125-gallon Peaceful Reef

SaltyT · Apr 20, 2022

I’m pretty sure the red one is encrusting sponge. I have some on my rocks too. But definitely give it a closer look.

The turkey wings will be part of your tank’s filtration. They filter feed all day so as long as you don’t keep your tank too “clean” they should live for years. Mine filter out small particles when I broadcast feed frozen foods. They’re cool to watch.

Soren · Apr 21, 2022

SaltyT said:
I’m pretty sure the red one is encrusting sponge. I have some on my rocks too. But definitely give it a closer look.

The turkey wings will be part of your tank’s filtration. They filter feed all day so as long as you don’t keep your tank too “clean” they should live for years. Mine filter out small particles when I broadcast feed frozen foods. They’re cool to watch.

After taking a closer look, I think you are right about the red one being encrusting sponge. I did not realize there were calcified sponges that were hard like this. What I thought might be polyps actually appear to just be holes.

That is great if the turkey wing clams can do well and aid filtration! I definitely do not intend to run a "clean" tank, so I hope to keep them alive. I agree that they are cool to watch, and I find it particularly interesting that a few of them have different colors of coralline algae on each half with a straight separation line at the hinge.

I also discovered several different corals that are alive, so it will be exciting to get pictures to identify these as well as seeing what else shows up over time!

Soren · Apr 21, 2022

Added clean-up crew and macroalgae from Reef Cleaners today to the 30g.
CUC included 4 dwarf trochus snails, several small nassarius snails, many tiny cerith snails, 2 strawberry conches, and several blue-legged hermit crabs.
Activity increased, some fish discovered new hidey-holes, and my firefish came out for a while confirming that I've finally had one survive beyond just a few days!

Corals for this tank may be on the horizon before long. So this tank can stay lower maintenance, I'm considering just a few types that are hardy, possibly even considered invasive, such as pulsing xenia, green star polyps, toadstool leather, and mushrooms.
I also plan to add some of the ocean-direct live rock to this tank after attempting to ensure there are no dangerous hitchhikers introduced with it.

There's plenty of GHA and cyanobacteria right now... is it sacrilege to actually kind of like this stage?

Soren · Apr 25, 2022

After many recent happenings for me in the saltwater hobby, here is an update on current status of my tanks, including some ups and downs:

The live rock is doing okay in the 90g holding tank, but ammonia has been climbing and I have not seen any crustacean/worm activity over the last several days (either day or night) and only observed a few worms on the first day and day after. The rock smells like decay, though not terrible yet. I tied in a 30g sump to this tank with some filter floss, a pouch of Purigen (hope it helps with ammonia?) and a return pump. I was not expecting the ammonia spike or the suspected amount of die-off but the shipment was delayed a day instead of being overnight delivery. I'm still waiting to hear back if anything can be done about this...

In the 10g QT, one of the larger clownfish died while I was gone over the weekend, so I don't have any idea why. It was surrounded thickly in a large cocoon of mucous/bacteria? when I found it this morning.
The broadstripe cleaner gobies might be pairing up in this tank! At least they are getting along now instead of chasing each other around.

In the 30g Work tank, most is the same as before. There are now bare spots on the live rock where the CUC cleared the hair algae, so they are a worthwhile addition.
The Tomini tang did not survive the weekend, even with plenty of algae and herbivore pellets to eat along with flakes/pellets/frozen food. It was smaller than should have been from the size I thought I ordered and was thin when it first arrived, but it seemed to do okay for the first several days in this tank, even though it did not seem to eat much.
All other fish are doing well.

In the 75g Top QT, the 3 surviving chromises transferred home from the 30g tank (one did not survive the first night after transfer) developed white spots, so they are in a 40g Hospital tank with copper. Hopefully the other fish are not affected and I did not just infect the tank with ich, though it seems highly possible now. It is strange that the chromises did fine in the 30g tank with no signs of disease, but the stress of transfer seems to have weakened their immune systems enough for ich to show up? None of the other fish in either the 30g Work tank or 75g Top QT show any signs of ich to date...
The foxfaces, earlier chromis, and larger engineer goby are still doing well.

