FarmerTy's 215-gallon SPS Tank

[007Bond]

Very nice tank! I really like how you placed your corals,...the colors complement each other...good job.
Is that a Lakers Monti there?

 

[FarmerTy]

Thank you! I worked really hard to space out the colors of the corals and to find complementary color combinations. It's a work in progress for sure as I still move around colonies from time to time.

If you're talking about the yellow coral, that's a yellow scroll coral. It used to be crazy common in Austin around the mid-2000s and then now, I rarely see them anymore. Definitely one of the truest yellows I've seen in a tank. You don't have to squint and pretend it's yellow... it's just straight yellow.

 

[BkReefBaby]

Beautiful tank

 

[007Bond]

Thanks...in some tanks you can see the thought process in their coral placements...some not so much,
I can usually tell if a person is artistic in nature by their color choices...you know, useing all the crayons in the box,...hope I'm saying this right, lol

 

[Paul Carpenter]

Hello all,

Longtime cruiser of the club, first-time build thread poster.

I'm not going to bore you with details of when my passion for the hobby began and my first fish tank... yada yada yada.

I know what everyone came for... pics and videos! Please be patient with me as I figure out how to post videos and pics on this forum. I got it down pat on my local forum so forgive the missteps while navigating the learning curve.

Shot these last night, enjoy!

YOU INSPIRED ME. THANKS Ty. ps....I will copy the little frag garden you have back right. Perfect.

 

[FarmerTy]

Kind words guys. Hits you right there in the soft spot. Haha.

If it's any consellation, my favorite crayon color is cerulean. [emoji12]

That's my hidden frag rack Paul. Usually it's more tucked behind the rock structure on the right but my emperor kept knocking it down so I shifted it to the left a bit to "lean" on that giant supernatural monti colony.

 

[s2nhle]

Wow, big change especially the emperor angel. Thank for sharing.

 

[jolt]

I am a local customer of FarmerTy, and I can tell you I was very happy with my Oregon Tort and PC Rainbow frags!

 

[Wildman926]

Very cool Ty. I have not seen your 215 since you migrated to it. Looks GREAT!!

 

[FarmerTy]

Thank you sir! You're more than welcome to see it in person one day after work since you're right up the road from me.

 

[FarmerTy]

I am a local customer of FarmerTy, and I can tell you I was very happy with my Oregon Tort and PC Rainbow frags!

Got one wild guess who this is! [emoji41]

 

[Wildman926]

Ty, thank you very much for the invite. I will have to do that soon.

I still have the yellow scroll frags that I got from you. They are very hardy, and are growing quite well.

The fungia plate is massive, the size of a grapefruit now...still very pretty with long tentacles.

 

[FarmerTy]

Ty, thank you very much for the invite. I will have to do that soon.

I still have the yellow scroll frags that I got from you. They are very hardy, and are growing quite well.

The fungia plate is massive, the size of a grapefruit now...still very pretty with long tentacles.

That's a testament to your saltwater skills sir!

 

[007Bond]

Hey Ty...do you have any clean up crew...in your pics I don't see any snails on the glass,...curious what you have.---Rick

 

[FarmerTy]

Hey Rick,

My cleanup crew consists of 4 giant zebra turbo snails that only come out at night, 4 tuxedo urchins, and 2 sea cucumbers. The rest are naturally occurring micro crews such as tons of mini brittle stars, asterina stars, pods, and bristleworms. The tangs and angels keep the rocks clean for the most part. I despise hermit crabs with a passion and any snail smaller than a quarter is not worth it to me... at least in a 215-gallon.

 

[Wildman926]

Thank you my friend for the kind words.

One question, does the Emperor Angel bother anything?

 

[FarmerTy]

Thank you my friend for the kind words.

One question, does the Emperor Angel bother anything?

Everything not currently in the tank Wildman... [emoji6]

I've gotten rid of almost all my zoas and some LPS. I look at it as my final tipping point to go all SPS. [emoji41]

 

[FarmerTy]

Hey Ty...do you have any clean up crew...in your pics I don't see any snails on the glass,...curious what you have.---Rick

Speaking of my cleanup crew, here are some fun videos of their shenanigans:

 

[b4tn]

I'm curious which fixture is the MH's. I have always loved the look of MH but hated the power and heat. I had a very hard time deciding between getting MH or LED for my new build. In the end I ordered T247's that will be here tomorrow. Judging by your tank something tells me I will not be disappointed!

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm curious which fixture is the MH's. I have always loved the look of MH but hated the power and heat. I had a very hard time deciding between getting MH or LED for my new build. In the end I ordered T247's that will be here tomorrow. Judging by your tank something tells me I will not be disappointed!

I've been pleasantly happy so far b4tn with the LED transition. Bear in mind, this was coming from one of the worst LED critics. I'm a diehard MH fan.

So far so good, though I do run an unorthodox setting of 80% white, 20% blue on my fixtures. It gives me a good 425 par below the surface of the water, 325 around 15" below surface (middle of the tank), and 150-200 par on the sand (29" below water surface). The fixture is roughly 6" off the water. I plan to increase it to 100% white and 40% blue eventually as things adjust. It's only been 2-3 months so time will tell.

The frag tank has been growing well with the LED over it... and that's been at least 4-5 months if my memory serves me right. I did however use a more standard setting in the sump, at 60% blue, 30% white. I get about 325 par on the frag rack.

To ease your mind, the MH is the right fixture and the middle and left are LED.