Spec III Reef ! First salt water tank from the start!

[brahma04]

Hello all! I'm writing this to keep log of my experience, get input from experienced reefers, and to hopefully help others as I learn. If anyone sees something thats not right, please let me know what you think i should do! (other than spend hundreds of dollars upgrading my entire setup lol.. in example "HEY BRAH you need a $400 light!" )

Started: November 2nd 2015

Tank: Fluval Spec III
5+ pounds of live rock (in display)
1.5 inches CaribSea arag-alive hawaiian black aquarium gravel Changed to Fiji pink!
Live nutri-seawater Changed to Red Sea Coral Pro
Heater with dial set to 78 - stays between 77-78.8


Upgrades:
1. 8 watt 14k LED http://innovative-marine.com/skkye-light/clamp-8.html

1. AI PRIME!! its awesome so far! http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/prime/
2. Hydor 100gph pump (wide open) http://www.amazon.com/Hydor-Centrifical-Pump-300-All-Purpose/dp/B003SNG9I8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447894094&sr=8-1&keywords=Hydor+Centrifical+All-Purpose+Pump+for+Aquariums+and+Terrariums+-+Original+Pico+Evolution

Filtration:
1. Foam block removed
2. 'Egg crate' added to bottom of filter section
3. Puragin 100grm on bottom
4. Bio media sitting on top of Puragin
5. .75lbs of live rock (dime-quarter size chunks) in a media bag
6. 100% polyester as filter floss(pillow batting)
7. added fluval Clearmax to help with nitrites/nitrates/etc

Stock:
1. Scarlet Red Hermit with TINY featherduster hitchhiker on shell (yay!)
2. Nassarius Snail x2
3. another type of snail, heh whoops.
4. Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

4. tiny blue hermit x2

5. Clown Goby (not eating):

6. Ricordea Florida

7. Ricordea Yuma

8. Branching Hammer

9. Typical Zoas x2

10. Green Birds nest

11. Blue and Red Ricordea

I'll be adding more pictures:

egg crate to block items from falling into this 'void' area i guess to keep a good water flow to the pump section of the tank. so far so good.


First FTS with lights off. i'll get a better one soon. I'm not stoked about the rock scape. The idea in mind was to split the tank in 1/2. The first half being free area for a fire fish to swim around in, and the second half for my corals.

THE OLD LOOK

 

THE NEW LOOK! =)

[jbb]

Nice , I recently took my spec III down for a revamp . I went with the Hawaiian Black as well.

 

Will be following along

[HarryPotter]

5. .75lbs of live rock (dime-quarter size chunks) in a media bag

I wouldn't recommend that- a lot of detritus would build up in there and produce nitrates. Live rock in the display is typically enough

[brahma04]

I wouldn't recommend that- a lot of detritus would build up in there and produce nitrates. Live rock in the display is typically enough

I was thinking that when I do my water change I could take the bag of rock out and wash it in the old tank water to get the detritus off, kinda like my fresh water tanks sponge. Still think I should remove it? What should I put back there?

[brahma04]

OK, sorry for the wait but some changes have been made! I didn't like the black sand at the bottom because its not sand at all, its small gravel! Detritus/food buildup would be inevitable as the snails couldn't even break the surface. I changed it to Fiji Pink.

Say goodbye to the goofy cleaner shrimp because he cleaned nothing but annoyed my new additions. I caught myself saying "Damnit shrimp! ZOAS ARENT BONGOS!" one too many times to keep him around. (I easily found him a new home)

 

I wasn't satisfied with the rockscape so knowing this before 'hunting down' the cleaner shrimp i got everything ready for a quick rescape. Here are the changes:

 

- 1 Cleaner Shrimp

- 1.5 inches of Hawaiian black gravel

- .75lb bag of live rock from Filtration and added to display

 

+ 1 100g bag of Fluval clearmax (no noticable changes from this, should i remove?)

+ 1.5 inches of Fiji Pink sand

+ 1 Sexy Shrimp

+ 2 small Zoanthid Colony
+ 1 Ricordea Florida (eating)

+ 1 Green Birds nest.

 

cave goes all the way to the back and is opened and helps water current GREATLY. (almost enough space to fit your whole hand into)

 

 

 

Let me know what other corals you think i should add!

[ReefJar]

Right now you're just purple and green. Add some other colours

 

I'm looking in to other colours for my pico. I have a lot of green/brown/orange/pink. Over all looks pretty plain. Looking for blues and yellows this week.