In the 75g Sump QT, I removed the powder blue tang due to possible white spots on the fins and placed it in the 40g Hospital tank with copper. This tang was from an order a few months ago when SWF had them on significant sale, so I decided to try one for the open tang position for my build tank. I've read that they invariably come in with ich, so I was expecting and watching out for this possibility, although I saw no signs of it for the first several weeks. This tang also came in extremely emaciated, but is eating well and putting on weight since arrival.
Foxfaces and snowflake eels are doing well.

In the 40g-B QT, it now contains the 2 small foxfaces. I've been preparing to transfer them to this tank for a while now and finally did so on Saturday. I'm glad I did, because they have showed almost no signs of aggression yet in this tank as opposed to occasional short battles in the previous 20g. This tank is back to looking beautiful; hopefully I'll keep it that way.

No progress has been made recently on the 125-125 build other than the addition of the rock-holding tank for culturing live rock and a few updates to my water production/mixing system to make things simpler.
The main reason for limited progress is that I am currently looking into and developing ideas for inclusion of a refugium instead of a simple overflow as well as an algae turf scrubber and refugium on the back of the top of the tank. Research is also being done toward setting up my own phyto/pod culture systems.

It is a continual battle to find encouragements when dealing with some discouragements while also finding time to make progress without losing patience and moving too fast, causing or increasing likelihood of issues.
The one thing I look forward to most in this build is reaching a point where I can just stop and enjoy the tanks more. Right now, the only place this happens much is with the 30g Work tank, since it is on my desk at work where I spend most of my waking hours.

Goaway · Apr 25, 2022

Soren said:
ammonia has been climbing and I have not seen any crustacean/worm

Get a fresh bucket of saltwater made. Take the rock and rinse it off in bucket. May need a few buckets depending on your rock size.

Edit: i mean, depending on how many lbs you bought, how much gunk falls off.

Soren · Apr 25, 2022

Mibu said:
Get a fresh bucket of saltwater made. Take the rock and rinse it off in bucket. May need a few buckets depending on your rock size.

Edit: i mean, depending on how many lbs you bought, how much gunk falls off.

That sounds like a good plan. I have the water made up for a 40-gallon water change this evening, but should probably rinse off the rocks in saltwater to waste afterwards like you are suggesting before the water change in the hopes that it removes some of the decaying organics directly. Now that I have the sump running, I'm hoping to capture some of the organics in the filter floss, but this only catches part of the suspended organics and does not remove them directly from the water until I remove the floss for cleaning.

There is definitely a brown film of deposits that settles on the rocks and sand. I also need to remove some small cucumbers that I suspect have died.

The main disappointment is in the fact that I was hoping for almost no die-off but got a lot more than bargained for since the shipment was delayed a day. It is frustrating to me that shippers still allow payment for "overnight" shipping even if they cannot or often do not fulfill it. The extra day could have had a significant impact on my shipment.

I will need at least a few buckets of waste saltwater, since I ordered 75lbs of live rock and 25lbs of live sand. There are about 8 large rocks and a few smaller rocks.

Goaway · Apr 25, 2022

I don't know if the shippers can file a claim on that. Paying for over night and getting a 2 day service isn't right. Someone needs a shipping refund.

But, yes. Always rinse off live rock. One way or another die off is going to happen. We have to clean it until the ammonia drops to 0.

Soren · Apr 26, 2022

Mibu said:
I don't know if the shippers can file a claim on that. Paying for over night and getting a 2 day service isn't right. Someone needs a shipping refund.

But, yes. Always rinse off live rock. One way or another die off is going to happen. We have to clean it until the ammonia drops to 0.

