125 NSA Aqua Scape Reef

[SurgeonFish]

Hello everyone,

Im an Air Force Doc and have had small tanks with some success over my education but I came into this 125 from a fellow doc and want to document the build. I will be at this base for 5 years and just purchased a home for the new tank to live at:

equiptment:

125 gallon (72"x18"x23") dual overflow
Custom stand and hood
Eshopps RS 300 sump (AEO14015)
2 return pumps
2x power heads (dont know flow but said they needed more)
1x Jebao CP-90 wave pump
3x AI Hydra 26 HDs
20 gal QT
RODI unit w/ Reef Crystals Instant Ocean

stock list:

NSA Aqua Scape LR (How much?)
140 lbs argonite sand
Chorals: Mixed reef after the anemone settles, Sticks and montes up top, LPS and softies around the rest.
Clean up pack from LA.
Fish list (not in this order):

I am currently letting the display cycle while I replace the overflow tubes with a new kit. Plan is to cycle for a month or until Ammonia reads 0 then start with either the chromis or clowns. Plan to try 7/9 chromis and hopefully be one of the lucky ones who keeps them all. I do not plan to turn the lights on for 4 months (following the BRS cycle guide) as Ive dealt with the nuisance algae in other tanks.

Questions:

Guess on the LR? - im assuming its not enough so considering making the center section of the sump a refugium and go without a skimmer for now. Another options would be to place LR in the filter sock compartment (or make that a refugium). I really like how open the display is especially for the Poweder Blue which has been my dream fish since I started the hobby.

Thank you for following along and offering your advice, excited for the tank to become a center of stress-relief and joy for my girlfriend and I as we begin out careers as young doctors. Heres how I crudley broke up the reef savers LR:

How I achieved the NSA:

I bought 150 lbs of Reef Saver Dry-LR
I broke up some of the bigger boulders using a hammer, chisel, and an old hatchet
I cut base pieces to have true flat bottoms with a 10" miter saw using a metal cutting blade (this sparked and smelled, if you have the cash by it pre cut)
I used zipties to hold 2 pieced together then used GG super glue to tack glue at connection points.
I then used quickcrete hydraulic cement with an acrylic additive (this was suggested as a cheaper alternative to Marco 400) over the joints.
I then super glued the structures onto ABS board and placed them in the clean tank. I placed sand over it anchoring the structures.

Pictures dont do it justice as the 3-D space is honestly so cool, I was geeking out imaging all the different routes a tang could take making its laps around the tank.

Cheers,

AFD

 

[Flippers4pups]

Nice start!

 

[Scorchx1245]

Following!

 

[SurgeonFish]

got a little behind so here are updates about a month out.

RODI came in and with Reef Crystals the tank is filled!

I’ve followed traditional cycling in the past but I was encouraged by the success of cycling products so I decided to give them a try. I used BioSpiras live nitrifying bacteria, along with the “live bacteria” in the sand I was interested to see the results.

 

[SurgeonFish]

I was extremely encouraged after seeing a small ammonia spike and a quick drop over the next couple days. I decided to set the quarantine up and cycle the sponge with the same bacteria.

The DT has been up for a week and now only reading nitrates. Pretty impressed with the sand/live bacteria combo though I’m not sure which I can give the credit too.

I opted to not feed the tank as it had a lot of leftover organic matter that I just couldn’t get off so assumed this would provide ammonia as it decayed further.

 

[SurgeonFish]

So I got excited which is the bane of many reef tanks. After speaking with some trusted sources I decided to get my first fish in the QT. Planned to do 15 days of QT which would bring the DT to a month old.

Purchased 11x chromis and a coral beauty angel (GF wanted and they were on super sale)

1 chromis arrived DOA but others looked healthy and the CB was big and beautiful.

this is my first attempt at QT and I made A LOT of mistakes and hopefully you can learn from my errors.

first I decided to treat with Cupramine and MetroPlex. I followed the bottle recommendations and achieved a level somewhere in .25-.5 range. I dosed metro as well as added it to the food via Focus.

