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Cultivated Reef

ALNs-Piece of reef


ALNN

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Current FTS (3/29/2016)

 

IMG_20160329_202849_zpsptlgm0m8.jpg

 

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http://s210.photobucket.com/user/aL-n/media/IMG_1034_zps3197e953.jpg.html'>IMG_1034_zps3197e953.jpg
http://s210.photobucket.com/user/aL-n/media/IMG_1047_zpsc6ef3a3a.jpg.html'>IMG_1047_zpsc6ef3a3a.jpg
http://s210.photobucket.com/user/aL-n/media/IMG_1055_zpsee1145a7.jpg.html'>IMG_1055_zpsee1145a7.jpg

 

Full Tank Shot (FTS) (12/25/2013)
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(12/06/13)
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Back View
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Some angel shots
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5.5 Gallon Spec V
Equipment:
- Fluval Spec V
- Extra Spec V pump for more flow- Changed to a Mini jet 606
- DIY LED 9w cree 3up leds and 3w ultraviolet leds in stock housing
- 50walt heater

Livestock
- Cleaner shrimp DEAD
- Yasha goby (06/04/2013) DEAD-(10/17/13)
- 4 Sexy shirmp - down to 3
- 2 Pom Pom carbs - down to 1
- porcelain crab
- Candy Cane Pistal
- Emerald carb
- 2 blue leg hermit carb

Corals to date.(12/25/2013)

Softy
- GSP
- Pulsing xenia
- 3 ric yumas
- 1 Ric florida
- 1 Mushroom coral
- Flower pot coral
- Sympodium

SPS
- Pink Montipora cap
- Green Montipora cap
- Purple montipora cap
- Rainbow encrusting Montipora (bleached)
- Green Montipora digitata


Zoa/Polyp
- Neon Pink Zoa (bleached)
- Dark Cherry people eaters (bleached)
- Magician paly
- Devil's Armpr zoa
- Sunny D zoa
- Red Cherry people eaters
- MJC sriracha
- Utter Chaos Paly
- Oj Skirt Zoa
- Hawaiian Punch zoa

LPS/NPS
- Dendros
- Hammer Coral
- Golden Tip Octospawn
- Rainbow Acan
- Mini Plate Croral

Anemone
- Rock Flower Anemone

Specs (12/06/13)

SG-1.026sg
Temp 78.5F-80F
Amm- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 0-5ppm
Ph-8.1
Cal -420
dKH -8

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20130307_151604_resized_zps42820ddb.jpg

 

Well I finally have the time and the money to start my own little saltwater before i go big.

I brought a Fluval Spec V 5.5g tank and will be doing my first saltwater tank :D its going to be placed on my work table so I'll get to see it daily.


Plans:
beginner corals at first ( Xenia, zoas, maybe a sunflower coral, etc)
slowing work into SPS
Cleaning crew, to be stated
crabs and shirmps for sure
Not sure on fish yet

 

So i want to get the tank cycled asap, will be doing the mod this week and hopefully have the tank with SW and live rocks next week :D

lighting layout
20130306_073143_resized_1_zps2c39f460.jp

 

 

any kind of input and what should i add would be great! feel free to share any ideas too :D

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Got off work early today so i got some time for the tank :D

-Drilled the filter part for the extra low and changed up the sponge filter to accommodate for it.
-Added a piece of acrylic to give it better surface skimming.
Will be testing it with freshwater tonight to see if there are any problems

When i get time im going to go buy some pre mixed saltwater from my LFS (big Als) and hopefully live rock and sand a day or 2 after. :D

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Also its Trout opener here in Ontario! :D so im going to be out on the river, sorry for the slow updates!

