OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Thanks skinz!
The Rebirth/Rebuild of my 180g sps thread
- Thread starter Acronuts
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Thanks skinz!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Thank you!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Thank you surf&surf, it took some time to figure out but I feel that I can live with this look.
My main concern was structure design, followed by esthetically pleasing feel to me, then of course how were corals to be placed within such a structure.
revhtree
Owner Administrator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Reef Squad
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
RGB
Photo of the Month
Article Contributor
R2R TV Featured
Hospitality Award
Article Administrator
Black Friday Sponsor
Partner Sponsor 2023
Industry Professional
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- May 8, 2006
- Messages
- 48,053
- Reaction score
- 89,308
Seriously love your aquascape!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Thanks revhtree! Now I hope I have the guts to hold back and think about how to place the corals and still keep the overall look of the reef esthetically pleasing. All that on top of keeping a robust and healthy system too!
It's ok, I, like the rest of us here whole heartily accept the challenge! Lol!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Thanks tfp! You definitely know that those suckers are a HUGE problem! I will be more careful from now on with double and triple checking anything that goes in.
Did your friend do something similar? Or did they go a completely different route?
tfp
Community Member
we completely tossed all his rock and sand. also, chipped corals from and rock and setup staging bins with lights, heater, skimmer and circulation. they were even a couple small ones on his huge gigas clam when we broke everything down. one of them 10hr back breaking days but i'd help him again in a heartbeat. then he ran bleach thru his system for a day or so before using sodium thiosulfate (or something like that) to remove the bleach.
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Oh man I hear ya pain! It's gut wrenching when you hear someone else going thru it. What's worse is to see your poor corals being stung and killed by these guys.
Makes you rethink and its all about quarantining EVERYTHING !!!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Update: Week one of cycling the tank
The 180g went officially "LIVE" last week!
Week Two
I tested water and the results were as follows:
0.00 Ammonia
0.00 Nitrites
0.10 Nitrates
Ph 8.2
I decided to add my 8 green chromis' and my three springer damselfish from the holding tank.
Of course the springer damsels went swimming immediately into the cover of the crevises and holes inside the rocks.
The green chromis' basically hovered tightly together.
I am amazed! Why? Well it has been such a long time since I cycled a tank that I actually got nervous and wanted to wait another week to add the damsels!
Something else that shows how time has changed since the last time I cycled a tank is that there are numerous more types of damsels coming into the hobby like the Springer damsel. What a beautiful fish!
Well now that the fish are being added slowly to the display tank it was time to get the monster Reef Octopus skimmer running.
Here is a quick video:
Man this thing was running at full blast. At the widest opened setting the skimmer was still overflowing! Wondering wether I should keep it at the widest setting till it subsides.........?
Well that is it for now. Till next week when I add a couple more fish from the holding 55g tank.
The 180g went officially "LIVE" last week!
Week Two
I tested water and the results were as follows:
0.00 Ammonia
0.00 Nitrites
0.10 Nitrates
Ph 8.2
I decided to add my 8 green chromis' and my three springer damselfish from the holding tank.
Of course the springer damsels went swimming immediately into the cover of the crevises and holes inside the rocks.
The green chromis' basically hovered tightly together.
I am amazed! Why? Well it has been such a long time since I cycled a tank that I actually got nervous and wanted to wait another week to add the damsels!
Something else that shows how time has changed since the last time I cycled a tank is that there are numerous more types of damsels coming into the hobby like the Springer damsel. What a beautiful fish!
Well now that the fish are being added slowly to the display tank it was time to get the monster Reef Octopus skimmer running.
Here is a quick video:
Man this thing was running at full blast. At the widest opened setting the skimmer was still overflowing! Wondering wether I should keep it at the widest setting till it subsides.........?
Well that is it for now. Till next week when I add a couple more fish from the holding 55g tank.
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Well week three update guys:
For starters the water has tested as follows:
Ph 8.0 a little less than where I would like to have it
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.15
Nitirate 0.10
Actinic lights come on at 6pm and off at 1am
Metal Halides come on from 10pm till 12 midnight.
I have started noticing that where the actinics light the reefscape, I started to get the infamous brown diatom algae. I feel that at this point things are coming along nicely. We are cycling as they say!
