10 Gallon Rock Wall

[growsomething]

Hello all, starting a journal thread for the 365 day challenge.  I don't expect to win, but it's an excellent excuse to start this IM Fusion 10 tank I purchased before I was married, and I've been married 3+ years!  New baby takes almost all personal time, and I can see I just need to start this thing, or forget about a saltwater tank.

 

Right now I've got a 75 gallon planted tank with angels and rams, a Fluval 6 with the rim removed containing female black bar Endlers, and a 20 long qt/hospital tank with all male endlers.

 

I've had 3 small saltwater tanks, but back when we got fuji rock and had bioballs, and no internet, so I am not exactly full of reefing know how.   The most fun tank I had was a 3 gal picotope with a single fuji rock that filled the whole thing.  I never put any corals on it, but various soft and hard coral, as well as many fans and sponges grew out of it.  I never had a cycle that I could observe in this tank, and I think it was bcs of the large amount of live rock, and a single fish.  It did great for a year or 2, till I slacked on water changes and an algae bloom smothered everything.

 

That pico tank is what I would like to re-create with this IM 10. I dont even remember what all the equipment I have consists of, but I know I had it ready to reef.

 

My plan is natural salt water from the gulf (when there's no red tide), rodi ato, a rock backwall of small individual dry pukani glued on (i never had one when they were popular, and I think it looks like the reef walls in the Philippines when snorkling), and live gulf rock on the floor, with plenty of sand and negative space.  I like macro tanks and zoa gardens.  Also tanks with red, blue, purple, pink, and minimal green colors. I'll pbly try some zoa and encrusting macro, as well as Florida ricordia and a hammer. Being within driving distance of Tampa, I hope to drive to one of the live rock suppliers to pick out a small amount of live rock.

 

For livestock, I'll collect some local hermits and snails, and try some sexy or pompom shrimp.  For fish,  a tailspot blenny, and maybe a high fin goby.

 

I was also considering doing a cryptic refugium in the center section of the sump with rubble and possibly with local mud.  There are a lot of pods in it when catching critters with nephews.

 

New ideas people are trying interest me.  I've had good past experiences with the KISS method, and am leaning in that direction with the IM.

 

Anyone think a cryptic refugium with a mud floor is a bad idea in the center of the Fusion sump?  This is all very sudden and I'm still entertaining different ideas and advise from fauna to flora to setup.

[debbeach13]

I love it right now you have three tanks and still had all that just sitting in a closet. Following

[devaji108]

yet another build I must fallow...haha great goodies I have a nemo light for a 20L it was/is a pretty good light I really like how small it is. 

[seabass]

Wow, looks like you're ready to go.  Good luck!

[Ratvan]

Don't forget to tag your thread.

 

Looks like a great start

[This guy is extra salty]

[ef4life]

Sounds like a nice plan, not sure about the mud though.

[growsomething]

Here are leftover pieces of dry pukani that have been sitting in a sealed tapwater bucket for 3+ years, water changed every few months for the 1st year.

 

Obviously light made it through the bucket sides, and there were some nitrates or phosphates in the water or rock.

 

Just a few spots of dark green algae that pealed off the rock.  Soaked most of the day in treated tapwater before cutting up for the back wall. I forgot to take pics of the tank on it's back w the rock adhesive drying before we left home.

[growsomething]

Ef4life, I'm not sure about the mud either.  I figure I can siphen it out if it's a problem.  Still haven't decided to do it, but getting fresh saltwater tomorrow.

 

This guy is extra salty,saw your build on another forum, thought for a second your ATO was a sump 😏

[growsomething]

So this is not what was planned, but it's how the cookie crumbled when cutting the pukani.  What was planned were large flat sections covering most everything, and one projecting arm offset from center.  I've sort of got the projection, but it didnt look right when everything else came out either too bulbous or many little pieces placed on the wall. It's glued, so that's that.

I'm almost tempted to just put coral on the existing rock (zoa, shrooms, or xenia), and plain white sand on the floor with a few pieces of grass or gorgonia.

 

This bench seat with drawers I got from an old sailer/environmental reporter/retired rancher in Sarasota County.  His father had made this early-mid century for an offshore boat he had built.  He found out it had sunk and was abandoned by subsequent owners and salvaged it in memory of his dad.  He was too old for projects and wondered if I could use the bench for something.  I planned on removing the collapsible legs and making square tube rectangles for legs on each side, replace the wooden slides with modern hardware, and get a top of quartz or something, to house the IM 10 and the Flugal endler tank below.  All the drawers are filled with aquarium junk now, with blackworm cultures on top in the tupperware.  The wife just announced that if I ever get it finished it will be the t.v./entertainment stand. We'll see, maybe I can fit these small tanks on either side of the t.v. 

[Growerguy]

Looks great! I'm using the same tank for my contest tank. Living in almost the center of the US I would love to be able to get stuff locally like you can. Definitely following along.

[debbeach13]

That bench will make a great TV / fish stand.

[growsomething]

Growerguy, I might not do this if I lived there. Heater, salt mix, cold shipments, etc. Good luck on your tank.

[growsomething]

https://www.live-plants.com/

 

Look at this place! 20 min away, by an outlet mall my wife likes to spend hs at. I love the branching coraline algae.

[Growerguy]

Luckily things have become easier to ship and we have some decent reef stores in the area. I started my first reef tank 12 years ago and things have got way more easier. 

I ordered some aquacultured gulf rock last night so hopefully we get some cool critters.

Haha if we lived by the coast my wife would probably get upset with all the tanks I'd want to setup.

