texanreefer Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I know there are tons of Spec V build threads out there but I felt the need to make my own. This is my first saltwater tank and after reading this forum for quite some time I feel that now was a good time to get started. So here is a detailed list of my current equipment as well as some questions to follow. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I plan on stocking it with some soft corals and lps, nothing to difficult. As for livestock I really like the blue stripe neon goby and yellow clown goby, maybe some sexy shrimp, and a small clean up crew. Current livestock : 1 shark nose goby 1 purple coral banded shrimp 2 cerith snails 2 dwarf blue legged hermits 1 nassarius snail 2 nerites 1 astrea Corals : gsp green rhodactis mushroom blue mushroom condy anenome green rock flower anenome various zoas green goniopora Equipment : Tank: Fluval Spec V Pump: stock Fluval pump (looking to upgrade) Since the marineland 606 is no longer available i've heard of two different options. 1. the Hydor pico evo-mag 180 modified to fit in the back chamber. I have one of these so I might try this along with the Hydor rotating water deflector. 2. I just recently read that someone successfully fit the Aqueon quiet flow 600 in the back so thats another option. If you guys have any suggestions please let me know. Heating: Hydor Theo 50w Cobalt Aquatics Neotherm 50w Lighting: Current USA Orbit Marine LED 18-24in Filtration: 6lbs of cured live rock, 9-10lbs of Meridian natural oolitic aragonite dry sand, and an Intank media basket with chemi-pure blue and filter floss. I think that just about covers all of the current equipment I have. After 7 days of letting the tank sit I tested the water and everything was at 0. I went to my lfs and even had them test it to make sure I was doing everything correctly as i'm new, still 0. I'm not sure if it is just really slow starting the cycle or it will only have a soft cycle due to the nice live rock I have but they suggested putting a hardy fish in to help it along. I ended up leaving with a rather small blue/green chromis (will take back in a few weeks.) After 6 more days it is still reading 0. Am I safe to add more livestock and corals now or should I wait another week or two? Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Nice start! The rock is really a beautiful purple. One note, cycling with fish is outdated, you can just add fish food to the tank for the same effect. Ammonia = ammonia whether it is fish waste, rotting matter, or ammonia you can buy in a bottle. I would personally never add a "temporary" fish to one of my tanks because it could harbor parasites. I would be leery of that LFS advice from now on, they may have other outdated advice and steer you in the wrong direction. However, If the rock is well cured and wasn't out of the water long in transport. You may not experience a cycle or one so short, it's already over by the time you test. Link to comment
chappy6107 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 great looking rock! I agree with Tamberav, I picked up some ammonia from an ace hardware store. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 Yeah in the back of my head I knew that putting food in the tank daily would have accomplished the same thing but I guess I got anxious and took the guys advice. I regret it as of this morning because I found the fish dead in a deep crevice of my rock. I guess I could say it didn't much surprise me because I couldn't get it to eat much over the last couple of days. After taking the fish out I immediately checked all parameters and ammonia was at 0, nitrites were at 0-.5 hard to tell, and nitrates at 2. While I was at Petco today picking up a few odds and ends I came across a green star polyp there that I liked. Decided what the hell i'll try it out for my first coral. If it does well over the next couple weeks i'll go ahead with putting other corals in a maybe a fish or two. To my surprise right after putting it in my tank it fully opened up. I figured it was take a couple of days to acclimate. I happened to notice what looks like a small serpent star of something of the sort hitchhiked in on it. Today I also messed around with my hydor pico evo pump and modified it to fit into my back chamber along with adding the hydor rotating water deflector to it. After finally getting it all to fit and working it just made way too much noise vibrating against the tanks back chamber so I took it back out. I eventually put the stock pump back in and hooked up the rotating deflector to it. Seems to be working fine and moving some water around. I put the hydor pump in the front of my tank for extra movement and I guess thats where it will stay at least untilI get the aqueon 600 pump to try out in the back chamber. Heres are few pics from todays progress Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Haven't been able to update this thread much since creating it so here it goes. I've added a nice clean up crew since which contains 2 dwarf blue legged hermits, 2 cerith snails, 1 nassarius, 1 black margarita, and 1 astrea. Ive had lots of green hair algae developing over the past two weeks so hopefully they will mow it down for me. Ive also added a gsp frag about 3 days ago and only 3 or 4 polyps are actually opening. Ive read that some people's take a while to fully open while others never really do. Hopefully mine do here in the next couple of days. My next stocking plans include 3 sexy shrimp, 1 neon goby, and 1 yellow clown goby. One of my local fish stores were out of sexy shrimp when i stopped by today so i'll try another one tomorrow. If it can't get any this week i'll for sure pick up 1 or both of the gobies I want. Lastly I've still been searching for a better pump to replace the stock fluval one. Nobody seems to have much input on here. I've even direct messaged a few people who stated on some threads about their custom setups with no replies back. Since the Hydor pico 160 I have didn't really work out in the pump chamber for me I decided to order the 100gph one, which i've read fits great in the spec chamber. Even though its only about 20 gph more than stock it should still be a noticeable improvement. It will be here Thursday and once I get it installed i'll then use the stock pump in the main display for movement since its a much smaller profile than the hydor 160 I currently have in it. Thats about it for now. I'll upload a few pics of the progress over the last few weeks. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 one of the ceriths green goniopora Link to comment