At the end of week two I added some of my seeded rock that has been in my holding tank. I have been also using Microbacter every other day since week one.
The green chromis and damsels are being fed every other day opposite the microbacter dosing. The fish seem to be happy full of color and eating well!
During week three I was testing daily to see if I could catch an ammonia spike but have not yet. Did see my Nitrites jump from 0.25 to 0.15 then 0.10 then back upto 0.15.
Something happening there.
At this point I know some heads are gonna turn but I am confident that I am ok. Since I will be adding some extra fish like, powder blue tang, blonde naso, foxface, etc. I have some fish that are more on the shy side. My swiss guard basslet and white possum wrasse and the pajama cardinals need to establish themselves so that they do not get bullied when the bigger guys come in.
So far 72 hrs and after a 1 and 1/2 hour acclimation the fish are all doing fine. The pajama cardinals are loving the caves, the swiss guard basslet comes out more than when I initially bought it 1 year ago!
The possum wrasse as always goes into complete hiding. Funny at around 8:30 or 9:00pm everyday he comes out over by the lower right side of the tank. Whats even weirder than that is he started doing it again in the tank even with a different aquascape!!!
Sorry about the pics. They were taken in a rush!
For starters the water has tested as follows:
Ph 8.0 a little less than where I would like to have it
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.15
Nitirate 0.10
Actinic lights come on at 6pm and off at 1am
Metal Halides come on from 10pm till 12 midnight.
I have started noticing that where the actinics light the reefscape, I started to get the infamous brown diatom algae. I feel that at this point things are coming along nicely. We are cycling as they say!
At the end of week two I added some of my seeded rock that has been in my holding tank. I have been also using Microbacter every other day since week one.
The green chromis and damsels are being fed every other day opposite the microbacter dosing. The fish seem to be happy full of color and eating well!
During week three I was testing daily to see if I could catch an ammonia spike but have not yet. Did see my Nitrites jump from 0.25 to 0.15 then 0.10 then back upto 0.15.
Something happening there.
At this point I know some heads are gonna turn but I am confident that I am ok. Since I will be adding some extra fish like, powder blue tang, blonde naso, foxface, etc. I have some fish that are more on the shy side. My swiss guard basslet and white possum wrasse and the pajama cardinals need to establish themselves so that they do not get bullied when the bigger guys come in.
So far 72 hrs and after a 1 and 1/2 hour acclimation the fish are all doing fine. The pajama cardinals are loving the caves, the swiss guard basslet comes out more than when I initially bought it 1 year ago!
The possum wrasse as always goes into complete hiding. Funny at around 8:30 or 9:00pm everyday he comes out over by the lower right side of the tank. Whats even weirder than that is he started doing it again in the tank even with a different aquascape!!!
Sorry about the pics. They were taken in a rush!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Latest update guys
Week five met up with a little fustration as the tank kept measuring Nitrites.
I kept adding microbacter as directed.
Finally week six I saw relief!
At this point I needed to desperately get my fish into the main display. Christmas is coming and I did not want the extra fish tank in the main living area.
One of my LFS stores was having a Christmas party/ HUGE sale on fish,corals and invertebrates.
Of course my wallet was ready.
I added a powder blue tang
A emperor juv anglefish
A mimic tang
A foxface rabbit fish
Well total fish for now are as follows:
1 purple tang
1 hippo tang
1 possum wrasse
1 swiss guard basslet
6 green chromis
3 springer damsels
1 powder blue tang
1 foxface
1 juv emperor anglefish
1 mimic tang
Well for now this is gonna do me for a bit I want the system to start ageing and start to get my water parameters really in order for the addition of corals.
I did add a coral banded shrimp and a cleaner shrimp but they are in hiding still and I can't get good shots. As soon as I do I will post.
Merry Christmas all!!!
Week five met up with a little fustration as the tank kept measuring Nitrites.
I kept adding microbacter as directed.
Finally week six I saw relief!
At this point I needed to desperately get my fish into the main display. Christmas is coming and I did not want the extra fish tank in the main living area.
One of my LFS stores was having a Christmas party/ HUGE sale on fish,corals and invertebrates.
Of course my wallet was ready.