The fish seemed healthy, active swimming, eating like pigs. Saw very minimal aggression.

All was well until the 2nd day when I saw the first issue; one of the chromis was hiding under a PVC and only came out to eat.

thought it was just aggression but it eventually stopped eating and began swimming wildly doing flips in the water column. The next morning he was gone.

I was frustrated but assumed it was just a delayed effect from the shipping, these were small fish.

jump forward a week and I’ve lost 4 more to the same phenomena. I’m constantly testing and besides nitrates getting a bit high 15-20 ppm at one point I stayed course with more water changes.

that brings us to Black Friday and us going to a recommended LFS in the area. After a long conversation with the owner I determined:

1) copper is way too high at .5, they maintain .2 and explain it definitely effects fish
2) salinity is too high, refractometers need to be calibrated and underestimate salinity in high temps. QT at 80F I was reading 1.027 which I thought was a little high and was working on slowly bringing down I believe I was over 1.030 and that may be the swim bladder culprit.
3) as a doctor I should know that all meds have side effects and I didn’t not fully appreciate how the copper/metro was effecting the tank.
4) my QT was within 10ft of my DT and parasites can travel via water droplets.

with the realization along with the fact that the online store and this store pre-QT’d I decided to abandon my QT and get the fish into the DT.

I told the owner of my goal of an anthias harem and he had a group of 6 which had come in together and been thriving in their own tank.

with their Black Friday sale it was hard to pass up on bringing the family home and felt confident in the DT being able to handle the load.

as they say the best laid plans of fish and men often go awry.

 

[SurgeonFish]

So fish are in the tank! I’m excited but nervous as I’ve deviated from my plan and I can’t be sure the DT is free of organisms. I decide to treat the DT with Metro after a lot of reading and knowing I don’t plan for coral for awhile and it can be removed later.

I read a lot about it effecting the bacterial filter but most say it doesn’t create a huge issue. I have more bacteria on standby and I make what I now think is the best decision I could have.

a local reefer has a coral only system with clean chaeto/red pol Pom/something else I can’t ID. They gave me a gallon bag and after picking through it I was impressed to only find pods and a few small bristle stars.

Really happy with the look of the “display refugium” and hoping it would be a huge ammonia/nitrogen sponge if the metro hurt my filtration.

jump forward a week and I am extremely satisfied! Nitrates dropped from 5-10 to undetectable along with phosphates. Never saw an ammonia spike and the fish who survived the move from the QT are all alive and well. 5 chromis, the CB, and the anthias gang are loving the room.

I finally got the 3 Hydras worked out and turned them on for a bit to enjoy the tank. Plan to have a very small light cycle for awhile until we eventually begin the coral adventure.

running the lights at 10% for 4 hours on a reverse cycle with the fuge.

 

[SurgeonFish]

Found the biggest of the anthias hanging behind a pump with some color bleaching. I was not sure if this was normal transitioning into male or if something was wrong.

the white patter was very well defined and seemed to be on the inside of the fish, like a loss of color in its scale/tissue.

I monitored her for a few days and while she ate well and hunted the LR a lot she was not with the other 5 who were constantly grouping.

her color eventually came back and she has the largest dorsal fin but a week later she still keeps mostly to herself and spends a lot of time pick at the back wall of the tank.

for defense I feed 6x daily. 3 feedings of frozen enriched Mysis/krill and 3 small auto feedings of TDO color enhance while I’m at work. I’m hoping for the heavy in heavy out method as with the chromis and anthias harems we have a high energy active tank.

refugium definitely appreciates the food and some of the macro that had bleached has regained color and everything looks green and healthy!

my flow is doing a god job of detritus sweeping but it’s time to add some CUC...