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20130307_151604_resized_zps42820ddb.jpg Well I finally have the time and the money to start my own little saltwater before i go big.I brought a Fluval Spec V 5.5g tank and will be doing my first saltwater tank :D its going to be placed on my work table so I'll get to see it daily.Currently i have;Equipment:Fluval Spec Vextra Spec V pump for more flowordering DIY leds ( 3 ups - TV - NW? - TV - 3ups) still not sure about this arrangement yet but will be playing around with it (want a light purple blue looks) (made to fit into stock housing)(lights will be here in April)Plans: beginner corals at first ( Xenia, zoas, maybe a sunflower coral, etc)slowing work into SPSCleaning crew, to be statedcrabs and shirmps for sureNot sure on fish yet So i want to get the tank cycled asap, will be doing the mod this week and hopefully have the tank with SW and live rocks next week :Dlighting layout20130306_073143_resized_1_zps2c39f460.jp any kind of input and what should i add would be great! feel free to share any ideas too :D
These tanks look so huge.

 

You follow this thread? I love his tank. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/314538-our-little-jetty/

 

I am assuming you do with the pump mod. LoL

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little update before i head out.
Things got:
-50W Heater
-16lb of Dry Rock
-10lb of Live sand

a non productive week for the tank, work has been really busy and been getting off late but i still managed to pick up some supplies before shop closed last minute :D

Got some live sand that was on sale (2 for 1) and found an awesome heater that fits in the "sump" for pretty cheap. Also got some dry rock a total of 16 lb, a bit much i think but these were the smallest pieces already, so either way i need to break them down and make smaller piece to work with, what ever i have extra i see if i should put it into the "sump" or have them seeded and give them out.

Probably going to get some live rock rubble or a small piece of live rock to seed it when i have the scape done.

Got a few piece of cured rock from Dave a friend from another forum so that will help start it cycling :) thanks Dave.

Will see if i have time to do some scalping tonight with the rocks.

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Just got home not to long ago and after dinner went downstairs to start clipping away at the big piece of dry rock into something more workable. Took me around an hour and this is what i came up with.

Not sure if im going to get some putty and attach some of the piece on so it stays there but im pretty happy with how it looks.

Got it rinsed and soaking in RO water atm after work tomorrow i'll try to add land and water :D cant wait!

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First Scape
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2nd Scape
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Still debating on which one to keep, which one do you guys like?

On a side note, i also received one of my led shipments in today
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now waiting for the other to arrive.

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jtwisconsin

I really like that first scape as well!

 

I am following your build after just purchasing my own Spec V this week. Looking forward to your updates.

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I really like that first scape as well!

 

I am following your build after just purchasing my own Spec V this week. Looking forward to your updates.

 

i think you'll also love the spev V like alot of us here :)

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rocks are drying now and i measured how much it weights, a total of 5 lb..i was hoping for a bit more around 7.5-10lb, so i might have to change the scape a bit and add a few more pounds of rock inside, chiseling more rock as we speak :P should have water and rock in the tank by tonight.

going to get some more live rock rubble to start the cycling process, now the waiting game begins :D

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FishBrawler

rocks are drying now and i measured how much it weights, a total of 5 lb..i was hoping for a bit more around 7.5-10lb, so i might have to change the scape a bit and add a few more pounds of rock inside, chiseling more rock as we speak :P should have water and rock in the tank by tonight.

 

going to get some more live rock rubble to start the cycling process, now the waiting game begins :D

Just as for caution, more isn't always better! In fact, the minimalistic look is in! And to me, I see you scape as a cleaning problem! Do you think you can get the scraper in between the glass and what you habe now. People are more relying on what they call coral scapes! So instead of scaping with the rocks, lets the coral fill in the space. It looks a lot better imo. Here are some examples:

Lots of rocks

Screenshot_2012-10-26-14-07-53-1-1.jpg now not thatvthis doesn't look good but take a look at this reef!

