CronicReefer Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by my tank thread. I started my first reef tank in June of 2014. It was mostly a success considering it was my first tank and so I decided an upgrade was due. This time I could correct the mistakes I made and create a reef that will last for hopefully a decade or more. Build progress, equipment, stocking, and lots of pictures below. All comments and advice are greatly appreciated.Current Goal: Stock tank with chalices and various brain corals. Once the tank has matured further I hope to get a Fingered Dragonet. Absolutely beautiful fish but I want to make sure it is not going to be relying on frozen foods for its nutrition. Water Parameters: pH - 8.0+ Alkalinity - 8.5dkh Calcium - 400ppm Magnesium - 1250ppmSalt: Red Sea - Red Sea SaltSupplements: Microbacter7 Calcion, Magnesion and Sodium Carbonate to replenish major elements NO3-PO4XLighting: Aquatic Life 6x54W T5 w/ Moonlight and Controller 2x ATI Blue+, 1x ATI Coral+, 1x ATI Aquablue Truelumen Pro 36" 453nm Blue LED Striplight x2 Reefbreeders Superlux for RefugiumEquipment/Filtration List: Marineland 75 Gallon Aquarium Eshopps PF-800 Overflow Eshopps R-100 Refugium/Sump Aquamaxx ConeS CO-1 Protein Skimmer Sicce Multi Quiet 4000 Return Pump Jebao RW-4 and RW-8 4-5" Deep Sand Bed ~100lbs of Haitian Rock Refugium with 10lbs of Miracle Mud and Chaeto Brightwell Aquatics NO3 BrickClean Up Crew: 15x Banded Trochus Snails 10x Turbo Snails 1x Giant Mexican Turbo Snail 1x Turban Snail 4x Nassarius Snail 1x Emerald Crab 1x Fighting Conch Berghia NudibranchLivestock: Breeding Clownfish Pair Tomini TangFoods: LRS Reef Frenzy fed daily. Julian Sprung's Green Marine AlgaeCoral List: Yellow Eye Favite Luigi Favia Red/White/Blue Chalice Unkown Orange SPS Blue Tipped Pocillipora Green Millepora Black/Orange Zoa Pink Chaos Zoa PPE Zoa Red Acan Colony Fluorescent Yellow Hydnophora Various Ricordea Yuma/Florida Purple Tipped Green Frogspawn Cherry Blastomusa 8 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Just got the protein skimmer in the mail today . I'll be putting this thing in a vinegar bath to get it nice and clean for the new tank. It's much larger than I originally thought it would be but it will still fit with plenty of room in the sump I bought. It's constructed very well and comes apart quite easily for cleaning each part individually. I took a picture of it next to my computer for scale. I'm still undecided on lights for the new tank. I can't decide if I want to go with T5s for all the great color combinations or buy some of the v3 boards from NanoBox and create my own LED light. Decisions, decisions. 3 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Got the rest of the equipment today for the filtration. The R-100 sump from eshopps arrived in great condition without any scratches. I should be getting the tank within the next week or two once the holidays are over and then I can finally begin cycling. 3 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 Going to be picking up the new tank today once the carpet is finished getting cleaned. Got to figure out the landscape still but I'll be making a 4-5 inch DSB, mainly for my lobster's burrow. Going to use 140lbs of Nature's Ocean No.0 marine white as it has the smallest rated grain size I've been able to find at 0.1mm-0.5mm. I will also be using 20lbs their live reef substrate for larger particles for the burrow and to seed the new tank for cycling. I'll be using dry rock from the LFS and my current live rock for the new scape (my lobster would miss his glowing rock house). I'll be posting pictures once I get it wet and to test some landscapes. 1 Quote Link to comment
4x5 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Really nice looking sump that. Looking forward to seeing more. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Finally got back with the tank. I had planned on getting a 65 gallon but the LFS had a 75 gallon with stand for only $100 more so I decided to go for a longer rather than deeper tank. Maybe now I can get the flame angel I always wanted. I'm going to clear coat and reinforce the stand with brackets before assembling the plumbing and installing the sump as I'm expecting this reef to last many years to come. P.S. stand not pictured 1 Quote Link to comment
rjp83 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Awesome!! I just pulled the upgrade trigger to a 20L from a 3.7g. Can't wait to see your progress 1 Quote Link to comment
PieMan2k Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Looks like a nice upgrade going on here following! 1 Quote Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Congrats, following. 1 Quote Link to comment