 

[SurgeonFish]

And the winner/s are 2 bristle stars and 5 nassarius snails.

ive fallen for the cleanup crew starter pack before. In my first 60 gallon I had some 30+ hermits and a mix of 30+ snails the day I added my first clown. Ended with a few massive hermits and snails and lots of added issues with organically.

this approach I wanted to add based on with the tank was telling me. No algae in the DT and the sand was clean minus a few piles of detritus. I opted to stay away from hermits and got bristle starts and nassarius snails for sand turnover and detritus removal.

I have to say the star creeps me out and they have been named accordingly as big creepy and little creepy.

the big guy immediately was zooming around the tank while little creepy took to a small hole in some LR and hasn’t moved since.

along with weekly sandbed siphoning extremely happy with how clean it is and hopeful I can maintain it long term.

 

[Scorchx1245]

sounds great man im filling my 72" 125 this week too!!!

 

[SurgeonFish]

sounds great man im filling my 72" 125 this week too!!!

Awesome! Lots of buckets for me haha invested in a pump and hose quick. Do you have a build thread?

 

[Scorchx1245]

Im going to start it tomorrow, and its more if a transfer/build/upgrade haha, moving to a new place while upgrading from a 40 to the 125.

 

[SurgeonFish]

Im going to start it tomorrow, and its more if a transfer/build/upgrade haha, moving to a new place while upgrading from a 40 to the 125.

Very nice keep me updated, ill move again in 5 years and if all goes well hoping to upgrade this 125 to a 200+

 

[Flippers4pups]

Keep the updates coming!

 

[SurgeonFish]

got some new toys to play with. Confirmed my water vs the old kits I had and they were relatively accurate.

parameters are:

salinity 1.022-1.026
PH: 8.1-8.3
Ammonia: undetectable
Nitrite: undetectable
Nitrate: 2-5 PPM
Phosphate: 0-.2

interested to see how the nitrates react to the heavy feeding! As someone said on one of my other posts: I like fat fish and I cannot lie!

 

[SurgeonFish]

And here is said fat fish

 

[SurgeonFish]

The dream fish is in the tank! I remember when I was first getting into the hobby 8 years ago and going to my LFS for salt water I saw one of these gorgeous fosh swimming around in their 6 foot display.
never since I’ve wanted a tank that could host a PBT and this 125 seemed too good to pass up.

The reason I opted for NSA was less for coral and more for this tang to give it plenty of open water swimming and lots of flow. Purchased from Live Aquaria and after a short out of stock delay they provided a large healthy fish that I am extremely pleased with.

I opted to trust LA’s quarantine and installed a 36 watt UV sterilizer to help with any inch that may or may not be in the tank.

I acclimated slowly over an hour then gave him 4 hours without any lights to relax in my DIY acclimatize box.

my other tangs noticed him immediately when I feed but I was encouraged that all 3 of them ate and didn’t seem to mind each other.

 

[SurgeonFish]

I gave the PBT 2 days in the box before adding him to the display on a Saturday morning to monitor any aggression. My fat yellow was a little defense at first making passive swipes near the PBT but nothing that worried me at all.

just to be extra safe I employed all the techniques I’d read about tang aggression:

algae clip with garlic stocked 24/7
Adjusted the aquascape slightly
20% WC to dilute waste/stress pheramones
Mirror on the tank glass*

by Sunday afternoon the yellow and PBT were buddies and swam about the tank picking at the LR and clip together. The 2 spot bristle tooth didn’t mind and just kept doing his own thing.

*I did catch the Yellow aggressively swimming back and forth in front of the mirror but gave up and that has been the last ounce of aggression I’ve seen.

hopefully they stay chill but assuming as they mature the aggression might rear it’s head again.

could not be more happy to finally have my dream fish!

 

[SurgeonFish]

Sunday night reef family dinner. Everyone seems happy and healthy.

 

[HotFishMom]

Beautiful tank! Your GF is lucky