drago55272 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Hello Texan, Nice looking tank . Just thought I would let you know that the gsp that you say you have is actually a Goniopora which has a much different care cycle and also one of the more difficult corals because it has to be target feed I pasted a little info to get you started I just don't want you to accidentally starve your coral to death. Green Goniopora norfolkensis This colony was originally set aside because it was the first non-free-living, green, Goniopora I had ever received in an order. In the wild it probably was a massive colony cleaved from a substrate. Although it appears to thrive in a moderate to low water flow regime, it will tolerate higher flows. It is one of my slower growing colonies. However, I have recently started feeding it Liquid Life with Cyclop-eeze and the colony could clearly be seen ingesting the particles. It also shows a positive feeding response to rotifers. Additionally, I target-feed oyster eggs, Cyclop-eeze juice and phytoplankton to the colony at least three to five times per week. It also shows a strong feeding response to peppermint shrimp eggs and striped bass blood. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Hello Texan, Nice looking tank . Just thought I would let you know that the gsp that you say you have is actually a Goniopora which has a much different care cycle and also one of the more difficult corals because it has to be target feed I pasted a little info to get you started I just don't want you to accidentally starve your coral to death. Thanks drago55272 I quickly realized that it was not a gsp after it fully opened the day after I got it. I'm still new to all the coral identification but I did come across that info you shared to me. Not sure if i'm up to the task of providing all the care it needs so I haven't decided if ill keep it or try and trade it to my lfs. Meanwhile the gsp I did get recently still isn't opening more than a couple polyps a day. Im starting to get aggravated with it. Link to comment
drago55272 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I made the same mistake when i started my first reef. I loved the color of the Goniopora so i made a rush buy and bought the coral. It is very hard to take care of because your tank is so new you may not have the bacteria to counter the amount of feeding the Goniopora requires. You may want to move the gsp around to a higher location to see if it responds better to more light. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 I made the same mistake when i started my first reef. I loved the color of the Goniopora so i made a rush buy and bought the coral. It is very hard to take care of because your tank is so new you may not have the bacteria to counter the amount of feeding the Goniopora requires. You may want to move the gsp around to a higher location to see if it responds better to more light. Some great points here. Will have to figure out something to do with the goniopora sooner than later. Its sad because it is so beautiful and I love it in my tank. I will for sure move the gsp up higher on some of my rock to see if it opens more tomorrow. I picked up two zoa frags earlier today and almost immediately after putting them in my tank they opened and are really beautiful. I saw a rock flower anemone at a lfs for $10 and didn't get it but I think I might tomorrow. I hesitated because I got a shark nose goby today as well and was a little nervous about what I've heard about rock flowers aggressive tendencies towards some fish, but after further investigation I think it will be ok. Ive already read that sexy shrimp like to host them too so they will be a good match once I finally find some sexies to buy here in good ole Austin, TX. Link to comment
drago55272 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Cant wait to see your tank progress I will be following. Keep the pictures coming . Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Cant wait to see your tank progress I will be following. Keep the pictures coming . Thanks! I've got plenty more that I plan on uploading tomorrow after work. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 As you can see in the picture lots and lots of hair algae. Not sure the best method to get rid of it but I did just have my phosphates checked and they were at .25ppm. So my stocking plans changed after making a trip across Austin to the best fish store in town. Came across this beautiful purple coral banded shrimp and had to have him. I'm glad they are on the smaller side of the coral banded shrimp with a max size of only 1.5 inches versus the normal 2.5 of the gold banded shrimp. I also came across this beautiful and smaller condy anemone. If it ever gets too large for my tank the place I got it from said they would take it back. I absolutely love feeding it mysis and watching it eat. Also added a few zoas that I absolutely love thus far. Will be getting more in the near future. I really love the gorgeous color of my goniopora but since I cannot care for them the way they need to be cared for I am going to try and trade them at my lfs for some zoas or gsp. Speaking of gsp I added some to my tank about a week ago and they have not opened up. The first two days they were in there a few polyps opened but none since then. I'm starting to get aggravated by them. The last new livestock I have added since the last update is the shark nose goby. This guy is a blast to watch scurry all over the tank. He's been eating everything i've been feeding him quite well and isn't shy when I do so. Lastly just ordered the Smart ATO micro from Marine Depot but it seems as if it will be a while before they have them in stock. Its the newest smaller version of the Smart ATO by Auto Aqua and can be used on "tinted or painted glass" according to them. Hopefully it works out great in the pump chamber with the frosted glass of the Spec V because I'm in desperate need of an ato. Link to comment
