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Coral Vue Hydros

BigJiggity's Fluval Spec V Build


BigJiggity

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This is my first venture into the marine/reef aqarium arena. I had been reading up on all the things, water chemistry, flora, fauna, etc... and i had a spec v tank that was previously used as a betta tank, I decided to go for it. So here is my build out thus far:

Video run down:

Fluval Spec V tank

Home made media rack, Foam, ceramic pegs, Chemipure Elite, and Purigen

7 pounds of live black sand

5 pounds of live rock

jaebo WP10 wave maker

Hydor ATO

upgraded main pump to Aqueon AQ600 - Had to pop off the front and back housing and dremel down a nub on it... but it flows great... similar to 606

Orbit Marine Pro light 18-24"

Aqueon 50W heater

Finnex HOB refugium with light and pump (not air pump)

.25 pounds of live rock

cheato and some other Macro algae

1 pound of live sand

1 pound bag of ceramic rings

bottle of tigger-pods trying to grow the colony

Live Stock:

1 Black Ice/Snowflake occelarus cross

1 Small occelarus

1 Yellow Clown Goby

3 astrea snails

2 cerith snails

4 hermit crabs

Corals:

Duncan (3 heads)

Various Zoas... (don't know the names, but I have pink, orange, purple, and a green/orange combo)

purple and orange richordia

purple/neon green tip branching hammer

Ice blue/neon green tip brancing hammer

5 head yellow/green candy canes

2 frags of purple/green flat brain or Acan... not really sure

I am looking at getting some more zoa's and maybe a sun coral or torch in the future... letting it grow for a bit and see how it does. Adding the fuge on the back has made a huge difference in the water quality over all, and as a added benifit I got some copepods with it.... thinking they got a ride in on the cheato.

When it was a betta tank:

Sm5LnPZ.jpg

Tank Day 1:

Jk2OiyS.jpg

Week 1: Added some extra rock, still cycling

BqliyUz.jpg

 

Mid Cycle - Orbit Marine Pro Light

vO46r2U.jpg

 

Current Full Tank Shot: 9/10/2015

oISCOzC.jpg

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I did a custom water change setup


two 5 gallon food grade buckets from lowes one for RODI and one for SALt


Gamma lids for the buckets (makes them water tight)


Rio 800 pump in each bucket


Home made 3 position switch



So I have the Hydor ATO, water sensor goes to my tank, then it has a plug for a pump, which i then plug in my custom made switch, that splits the power output from one to two femaie outputs, and the swich selects which female plug gets power, as well as an off position. So most of the time the switch is fliped toward the outlet that the RODI pump is plugged into so it does regular top offs... but when i do a water change I flip the switch to the center wich is Off... drain the old water, and when I am ready to fill up, I flip the switch over to the salt pump, the ato keeps it running till its back to the correct level, and then I switch it back to RODI. Works really slick... I actually need to get some anti-siphon vaives installed on the output lines from the pumps. But thus far it works really well. Here is a link to a gallery with the parts that I used and other ods and ends: http://imgur.com/a/NeRxL



bBn5qxY.jpg

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Live Stock:


1 Black Ice/Snowflake occelarus cross


1 Small occelarus


1 Yellow Clown Goby


3 astrea snails


2 cerith snails


4 hermit crabs



Video of my Clowns




Yellow Clown Goby


7Jcw0HBb.jpg



Corals:


Duncan (3 heads)


Various Zoas... (don't know the names, but I have pink, orange, purple, and a green/orange combo)


purple and orange richordia


purple/neon green tip branching hammer


Ice blue/neon green tip brancing hammer


5 head yellow/green candy canes


2 frags of purple/green flat brain or Acan... not really sure



Gallery of some of my corals


http://imgur.com/a/tWifm/all


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That is an awesome water change Idea. Very simple!

 

You have a 5g thing of RODI and 5g Salt under the tank?

 

Id probably forget to switch it bask to salt haha, DISASTER

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I have two water tight 5 gallon buckets below the tank...off to the side of the dresser its on... one RODI one Salt, and so I just top those off when they get low. and I labeled the buckets and the switch so I know which is which! :P

 

And when the fishes get bigger They will get a new home for sure... right now they are really small and fit nicely... and my water so far has been great.... having some trouble with green hair algae.... My phos was up a bit, but I added Chemipure elite to my filter rack to counter act it.... Think i might need a couple more snails to clean up

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