I have not heard back about any refund chances yet, but I did rinse the rocks thoroughly and did a water change. The water change was accomplished by shutting of the return pump from the 30g sump, moving the tank aside, adding a Brute 44g can in place of the sump (my original intention when I found that I cannot fit anything larger than a 10g through the 90g stand doors or back openings), transferring the water from the mixing Brute 44g to the new sump Brute 44g, adding the return pump to the can sump and starting up flow to even out temperature (the mixing station does not have a heater right now), then rinsing the rocks in the 30g tank with the remaining water after shutoff.

All went well and ammonia dropped and stayed lower into this morning, but there is still significant brown film on the rocks this morning and I found a number of black deposits on the underside of the rocks that smelled like hydrogen sulfide, so I expect ammonia to start to climb again. I'll continue to do rinses and water changes until things stabilize in the holding tank.

Goaway · Apr 26, 2022

That sounds like a massive amount of die off. That really sucks. A soft tooth brush and gently brush that stuff off. Bacteria will be fine. It's the other life forms you want to survive. That black stuff will cause a lot of ammonia.

Soren · Apr 26, 2022

Mibu said:
That sounds like a massive amount of die off. That really sucks. A soft tooth brush and gently brush that stuff off. Bacteria will be fine. It's the other life forms you want to survive. That black stuff will cause a lot of ammonia.

Yeah, it is not what I was expecting when I paid for overnight shipping for ocean-direct live rock. So far, sponges/corals/clams still seem to be doing fine, but I'm not sure how hopeful I am that I won't end up with very expensive rock if everything dies. I'm hoping I can stay ahead of the ammonia now that I know there is significant die-off and hopefully keep the surviving life from this point.

I'm still disappointed that there are almost no worms and no crustaceans that I've observed alive at this point. That was one of the primary reasons I made the investment into live rock (of course, the corals, coralline algae, sponges, bacteria, etc. are also primary reasons, and these may be okay). I guess I can at least be glad that the chances of destructive hitchhikers making it into my reef is almost zero with this rock? ...assuming that there are not life forms just staying hidden in the rocks but still alive.

I'll see how this progresses and find out if anything can be done for the unfair shipping case...

Goaway · Apr 26, 2022

Soren said:
guess I can at least be glad that the chances of destructive hitchhikers making it into my reef is almost zero with this rock?

The sponge and bivalves will die before the pests will. Also, worms and other critters. As they get more comfortable, they will reveal themselves. Or, they are grazing on the dying matter and can't keep up with it.

Live rock is very expensive as of now. It is worse than when I returned a few years ago. Really is awful.

SaltyT · Apr 26, 2022

Oh man sorry about your rock. I know it sucks that stuff has died, but Mibu is right there is life deep in that rock that will survive and show itself in the coming weeks.

Not sure if this is an option for you in the future, but I pick my live rock up straight from the airport. I've never experienced any die off.

Soren · Apr 26, 2022

Mibu said:
The sponge and bivalves will die before the pests will. Also, worms and other critters. As they get more comfortable, they will reveal themselves. Or, they are grazing on the dying matter and can't keep up with it.

Live rock is very expensive as of now. It is worse than when I returned a few years ago. Really is awful.

I'm still excited to see if there are living creatures in the rocks, especially from the confirmations I get here of some of my suspicions (sponges/bivalves would die before worms and crustaceans).

Everything in this hobby is very expensive as of now, even compared to just a couple years ago. That is why I am trying to choose my "investments" wisely to get good results in the things I care most about in this hobby.

SaltyT said:
Oh man sorry about your rock. I know it sucks that stuff has died, but Mibu is right there is life deep in that rock that will survive and show itself in the coming weeks.

Not sure if this is an option for you in the future, but I pick my live rock up straight from the airport. I've never experienced any die off.

I'm glad to hear confirmation that there might still be life deep in the rock that has yet to show itself.
Also, I'm surprised that the corals survived thus far and most of the sponges seem to keep breaking through the brown film, so they must be surviving so far, too. It is always nice to see a break of color from sponge or coralline algae instead of the dusty brown look the rock has taken on in the last few days. I considered brushing the rocks, but don't want to harm soft life such as sponges. Shaking does not do enough, though, so I will probably go ahead with a soft brush and see how things go.