I added a powder blue tang
A emperor juv anglefish
A mimic tang
A foxface rabbit fish
Well total fish for now are as follows:
1 purple tang
1 hippo tang
1 possum wrasse
1 swiss guard basslet
6 green chromis
3 springer damsels
1 powder blue tang
1 foxface
1 juv emperor anglefish
1 mimic tang
Well for now this is gonna do me for a bit I want the system to start ageing and start to get my water parameters really in order for the addition of corals.
I did add a coral banded shrimp and a cleaner shrimp but they are in hiding still and I can't get good shots. As soon as I do I will post.
Merry Christmas all!!!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Yeah these guys were eating at store! The emperor was eating flake food! Fox face likes the seaweed I put in the tank. And of course the others eat everything. There is hardly any brown diatom algae left in the tank so after this water change I plan on feeding everyday a variety of foods.
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Hey naldo! I wish you were buddy! But life has a funny way of showing you that sometimes redoing it again allows you to learn again!
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Well guys thought I share this video of my tank that I shot with my new toy, the iPad2!
Great device!
Anyhow it starts off witht the coral banded shrimp that has decided for now to take refuge at the bottom of the tank inside one of the caves.
Of course the fish seem to be fine as they used to swim away when I came near the tank now they follow daddy cause they know who feeds them, lol!
Toward the end don't miss the swiss guard basslet!
180 gallon reef tank - YouTube
Great device!
Anyhow it starts off witht the coral banded shrimp that has decided for now to take refuge at the bottom of the tank inside one of the caves.
Of course the fish seem to be fine as they used to swim away when I came near the tank now they follow daddy cause they know who feeds them, lol!
Toward the end don't miss the swiss guard basslet!
180 gallon reef tank - YouTube
OP
OP
Acronuts
Well-Known Member
Well everybody it certainly has been a long time since I have posted.
The holidays were extremely busy and on top of that my sister had a major stroke.
She is in rehab right now and thank god she is doing much, much better. Her prognosis is really positive.
Due to not enough time I decided that I had to use my time wisely with my on going efforts. Going slow is definitely in the reef keeping hobby a good thing.
The tank is doing really great.
The water parameters are super good.
Ph 8.3
Sal 1.023
Alk 8
Ca 450
Mg 1350
Phos 0.05
No .08
Last week I took the plung and bought 2 monti's. A Tyree purple rim cap and a regular red cap monti. I love these as the grow with swirls and grow quickly and will fill the open water space nicely.
I unfortunatley lost my swiss guard basslet due to jumping out of tank. Can't understand why since I have no other wrasses that would bother it. But it found just the right spot!
As I stated time is really not on my side so I ordered from liveaquaria.com.
I purchased and due to arrive today another swiss guard basslet and a golden pygmy angelfish.
I have been waiting for my lfs stores to carry one of these beauties (golden pygmy ) but they just don't come in on a regular basis. The last time I saw one around my area was about 5 yrs ago.
I am truly excited!!!
My coral banded shrimp
My two monti caps
The holidays were extremely busy and on top of that my sister had a major stroke.
She is in rehab right now and thank god she is doing much, much better. Her prognosis is really positive.
Due to not enough time I decided that I had to use my time wisely with my on going efforts. Going slow is definitely in the reef keeping hobby a good thing.
The tank is doing really great.
The water parameters are super good.
Ph 8.3
Sal 1.023
Alk 8
Ca 450
Mg 1350
Phos 0.05
No .08
Last week I took the plung and bought 2 monti's. A Tyree purple rim cap and a regular red cap monti. I love these as the grow with swirls and grow quickly and will fill the open water space nicely.
I unfortunatley lost my swiss guard basslet due to jumping out of tank. Can't understand why since I have no other wrasses that would bother it. But it found just the right spot!
As I stated time is really not on my side so I ordered from liveaquaria.com.
I purchased and due to arrive today another swiss guard basslet and a golden pygmy angelfish.
I have been waiting for my lfs stores to carry one of these beauties (golden pygmy ) but they just don't come in on a regular basis. The last time I saw one around my area was about 5 yrs ago.
I am truly excited!!!
My coral banded shrimp
My two monti caps
Similar threads