Droy008 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Looking good so far. Do you have any pics of the lobster? 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Looking good so far. Do you have any pics of the lobster? He's mostly nocturnal so he's very hard to photograph but I do have a video from when I first got him. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2Tpc8oBZSJA Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 After much research and contemplation on what lighting system to buy for my new tank I finally decided on an Aquaticlife 48" 6x54W T5HO fixture. I had originally planned on a DIY LED system with all the works but for the price of only $285 new with bulbs I couldn't pass it up. It also comes with a 2channel timer for actinic/daylight and a third 4w moonlight channel. The bulb configuration I'm going with is 3x Actinic, 1x Purple, 1x 10,000K, 1x14000K. I plan to suspend the lights over the tank so I'll have to figure out a good distance as I plan on keeping mostly SPS in this tank. I also ordered 200lbs of sand to create a 4" sand bed for my lobster make a comfy burrow with. I should start plumbing by next Wednesday if everything goes to plan this week. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 It sounds very nice! I had an Aquatic life T5HO. I love the digital timer that was built in. Mine was a 30" tank but the bulbs were only 24" and I did not love that. Also mine was finicky and the bulbs flickered and some times went off when I moved the fixture. Hopefully that was only an anomaly with my fixture. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 It sounds very nice! I had an Aquatic life T5HO. I love the digital timer that was built in. Mine was a 30" tank but the bulbs were only 24" and I did not love that. Also mine was finicky and the bulbs flickered and some times went off when I moved the fixture. Hopefully that was only an anomaly with my fixture. I would be happy with price even if I had to wire it myself . I'm glad to hear you liked it though. I'm a little curious as to the color as I see most people seem to use ATI lamps. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 I would be happy with price even if I had to wire it myself . I'm glad to hear you liked it though. I'm a little curious as to the color as I see most people seem to use ATI lamps. My fixture was a 4x24 watt and I had 10k, actinic, coral and magenta. I have never used ATI bulbs but I would love to try them. I have bought whatever my lfs had but they have since gone out of buisness. Now my Coralife fixture uses 30" bulbs so I will probably have to order them online anyway since 30" is harder to get. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 Stand is finished drying . It is now officially sea worthy. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 It's finally wet! Just leak testing it today and tomorrow I'll start filling with ro/di to mix up the saltwater. Going to take 24hrs to fill this thing up. In the mean time I'll work on some aquascapes. I'm heading to the LFS to find some nice dry rock to work with. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 First of the rock structures. My LFS sells a type of cement for creating rock structures so I'm using that to hold everything together. Just got to wait for everything to cure now . Planning for this to go in the back right corner. Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Second rock structure is complete. I plan on placing some SPS on this one. 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Some FTS of the aquascape so far. I need to find another piece or two to finish it off but I like the look of everything so far. I'll probably add a second shelf on the rock structure on the left about mid way up and maybe extend the rocks a little further along the back wall. I'll probably add another shelf if I extend the back wall as well and throw down a few pieces of small rocks in the sand to finish it off. My goal is have the tank cycle started by the end of the week. Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Okay so I did a little rearranging and added another large rock I had to create more of a back wall. I'm liking this look a lot better. The bottom 2-3 inches of the rocks will be covered with sand. Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Time to get sandy! All my sand has come in, almost time to cycle! 120lbs of Natures Ocean Marine White #0, 0.1mm-0.5mm grain size. 40lbs of CaribSea Bahama Oolite, 0.25mm-1.0mm grain size. 32lbs of Natures Ocean Reef Substrate, 1.0mm-2.5mm grain size. Also grabbed a 10lb bag of Miracle Mud for the refugium. Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Aww... But it looks nice with burgundy "sand"... 1 Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Aww... But it looks nice with burgundy "sand"... I totally agree with you on that one Quote Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Got the tank filled up over the course of yesterday and last night. The powerhead I was using slipped off the rock and blew a bunch of sand everywhere so I'm letting that clear up in the mean time while the salt is mixing. Picked up two buckets of Brightwell NeoMarine today, I highly recommend this salt to anyone looking for an extremely consistent mixing salt with an almost 1:1 identical match of natural seawater. Once everything settles and I get the live sand in to start the cycle I'll post pictures of the final aquascape. 1 Quote Link to comment
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