120g SPS Crab Bucket

CRABDADDY · Sep 7, 2023

Disclaimer: There are way less crabs in this tank than the name suggests, but I promise to include some more down the road. I am also likely to ramble in this thread. Just a warning!

About 6-8 months ago I started kicking around the idea of getting a new, larger tank. I've had a IM Nuvo 40 for about 2.5 years. Like many of us do, I got the upgrade bug. I slowly started scouring the forums, Facebook marketplace, and even Craigslist for deals on used equipment while I was still living in my past apartment. I eventually found the ideal tank from someone quitting the hobby. After I moved in July the work began.

None of the equipment in this tank is new. I'm fairly proud of that, as I spent a lot of time and hours driving to pick up lightly used pumps, lights, a tank and more. As we all know, this hobby is expensive, but I try to save money as I can so I can spend more on healthy QTed livestock.

I will admit the first time seeing pictures of acropora I didn't really get the appeal. Then I started seeing more pictures of crazy colors, growth formations, wild polyp extension, and the sheer variety of how many different types are available. After seeing some acro colonies in person I was intrigued. I started educating myself on what it takes to keep acros. This will be my first good attempt at keeping them in my tanks. Wish me luck.

Now that the preamble ramble is complete. FINALLY...

THE BUILD:

120g 4' x 2' x 2' seapora tank. Dual internal corner overflows

60g bashsea sump

48" Aquatic life T5 fixture 4 bulbs- currently undecided which bulbs I will run

2 radion xr30s - will potentially add an xr15 between these

3 MP40s

Vectra return pump

Inkbird heater controller with 2 heaters

Unknown brand skimmer

Filter socks

Tunze osmolator ato

And that's about it for equipment! I want to keep this build simple, as I don't believe a complicated setup is necessary for success.

TANK SET UP:

I started the tank at the beginning of July. I had finished the plumbing and cleaned all the gunk out of the used tank and sump. Lots of elbow grease.

I started with the following:

100 lbs of Marco rock
1 bag of Caribsea live sand
1 bag of dry sand

A bit of crushed coral to put in high flow areas to prevent the bottom of the tank from showing. I asked my fiancee to do the aquascape with some guidance from me. She's an art teacher, so she has a much better eye for that sort of thing than I do. I helped her shape her design to be fish and coral friendly and I'm really proud of our result! She loves my aquariums and I'm thrilled to be able to get her involved!

I opted to go for the sand bed after much deliberation. I really wanted wrasses and I just prefer the look of sand. I will admit a bit of impatience played a part here as I didn't want to deal with a more prolonged and challenging bare bottom cycle. I'm happy with my choice so far. Hopefully my future acros will forgive me.

I cycled in roughly 2 weeks using the following:

Dr. Tim's one and only
Microbacter 7
Established biomedia from my 40g - added after cycle was complete

I then began to add fish, a couple every week or so. All the fish are from Wet Dreams aquatics jn Oak Creek, WI. They only sell 4 week QTed fish treated with copper. Best fish store in SE Wisconsin.

CURRENT LIVESTOCK:
Pair of clowns
2 dispar anthias
Midas blenny
Flame hawkfish
5 springeri damsels
Foxface Lo
Trochus and Astrea snails
Conches
Tigger Pods

I'll leave it at that for now. I'll get some live stock pictures and post and update on how the tank is coming along shortly!

Wrassenaround · Sep 7, 2023

I like your equipment list thats for sure! Good looking tank so far also. What are your future stocking plans for fish and corals? Mixed reef, SPS dominant?

CRABDADDY · Sep 7, 2023

SPS dominant for sure! Probably mostly acropora. My 40g will be my LPS tank.

I've actually ordered some QTed fish from Dr. Reef. I think they'll arrive in 2 weeks or so.

List of fish ordered:
White tail bristletooth tang
2 more dispar anthias
Red lined wrasse
Carpenter wrasse
Green Clown goby

I also found an amazing deal on a purple tang from a tank breakdown. I'm a crazy person so I spent my labor day driving 6 hours round trip to pick him up. He's in QT now, beginning copper treatment today. I'll be doing a 100% water change on his tank and a scrub down this afternoon, once my water is done mixing. Ideally, his QT should be done right when I get the other fish.

