120-SR Predator softie build

[Oredigger77]

Always good to have some NeoNitro or equivalent handy to dose up when needed. I may have asked this already but I don’t remember, what salt mix are you using and does it mix up to your preferred parameters? That’s a good place to start. If it mixes up more towards the natural seawater parameters then you’ll either need to dose to supplement or switch to a higher Alk mix.

We're using regular red sea. It's supposed to mix up about 8.5 dkh at 1.026 sg but my nsw hasn't hit that yet in my testing. The best I've seen was 8.3. Somewhere between there and my tank it drops down to ~8. I haven't done the math but I think the difference between that ~8 and my current 7.5 was my extra dilution two weeks ago.

I'm ok with the salt mixing up to 8 or 8.5. I've never done much with sps and I'm mainly doing it in this tank to fill in some spots on the rock that seem to be getting too much light for lps. I'm ok with dosing and on our first tank we ended up needing to dose when the corals were doing well. Honestly, I haven't spent much time thinking about it yet.

Thanks for the suggestion on neo nitro. We have always had crazy high nitrates on our first tank so dosing nitrates was never an issue.

 

[TheWB]

We're using regular red sea. It's supposed to mix up about 8.5 dkh at 1.026 sg but my nsw hasn't hit that yet in my testing. The best I've seen was 8.3. Somewhere between there and my tank it drops down to ~8. I haven't done the math but I think the difference between that ~8 and my current 7.5 was my extra dilution two weeks ago.

I'm ok with the salt mixing up to 8 or 8.5. I've never done much with sps and I'm mainly doing it in this tank to fill in some spots on the rock that seem to be getting too much light for lps. I'm ok with dosing and on our first tank we ended up needing to dose when the corals were doing well. Honestly, I haven't spent much time thinking about it yet.

Thanks for the suggestion on neo nitro. We have always had crazy high nitrates on our first tank so dosing nitrates was never an issue.

It’s new for me too, I’ve never had low nitrates in a tank until recently. A friend gave me a little one inch frag of Xenia that he really likes. I took it, knowing it was a weed, and it did what Xenia does, consume nitrate and grow. I was adding nitrate to try and keep it up but that just fuels the growth of the Xenia too. I just pulled it last week (it had become enormous) so I was expecting a natural rise in nitrates but they are actually down from last week. I did increase my skimmer time on after I pulled the Xenia so I changed that back to more time off each day. There’s a way to find balance but it can take a while and constantly evolves with changes to coral, fish, equipment and supplements. You’re never really done.

 

[Oredigger77]

It’s new for me too, I’ve never had low nitrates in a tank until recently. A friend gave me a little one inch frag of Xenia that he really likes. I took it, knowing it was a weed, and it did what Xenia does, consume nitrate and grow. I was adding nitrate to try and keep it up but that just fuels the growth of the Xenia too. I just pulled it last week (it had become enormous) so I was expecting a natural rise in nitrates but they are actually down from last week. I did increase my skimmer time on after I pulled the Xenia so I changed that back to more time off each day. There’s a way to find balance but it can take a while and constantly evolves with changes to coral, fish, equipment and supplements. You’re never really done.

I've been pretty surprised following you pulling that zenia. It was huge and such a nutrient sink and yet it had very little effect on your tank getting rid of it.

Next up for us will be adding three fairy wrasses. It's been a month since we added fish and it'll be another month before we get the wrasses but that should help me feed a but more and increase the ammonia load for the corals. We're still a long way from getting to balanced in this tank I'm just trying to prevent it from getting too far out as we grow.

 

[TheWB]

I've been pretty surprised following you pulling that zenia. It was huge and such a nutrient sink and yet it had very little effect on your tank getting rid of it.

Next up for us will be adding three fairy wrasses. It's been a month since we added fish and it'll be another month before we get the wrasses but that should help me feed a but more and increase the ammonia load for the corals. We're still a long way from getting to balanced in this tank I'm just trying to prevent it from getting too far out as we grow.