[DrPete]

I like your set-up! I built my fluval spec 3 reef last week with almost the same exact supplies. I have the stock LED on for now but am expecting the 8watt, 14k innovative marine and 3 watt solar flare on Monday. Tank is cycling nicely thus far. Hoping to be ready for a clean-up crew by next weekend but am not rushing it.

[brahma04]

Right now you're just purple and green. Add some other colours

 

I'm looking in to other colours for my pico. I have a lot of green/brown/orange/pink. Over all looks pretty plain. Looking for blues and yellows this week.

already on it! (That picture was taken of the fingernail snail hitchhiker. Its hard to take pics with a phone through glass water plastic and glare lol)

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah260/brahma04/Mobile%20Uploads/3E05F28F-BA10-4AFE-B9DD-C7B057CB0E3E_zpsuanuy0fi.jpg

[ReefJar]

Yeah I hear ya! All my pics are through a curved thick glazed glass.

[brahma04]

Reefjar what corals do you think would work in 8watt lighting for some color?

[brahma04]

I'm still thinking about upgrading to a better light, and that darn nanobox just looks so GOOD! i might have to spoil myself. here are some pictures of the growing tank. (sorry for the blur!)

 

I couldn't help myself, I added a clown goby. Its kinda skittish and not really eating right now, but I've seen it grab a piece of food or two.. any suggestions on getting him to feel better in his tank? (IE block out the view of the room or make sure there is no mirroring effect on the glass, i think he thinks his reflection is another goby lol...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Florida eating mysis shrimp

[brahma04]

So after debating with my wallet for about 3 weeks, I have decided to purchase a AI PRIME full spectrum LED. http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/prime/I'll post pictures soon after i get off work, buy it, and set it up =) HOPEFULLY the light change, and trying to use my GOPRO for better pictures will work out in my favor

[Elizabeth94]

The AI Prime is a great little light. Im sure you will love it. Easy to use after you get used to it and will support lps and softies with ease.

[brahma04]

Thanks brandon! My thought on a tank this small is, if there is a problem with the sand or really anything? its outa here! I'm glad you brought this to my attention so i can keep a close eye on it. so far the sand looks like i just put it in there 24 hours ago while its actually been about a month.

The only thing i am having trouble with at the moment is my nitrates are sitting around 30-40ppm... Soo? I built a protein skimmer out of a light cover (plastic tubing essentially) a wooden air stone, some jb wield putty, some silicone and a solo cup (lol).. I'll be replacing the cup with a 1/2 inch tube and adding a collection cup somewhere out of view.

[brahma04]

Clown goby now eating.. He's eating my hammer coral! Grrrr! How do I stop this?

[brandon429]

That nipping is part of having this mix in the tank, have to reconsider him.

 

they sometimes lessen or stop in time.

 

sometimes if you get him feeding on something else he wont poke around as much lol

 

regarding the sand, expect diatoms or cyano or any other growth that a new sandbed can have...the intention of the link was to show that 1. all sandbeds will get topical invaders if you specifically not clean them for 24 mos lol and 2. that condition is fixed, by cleaning, and not caused by a brand name. = your new sandbed will be awesome! The specific action in that link that caused his 24 month invasions was getting the typical invader in a new tank, and not ever removing it, and feeding it nicely by allowing the sandbed to get fully loaded with waste such that its a cycle risk now even if it was cleaned. catch-22, and as that thread develops, you can see its all over the place with doubt and he's expected to get another 24 mos of problems as they discount all offers lol.

 

 

**it doesn't take 5 pages to fix any invader** but it sure might take 15 pages if you plan on leaving that invader in the tank, and trying to fix it via the water***

 

 

regarding the nitrate, its simple. Skimming can help, you can do complete flushing of this entire system any time you want to rid 100% of the detritus which lends nitrate upon breakdown, or, you can simply leave the waste in the bed and continually treat the water with things like GFO, biopellet filters, refugiums, or other additives that take up the leakings cast into the water. Detritus and fish waste and feed are the 3 causatives of nitrates you read, so handling those three has easy options and the result is total nitrate control. The reason many old pico reefs don't need any special filtration, and have zero nitrate issues, is due to massive tank cleaning such that detritus doesn't exist. in fact, the longest running tanks on this whole board use that method

B

[brahma04]

I do have a couple of things i am tweaking all at the same time, kinda scary to be honest.

 

1. Added my new light, so I'm acclimating the corals.

2. I started using a turkey baster every couple days to get the 'nasties' off the coral and stir up the sand bed to get the nitrates down.