Minimalistic

Beginning:

0-1_zps88f7b8f4.jpg

Now:

0-2_zps37437d21.jpg

Point being, both are great tanks but its up to you! ;)

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well the reason i wanted a bit more rock was for it to be more stable since it doesnt really have a sump and reg. being such a small tank

and yes i left enough space all around the tank to fit the scraper in. the cardboard i have it on it 3/4" smaller all around then the surface area of the tank :)

maybe i'll keep it the way it is and see how it goes!

Thanks for the advice! :D

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found out that Salt water is soo salty :P

so on sunday night i was able to put my rock into the tank and add sand and water :) the pictures of the tank is still cloudy so i hope they settle by the time i get home. Its in the basement atm until i can move it upstairs.

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Stock Lights (Whites)
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Night Lights
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To bad you cant turn the blue and whites on together.

All the hardware tucked nicely into the back which i like
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The only problem i have is the "surface skimmer" that i did, im currently not getting a really nice surface skimming from the filter
As you can see the water level is over the teeth and the water doesnt seem to be flowing into the filter all that much, i do see some foam from the sand filter in but after a long time.

Any idea why this is? im still trying to figure that out
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lnglostsurfer

I'm having the same overflow issue with my evolve 4...I think I'm going to take a piece of acrylic and block off the bottom half of my overflow. Should raise the water level in the tank a bit as well and look nicer. As far as everything else goes, your tank is looking GREAT. I wish I would have drilled to have another return in my tank....kind of regretting it but not really much of a chance to do it now unless I empty everything out into buckets. Are you mounting the LEDs on the original aluminum fixture? Just wondering if it's going to be enough heat sink. Love the look of these tanks though, good luck on getting the cycle over with! It always feels like an eternity with every tank I've cycled...

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how the tanks looks now that its cleared up :) really happy with it, just that the sand bed is a bit deeper then i thought it would be but thats fine i guess.

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let the cycling begin! :D

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went to my local fish store this morning to pick up a saltwater testing kit and got into talking with the owner, he remembers me from all the trips me and my parent went to their store to by gold fish and slowly me buying tropical fish,

Told him i was starting a new saltwater tank and now got a bonus piece of LR he said that might help me out :D

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gave it a bit of a blast of saltwater to get all the loose stuff off and found these 2 little things in the left over water.

not sure if they are good for the tank or not, anyone know what they are, those are the best pictures i could get.

This one kind of looks like a long bug, with zebra patterns
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This one looks like a mosquito larva
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With this piece of live rock and live sand that i have, it will be enough to start cycling and seeding right? i dont need additional LR?

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You have enough to seed the other rock, I think. That was very nice of him giving you the live rock.

 

Have you ever thought about converting the back of chamber of the spec into a fuge? That's what I did with my 2g. I guess maybe in a 5g it wouldn't be productive, but in the 2g, the back chamber is about .3g and the display is 1.7g, so I've got a nice ratio of refugium vs display.

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i have thought about it, other members have told me that the sponge might be a problem in the future if not kept clean, i was also debating on the fact of making it into a fuge, adding LR and cheato to it. i'll see how it goes first i guess

what are your thoughts on a fuge? im still new to this :P

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I love my refugium. It really helps with the stability of the tank. It wasn't hard to setup. I just removed the filter and added a second pump to that side. A small 40gph one. I use a $40 LED bendable neck strip light currently, but previously I used submersible halogen bulbs. The LEDs worked better and I get some seriously packed pulls from this Spec.

 

It's definitely something to think about.

 

L

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i currently have an extra stock pump on the filter side already so thats a plus,

what do you have in your fuge? can you pm me some pictures? :D or if you want you can post them here i dont mind

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Went to close the lights on the tank and just take a look at everything and found this little guy

 

Hopes he survives the cycle and more goodies to come from this rock

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Do you think it will survive?

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lnglostsurfer

All the feather dusters that I've ever gotten on live rock have survived the cycle. I have probably 10-15 in all different colors in my tank. weren't affected one bit by the cycle. Great little filter feeders, always fun to have some life in the tank to watch during cycle too.

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