I was surprised too, was definitely expecting a rise. My skimmer does a pretty good job.
More fish will help with your nitrate issues for sure. Which three fairy wrasses are you going to get?

 

[Oredigger77]

Rhomboid, pintail, and exquisite is the plan. According to this chart they should have the least chance of problems of any commonly available combo.


They've got 2 of 3 available from TSM right now and they're like $200 cheaper than going through Marine Collectors. I need to get them pre quarantined since I don't have the time and space to do it myself and I don't want to risk bringing something in to the tank.

 

[TheWB]

Rhomboid, pintail, and exquisite is the plan. According to this chart they should have the least chance of problems of any commonly available combo.


They've got 2 of 3 available from TSM right now and they're like $200 cheaper than going through Marine Collectors. I need to get them pre quarantined since I don't have the time and space to do it myself and I don't want to risk bringing something in to the tank.

Those are all great looking wrasses. Make sure your lid fits tightly. My Orange back shoots quite a bit of water out of my tank when it gets startled and runs for cover, which is more frequently than I’d like. They’re jumpers.

 

[Oredigger77]

Those are all great looking wrasses. Make sure your lid fits tightly. My Orange back shoots quite a bit of water out of my tank when it gets startled and runs for cover, which is more frequently than I’d like. They’re jumpers.

That's one thing I really like about the sr-120 is the top is really well made. There is no spot that has 1/8" of space between the tank and the top. But I also am worried about them being jumpers during feedings or tank maintenence but at least I'm there if something happens.

 

[TheWB]

That's one thing I really like about the sr-120 is the top is really well made. There is no spot that has 1/8" of space between the tank and the top. But I also am worried about them being jumpers during feedings or tank maintenence but at least I'm there if something happens.

Get the feed portals, I have one of the neat aquatics versions.

Screen Top Feeding Portal

Add a Screen Top Feeding Portal from Neat Aquatics and say goodbye to dried-on, smelly food bits getting stuck to your screen top netting. The Screen Top Feeding Portal is the ultimate convenience-enhancing accessory for your screen top. The portal provides a secure solution for feeding that...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I’d get two or three because of the length of your tank. Easy to feed the fish or spot feed corals. Keeps the lid on more and my hands out if the water.

 

[Oredigger77]

Yep, I already bought two of them I just feel a bit weird about cutting such a nice top. I'm broadcast feeding the corals currently but spot feeding seem to be preferred so then if have to take the top off anyhow.

 

[TheWB]

Yep, I already bought two of them I just feel a bit weird about cutting such a nice top. I'm broadcast feeding the corals currently but spot feeding seem to be preferred so then if have to take the top off anyhow.

I’d already re-netted mine once so that ship had sailed. Mine is old enough that the original mesh was thicker, more rigid plastic that blocked a lot of light. You can spot feed a lot through those portals with a longer feeder.

 

[Oredigger77]

Just got done with another week of maintenance and we've started growing a couple of different types of algea that are out competing the dinos we've been dealing with. I went through the tank with a toothbrush and knocked everything down. We've still got the purple spots that I can't scrub off that I think are coraline and this week we've added some pink spots that the algea wasn't growing on.

You can kind of see the bright pink spots in the photo but it was tough to get a good shot.

We've mostly got everything settling in from the last addition of coral the BTA is looking the best it's been since it's been in our tank and finally seems to be growing.

Our dunken which was one of the first corals we added looks like it's adding a third head that finally growing tentacles. It's fun because it right up front and pretty easy to see. Though hard to photograph. You can just barely see the white circle right between the two existing heads.

The gorgonians have mostly recovered from their shedding and finally have their polyps back out. They looked rough for a long time.

The one down side is the pectinia are looking kind of rough. I think it's just a function of how they grow from poking around other threads on reef2reef but there are a bunch of point where the skeleton is sticking through the skin. On the space invader it seems there is some algea growing on the tips too.

I'm not too concerned about the pectinia because our numbers are still looking pretty good. Here are the test results from this week.