[growsomething]

So some of you went and bought out all the branching coraline algae at liveplants.com 😏

 

I went to the beach at 5:30 to collect gulfwater, and beat the snowbirds.  Not a soul in sight at Point o' rocks, Crescent Beach.  It was very beautiful.  Then I see this headline, not local, but it's maddening to us, having lived through almost 2 years of recent red tide and blue-green algae outbreaks.  The red tide naturally occurs, the cyano is purely a man-made problem.  We've really screwed up the Gulf coast down to the keys here.

https://www.winknews.com/2020/02/13/blue-green-algae-starting-to-appear-at-franklin-lock/

 

Also, all the Tampa live rock businesses have 40+ ppl on backorder.  KP aquatics didn't  say anything about being out, so I hope they're far enough south the cold front winds dont effect their dives.  I ordered 10 lbs, can't wait.  

 

Still havent decided what to do in the aquarium, am leaning towards zoas or ricordea on the back wall, macroalgae and grass on the sand/live rock, and a gorgonian or 2.

[growsomething]

Well it got splashed today.  Used a 4 y/o+ bag of caribsea arag-alive, seriously doubt anything was alive in it. Running empty in the back save for some polyfill from Wallmart to help clear the sediment.  It's still very cloudy from the sand this morning.   The gulf water was very clear prior to filling.  I didnt rinse the sand as I thought we arent supposed to if it is seeded. 

Waiting on the KP live rock, want everything running beforehand. I suspect 10 lbs may be more than I want in the dt, so i may just put the rest in the back center chamber, as well as the media basket.

 

The new old spinstream leaks at all seams and does not spin.  I saw a vivid aquatics random flow thingy with no moving partsI will pbly replace it with. Plenty of dead silent flow with the Sicce 1.0 👍  Maybe that's why the ss wont spin?

[growsomething]

 

Got this just before work, pbly only use 1 or 1 1/2 in the display.  Beautiful orange algae, no coral.  Dumped it in a bucket w gulf water and the original im 10 pump.

[growsomething]

 

Kind of maddening, got home 30 min early, setup the bucket of liverock to check placement in the tank, and my baby needs to be held so mom can shower, etc.  He is colicky and needs to be burped forever, and held in different positions ... or screaming ensues 👊

Maybe it will take place before going to bed.  

It looks like I've got more than I want to put in the display, even if I completely fill the rear chambers.  I wish I knew some fellow local reefers who would take some.  Maybe I should just start another tank 😏😎

[Elizabeth94]

Love the IM10. Great tank. Did you find any crabs or anything in the rock yet? Funny because I just got an order of rock from them this morning for the first time. Its beautiful.  

[growsomething]

4 hours ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Love the IM10. Great tank. Did you find any crabs or anything in the rock yet? Funny because I just got an order of rock from them this morning for the first time. Its beautiful.  

Hi Elizabeth, I found 2 tiny dead crabs, and 2 bristleworms, thats it.  No visible coral, sponges,  macro.  I love the shape of the biggest, flat piece, exactly what I needed.  

 

Question everyone:  I have all but the big piece in a 5 gal bucket w the im 10 stock pump for circulation.  The water was clear this morning at 10.  It is now pretty dirty, and smells half bad.  I am going to try to work all the smaller pieces in the back sump sections for now, and keep any leftovers that wont fit in the dt till I find someone who wants it, or I can chop it into fine enough pieces to go in the media filtration chamber.  Should I leave it in the bucket, or ger it in the display asap?  Seems like the same thing for now, and I can pitch the dirty water tomorrow.  Or, do I need to get it in the tank and run carbon in order to save some of the life?  If you would run carbon, for how long?

It's so stirred up I can't take a pic of the big rock for now, or see where to place anything else.

[Elizabeth94]

I bet you’ll find more life once everything settles. I hear people find new things weeks after getting this rock. 

You can keep any pieces you aren’t using for your aquascape in that bucket. If you are trying to preserve the bacteria and life thats in it just make sure you keep a pump in there and maybe a heater if you have a spare one. If the water smells bad and looks dirty I would change it. 
 

Personally I never kept rock rubble in the rear compartments of my AIO tanks. Space is so limited its better to use it for something else. Some say rock rubble is just an area for detritus to settle too. You’ll have all the rock you need in the display. 
 

I suppose you could run carbon in the display but right now on a small tank like this you could just do a large water change to keep everything in check. 

[growsomething]

 

You're right, so many worms, and different kinds.  Only the fat red one with the bristle mouth is moving.  Found a pencil urchin and a dead shrimp.  I pulled all the rock and put it into the display as a form of water change.  I am sure the ammonia was spiking, or going to, as bad as it was smelling.  I'll be working on one of the keys tomorrow, and will pick up 10 or 15 more gallons of water for daily w/c, per kp aquatic's site which I just looked up. I can't do the hypersaline dip you did with my natural seawater, so who knows what will eventually pop up.

I can't sleep 😏

[Elizabeth94]

Sweet! I have a pencil urchin too. He is very much alive. Man, there is no moving them when they are latched onto rock. 

[growsomething]

My planted tank has suffered neglect since my baby came along.  Bb algae and java moss have taken over.  The java moss is like gsp, you regret putting it in there.

 

 

I just dumped the rock in last night, will place hopefully this wknd.  I'm hoping to test for ammonia before sleep tonight. A Vivid rfg was ordered to replace the non-spinstream.  I still think just the large flat rock on the bottom and maybe one more out of 5 total rock will be in the display portion, the rest in the back.

 

 

This guy got a bbq rib stuck on the roof of his mouth, wedged so tightly between his teeth he had to be sedated and it was cut in half w a dental drill.  $529 of reef money...🧐  So it goes...