57 Gallon Rimless Oceanic Illuminata build

[Chrisfish]

Really very nice and your stand is beautiful!! Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[underwaterfirefighter]

Very nice indeed! Great job on the stand.

 

[CastAway]

I see two varieties of macro as well. My guess is Grape Caulerpa, and, Caulerpa Brachypus. The former has the little balls (be quite Chris) and the latter has the leaves and fine roots. If so, the Brachypus can be invasive, and impossible to remove from rock structures once rooted. Neither are palatable to fish.

Looking awesome!

 

[Reeflogic]

Like Jeff said, the caulerpa is invasive, looks like you had this in the display? Or is it going in the sump? I'd drop it in the sump, if you haven't already Looking good, though, glad to see life in there Do you know for sure the type of quarantine your fish received? I know I spoke to you about the importance of setting up a QT when you were picking up the tank, but I cannot stress enough the importance of it!! Just be patient and be careful!! You're putting a lot of money and time into this hobby, I would hate to see anything discourage you early on. Some folks buy fish and never have any issues with diseases, but it is very much Russian roulette!! Looking forward to future updates!!

 

[Jmcdaniel0]

I see two varieties of macro as well. My guess is Grape Caulerpa, and, Caulerpa Brachypus. The former has the little balls (be quite Chris) and the latter has the leaves and fine roots. If so, the Brachypus can be invasive, and impossible to remove from rock structures once rooted. Neither are palatable to fish.

Looking awesome!

You said little balls.....

 

[Leggmantn2015]

I don't know what palatable means?
And yea the seaweed stuff is going in the sump I just have no light down there yet.

And as far a quarantine goes I bought them from the aquarium in knoxville I had to wait them buy as they told me there still In quarantine, and would not sell them to me. So I waited and called untill they were out. And as far as quarantine goes I promise to be more strick in the future i already have a tank for that but i figure im starting out and don't have a huge amount $$ invested in fish and livestock yet so I'm ok with playing, russian rulet TEMPORARLY.

 

[Reeflogic]

Just means nothing will eat it really, which makes them invasive. If they get ahold of the rock, it's rough seas to get it back under control, especially since nothing really eats it. I understand that you are buying inexpensive fish, but even a 5 dollar fish can bring an unwanted disease to the aquarium and you wouldn't have a clue, until your $100 dollar fish got sick and died. Just because a fish "appears" healthy, doesn't mean he isn't carrying a parasite or disease! I'm not familiar with the Aquarium's QT process, but based on their fish prices, I'd assume it has to be thorough! I'm sure you will be fine buddy, just a friendly reminder for the new hobbyist

 

[Leggmantn2015]

I really do appreciate the advise ALOT I mean it!! Anything I can learn from senior reefers will help out alot. But My wife and I decided were going to keep it cheap when buying fish I doubt I'll be buying any 100$ fish again. Back in the day when I was in to freshwater I bought some pretty expensive fish like freshwater stingrays they were 250$ a peice and some other expensive rare fish. If its one thing I learned everything dies eventually. Whether it lives for 15 years or for a week I prefer to keep the death bill$ cheaper than before. Nothing lasts for ever in this hobby is about living live stock. Eventually everything comes to an end. 5 year hobbie or 40 year hobbie. But so far I love this hobbie and I will do my best to avoid impulse buys and I will try my best to be careful.

 

[Jmcdaniel0]

I really do appreciate the advise ALOT I mean it!! Anything I can learn from senior reefers will help out alot. But My wife and I decided were going to keep it cheap when buying fish I doubt I'll be buying any 100$ fish again. Back in the day when I was in to freshwater I bought some pretty expensive fish like freshwater stingrays they were 250$ a peice and some other expensive rare fish. If its one thing I learned everything dies eventually. Whether it lives for 15 years or for a week I prefer to keep the death bill$ cheaper than before. Nothing lasts for ever in this hobby is about living live stock. Eventually everything comes to an end. 5 year hobbie or 40 year hobbie. But so far I love this hobbie and I will do my best to avoid impulse buys and I will try my best to be careful.

I agree. I don't get the super expensive fish either.

 

[Leggmantn2015]

 

[Leggmantn2015]

Now what looks like I have two types of algae? I just got the brs dual reactor up and running will GFO help?

 

[Reeflogic]

Looks like you have some lovely cyano there, blue-green and brown. You should siphon out as much as possible, try to up the flow across your sand bed and try and get some critters that will move the sand around, to keep it constantly churned. Nassarius snails, a goby, a conch, anything that moves your sand bed around. Cyano can be tough to beat without going to some extremes, but sometimes the right adjustments can eliminate it. It can happen to new and old systems and something we all eventually battle at some point in time. Looks like you have some on the rocks too, is it everywhere in the tank, or just down in the low flow areas?

 

[Leggmantn2015]

Its on the rocks and on the sand. I bought a phython syphon its it the mail to vacum the sand. Gfo in the mail arriving wensday.

 

[Reeflogic]

Someone will surely post a ton of info on here for you, but best bet is to research it and learn all you can about it. The more you know, the better prepared you will be. It's very common and there are hundreds of great posts out there. First thing to learn is exactly what it is and how it survives, as it is a bacteria, not an algae, which is a pretty common misconception. In my opinion, low flow and excess carbons in the water seem to kick start it. I stopped bio-pellets when I fought it a few years back and it stopped, but I have carbon dosed since and didn't have any issues.

I attribute my success at keeping it at bay, to my MP40's and changing my flow up, using the nutrient export and tidal modes, which seems to eliminate any dead spots and is constantly changing my flow patterns. If you don't have controllable powerheads, just try to find the best possible placement for your return pumps and powerheads. If this doesn't resolve it, you might have to figure out the source and try and correct it, if push comes to shove, there are available treatments.... Chemi-Clean and Cyano Clean, to name a few. Castaway is currently using Cyano Clean and has another thread here on the ETRC forums, which is a more natural approach, as opposed to a chemical approach. Welcome to the wonderful world of reefing!

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/korallen-zucht-cyano-clean.html

 

[Leggmantn2015]

Ok thanks man for the advise. I will try some of thethings you mentioned.

 

[Brian Mountain]

Stand is stained now all I need is to
Clear coat it an drill holes for overflow and wires

Can you post a pic looking down at the top, now that you are done? did you just glue a trim piece on top of crown top to make a lip and just nail crown at bottom? I'm in process of building and picking out crown now.

Thanks! It looks awesome!

 

[Leggmantn2015]

I glued slim oak stainable finishing panels to the top and used miniumal super fine finishing nails and wood putty. I used a skinny punch and hammer to counter sink the nails to then use wood p

utty to cover up the nails. And to give added strengh I used windshield glued on the inside. A very think bead with a caulk gun. I know that sounds strange but windshield glue is one of the strongest glues ive every used, and drys to touch in an hour and is mouldable because its thick.

 

[Leggmantn2015]

 

[Reeflogic]

Any updates on your tank man?

 

[Leggmantn2015]

Well I got a brs dual reactor!
I filled the reactor with rox carbon and gfo.
And I have all the fish I want I'm holding off on coral till my tank is more cycled and I have an ato, and I've learned more about water quality and clarity. I'm just happy with FOWLR for now.

Still struggling with brown algea, I'm pretty sure its Diatoms.
I also have a refugium with reverse light cycle running.