Hello and welcome to my build thread everyone!
Predator fish, macro algae, softies/lps corals
First tank, never had an aquarium. I've been interested in it for a long time and did some research here and there but now I finally decided to start. DYI projects are also something that are very enjoyable to do so this fits two bills. The learning curve has been HUGE and I'll be updating both my successes and failures so others can learn from my experiences. I've run into some of the common problems that tend to run with early tanks but with patience and research, the tank has been great so far!
Stages:
Carpentry:
-the front has 3 layers of plywood (exterior layer was 1/4" slotted plywood, other 2 layers were just leftover plywood from other jobs. This was so I can have to doors be flush with the walls and have some thickness to the doors. This part was a real pain in the butt due to the tank dimensions being 48.5" long, thus the cabinet frame was 49" long and then add the extra 1/2" for the side plywood sides, so I had to extend the sheets for such a small amount. It is a lot to type out how i did the extension and offsets but if you are interested, let me know.
-the sides only used the 1/4 slotted plywood.
-trim on the top to cover the plywood edge
-pegboard for the back
-the stain isn't what I wanted but needed one to go with the rest of the house decor and flooring. American chestnut stain with spar urethane finish inside and outside the cabinet.
Plumbing:
-3 stage sump using a 40b tank
Stage 1 - Mechanical:
-Filter Sock
-Reef Octopus Skimmer classic 110 int
- 2 Heaters with an Inkbird monitor
Stage 2 - Biological:
-live rock
-Misc macros, primarily chaeto .
-Pods that came with the chaeto, not sure what kind. Thank you to local reefer!
-Trochus snails have been breeding and consantly picking them out and adding to DP when they are a good size.
-Will be attempting to breed mollies one day
Stage 3 - Return:
-have some acrylic pieces on the baffle to hold a eggcrate, will put a filter pad
here to catch anything that tries to come out of the bio chamber
-Autoaqua smart ato micro
-Mag 7 Return Pump
-75 gal tank cracked during drilling (my fault for not checking both sides for tempered glass, one side wasn't and a few weeks later, I drilled on the other side...) but got a good deal on a used 90 gal predrilled from lfs.
Lighting/ Wavemakers:
-UPS was tested with some runs on the wavemaker, getting 7 hours of runtime
- Ocean Revive LEDs
- 2 Computer fans - controlled by Inkbird
Scape:
I'm very satisfied with the aquascape. Tank will be filled with macros and a few corals slowly over time. This will be the slowest and hopefully most satisfying as everything gets added and grows out to fill the empty space.
Fish Stock:
Snowflake Eel
Radiata Lionfish
Tomani Tang
Harlequin Tusk
Plans for zebra eel
Inverts:
- Longspine Urchin
- Mixed batch of snails, mostly trochus snails.
-Rainbow/Rose btas
-Feather Dusters
-Coco worms
Macros:
- Mangroves
- chaeto in the sump
- gracilaria, mermaid fans in the display.
- multiple other macros have been atempted and wither didnt grow or got eaten.
Corals:
Do not know the names given to these corals, especially the zoas, been buying small frags from local reefers and just picking whatever would look nice.
- kenya tree moved to sump, fingers randomly scattered in DP
- duncan
- acan
- hammer
- zoas (looking to do a garden)
- gorgonian
- cabbage leather
- mixed mushrooms
-not actively looking to add sps, have attempted but ended up losing them.
Progression Pics, random intervals. I'll have to look up pic info and track dates.
Predator fish, macro algae, softies/lps corals
First tank, never had an aquarium. I've been interested in it for a long time and did some research here and there but now I finally decided to start. DYI projects are also something that are very enjoyable to do so this fits two bills. The learning curve has been HUGE and I'll be updating both my successes and failures so others can learn from my experiences. I've run into some of the common problems that tend to run with early tanks but with patience and research, the tank has been great so far!
Stages:
Carpentry:
-the front has 3 layers of plywood (exterior layer was 1/4" slotted plywood, other 2 layers were just leftover plywood from other jobs. This was so I can have to doors be flush with the walls and have some thickness to the doors. This part was a real pain in the butt due to the tank dimensions being 48.5" long, thus the cabinet frame was 49" long and then add the extra 1/2" for the side plywood sides, so I had to extend the sheets for such a small amount. It is a lot to type out how i did the extension and offsets but if you are interested, let me know.
-the sides only used the 1/4 slotted plywood.
-trim on the top to cover the plywood edge
-pegboard for the back
-the stain isn't what I wanted but needed one to go with the rest of the house decor and flooring. American chestnut stain with spar urethane finish inside and outside the cabinet.
Plumbing:
-3 stage sump using a 40b tank
Stage 1 - Mechanical:
-Filter Sock
-Reef Octopus Skimmer classic 110 int
- 2 Heaters with an Inkbird monitor
Stage 2 - Biological:
-live rock
-Misc macros, primarily chaeto .
-Pods that came with the chaeto, not sure what kind. Thank you to local reefer!
-Trochus snails have been breeding and consantly picking them out and adding to DP when they are a good size.
-Will be attempting to breed mollies one day
Stage 3 - Return:
-have some acrylic pieces on the baffle to hold a eggcrate, will put a filter pad
here to catch anything that tries to come out of the bio chamber
-Autoaqua smart ato micro
-Mag 7 Return Pump
-75 gal tank cracked during drilling (my fault for not checking both sides for tempered glass, one side wasn't and a few weeks later, I drilled on the other side...) but got a good deal on a used 90 gal predrilled from lfs.
Lighting/ Wavemakers:
-UPS was tested with some runs on the wavemaker, getting 7 hours of runtime
- Ocean Revive LEDs
- 2 Computer fans - controlled by Inkbird
Scape:
I'm very satisfied with the aquascape. Tank will be filled with macros and a few corals slowly over time. This will be the slowest and hopefully most satisfying as everything gets added and grows out to fill the empty space.
Fish Stock:
Snowflake Eel
Radiata Lionfish
Tomani Tang
Harlequin Tusk
Plans for zebra eel
Inverts:
- Longspine Urchin
- Mixed batch of snails, mostly trochus snails.
-Rainbow/Rose btas
-Feather Dusters
-Coco worms
Macros:
- Mangroves
- chaeto in the sump
- gracilaria, mermaid fans in the display.
- multiple other macros have been atempted and wither didnt grow or got eaten.
Corals:
Do not know the names given to these corals, especially the zoas, been buying small frags from local reefers and just picking whatever would look nice.
- kenya tree moved to sump, fingers randomly scattered in DP
- duncan
- acan
- hammer
- zoas (looking to do a garden)
- gorgonian
- cabbage leather
- mixed mushrooms
-not actively looking to add sps, have attempted but ended up losing them.
Progression Pics, random intervals. I'll have to look up pic info and track dates.
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