Sg 1.025
8.1 pH
7.6 dkh
365 ppm calcium
0.045 ppm phosphate
2 ppm nitrate

The dkh and calcium are hanging pretty close to flat. The biggest concern for me this week was our phosphate number. We've been stable for the last 6 weeks between 0.1 and 0.11 and this week we dropped all the way down to 0.45. I ran the test twice and got 0.04 and 0.05 on my ultra low Hanna so I'm pretty sure it's correct. Our nitrates are basically flat so I'm not too concerned but I need to get our next round of fish in the tank soon because I'm feeding as much as I think I reasonably can with just three small fish.

 

[Oredigger77]

This weekend was crazy so I didn't get a water change or any testing done. I did get my rocks scrubbed to keep the dynos in shape. I mentioned it last week that we have some algea that is out competing the dynos now and in the last week its really picking up. I'm not sure what to do about it but the sand in the back of the tank is turning a deep forest green

Here is a top down I just grabbed while feeding the fish. Any ideas what we should do. At this point it just seems to be on the sand.

 

[Oredigger77]

I have been nuts busy and I haven't had much time for the tank let alone to post about it. I did finally get a water change and a sock change on the tank but I didn't get any testing done.

Most of the coral is looking kind of rough except for one mushroom that has grown huge and my BTA which has added 50% since I've been ignoring the tank. On the other hand the green cyano has mostly disappeared to replaced by some gha. I've got a vacation coming up in two months so my goal is to stay up on maintenence so the tank is on good shape before we leave for two weeks and to get the wrasses ordered soon.

 

[Oredigger77]

I have been nuts busy and I haven't had much time for the tank let alone to post about it. I did finally get a water change and a sock change on the tank but I didn't get any testing done.

Most of the coral is looking kind of rough except for one mushroom that has grown huge and my BTA which has added 50% since I've been ignoring the tank. On the other hand the green cyano has mostly disappeared to replaced by some gha. I've got a vacation coming up in two months so my goal is to stay up on maintenence so the tank is on good shape before we leave for two weeks and to get the wrasses ordered soon.

I haven't done my testing yet today but I got the 10 gallon water change done, scrubbed the rocks and changed the socks. I should be able to test tomorrow though.

My BTA was looking good this morning so I got a shot of him.

One of my mushrooms is growing like crazy but the rest of the coral are looking rough. Hopefully, I can get the tank planed out. We'll see what tomorrow's testing brings.

 

[Oredigger77]

Well, it's been six months since I posted and really aside from terrible maintenance nothing has happened with the tank. We got over the busy period about two months ago and have been getting the tank back in shape with weekly 30 gallon water changes for 6 weeks then we did a 10, then skipped a week and then did 20 gallons yesterday followed by 10 today. I haven't tested the tank in 7+ months and I'll have to start doing that again soon since we think we're back to getting coral for the tank.

The 20 and 10 the last tow days was making sure the tank was ready for our new fish. We haven't added any since our rabbit fish last spring but today we added a Rhomboid wrasse, a pin tail wrasse and a exquisite wrasse all from @Marine Collectors . The fish are gorgeous and after going through acclimation are exploring our tank and being explored by the current fish.

You can see both of our captive bred regals in the back ground checking out the new fish.

Our rabbit fish is a bit stressed out by the new occupants.

 

[TheWB]

Well, it's been six months since I posted and really aside from terrible maintenance nothing has happened with the tank. We got over the busy period about two months ago and have been getting the tank back in shape with weekly 30 gallon water changes for 6 weeks then we did a 10, then skipped a week and then did 20 gallons yesterday followed by 10 today. I haven't tested the tank in 7+ months and I'll have to start doing that again soon since we think we're back to getting coral for the tank.

The 20 and 10 the last tow days was making sure the tank was ready for our new fish. We haven't added any since our rabbit fish last spring but today we added a Rhomboid wrasse, a pin tail wrasse and a exquisite wrasse all from @Marine Collectors . The fish are gorgeous and after going through acclimation are exploring our tank and being explored by the current fish.