3. I am using new salt water... i switched to Red Sea coral pro salt mix i pick up from my LFS. i have been slowly adding the new SW mixed with the old SW i was using.

4. Added a small protein skimmer i made which is actually working quite well to help remove nitrates.

 

My Clown goby utterly destroyed one head on my hammer coral. i cant find the head, i think it might be stuck under some live rock, do i need to go look it before it starts decaying and adding more nitrates?? SHIT! i'm so butt hurt about all of this right now... lol...

 

any guidance?

[brandon429]

corals will not impact your tank at all, they are nitrate neutral in every way

 

ive lost a whole fish in my reefbowl once (sorry mr redhead goby of 2004 I figured youd look cool in a vase) and it degraded in the tank, no cycle, no algae, it just got pod reduced lol.

 

regarding the kicking up of the bed that's perfect, its not allowing compaction and aggregation, but what is happening to it after kicking up? if you are basting and then water changing that's perfect. if you are basting and there is a filter system pulling out the clouding, and you clean that filter to export, that's perfect too. some people baste and let it settle back down, imperfect~!

 

Your act of basting is literal physical rejection of both any topical invaders, and the waste under them, ergo you will never have any sandbed problems and it only took a few posts to get that certainty. its only the hands off beds that may be awesome, or may be invaded (hands off=variation in outcome, hands on= constantly clean outcome)

[brahma04]

When I blast the rocks and sand bed, i let the filter floss collect as much as it can, then i go back again like 15-45mins later and blast the LR to get any sand off and back into the SB. after that, i go and grab a beer, drink it, and then change the filter floss. When I do WC, I'll do whats stated above then I siphon the LR with a straw attached to a normal sized tube to slow the rate of water removed (more time to get in those nooks and crannies with a more precise size tool) sound about right?

LIGHTING?: I had a 8watt blue and white led that was about 4-6 inches off of the water, everything was pretty happy with the amount of light (it just looked like crap). My new light is currently 10-12 inches off of the water running at 14 watts. I didn't want to cook my tank, or bleach it out, so i set the mount to its highest position. Instead of raising the watts to fast, I plan on lowering the mount, slowly (thinking 1 inch per week) . Am I wrong to think this is the way to go? What signs should pop up if there is to much/little light?

Thanks everyone!

[brandon429]

Hands down it will be coral bleaching if too bright and there is a direct tie between the feed you present and how much light intensity they can tolerate

 

More carbon intake, feed diversity presented to the polyps, makes them more resistant to photo bleaching your plan sounds great and the light can be moved back up if they start to lighten

 

Your live rock is enviously nice, about nine times better than mine

[DrPete]

How are you liking the ai prime brahma? Do you notice any "tilting" down in the standard mount??

[brahma04]

How are you liking the ai prime brahma? Do you notice any "tilting" down in the standard mount??

Hey doc, I LOVE this light. it was tilting down a tad because of the stock light bracket is in the way so i shoved a piece of acrylic back there and tightened it up a bit and its perfect when it comes to being level. I do have to say the mount is UGLY as sin and A.I. really needs to work on that, I'd imagine a goose neck to be much better in the looks department.

 

I've had two corals die on me now... 1. Green birds nest ( i think i bought it in the beginning stages of it dying not knowing any better) 2. my hammer coral.... SOB lol...

 

my other corals: 3 zoa 4 ricordea look great, they are eating and growing.

 

can someone tell me what the hell this is? It was actually attached quite well to the top of my green birds nest coral. its still alive as i can see a tiny antennae coming out, as well as little.. mucus strands coming out and reeling food back into its little spiral shell.

oh and just for fun, check out this hitchhiker i got on my YUMA. I think its a...Stomatella? (right side of the Zoa ^_^) its pretty cool looking. Beautiful markings. and its actually on top of my scarlet hermit who has a feather duster on its head, which makes it look like its got homeless man hair lmao...

[Merthynia]

The first critter sounds like a vermetid snail. I don't personally like them, but some people do. I find that the mucus can look unsightly and can annoy some of my coral.

[brahma04]

Some cool new shrooms, multiple starfish, and a couple hitchhiking zoos I believe

 

 

 

my prototype picoskimmer. It actually works and its working quite well believe it or not! Its amazing what an old iphone 5 + $1Macro llense can capture..

[brandon429]

Highly nice coloration and aging detail on that rock and corals, this is pop. I always found it amazing those little ophi stars don't get big I used to wait and wonder if they would get large but never did, amazing miniatures those are. Sent some in a test tube once with kiddo to show and tell, long about 3rd grade. She won