left side of the tank. Moved the two existing koralia's to the right side. The vortech is amazing! Im definitely a believer. Will soon get a second one to add to the right side of the tank, then probably move the koralias to the back.
After that plan is to add a controller to dose calcium and alkalinity.
My one regret thusfar is getting an all t5 fixture. i just really miss the shimmer and brightness of Metal halides. I may eventually change out the ATI powermodule I have now for MH / t5 combination fixture. just need to find one that's sleek looking because I don't have a canopy and want it to look nice.
Will try to upload new pics later today. Don't have an ALR camera so they probably won't look too great.
 
Ah I see what you mean. But is there a clean way I can add them onto an ATI Powermodule? I don't have a canopy so I'd like it to look nice
 
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