You can see both of our captive bred regals in the back ground checking out the new fish.

Our rabbit fish is a bit stressed out by the new occupants.

Good to see a new update. The new wrasses look great. I'd like to have a Pintail at some point, beautiful fish.

 

[Oredigger77]

Good to see a new update. The new wrasses look great. I'd like to have a Pintail at some point, beautiful fish.

The pin tail was my favorite in the bucket he's such a brilliant orange color but now that the exquisite is settling in his pink head is almost neon and I can see him all the way across the room.

 

[Oredigger77]

Our regals have been out nonstop since the wrasses were dropped in. Finally got a good shot of the male. He's about twice the size of his sister and has always been the brave and adventurous one.

 

[Oredigger77]

Well, I guess making a change in the tank sparked a bunch of changes.

First of the rhomboid wrasse died the day after we got him. He was fine for his first couple of hours in the tank though he always had his stress coloring. After a couple of hours he went and laid on the sand in a corner of the tank. We figured he was stressed from the travel and turned off the lights and fed the tank. He didn't go after any of the food to the point enough fell around his the the rabbit fish pushed him to eat the food where he was laying. The next morning he was barley moving and was dead by noon the following day.

The next morning we woke up to a tank with no power. Something tripped the circuit breaker for the tank for the first time since we put the tank on its own dedicated circuit. We flipped the breaker back but the tank had cooled down to 72 over night and the pintail was swimming at the surface gasping for air. It took a couple of hours for the tank to warm up but there were no signs of the breaker tripping again until after the lights went off in the tank that night. We caught it about two hours later when we went to bed and the tank had only cooled down to 77. At mid night I got up and the breaker had tripped again and it retripped immeaditly each time so we were able to trouble shoot it by unplugging things and figure out that one of our return pumps had died. The next morning we woke up to a dead pintail.

The exquisite seems to be doing well and is eating and has gotten the regals and rabbit fish to be out swimming around more but it's been a rough couple of days for us.

Next up now is getting one if those DC return pumps we talked about earlier in the thread with the 3d printed part. Then we'll get a couple more wrasses before moving on to the clowns and nem.

@TheWB Do you still like that pump, you've had it for a bit now?

 

[TheWB]

Well, I guess making a change in the tank sparked a bunch of changes.

First of the rhomboid wrasse died the day after we got him. He was fine for his first couple of hours in the tank though he always had his stress coloring. After a couple of hours he went and laid on the sand in a corner of the tank. We figured he was stressed from the travel and turned off the lights and fed the tank. He didn't go after any of the food to the point enough fell around his the the rabbit fish pushed him to eat the food where he was laying. The next morning he was barley moving and was dead by noon the following day.

The next morning we woke up to a tank with no power. Something tripped the circuit breaker for the tank for the first time since we put the tank on its own dedicated circuit. We flipped the breaker back but the tank had cooled down to 72 over night and the pintail was swimming at the surface gasping for air. It took a couple of hours for the tank to warm up but there were no signs of the breaker tripping again until after the lights went off in the tank that night. We caught it about two hours later when we went to bed and the tank had only cooled down to 77. At mid night I got up and the breaker had tripped again and it retripped immeaditly each time so we were able to trouble shoot it by unplugging things and figure out that one of our return pumps had died. The next morning we woke up to a dead pintail.

The exquisite seems to be doing well and is eating and has gotten the regals and rabbit fish to be out swimming around more but it's been a rough couple of days for us.

Next up now is getting one if those DC return pumps we talked about earlier in the thread with the 3d printed part. Then we'll get a couple more wrasses before moving on to the clowns and nem.

@TheWB Do you still like that pump, you've had it for a bit now?

I’m really sorry to hear about the electrical problems and your losses. Its always upsetting when things that are out of your control cause these kinds of issues.
As far as the pump and 3d printed part is concerned they both continue to work like champs. Highly recommend both the Reef Octopus VarioS2 for the pump and eelrivercorals to make the parts you’ll need.