drago55272 Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Nice little shrimp you got there they are really fun to watch. I had one once to take care of a fireworm outbreak I had. What I also liked is that I could have a cleaner shrimp and the blue coral banded was too tiny to be able to kill him unlike the normal sized coral banded. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 Nice little shrimp you got there they are really fun to watch. I had one once to take care of a fireworm outbreak I had. What I also liked is that I could have a cleaner shrimp and the blue coral banded was too tiny to be able to kill him unlike the normal sized coral banded. Yeah I hear the coral banded shrimp can be quite mean at times. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 I have a heater question for anyone who can help. I currently have a Hydor theo 50w and absolutely hate it. It is off by 5-6 degrees and can never keep a steady temperature. It is in the highest flow place in my tank. I'm looking at getting a Cobalt aquatics heater, which I should have done from the start. My question is can I get by with a 25w or is a 50w a better choice. Also would you recommend the neotherm or easytherm? Not sure I know the differences but I do know the neotherm costs more. Please help out. Thanks! Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 any suggestions at all? Link to comment
drago55272 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Well the 25 watt is rated for 6 gallons so I'm sure you will be good with it. And the only difference I see is that the neo therm has a thermal cut off circuit which may be what is the reason for the extra cost so you are just paying for more reassurance. Hope that help Tex. -Drago55272 Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I have the 50w colbalt easy-therm. So far, it works great. Link to comment
jolee0722 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 As you can see in the picture lots and lots of hair algae. Not sure the best method to get rid of it but I did just have my phosphates checked and they were at .25ppm. So my stocking plans changed after making a trip across Austin to the best fish store in town. Came across this beautiful purple coral banded shrimp and had to have him. I'm glad they are on the smaller side of the coral banded shrimp with a max size of only 1.5 inches versus the normal 2.5 of the gold banded shrimp. I also came across this beautiful and smaller condy anemone. If it ever gets too large for my tank the place I got it from said they would take it back. I absolutely love feeding it mysis and watching it eat. Also added a few zoas that I absolutely love thus far. Will be getting more in the near future. I really love the gorgeous color of my goniopora but since I cannot care for them the way they need to be cared for I am going to try and trade them at my lfs for some zoas or gsp. Speaking of gsp I added some to my tank about a week ago and they have not opened up. The first two days they were in there a few polyps opened but none since then. I'm starting to get aggravated by them. The last new livestock I have added since the last update is the shark nose goby. This guy is a blast to watch scurry all over the tank. He's been eating everything i've been feeding him quite well and isn't shy when I do so. Lastly just ordered the Smart ATO micro from Marine Depot but it seems as if it will be a while before they have them in stock. Its the newest smaller version of the Smart ATO by Auto Aqua and can be used on "tinted or painted glass" according to them. Hopefully it works out great in the pump chamber with the frosted glass of the Spec V because I'm in desperate need of an ato. The smart to micro will definitely work in your tank. The sensor is placed in the tank if I remember correctly so no worries about tinted or painted glass. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 Well the 25 watt is rated for 6 gallons so I'm sure you will be good with it. And the only difference I see is that the neo therm has a thermal cut off circuit which may be what is the reason for the extra cost so you are just paying for more reassurance. Hope that help Tex. -Drago55272 Ok thanks a lot, extra reassurance isn't a bad thing and probably worth the extra few dollars in my opinion. The smart to micro will definitely work in your tank. The sensor is placed in the tank if I remember correctly so no worries about tinted or painted glass. Great to hear. Now just another 2 week wait until mine ships according to Marine Depot. Link to comment
texanreefer Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 So I went to the only fish store in town that carries Cobalt aquatics heaters and what do you know they had 1 50w neotherm heater left so I had to grab it. Hopefully this is a much better experience than the hydor theo heater i've been using, but after seeing tons of people on here talking about how much they loves theirs i'm not too worried. Link to comment
North Borders Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I have 2 Spec 5's that I run as betta tanks as well as a Spec 3 that also use as a betta tank I'm running Cobalt Neo-Therms in all 3 and have been happy so far. I think you'll like yours. The slim blade look is very attractive. Link to comment
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