Finally... The Reef Tank images

[Der Alta]

LIfe does tend to throw curves. With unexpected christmas money, the missus and I purchased a nice digicam. (I can finally start the Reef tank pages on my site.

Here's the first image.

This is a wide shot of the 38 gallon tank.

More to come...

AO

 

[Darin]

Thats awesome dude!

 

[Joey]

That's, uh, really really big. My girlfriend has a huge one in her old room, I'm not really sure what kind of volume it's got going on.

Live coral?

 

[Der Alta]

Yes, Live coral. Anemone, and a whole load of other stuff. Live shrimp and a slew of other creatures.

As big as this is, one of my wife's co-workers has a 150gallon reef tank. Based off of a 75 gallon sump plumbed in from his basement. So that's 225 gallons in his tank.

We've also got a 20 gallon Hex tank with a Moray Eel in it.

I'll get images of that one over the weekend.

AO

 

[Darin]

You don't mind if I buy the shrimp from ya? Im kidding.

 

[under18carbon]

Is that Nemo?

 

[bustwave.]

Originally posted by under18carbon
Is that Nemo?

 

[hanker]

How often do you need to clean that tank? I used to have a small tank and it seemed like we always were cleaning it! But it looks really nice, good Job.

 

[Der Alta]

We never clean it. The right balance of fish (and especially saltwater) and mollusks as well as invertebrates makes for a very self sustaining tank. We do a 20% water change on a weekly basis though.

Was yours a fresh water tank? How often did you feed the fish, and how much? I'm guessing that you fed a small handful once a day, when in reality, you only need to feed them a few small pinches every other day.

Here's an image I shot with the late night lights on.

AO

 

[Der Alta]

OK...since someone wants this critter... Here's one creature that lives in our tank. He's about 1.5 inches from head to toe. The feelers are longer than his body.

Cleaner Shrimp.

AO

 

[Der Alta]

Hermit Carb. The shell he's checking out is about 3/4" wide.

Yep, the camera has a nice macro on it.

AO

 

[Der Alta]

I have no clue what type of shrimp this is. My wife is the fish expert. When it comes to my knowledge of fish "if I can't cook it, I don't care about it."

Edit: It's a peppermint (or Candy Cane) shrimp.

AO

 

[Cano]

hey, awesome pics der alta! those look way bigger than they actually are. nice tank, too. cheers to you and yer wife!

Cano

 

[Attila_Da_Hun]

Very nice.

 

[Crayola]

Originally posted by hanker
How often do you need to clean that tank? I used to have a small tank and it seemed like we always were cleaning it! But it looks really nice, good Job.

Ah i had this same problem, you have to take the tank out of direct sunlight otherwise algae grows really quickly, my tank is
about 116,000 cc or 116L I dont noe how many gallons that is but its about 4.5-5 cubic ft.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

I always thought it would be awsome if one of the walls of our pool would have a fish tank in that took up the whole side. Or atleast a large portion. We went to this restaurant one time where all the walls wre fish tanks, it was awsome! I wan't to get a tank but my problem is that I cant decide if i want the "pretty" ones or something exotic that eats meat and I can show off to my friends....

Nice tank BTW. How much did it cost you?

 

[boombexus]

Great lookin tank there Alex.

So instead of going to the zoo here, I'm just gonna visit your house.
How do you get any sleep in the "wild kingdom" you seem to live in?

 

[Shadow]

wwhhhooooaaaaaaaaaa der alta!!!

very nice pics



send more send more!!

 

[toyomatt84]

Originally posted by Der Alta
OK...since someone wants this critter... Here's one creature that lives in our tank. He's about 1.5 inches from head to toe. The feelers are longer than his body.

Cleaner Shrimp.

AO

Hmm.. It's Jacque (Finding Nemo). Anyways, I didn't know you were into Fish, Der Alta. That's a cool hobby.

 

[Shadow]

der alta has ALMOST inspired me to get into fish as a hobby(sorry man but if i wasnt so damm lazy, i would be completely inspired)

 

[Der Alta]

Originally posted by boombexus
Great lookin tank there Alex.

So instead of going to the zoo here, I'm just gonna visit your house.
How do you get any sleep in the "wild kingdom" you seem to live in?

Thanks. The great thing about the birds is that when they're covered up they sleep soundly. So after 7:30 at night, it's like a tomb in here. Except for the cat. He's a bit more nocturnal. I'll have a few images on my web page up over the weekend that shows our living room. No table, just bird swings and stands.

Originally posted by skylineGTR_guy
I wan't to get a tank but my problem is that I cant decide if i want the "pretty" ones or something exotic that eats meat and I can show off to my friends....

Nice tank BTW. How much did it cost you?

Well, My wife is a manager at a large Pet Supplies Store, so we didn't pay cost on any of it. What you're looking at here (the 38 gallon tank) with the live rock, filters, jets, lights fish, sand and water (we premix the saltwater) is in the vicinity of $1000. That's a rough guess on my part because she usually doesn't show me the receipt. If you want to see some interesting stuff check out www.nano-reef.com for a few small tanks. If you want to get started on a small reef tank, it can be done for under $150.

When I feed the Moray over the weekend, I'll try to snap a quick photo of him. He's not that exotic, and he eats meat. He lives in the 20 gallon tank. Before him, we had a Lion fish that was quite cool. You'd take a chunk of live food in tweezers, dabble it in the water at the top of the tank. He'd swim non-chalantly over and voraciously rip it from the tweezer. Brutal fish.

