Doc's Reef Build

[Doc]

throughout the whole filtration system where pails of bleach water you had to step into to make sure any bacteria was dead before changing sections. they took NO Risks. kinda cool.

Here is a top view of the huge skimmers for the main tank. They empty them twice a day and have a mechanism to flush out the skimmate. Next to the skimmers, you can see a cement square, which is the top of the 3 story tower that houses 4 million bioballs. I have a pic of a crate of the balls waiting to get added.

That is it for The Tank at the Golden Nugget. I will work on uploading the pics of the tank at Caesar's Palace in a bit. I hoped you liked it.

-Doc

 

[Doc]

ONTO THE FORUM SHOPPES!!!

Here are a few pics of the tank above ground, we will get to the filtration in a bit. It is not as impressive as The Tank at the Golden Nugget, but is pretty impressive nonetheless.

Huge Grey Angelfish - well over a foot long

-Doc

 

[Doc]

A white-spotted Bamboo, close relative to the brown-banded bamboo, which I will have about July (don't worry Biff, I will start a new thread of that tank build - all 400 gallons of it!!!)

I snapped these for Alexander and I so we can dream about what our Koran Angelfish will look like when they mature! Such beauty!

And what picture tour would be complete without the obligatory picture of a massive Sohal tang. This guy is about 15 inches (best guess) and thick as your foot. Big fish! You can see the Koran Angelfish paying his respects to him by bowing underneath the Sohal.

-Doc

 

[jcegt87]

i can fortell the future in pics esp[ecially the last one you and biff haha :mrgreen:

 

[ccCapt]

WOW....lol
I haven't really been watching this thread and see all these new posts thinking Doc is building something cool. So the 1st pic I see is a pan with bleach...hmmmmm. Then I see a giant protein skimmer....wtf lol So it's not Doc's build, but awesome pics. Looks like it was a great experience.

 

[LionFish]

Doc..
I really almost acheved full wood when I saw the tank!
Thanks for adding the tangs in the mix, I feel loved.
The unicorn tang is Great, I want the white tang...
At my LFS there is a bamboo shark somewhere around about 3 ft in length for $199.00
I wonder if Shipping that beast could be an option for ya!
they also have a few smooth hounds that are Crazy big

Thanks for the pics man, I know what a pain they were to upload ,

 

[jhnrb]

Excellent update on your trip. very informative, and interesting. I truly enjoyed the pics and comments. thanks Doc.

 

[reefer2b]

Wow those are some great pics. I haven't been to Vegas in Years. We used to go all the time when our friends lived there and we lived in CA. Then they moved to Utah so we started going up there and visited Mesquite instead.

 

[yote]

Thanks for the pics Doc.
Now how many sets of battries did you go through in your camera?

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the pics Doc.
Now how many sets of battries did you go through in your camera?

Just one set Yote. I just uploaded the rest of the pics and I will post them in a bit. these are the ones of me feeding the cow-nosed stingrays. Pretty awesome.

-Doc

 

[Bifferwine]

Hey, I have a tattoo of a cow-nosed stingray!

 

[Doc]

Hey, I have a tattoo of a cow-nosed stingray!

then you are gonna luv these...

-Doc

 

[Doc]

this is the tour under the caesar's palace tank. you go down an elevator and then down a long hallway to a set of windows and you can see inside to the filtration and their ray tank. Here is what the standard tour consists of...

ray tank and holding tank for naughty fish

specimen tank for leathers and such

QT tank that his a travali jack in it

a tank where they mix their fresh salt water for water changes

their educational reef tank that they paid WAY too much money to set up. notice the hair algae this tank is sporting. there is a room off to the left for schools to visit and learn about marine life. This is where the tour ends and mine began.

-Doc

 

[Doc]

After the regular tour was completed, my wife and I waited for our tour guide, Daryl, to take us back and into the "restricted area". Once inside,

This is a 1300 gallon tank they use to treat sick fish that are too big for the 240 that has the jack. there are two white-spotted bamboos in here.

This is a 7 foot tower of bioballs that work as bio-filtration for the 1300 QT tank

This is the 400 gallon sump that is attached to the 2,000 ray tank and a partial pic of the protein skimmer.

here is another 7 foot tower of bioballs next to a sand filter that is equally as large. both massive fish tanks use ozone to kill bacteria in place of a UV.

this is another pic of the 2,000 tank which holds 3 cow-nosed rays and a variety of other fish that I will show you now.

-Doc

 

[jcegt87]

Wheres the one where your feeding the :grumble:ray?????!!!!!!!!!

 

[Doc]

The rays know the humans who visit as a source of food and become very active when we approached the tank. Daryl brought out smelt for them to eat and we prepared to feed them.

My wife went first. Feeding them was a blast. they have two grinding plates for teeth and you have to place the fish on your palm and place the palm flat for the ray to suck up the fish from your hand. they part their mouth, almost like the Predator in the 80's sci-fi movie to reveal their mouth. Crazy.

Another feeding pic

my turn. I was not so bright and I teased the fish into the mouth so I could feel the plates of teeth. strong. very strong as it took a nip of one of my fingers. Didn't draw blood but pinched pretty good.

another one

Rays were not the only inhabitants. I also fed the portjackson shark (horn shark)



-Doc

 

[Doc]

finally, I end my pictorial journey of the best tanks vegas has to offer with a few shots of the 2,000 gallon ray tank and what lives in it

cow-nosed ray, clarkii clown, there is also a spadefish.

horn shark, white-spotted bamboo shark, spadefish.

ray again and the biggest achilles tang I have ever seen

full tank shot.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I know I loved the experience. It gave me confidence that I know how to set up a healthy shark tank and when I set up a 2,000 gallon tank, I will know how.

-Doc

 

[Doc]

Wheres the one where your feeding the :grumble:ray?????!!!!!!!!!

patience. I had to load a ton of pictures! :D

-Doc

 

[jcegt87]

well atleast i know if i see your hand in public ill recognise them haha or your tatttos

 

[Doc]

I am artfully disguised and hidden from pictures much like that neighbor from Home Improvement. Kinda cool, huh?

-Doc