I am slightly concerned about the increased bioload of adding all these fish at once, but I didn't want to spend the money on separate shipping. Also, I have to add the tangs together. I added excess biomedia balls in my sump, so I should be alright, but I will be monitoring ammonia/nitrate closely in the days after adding these fish. Currently my nitrates are 5ppm and phosphate 0.03, so the nitrifying bacteria are doing just fine. 0 ammonia, of course.

CRABDADDY · Sep 7, 2023

A little photo dump of most of my current fish.

My Midas blenny. Got this guy from my LFS after one of their customers broke down their tank. He's fat and has beautiful coloration. This guy makes me think that calling them a sunset blenny is a better name.

Lo mein, my foxface. I think he's currently my favorite fish. I love watching him pick at the rocks and eat nori from his algae clip.

My hawkfish, Bob. He's got great character. He finds every little spot to perch and watches everyone else in the tank. He's their supervisor.

The blue man group, as my fiancee has named them.

And a bit of a family photo! I haven't decided on names for the anthias or the clowns.

CRABDADDY · Oct 2, 2023

Hey all!

I've finished stocking the tank with fish!

List is as follows:
5x Springeri Damsels
3x Dispar Anthias
2x Clownfish
1x Diamond Goby
1x Flame Hawkfish
1x Carpenter's Wrasse
1x Red lined wrasse
1x Mystery Wrasse
1x Midas Blenny
1x Foxface Rabbitfish
1x Powder Blue Tang
1x Purple Tang
1x White Tail Bristletooth Tang

The tank is heavily stocked. So far no major algae issues other than the standard uglies. Skimmer cup fills up quickly though. Aggression has been fairly minimal between the tangs so far. Just some minor chasing and posturing. They were all added together at the same time.

I tried to get a close up shot of the patterns of my purple tang.

I got this from another reefer breaking their 120g tank down. I quarantined this guy myself.

The mystery wrasse is one of my favorites. He's frequently out in the tank and he's got wonderful coloration. His tail looks like an eye to me.

The powder blue is a fish I was on the fence about. I was worried about ich as well as aggression. I have made my best effort to combat these problems by only buying quarantined fish, or quarantining them myself. I also tried to pick a smaller tang. He seems happy in the tank at his current size. I am planning on sizing up this tank when I buy a house next year to around 180g so these tangs will have more space.

The pictures don't do this wrasse justice. It's a stunner. He's active and out most of the day.

It's funny, the few people I've shown my tank always point out the Springeri Damsels as the thing that stands out most. Their intense blue color is very eye catching.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading! Happy reefing!

BaliReefBox · Oct 2, 2023

hi mate nice set up. I was wondering if you could post or send me a few pics of your stand. I have a build in progress with the same tank dimensions as yours. I have had a guy make me a stand from teak but I am not sure how strong it is. If I could see yours it would help heaps cheers

CRABDADDY · Oct 3, 2023

BaliReefBox said:
hi mate nice set up. I was wondering if you could post or send me a few pics of your stand. I have a build in progress with the same tank dimensions as yours. I have had a guy make me a stand from teak but I am not sure how strong it is. If I could see yours it would help heaps cheers

Thanks! I can take pics when I get home. To be fair, I didn't buy the stand or tank new. I don't know what model the stand is. It's got a little water damage at the base, but it should be fine for the next year.

Once I move I plan on replacing the stand and tank. Probably just putting everything into a new 180g.

nuxx · Oct 3, 2023

Glad you're planning on upgrading, might be tight for the Powder Blue.

CRABDADDY · Oct 3, 2023

nuxx said:
Glad you're planning on upgrading, might be tight for the Powder Blue.

Yup, that's why I intentionally got him smaller. Hoping he does well and lives long enough to see the upgrade. I know they're tricky, but I'm doing my best to keep him healthy, well fed, and ich free.

nuxx · Oct 3, 2023

CRABDADDY said:
Yup, that's why I intentionally got him smaller. Hoping he does well and lives long enough to see the upgrade. I know they're tricky, but I'm doing my best to keep him healthy, well fed, and ich free.

QT is half the battle. I've heard they're aggressive, but haven't kept one.

Just and Achilles and Achilles Hybrid together, and they were fine.