Joe's Wet Dream, A 550 Gallon Work In Progress

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Sorry, I get a little twisted after a couple of beers :D If I offended I apologize, I tend to escalate whenever I get caught up in banter...
 
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, all the rest of my

I took a few photos of the aquascaping and the tank inhabitants while the MH's were hammering the tank, I'm starting out just running them a couple of hours mid day, actinics are set at 12 hours, hoping that once I get the MH's up to 8 hours that the corals I've browned up in the last year will get their color back.

Here's a quality tort I got at BR:
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The Red Rics on top are Yumas, all the rest in my collection are Floridas.
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Here are a few aquascaping views, from the frontal perspective it appears to be one large sloping mass of rock, the basic design is actually two separate seamounts separated by an abyss. Here are some frontal views:
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Here are some views from the right side that show the channel between the two masses, this is the primary viewing angle due to our living room configuration. Note the vertical walls that our not directly lighted by the MH's, I'll be trying to load those spots up with ricordea.
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Here's a view from the left side:
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And a few views of my pets tripping the rift:
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Lot of really nice fish in there. Love your zoa displays. Now just need to wait a few years for the corals to fill the tank. Will be fun watching the changes
 
Hi Edwing, I've had the purple tang 4 years or so, bought him online from Flying Fish Express, they were bought by Drs. Foster Smith when the new owners moved into the live fish business.

Several factors led to my choice on the large substrate. Bare bottom was not an option for me due to personal preference and my opinion that BB's are inherently less stable. I think detritus buildup is a bad thing, large substrate is very easy to vaccum, the substrate never clogs your siphon, and the detritus just can't hide. I think pods are essential in a stable reef, I have my fuges set up for optimal pod production, but I just think you can't have too many of the little buggers, there's no better way to enhance pods in your display tank than using a rubble substrate. But what really clinched it was a test I did as soon as I had my tank up and running. I put a few pounds of coarse and medium aragonite in it, with the intensity of current in the system even coarse substrate was moved around, so large rubble it was. I was bummed at first that I couldn't have prawn gobies, jawfish and a few other of my sand dwelling favorites, until I realized they would be lost in a large display. The 120 RBTA tank tied into this will have a DSB so I'll have the option of other critters there...
 
They are Byssal attachments Mike, I got the clams 18 months ago and knew I'd be moving them a time or two, so I wanted to come up with something to minimize trauma to them. The other benefit is that you can move them easily around the tank to play around with different lighting intensities or if you are just rearranging things. It's very easy to do, you just set them up perpendicularly in an oyster shell and put a piece of live rock (or whatever..) on either side of them to hold them upright until they attach. I've got tons of oyster shells if you ever want to try this.

Jason Gregory clued me in on the angel, I asked him if he knew what large angels had the best chance of being reef safe, he didn't hesitate a second when he told me Azfur angels were the best choice. I did a little research as I always do when thinking about adding a fish unfamiliar to me, Jason was right on the money (not that I ever had any doubts), Azfurs are unusual angels in that they tend to be planktonic feeders for the most part and are considered by the experts to be as reef safe as a large angel can be, they are also known to be quite hardy. He pigs out on flake, actually prefers it over the chopped up seafood medley glop I feed daily, he won't touch Nori or Chaeto. The photos don't do him justice, He's a deep dark blue color, not black, with intense metallic overtones on his head, these colors will intensify as he matures...
 
They are Byssal attachments Mike, I got the clams 18 months ago and knew I'd be moving them a time or two, so I wanted to come up with something to minimize trauma to them. The other benefit is that you can move them easily around the tank to play around with different lighting intensities or if you are just rearranging things. It's very easy to do, you just set them up perpendicularly in an oyster shell and put a piece of live rock (or whatever..) on either side of them to hold them upright until they attach. I've got tons of oyster shells if you ever want to try this.

he won't touch Nori or Chaeto...

Give him time. My Navarchus is now mostly vegi competing with the tangs for the nori
 
Great Tank!!! I have a tank from Jason that is just a little smaller, about 580 gallons smaller. His tanks are worth every last penny. I would love to come see it sometime
 
It was weird Eric, I thought I'd have major warfare, they postured a little in the first 24 hours and have got along great since, there is actually more agression between the two yellows (they were supposed to be best buddies in their previous residence, but one is very dominant in the new digs), the purple tang harassed my azfur for 2 weeks before he calmed down. BTW thanks for the tip, since I started soaking their corn flakes in bacon grease my fish have much shinier coats.
 
Transferred a few more fish in today, a trio of 2 inch Hippos, a longnose butterfly, and a golden angel, the golden dove right into the rockworks, probably won't see him for a while, here's a couple of photos of the others:
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