Picking up at the airport might be an option for me that I will consider if I do order more live rock. It is just more troublesome since my local airport in Peoria, IL is not very major (still assume they could receive the shipment and I could pick up there) and I would have to take off work time to make sure I am available to pick it up. Due to my plans to keep a few different builds running, I am considering the likely possibility of ordering more live rock in the future.

SaltyT · Apr 26, 2022

Soren said:
I'm still excited to see if there are living creatures in the rocks, especially from the confirmations I get here of some of my suspicions (sponges/bivalves would die before worms and crustaceans).

Everything in this hobby is very expensive as of now, even compared to just a couple years ago. That is why I am trying to choose my "investments" wisely to get good results in the things I care most about in this hobby.

I'm glad to hear confirmation that there might still be life deep in the rock that has yet to show itself.
Also, I'm surprised that the corals survived thus far and most of the sponges seem to keep breaking through the brown film, so they must be surviving so far, too. It is always nice to see a break of color from sponge or coralline algae instead of the dusty brown look the rock has taken on in the last few days. I considered brushing the rocks, but don't want to harm soft life such as sponges. Shaking does not do enough, though, so I will probably go ahead with a soft brush and see how things go.

Picking up at the airport might be an option for me that I will consider if I do order more live rock. It is just more troublesome since my local airport in Peoria, IL is not very major (still assume they could receive the shipment and I could pick up there) and I would have to take off work time to make sure I am available to pick it up. Due to my plans to keep a few different builds running, I am considering the likely possibility of ordering more live rock in the future.

My current tank has been running 2.5yrs and things are still popping up on the live rock. The biodiversity on live rock is incredible. You can take a soft toothbrush to the rock it won't hurt anything. I use one to scrape stuff off my yellow ball sponges when needed, it does no damage.

Soren · May 9, 2022

I'm lacking picture updates due to not taking time for photography, but I have made some build progress.
Current build plan now includes three 10g tanks for refugiums over the main display:

On Saturday, I successfully drilled the refugium tanks for triple standpipe drains ("Bean Animal" style planned). The drilling went well except for 2 issues:
On one tank, I accidentally shifted the wooden hole template I made to be butted against the lip of the plastic rim rather than the inside edge of the bottom rim after almost completing the drill, which offset the hole about 1/4" or so. I drilled about halfway through before noticing the issue, so there is a weak spot if I try to use this for the same intended bulkheads. The tank is not certainly ruined, but I'm not sure I trust it unless I can drill for a larger bulkhead around the misaligned hole.
On another tank, I decided to remove the hole template after drilling halfway through so I could watch the drilling better. This of itself would not be an issue, but I ended up slipping a bit as the second hole dropped out and the drill tapped the glass around the hole. I did not notice until later that there was a crack from the hole to the edge of the tank bottom, probably due to the bump.
Good thing these tanks are 50% off at my local Petco right now for only $10... Since they were cheap, I had already bought an extra tank, but not 2 extras, so I'll be picking up a couple more tonight before the sale is over if they still have some in-stock.

I also picked up three 40-breeder tanks (only $55 each) to fill out the missing slots in my basement fish room and have one available for a possible upgrade at work (though I really like the lower dimension of the 30-breeder for the desk at work).
They had a 60-breeder available, which I had never seen before and have gained an interest in lower tanks after seeing how nice the 30-breeder looks at work. Thankfully, this one was not on sale, so I avoided at least a bit of my multiple-tank syndrome and did not buy it.

Plans are developing for the main overflow and the 125 tank is standing ready for drilling once the bulkhead sizes and pattern are determined.

