shawnb199 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hi all, I'm new to posting here, but have been lurking for the past several months as I've planned for and started putting this tank together. I've had one foray into saltwater before, but I had no idea what I was doing, didn't have the money to buy the right stuff, and killed a bunch of fish and inverts. I'm still a complete and total noob, but hopefully I've done enough research and have enough cash flow to keep stuff alive this time! My tank is up and running, sand is in. I'm waiting on the sand to settle enough to finish my rockscape, and will post pictures starting with the dry rockscape. Here's my equipment list: 50G CAD Lights cube w/ stock plumbing and return pump 18G CAD Lights sump CAD Lights PLS-100 skimmer NR-1 Nano-reactor Maxspect Razor R420R (120W / 20" model) 2x Vortech MP10WES Vortech MP40WES Tunze Osmollator ATO Advanced Acrylics 9G topoff reservoir Jager 150W heater + Jager 125W heater 60 lbs Carib Sea special grade live sand ~30 lbs reef cleaners dry rock Red Sea Coral Pro salt Planning to add a controller in the next 6 months or so, and possibly dosing pumps when I figure out what that's all about. I'm still trying to figure out what I'd like to stock in this tank, but am taking my time and don't feel rushed to make that decision too soon. I'm sure a mated pair of clowns are in my future (I have a kid), and I think I'd like a jawfish, but I haven't thought through coral selections or inverts yet. Link to comment
ArabTanker Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Welcome! Lets get some pictures up on this page! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Looks like you have an amazing set of equipment already. Interested too to see how this unfolds. Enjoy! Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Here are a few shots of my first attempt at rockscape. It's easy for me to see why people go through iteration after iteration before settling on something. Apologies for the haziness, placing the rocks kicked up a bunch of dust that hasn't settled yet. Side shot. I think I'm going to move the MP10s to the back wall. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I like that tunnel, is that glued together? Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 I like that tunnel, is that glued together? Not yet. What would folks recommend for that? Will the cyanoacrelate-based Coral Glue do the trick? Here's a cleaner picture of the front with the blue channel turned off on my Razr: Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 My only concern is there is a lot of vertical coral space, sometimes corals below don't get as much light but it just depends how you place everything. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 My only concern is there is a lot of vertical coral space, sometimes corals below don't get as much light but it just depends how you place everything. Point taken. Here's another arrangement. I think I like this better. More interesting tunnels, more horizontal space to better control light to the corals, and preserves a good bit of open sand for clams and such. It's a little hard to get a sense of the true depth, but hopefully the side shot gives a sense of the slope from back to front. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I like that better. You have a nice slope on which to build. And you still have hiding places for crabs, fish, etc. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 I have a few updates. First, I tried to jumpstart a cycle almost two weeks ago by adding a couple of raw shrimp. I watched them decompose to nothing in the tank, and yet have never detected so much as a trace of anything in the nitrogen cycle. For those compounds, I'm using an API test kit (I bought Salifert and Red Sea Max for most everything else) and wondering if that's the issue. I can't imagine that two shrimp (albeit small ones) could completely decompose and not leave any trace in a 50G tank. I did add Dr. Tim's a couple of days before the shrimp, and have a piece of cured live rock, so I wasn't expecting a hard cycle. Still surprised not to see anything at this point. Second, I rearranged the rockscape (see below). I thought the pure volume of rocks I had in the tank before was just too much. One of the downsides of a cube that I didn't consider before is that you have less surface area on which to arrange your rocks, so it's pretty tough to get ~1 pound / gallon without an incredibly tall and dense scape. This is much more minimalist, and yet will still provide me with plenty of surface area for corals. It also leaves me with more caves and other nooks and crannies. As an added bonus, the massive amount of rock chiseling I did to break rocks to get these pieces left me with plenty of rubble for the fuge chamber in my sump. Finally, while I waited patiently for the cycle that hasn't yet come, I spent the last week or so constructing my water change monstrosity. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Introducing Milo and Otis (names are tentative) Since a raw shrimp failed to kickstart a real cycle, these guys are going to be the brave pioneers to get this tank going. I started out with three, but one of them was pretty much immediately struggling when I got them home from my LFS and released them into the tank. The guy who bagged them seemed to be having lots of trouble getting the third (after catching two seamlessly), and I suspect he was banged up during the pursuit. I'm not positive, but I think that was the culprit. Parameters are spot on across the board. I'll have the next few weeks to keep these guys quarantined before I introduce any corals or additional fish, so we'll see if there was an illness that will hit these two as well. In other news, I picked up the last few items I need to complete this build: Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Oh - a few more notes: I changed the Razor to the 120 degree lenses, and highly recommend it for anybody with this light fixture. The light looks much more evenly diffused and natural. Can't speak highly enough of the Tunze Osmollator or the Advanced Acrylics ATO reservoir. Both are working beautifully. Once I get the Apex and assorted goodies, I'm going to start planning a custom cabinet build to sit in that small space to the right of the tank in the most recent FTS. My intent is for it to have two "compartments". On the bottom it'll house the ATO reservoir. On the top I'll have space to mount all of the power, monitors, controllers, etc. I'll rig something up to hide them away, but provide easy access. The entire top will hinge in the back so I can lift it out of the way to access the ATO reservoir. The power supply for my lights, and possibly the power supplies for the MP10s will mount to the back of the ATO compartment, hidden from view. Link to comment
NanoClown Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I love your new rock scape! It reminds me of the Colosseum Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Not much going on in the 50G. Still waiting to see if Milo and Otis kick off a proper cycle. All of the new gear should arrive on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to getting the Apex up and running. In other news, I happened to pick up the Apex gear during a BRS 10x points promotion. That, plus the points from some previous purchases left me with a healthy balance. I decided to pick up a smaller tank to put in our kitchen. I grabbed the IM Nuvo 8, Razor Nano, intank media basket and fuge upgrades, an mj900 to replace the stock return pump, and a tunze nano for ATO. I'm thinking I'll do a pair of black ice clowns in this tank. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 The Vortech MP10s are driving me crazy. My tank is right at the top end of the supported glass thickness (3/8"), but I have the hardest time trying to align the wet and dry sides every time I adjust anything. I've decided to sell the MP10s and go with a single MP40 instead. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Just installed the MP40. That was a good choice. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Longer update to come, but in the meantime, RIP to my favorite aquarium resident. He succumbed today to BSJ disease. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 BSJ? Basic Suicidal Jump? Pretty too. I hate losing fish. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 Blue Spotted Jawfish disease. Apparently they are uniquely vulnerable to a brooklynella-like infection. He started looking rough and acting oddly yesterday morning, and was dead by 10 PM. There were no indications of any issues the day before. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Blue Spotted Jawfish disease. Apparently they are uniquely vulnerable to a brooklynella-like infection. He started looking rough and acting oddly yesterday morning, and was dead by 10 PM. There were no indications of any issues the day before. Thanks for explaining the acronym. Again sorry to hear. They are such stunning fish. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 Thanks. They really are. Link to comment
TristanC Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Love the rock work, look forward to what you have in store for this tank. Link to comment
shawnb199 Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Oh, hello, what do we have here? Link to comment
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