40b Resurrection

Bldgengineer · Jan 23, 2020

So to make a long story short, my house caught fire a little over 2 years ago and all of my tanks were destroyed. Luckily, I was able to rehome approximately 60% of the fish that actually survived a week in 30F weather and no flow whatsoever.

So here I am restarting my fish journey finally after rebuilding, selling and moving into a bigger house.

This is my current tank I started a week ago. Its currently cycling. I tested the tank yesterday after the live rock in it for a few and it showed no ammonia so I threw a bottle of Bio Spira in it and tested again today with no ammonia and dosed it to 2ppm ammonia just to see how fast it drops tomorrow

Current equipment / stocking:
40b no sump
AC110
(2) 125w eheim jager heaters
Jebao 0w10 wavemaker
Reefbreeders ATO
40 lbs of dry rock
5 lbs of live rock
60 lbs of live Fiji pink

boacvh · Jan 23, 2020

Sorry to hear about that! Look forward to pics of the rebirth!

Bldgengineer · Jan 24, 2020

Thanks again to @Brew12 for the tips on cycling! Dosed the tank to 2ppm ammonia last night after dumping bio spira in it the night before and less than 24 hours later the ammonia is gone!

I'm going shopping tomorrow a couple of small fish. Any suggestions?

Brew12 · Jan 24, 2020

Bldgengineer said:
Thanks again to @Brew12 for the tips on cycling! Dosed the tank to 2ppm ammonia last night after dumping bio spira in it the night before and less than 24 hours later the ammonia is gone!

I'm going shopping tomorrow a couple of small fish. Any suggestions?

Glad to help, and nice setup!

If I were going to set up a tank that size I would go peaceful. Cardinal's, Firefish, maybe a single fairy or flasher wrasse, some type of goby... Keep with the smaller fish so you get more variety without overloading the tank.

I would avoid the clowns, damsels, basslets and dottybacks for the most part.

Bldgengineer · Jan 24, 2020

Brew12 said:
Glad to help, and nice setup!

If I were going to set up a tank that size I would go peaceful. Cardinal's, Firefish, maybe a single fairy or flasher wrasse, some type of goby... Keep with the smaller fish so you get more variety without overloading the tank.

I would avoid the clowns, damsels, basslets and dottybacks for the most part.

This is kinda what I was thinking as well. Maybe start with a couple of cardinals and watch them hang out for a bit. I need less stress in my life for a little while lol

ccombs · Jan 24, 2020

Brew12 said:
Glad to help, and nice setup!

If I were going to set up a tank that size I would go peaceful. Cardinal's, Firefish, maybe a single fairy or flasher wrasse, some type of goby... Keep with the smaller fish so you get more variety without overloading the tank.

I would avoid the clowns, damsels, basslets and dottybacks for the most part.

THIS!

When I first got my 30 gallon tank, I thought it would be cool to put the biggest fish in there I could get away with. Now I have learned that stocking it with more, but smaller fish, actually makes it look bigger!

ccombs · Jan 24, 2020

Oh, to answer your question, here is what I would stock with.

(2) Bengaii Cardinals
Firefish
Goby (I love golden heads, but go with a diamond watchman if you are going to get corals)
(1) Pink Streak Wrasse

That would be a peaceful tank with plenty of fish in the open. This would also leave room to add a fish like a lawn mower blenny to take care of algae if needed down the line.

Bldgengineer · Jan 24, 2020

Nice! Thanks!

Bldgengineer · Feb 1, 2020

Quick update for the week. Picked up 2 pajama Cardinals last weekend after another ammonia test. For some reason everyone around me is having trouble getting banggei Cardinals in. They're a little camara shy and love the little over hang I made out of the rock. My GF/wife brought home this nice little nightstand/sofa table that I now use to hold my food and test equipment. I also received a Viparspectra 300w light. I'll be bringing home some material to mount it over the next week.

I've been feeding the Cardinals hikari brine shrimp once a day all week and just tested nitrates today that came out to be 20ppm or so.