The Gulf Live Rock order continues to show more life and ammonia has been back to zero for almost 2 weeks. Algae is definitely starting to grow. I need to get more pictures and am considering whether I should buy some CUC for this tank or not. I'd like to try to cultivate some algae types and don't want them to be eaten, but I don't want to allow hair algae to take over this tank and smother other life.

I've been working on some 3D designs for different products and have a major back-log for my brother's 3D printer right now, so I am researching buying my own printer(s) to keep up with my demand. More on these designs later when fully developed/proven.

Pictures and more updates to follow in the next few days if I am not too distracted with other tasks...

NowGlazeIT · May 9, 2022

Soren said:
I'm lacking picture updates due to not taking time for photography, but I have made some build progress.
Current build plan now includes three 10g tanks for refugiums over the main display:

On Saturday, I successfully drilled the refugium tanks for triple standpipe drains ("Bean Animal" style planned). The drilling went well except for 2 issues:
On one tank, I accidentally shifted the wooden hole template I made to be butted against the lip of the plastic rim rather than the inside edge of the bottom rim after almost completing the drill, which offset the hole about 1/4" or so. I drilled about halfway through before noticing the issue, so there is a weak spot if I try to use this for the same intended bulkheads. The tank is not certainly ruined, but I'm not sure I trust it unless I can drill for a larger bulkhead around the misaligned hole.
On another tank, I decided to remove the hole template after drilling halfway through so I could watch the drilling better. This of itself would not be an issue, but I ended up slipping a bit as the second hole dropped out and the drill tapped the glass around the hole. I did not notice until later that there was a crack from the hole to the edge of the tank bottom, probably due to the bump.
Good thing these tanks are 50% off at my local Petco right now for only $10... Since they were cheap, I had already bought an extra tank, but not 2 extras, so I'll be picking up a couple more tonight before the sale is over if they still have some in-stock.

I also picked up three 40-breeder tanks (only $55 each) to fill out the missing slots in my basement fish room and have one available for a possible upgrade at work (though I really like the lower dimension of the 30-breeder for the desk at work).
They had a 60-breeder available, which I had never seen before and have gained an interest in lower tanks after seeing how nice the 30-breeder looks at work. Thankfully, this one was not on sale, so I avoided at least a bit of my multiple-tank syndrome and did not buy it.

Plans are developing for the main overflow and the 125 tank is standing ready for drilling once the bulkhead sizes and pattern are determined.

The Gulf Live Rock order continues to show more life and ammonia has been back to zero for almost 2 weeks. Algae is definitely starting to grow. I need to get more pictures and am considering whether I should buy some CUC for this tank or not. I'd like to try to cultivate some algae types and don't want them to be eaten, but I don't want to allow hair algae to take over this tank and smother other life.

I've been working on some 3D designs for different products and have a major back-log for my brother's 3D printer right now, so I am researching buying my own printer(s) to keep up with my demand. More on these designs later when fully developed/proven.

Pictures and more updates to follow in the next few days if I am not too distracted with other tasks...

Man that’s cheap, I gotta get to petco!

Soren · Aug 19, 2022

I am way behind on updates, mostly because there has been little progress on the build and QT's are just being maintained with no changes. Maybe in the next few weeks I'll take some time to make real progress on my build...
Overflow is received, but I need to get the 125 drilled and the stand top installed to begin actually setting up my build.

The live-rock tank is still very interesting with the different macroalgaes, coralline algae, and encrusting sponges further developing. The coralline algae is starting to develop all over the back, bottom, and side glass in earnest!
Though I forgot my tablet to transfer the pictures, I noticed a large (~1.5") nudibranch crawling on the glass yesterday! With some research, it appears to definitely be some species of Berghia nudibranch. Maybe this is the reason most of the light-bulb anemones have disappeared? Very interesting, anyways!
It looked extremely similar to this, but colors were more muted and were shades of pink/orange/green rather than blue:

Work tank is still doing great, though still plenty of GHA and patches of cyanobacteria. The fish are all healthy and interactive without aggression.