AO

 

[coralfishg]

hay there... just wanted to pop in and say you have a very nice start to a reef tank there... one thing that i notice in the tank is that you have a angel fish (looks to be a queen, but i whould need a better picture to know for shure), but you also have corals in there. there is a couple things to know about angels of any kind.. they need big tanks, atleast 150gal's. they need alot of swimming room.. angel's are also very aggressive, and will beat up on any fish that is smaller than him (this won't happen if they are housed in a big enough home). they also eat like friggin pigs, and should be fed atleast three times a day, with Spirulina being a big part of there diet... as far as them with corals, this is a big no no... they will nip at any soft or stony coral...

so i guess what im trying to tell you is that you should really look into a new home for this guy..

i have been keeping reef tanks for a little over 8 years now, and absulutly love every moment of it.. i have kept tanks in many sizes from a 1.1gal nano to current prized possesion a 150gal, all acrilic.. i don't know how long you, and your wife have been keeping saltwater tanks but i figured i whould give you some tips... i hope you don't mind.. the main thing i can tell you is to do alot of reading.. check out reefcentral.com there is alot of very good guys on there that whould be more than happy to help you out in this adventure..

i close this with some picture's of my tank.. and keep up the good work, your tank is coming along great... jason

this first picture is a full tank.. the picture was taken about 8 months ago.. the tank had only been set up for about 2 months at the time

jason

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

hey jason, do you have any pics of the 150 gal tank?

 

[Der Alta]

Originally posted by coralfishg
hay there... just wanted to pop in and say you have a very nice start to a reef tank there... one thing that i notice in the tank is that you have a angel fish (looks to be a queen, but i whould need a better picture to know for shure), but you also have corals in there. there is a couple things to know about angels of any kind.. they need big tanks, atleast 150gal's. they need alot of swimming room.. angel's are also very aggressive, and will beat up on any fish that is smaller than him (this won't happen if they are housed in a big enough home). they also eat like friggin pigs, and should be fed atleast three times a day, with Spirulina being a big part of there diet... as far as them with corals, this is a big no no... they will nip at any soft or stony coral...

We appreciate the info, and yes we do know.

so i guess what im trying to tell you is that you should really look into a new home for this guy..

That is the plan. He's headed to a 739 gallon system when he's a bit bigger. My wife works in a Pet store, and frequently brings small fish home to raise and sell.

i have been keeping reef tanks for a little over 8 years now, and absulutly love every moment of it.. i have kept tanks in many sizes from a 1.1gal nano to current prized possesion a 150gal, all acrilic.. i don't know how long you, and your wife have been keeping saltwater tanks but i figured i whould give you some tips... i hope you don't mind.. the main thing i can tell you is to do alot of reading.. check out reefcentral.com there is alot of very good guys on there that whould be more than happy to help you out in this adventure..

This images are of a tank that has been up and running for about a year now. My wife has been keeping tanks since she was 8. So that's about 20 years of experience. She noted that what you said is correct. Appreciate the the extra info.

i close this with some picture's of my tank.. and keep up the good work, your tank is coming along great...

Coming along? Are you assuming that we need to go bigger? This is what really irritates me. Many people that see our tank ask "So what's next?"

In fact, my wife is a regular poster at reef central. I'd bet that you already know her. It's a small world young pup.

AO

 

[Rue]

Ah, I'm so jealous, Der Alta. I love fish and I'd love to have a tank, but unfortunately average Hong Kong appartment sizes aren't suited to this hobby. Also my level of laziness an inability to look after living things (I managed to kill a cactus) is monumental. I went on a holiday to the Maldives a few years back and it was the most amazing experience I've ever had. Snorkelling with white tip sharks, stingrays, turtles and six foot morays every day for three weeks was fantastic! If you haven't been, then I'd highly recommend it.

 

[HIGH ON LIFE]

i used to have a little fish tank when i was about 5 and we had about 4 angel fish but when we got a new baby fish it ate all the others and i didnt know what happened and those were the last fish i ever had.

 

[coralfishg]

skylineGTR_guy sorry... i don't know why the picture of the tank didin't show up... here is some more...

this is the day after i got the tank..

rock support

tank after being set up for like 2 months... this picture is about 8 months old...

Der Alta... glad to hear that the queen (that is what it is right..) will be moving to a bigger enviroment

when i say the tank is coming along nicely.. that's just my way of saying the tank looks good.. you said that the tank has been set up for about a year.. just remember a tank won't show it's true potential till after about a year to 2 years (when it's fully established) so just remember the best is still to come.. i can't wait till all the corals in my new tank really start to take off..

as far as a bigger tank.. well you know what they say.. bigger is always better im not saying that you need to upgrade, but if you can afford it then, by all mean's go as big as you can... when i get my new house i plan on doing a 500gal in wall tank, i can't wait..

what is your wife's name on reef central.. i might know her.. my name is the same as it is on here..

talk to you later... jason

 

[Der Alta]

And it crawled out....!

The wife warned me that I should be careful when looking at the fish tank late at night. Seems there are creatures in there that we don't see during the day time. Odd evil looking creatures.

Like this Serpent Starfish.



To give you an idea of his size, that hole in the rock next to him is about 3/8" wide.

Careful...56ker's

AO

 

[lsk8er]

Cool stuff! Not to mess up your thread or anything but i thought you might be interested to see this, it's my half sisters big ass fish tank. The thing is so big that a guy jumps in there to clean it.

 

[Der Alta]

! Don't let my wife see that. Something that size would be exactly what she wants.

Very Nice!

AO