34 gal Red Sea Reefer 170 build

[R&SLreef]

Pretty much spent all of February gathering info and trying to decide if I should jump back in after about 10 yrs. away from the hobby. Seeing how far the technology has come got me excited so I jumped in to planning a mixed reef. Back in the day I had mostly soft corals, a clown fish pair with a host bubble tip anemone, and other aquatic life. It was relaxing to watch the clowns and anemone and the way the soft corals move in the water.
Wound up deciding on the red sea reefer 170 for its simple set up. Bought almost everything from Bulk Reef Supply on 3/17 and the remaining on Amazon.
Enough story time here's the goods.

Red sea reefer 170 white 34 gal
9 gal sump
Syncra pump 568 gph
Bubble magus curve 5 skimmer
125 eheim heater
Ecotech mp10 powerhead
20# Coral pro live sand
About 20 lbs reefsaver dry rock (ordered about 40 lbs )
Radion G5 pro light and mount


Received most everything by the 24th & 25th and had it set up and running on the 26th. Added 4 oz Dr. Tim's one and only and dosed with ammonia. She's been humming ever since. I like the look of the tank and am satisfied with the aquascape. I bought some gorilla glue gel to glue some of the pieces together for stability. I plan to follow brandon429's advice laid out in his microbiology of reef tank cycling thread. That thread is loaded with lots of great information that makes sense to me, worth the read a few times.

 

[R&SLreef]

Here is one with the lights on. Haven't been turning them on.

 

[R&SLreef]

Here is one with the lights on. Haven't been turning them on.

 

[dbl]

That looks great...I love the aquascape. Looking forward to watching this one grow.

 

[zapbap99]

scape is fantastic. welcome to the rsr 170 gang

 

[Mark Bradley]

I too am a recent recruit to the 170

 

[R&SLreef]

scape is fantastic. welcome to the rsr 170 gang

Nice! How long has it been running?

 

[R&SLreef]

I too am a recent recruit to the 170

I like it. Good looking tank!

 

[Cl0wnfish]

Great tank!! Love the scape and don’t be afraid to change it!! Got a lot of potential with that size!

 

[Mark Bradley]

Set it up in August last year. Gradually added clean up crew and fish between August and Christmas with first corals added on Boxing Day. Trouble is every time I go to the LFS I see something I want to buy!

 

[Mark Bradley]

I like it. Good looking tank!

Thanks

 

[DeniableArc]

G’day from Australia! Nice light nice tank, I’m sure you will do well with patience.

 

[zapbap99]

Nice! How long has it been running?

3 months

 

[brandon429]

you have assembled an eye catching + accessible rock scape for expected gardening access coming up, this will turn out great. As it builds with coral and all the neat pigmentation changes we see on maturing rocks you’ll enjoy having a pic log of it all and one day you’ll post it to a new base rock start for them to reference / le circle

 

[R&SLreef]

Added a hammerhead and 5 cerith snails on the 14th.

 

[R&SLreef]

Added a blacklight torch, some LPS frags, and 5 hermit crabs. The other day I noticed some small brown dots that I think are diatoms. They don't seem to be spreading as of right now. Also this morning I noticed large patches of a pale green algae on some of the rocks. Couldn't really scrape it with my fingernail and its not showing up with the lights on right now so I'll keep an eye on that too. All the Coral seems happy and open.

 

[brandon429]

very very clean start, well done~~

 

[R&SLreef]

very very clean start, well done~~

Thanks! I battled with the tank I had years ago. I want this one to be better. That is a big reason why I went with dry rock, to keep things as clean and pest free as possible. I've tried to follow your advice on other threads. Rinsed my sand till it was clear prior to putting it in. Blast all the nooks and crannies of the rock with a turkey baster before a water change and siphon the sand clean and it runs clear.

 

[Mark Bradley]

I would have encouraged you to do the clean up crew, then the fish and then the corals. I started with dry rock, matured for a month, added clean up crew, added fish gradually over the following 6 weeks and didn’t put a coral in for 3 months from the start up. Will admit it tested my patience but (touch wood) I’ve lost zero fish and the corals are all growing (10 fish and 14 different types of coral). Not saying I’m a guru - simply that most of the things I read/saw suggested problems came mainly from people rushing things and not following a plan.

 

[R&SLreef]

I would have encouraged you to do the clean up crew, then the fish and then the corals. I started with dry rock, matured for a month, added clean up crew, added fish gradually over the following 6 weeks and didn’t put a coral in for 3 months from the start up. Will admit it tested my patience but (touch wood) I’ve lost zero fish and the corals are all growing (10 fish and 14 different types of coral). Not saying I’m a guru - simply that most of the things I read/saw suggested problems came mainly from people rushing things and not following a plan.

Thanks for the reply and checking out my build Mark! I am following a plan that is different from the "norm" outlined in @brandon429 's microbiology of cycling a reef tank thread. I encourage everyone to read it. It is loaded with helpful information.