I got a new living buddy, thanks to a catch by my sister at work in a greenhouse (in north-central Illinois, mind you; the little fellow must have come in with a shipment of tropical plants in April and has survived in the wilds of Illinois since then!). He's got a temporary holding place on my desk in a 5-gallon tank until I have time to make a proper setup.
Bahaman Anole (~4" with tail):

Soren · Dec 7, 2022

My updates are severely lacking these days!
Fish in QT's are still doing great, but GHA makes the QT's look less than ideal and make me ready to finish my builds and upgrades.
The Work 30B is about the same as a while ago, just awaiting the upgrade to a 40B with sump. Maintenance is just water changes and removal of GHA/dinoflagellates/cyanobacteria by hand weekly. I have not started using it yet due to awaiting the upgrade, but I also have a skimmer to add to this system to hopefully limit those 3 uglies. I don't mind any of these in moderation, but I would prefer cleaner rocks and tank back wall.

The clowns decided to make home in the corner of the tank in front where there are a few pieces of rubble. I don't think they are old enough to be spawning, but the middle bit of rubble is cleaned regularly by the clowns, especially the smaller male (he's the lower in the picture and a bit darker in color with a higher peak in the middle of the middle white band):

A couple more individual shots:

Larger (~4.5") engineer goby (Pholidichthys leucotania) peeking out from his favorite burrow:

1 of 2 Rainford's gobies (Koumansetta rainfordi):

Toadstools (Sarcophyton sp.):

Also, whitebelly wrasse (Halichoeres leucoxanthus) for Wrasse Wednesday:

I also just yesterday got 2 new buddies (one-spot foxface rabbitfish Siganus unimaculatus)to be added to my Work 30B until they grow too large. Both are about 2" long and they currently reside in the Work 10g QT in observation to prevent introduction of disease. Hopefully I can pair these with my larger one-spot foxface at home. I hope to have several foxfaces in my 125 build, but, if there is aggression, I will separate them to other tanks I have running (2@75g and 1@90g as well as the 125 actually being two 125g tanks once completed). They settled right into the QT and are already exploring and picking at algae (though not much there since the QT has been lights-off and fed just to maintain bacteria and several tiny hermits). They are a bit thin but act healthy and active and will hopefully bulk up soon. Baby foxfaces are still my most favorite fish! Just look at these cuties:

Hopefully over work break in a few weeks, I can make some significant progress on my build and upgrades. I've got big plans but likely not enough time to accomplish nearly everything planned...

SaltyT · Dec 7, 2022

I've been wondering when you were going to post an update. Those foxes are adorbs!

Oh I forgot about Wrasse Wednesday! Here's a #WrasseWednesday splam for you!

Soren · Dec 7, 2022

SaltyT said:
I've been wondering when you were going to post an update. Those foxes are adorbs!

Oh I forgot about Wrasse Wednesday! Here's a #WrasseWednesday splam for you!

With no progress on my builds or upgrades, updates are less motivating...
Lack of progress is due to being over-busy at work, still prioritizing my house remodeling projects, and this fall beginning amateur luthier work on violins/violas/cellos as my primary hobby. The builds have been sitting without progress, but I should have some time over my work break. I need to finish the crown molding and trim in my living room where the tanks will go, drill the 125g for the overflow, plan/build/install sump baffles, then start with filling the system.

Along with that, I have plans to finish set up of my double-stacked 40B systems with top tanks overflowing into bottom tanks for sumps and repopulate them with saltwater instead of both fresh/salt. I rescued some goldfish from a house my co-worker bought, so I want my 90g (currently housing the ocean live rock) for them, which means simplification into less systems for the freshwater fish and allowing all 40B for saltwater rock culturing and smaller biomes. I'm over-ambitious as always.

Your wrasses are beautiful and your photography is marvelous! I'm still trying to figure out how to keep moving fish in the proper focus in my pictures. I got some good ones today, but a significantly small percentage are in-focus...