Fresh to Salt Build

[RobertP]

Just for fun I figured I would share my tank build as it goes. If you cant tell I am pretty excited and hope you don't mind me sharing. By the way this is a build that will happen over the next couple months so will plan to add as we go.

This is a 130 gallon (48"x 24"x 26") with a older wet/dry that my wife and I got about 10 years ago.

-Had my buddy who is a wizard with aluminum weld me a pan. It is 45 x 21 and 3" tall. No more worrying about leaks. My wife had an old workout mat that I cleaned up and cut to fit the bottom of the pan.
-Added 60lbs of pukani rock around Thanksgiving and then around Christmas added 30lbs of reef safe all from BFS.
-Put my old Coralife T5 in place and after two months of no lights it was like the beacon in the night! Bright lights and white rocks!
-Hooked up the moon lights which I almost never used before and they are pretty bright but really fun to look at. We will see if I keep using them or not.
-Added 5 Chromis last weekend but one is just swimming up in the top corners and does not eat. I dont have high hopes for him. Another one has his fins beat up badly. Not certain if it was like that when I got him or not. They do not seem to be beating him up.
-Starting to get darker now that the lights have been on for about four weeks.
-I added an algae reactor (sorry will have to add another pic) and got some chaeto from the LFS and it is taking off! I looked at it again last night and see bugs in it...looks like I have some copepods...pretty excited about that!

Next on the list is the sump. I cut out/taped a 39 x 16 cardboard and tried to fit it inside the cabinet but I dont think it will fly. So ordered the Trigger Emerald 34.

 

[kevinn9369]

Nice job so far

 

[MaiReef]

Welcome to R2R and looks good

 

[Bunnee911]

Howdy. Love your 'scape

 

[RobertP]

All my levels are great except for phosphates which are at .36. Guess the darkening of my rocks is algae...it is brown spots and holds air bubbles.
Plan to do a water change tomorrow.

Added 20 blue hermits and 4 red leg hermits and they started right toward the brown patches.

Since I don't yet have any corals I can kill the lights for a few days if it gets bad.
I don't yet have a skimmer or a GFO reactor.
Any suggestions?

 

[RobertP]

Sorry if this is boring you fellas but pretty excited and wanted to share.

-Got a trigger emerald 34 yesterday and got it hooked up this evening. Had no problem getting it in the stand but was really glad I didn't get the 39" because it would not have fit. The drain is gurgling...don't think that is normal since it is fairly noticeable. The problem might be the left drain since it is almost directly over the sump's bulkhead. I only have two 45s on it so maybe I should flatten it out with four 90s just to slow it down. Still not sure that will help but wont be a big problem to test since I didn't glue the pipe into the sump bulkhead. In hindsight I should have snapped a pic of the trigger sump. I am impressed with the quality. All the seams look perfect with no bubbles and I didn't even see any surface scratches from handling. Those Texas boys up in Dallas sure can build a sump!

-Picked up a Sicce syncra 5 pump over the weekend to replace my two 10+ year old rico looking pumps. WOW this thing is quiet! I have a syncra .5 pump and it is very quiet but it isn't moving much water. I thought the 5.0 was broken when I plugged it in because it made ZERO noise in the water. I had to look at the outlets to see that it was pumping away! Already planning to use the old pumps for water changes...no more buckets if I can help it.

-Also added a cheap clip on light for the refugium and moved most of my chaeto from the reactor over there. Not sure how everyone else hangs their light but I screwed in a plumbing fitting to the top on the stand and used a small chain to hang it...after bending the hooks closed. I am really eye-balling the Kessil grow light but got to get a skimmer next.

Really do not like these old bioballs in my new sump but think I need to remove them slowly so I don't cause another cycle. I plan to take a couple handfuls out every few days and watch the ammonia levels.

 

[RobertP]

Replaced the left drain line so it was not dropping straight down and it made a world of difference. Guess it is slowing the water down enough that the air can escape. Either way it is much more quiet.
Don't laugh at my towel. The refugium light is bright enough I could see it from my bedroom. So placed the towel to block most of the light. It is temporary until I find something better.

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Nice set up!

 

[RobertP]

The gurgle was more about how much water I have in the sump than anything else. Too much and it gurgles but seem to have found a happy place. I'm dying for an ATO!
Bioballs have been coming out and levels are fantastic...well except phosphates but they are down to .16 from .36.
Setup a 10 gallon quarantine in my office and have a dottyback watching me work. He eats well and been in the 10 days. Probably safe to move him but will wait at least a week.

 

[RobertP]

My old coralife lights have seen better days but still work. Changed out the bulbs and left 1 white and 3 actinic trying to slow the algae growth. The whole side is melted. Guess it didn't like being inside the canopy.

 

[RobertP]

My sad little frags but got to start somewhere. Oh and next time I will wait to take pictures until the water settles after cleaning the glass!

 

[canister guy]

Really nice. My tank looks similar but a scaled down 70 gallons. My rock and sand looked the same. Lasted like 5 days. One day I'm gonna fig out how to post a pic of mine

 

[RobertP]

Wife talked me into getting a couple clarkii clowns and a cherry anemone. Wow I had no idea clowns were so cool and fun to watch. Love seeing them feeding their anemone and sleeping in it. Best part is wife is in love with them.

Certainly I am not the only one that enjoys refugium watching. In the evening when the lights are out and the fuge lights are on, I get a big kick out of watching a bugs life! My chaeto looks like it is moving with hundreds of bugs. I think they are copepods but could be smaller amphipods.

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Things are coming together! Got some pics. Are fans inside the light? Might sure salt hasn't killed them. Got pics?

 

[RobertP]

Got 10 Mexican turbo snails and 10 more hermits with an emerald crab at the LFS. They have made a difference in the algae. I still have a few of these black algae spots. I saw one if the snails eating a little of it.

 

[RobertP]

Things are coming together! Got some pics. Are fans inside the light? Might sure salt hasn't killed them. Got pics?

Yes the light has a fan but I had the light in a canopy which didn't have any holes. I'm still debating which led lights to get to replace it.

 

[RobertP]

Here are my wife's new pets. She loves these clarkii.

 

[RobertP]

Helps if I add the pic.

 

[RobertP]

Cleaned off the rocks with a baster....the diatoms were just sitting on the rocks. Apex with the WAVs should be here next week so will get some flow pushing that stuff around.

Got my Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer from Jeff yesterday and it fits nicely in my sump. About time I have a skimmer in there! Still waiting on the pump so haven't yet trimmed up all the lines.

 

[RobertP]

Busy weekend. Besides staying up too late trying to get some of those $5 frags, went to a couple LFS in Houston. FJW is one awesome place where I have never seen so many corals. My wife is excited about her large zoa colony. We also spent some money at The Aquarium Place where I got some acro frags and a nice plate. Tank is starting to look more like a real reef tank.