50 gallon tank

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Our tank is about 6-7 weeks old. I combined two other tanks into one. The new one is about 70+ total gallons of saltwater, the tank is IM novo 50 gallon and 20 gallon trigger emerald sump. The return pump is VarioS 2, bubble-magus curve 5 PS, tune osmolator 3155 with 5 gallon trigger RO tank, 2 XR15, MP10w & MP40w power heads, Kessil H160, and few more items. The newest item was the Neptun Apex controller. The larger clown we purchased around 2007...she will eat out of your hand. The small clown we picked up about 2 years ago and the Tang about the same time. The file fish we don't remember when we got her.

IMG_0487 2.JPG IMG_0488 2.JPG IMG_0485 2.PNG IMG_0484 2.jpeg
 
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ShepherdReefer

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I try to keep it organized. The tank is just two days from 8 weeks setup. I see very little brown algae on the bottom glass. The Chaeto has grown from baseball size to just about the whole refugee (8x12).
 
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When we first decided to set up another tank in the living room, one of the major problems was...where do we place the tank. Our living room is a little weird-shaped and one or more windows on each wall, except for the entryway. We decided to place the tank next to the kitchen counter so when we are in the kitchen, we could see the tank and interact with the fish.

Our next decision was how large do we want to go. I wanted to go with a six-foot tank but the wife did not want to spend the extra money, so, we went with a 50-gallon cube, IM Nuvo. We started saving money and made a few larger purchases, then started purchasing one piece at a time.
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Here is our inventory from the beginning:
- 50-gallon IM Nuvo
- Trigger emerald sump
- Bubble-magus curve 5 skimmer
- Sicce syncar silent 2.0 return pump
- Tunze Osmolator 3155
- 5-gallon trigger emeral RO tank
- Kessil H160 for the refugium
- 2 Ecotech radion XR15 LEDs
- VarTech MP10 and MP40
- Red Sea Reef foundation PRO multi test kit
 
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When we purchased the plumbing components, we started working on connecting the tank to the sump.
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There were a few leaks but after everyting was sealed and running tap-water through the system, we were ready to create the landscape. This is what we came up with.
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We used super-glue and coral gum with acrylic rods to secure the rock together. We also wanted to do something different with this tank and went bare-bottom.
 
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We had a lot of changes during the early stages before we could get the salt water into the tank. Here is the first setup before the cycle.
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We cycled the tank as follows:
- Month 1: Covered all sides of the glass with no lights for 4 weeks (1/30/20). Added bacteria, lighted the fuge, added chaeto, and add pods.
- Month 2: Uncovered the tank and added one small clown fish from a tank we rescued from an appartment complex.
- Month 3: Turn on the dispaly lights on low for a few hours and slowly increased both the light brightness and time.

When we added the lights, we could not connect them to our MacBook Pro and had to operate them manually. That was a pain. We just decided to purchase the Neptune Controller, I really wanted to go with a PLC type system...but that would have cost a ton more.
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Something else we had to do, the return pump was not up to par. We swap it out with a Octo VarioS 2 return pump, like it much better. One good item we purchased for the tank was the automatic feeder. We wanted the fish to eat while we were on vacation.
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Talking about vacation. A few weeks before, we had a Dino breakout, could not get it to go away. I do know that this is the early stages of a new tank, but this was bad. After vacation our tank looked like this.
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I reached out to someone who could help, he recommended us using 10-micro sock filter and adding an UV light.
 
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After a few weeks of running the UV light and keeping the lights off for the first 7-days, our tank looked great. We choosen the Jabao 36w using the Sicce Syncar silent 2.0.
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We also purchased a few more items for the tank such as FMM flow meter, the UV to monitor the flow which is around 306-320 GPH.
 
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Most recent pictures. We have pineapple sponges in the tank...many of them. A clown we had since around 2007, small clown, blue tang, filefish, and a starfish. With adding the trident and dozer, hope to have corals soon.
1595953224544.png

I cute a wire shelve and mounted on the back side of the controller cabinet for wire management.
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I will continue to add more pictures.
1595953326155.png
 

revhtree

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Most recent pictures. We have pineapple sponges in the tank...many of them. A clown we had since around 2007, small clown, blue tang, filefish, and a starfish. With adding the trident and dozer, hope to have corals soon.
1595953224544.png

I cute a wire shelve and mounted on the back side of the controller cabinet for wire management.
1595953281104.png

I will continue to add more pictures.
1595953326155.png

Looking good and your wife is a keeper! HA!
 
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ShepherdReefer

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Really, my wife has taken over the tank. Those fish are her babies and all have names. When they see her, they go crazy...but when they see me, they hide. The blue tang lays sideways under a rock, so funny.
 
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For now, here is our setup for the Jebao 36w UV that was installed on 6/18/2020 using Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 and monitoring the flow through Neptune Apex flow meter...around 300gph.


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We purchased these clips from Lowes and screw them into the top back bracket. The clips clamp onto the flow meter using zip ties and easy to remove.

Screen Shot 2020-11-11 at 8.50.07 AM.png


I guess being the install is complete, I need to tighten up everything.
 
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Here are a few corals that were added to the tank. Also, the algae problem is going away.

Yellow Gonipora
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 11.34.53 AM.png


Jason Fox Lethal Lepto
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 11.37.03 AM.png


Dragon's Envy Favia
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 11.41.20 AM.png


WWC Pink Sapphire Chalice
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 11.42.05 AM.png


WWC Aussie Golded Eye Chalice
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 11.42.45 AM.png
 
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