I'm either seeing the start of some diatoms or coralline forming on my dry rock. I've been keeping an eye on it the past few days. Kinda wish it's diatoms so I can order a cleaner package from reefcleaners lol.

Anyway, tank is coming along nicely so far I think. Going slow but thats ok. Next Friday I'll test for nitrates again and do a water change based off that. I'll probably pick up a fire fish or two Saturday or Sunday.

Bldgengineer · Feb 15, 2020

Sorry guys. Whole family has been exchanging the flu for the past 2 weeks. I'm hoping to have my lights up tomorrow and a new addition.

Performed a water change and received a hanna ULR phosphate and red sea foundation pro test kit this week.

I kinda wanna hold off on getting any coral until I see some kind of algae. I have seen absolutely nothing so far. I'm almost disappointed because I want to order a CUC. I enjoy watching a good CUC almost as much as I enjoy watching fish lol

Bldgengineer · Feb 15, 2020

Before I go out and buy my first coral in a while, can anyone tell me specific parameters I should have before I add any? I'm only looking to add Lps and softies to this tank

Bldgengineer · Feb 22, 2020

Finally got my light hung up today. It's currently 12” above the water line. Got both channels down at 10 for right now. Blues start at 3pm and go off at 10pm. Whites come on at 4pm and go off at 9pm.

Bldgengineer · Feb 22, 2020

Suggestions on coral and placement for this tank is highly appreciated!

Bldgengineer · Feb 29, 2020

Small update. Nothing new to report except as expected with the new light diatoms and algae have finally appeared. I ordered a smallish CUC from reefcleaners. Currently keeping an eye out for a flasher wrasses that catches my eye as well as maybe a cleaner shrimp. Going to look at some torches and zoas at my LFS tomorrow

shorediver · Mar 1, 2020

Following. We're at similar stages with similar tanks, though rather more knowledge on your part

Curious to see your coral choices - that's the bit I'm most ignorant of, but it's the aspect I'm most excited to see in my tank.

Bldgengineer · Mar 1, 2020

shorediver said:
Following. We're at similar stages with similar tanks, though rather more knowledge on your part

Curious to see your coral choices - that's the bit I'm most ignorant of, but it's the aspect I'm most excited to see in my tank.

I dont have a lot of knowledge with coral either lol. I do plan on keeping some rather easy ones. I want this tank as stress free as possible! I just want sit back and relax while I watch it and do a water change once a week.

shorediver · Mar 1, 2020

Bldgengineer said:
I dont have a lot of knowledge with coral either lol. I do plan on keeping some rather easy ones. I want this tank as stress free as possible! I just want sit back and relax while I watch it and do a water change once a week.

That was my dream too! R2R is doing a good job of making me think it'll never happen, but I guess nobody is posting here if everything's just running smoothly for them.

Bldgengineer · Mar 1, 2020

shorediver said:
That was my dream too! R2R is doing a good job of making me think it'll never happen, but I guess nobody is posting here if everything's just running smoothly for them.

I don't know about that. Things take time in this hobby and sometimes I think just take things extra slow and tend not to update. Some of us use a site like this to help keep a journal. That is what I'm doing with this tank. It helps me know what I did along the way for what works and what might have caused issues along the way.

Like today. I picked up an AC70 and did the fuge mod. I also went to my LFS and picked up a frag of eagle eye zoas and some cheato. Also ordered a McCoskers wrasse. The silicone said to wait 48 hours before putting it in the water so my cheato will be hanging out in the bag until then. My wrasse should be here by Thursday. Same day as my CUC. Thursday is going to be a busy day.

Here's a pic of the zoas approximately an hour after gluing to the rock. By the way if anyone has a good filter for the Note 9 please let me know!

Bldgengineer · Mar 6, 2020

Front tank shot Friday! She's looking a bit dirty! I picked up a McCosker's wrasse yesterday and my CUC came in from Reefcleaners today. Got the snails and hermits in few hours ago and they already got the diatoms up. Hermits and nerites are having a field day!

The wrasse will be the last fish for a while. I want to concentrate on keeping the tank stable and getting few more coral