The 180gal Family Project

[nikkipigtails]

lol Terry...it's not on purpose. Tommy's actually really excited about it.

Originally Posted by lcstorc

You don't want to get too big of a qt if you are going to use it as a hospital tank as well. You will spend a fortune on meds if you ever need them.

The 47 is just 10 gallons more than the smaller tank. We weren't going to have a lot of fish in the DT but the ones we were going to have are larger. I thought the larger QT would be better for the larger fish. Hopefully we won't have to use it for more than a QT tank. Besides that, the 47 is 36" tall so I would have to get stronger light, thus adding to our electric bill, to cut through the water to give the RBTA the best light possible. I just can't justify getting that strong of a light if I have a smaller tank I can use. I don't even think the height of the 47 would fit in our cabinet anyway.

I think we're just going to have 2-3 tangs and a couple smaller fish like a watchman and a firefish or something like that. Do you think it's better to have a smaller QT/hospital tank with those fish in mind? It's not a big deal to get a smaller tank, I just wanted to use what we've got before getting something else.

[lcstorc]

Well with me they would all end up DT. LOL I just can't stand to have an empty tank around. Most people use a 10g as a QT/Hospital tank. Woodstock used a much larger one but she had all of her fish in it for an extended time period.
IMO it would depend largely on how many fish you are going to have in it at one time. If you are getting all of the tangs at once, obviously you need a bigger tank than if you get them one at a time. You could always go both ways. Use what you have as a qt and keep a 10g around as a hospital tank in case you need it. Don't put water in it though. At least not if you are like me. My 20g qt quickly became my 20g clown tank.
Now I have a 10g that I keep completely empty and some sponges for bacteria in the sump of my 125.

[nikkipigtails]

Cool. I was thinking that if I had to put an large adult tang in a hospital tank it would be much happier in a larger tank. What kind of filter would be good to use for the QT/hospital tank? We're using an Emperor 400 on the 47.

[nikkipigtails]

Ok...so I've decided to have the RBTA tank...YAY. It's time to start scraping the paint off that one.

[Craig Manoukian]

You go girl!

[tbittner]

Isn't it funny how one tank leads to another, which leads to another, which....

[lcstorc]

I would have even more if I had more room.
We went from a 20g to a 125g to a 125g + 90g to 125g +90g +20g.
That is why it is an addiction.
Be sure to have that RBTA tank set up and stable before adding them.
I wonder if Elmo's gallery still has his tanks. He had a gorgeous tank that was absolutely filled with RBTA. I'll have to look around.
Darn it's not in the gallery. I'll look on my laptop and see if I can find it It was a gorgeous tank.

[Craig Manoukian]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

I wonder if Elmo's gallery still has his tanks. He had a gorgeous tank that was absolutely filled with RBTA. I'll have to look around.

Post a link if you find one please!

[lcstorc]

Will do. May take a while, I think it was about 2 years ago.

[nikkipigtails]

Thanks Lynn. I've been doing a lot of research on rbta's and if we weren't linking the two tanks together I would transfer everything in the one that's already set up and put him in there. So it'll be a while before I can add it. It's ok though, I'm excited about a new challenge. The lfs around here don't carry anemones period. Any suggestions on who to order from? And I know they have intense lighting needs, any suggestions? If I can get away with it, I would like to stick with T5's since we already have so much heat coming from the other lights.

[lcstorc]

Cool. I forgot you were linking the tanks. That certainly does help keep things stable. BTAs are about the only nem I would put under T5 lights but the more light the better. I currently have one under T5 lights and so far it is doing very well. It is still under a year though and with their slow metabolism there could be something wrong I haven't noticed yet.
It has moved to the very top of the highest rock. In fact it is out of water during water changes. The thing that is really odd is that the clowns stay in the RBTA out of water during the changes. I keep forgetting to take a pic or video.
As to where to get one I am no help there. I got mine from the LFS.

[nikkipigtails]

ok...I may just end up getting a 150 or 250 MH pendant.

[lcstorc]

Well depending on when you are ready I can tell you the current status of mine. So far so good and I only have it under a Nova Extreme. With more T5 particularly with individual reflectors I think it could be done without a problem.
If you really want to avoid heat, particularly with the main DT then look at the Solaris. Large upfront cost but pays for itself rather quickly by reduced power, heat, and no bulb replacement.

[nikkipigtails]

Thanks...I really want to see a picture of that water change!

I read that they need at least 5 watts per gallon for optimal growth. The smaller tank is 41.5 gallons so that's around 200 watts...I'm going to do some checking around before I decide. It's a 24x24x24 cube and it's pretty difficult to find high wattage lights in 24". We'll see. It's not high on my priority list right now anyway.

[thelastmucci]

awesome news Nikki I love anemones but to be honest I'm deathly afraid of getting one even after a year I don't want to kill anything LOL