90 gallon eventual mixed reef

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

 

[jsmkmavity]

Hope the new one goes well for you!!!

 

[reefrocker82]

So I still have all the equipment from 12yrs ago including tons of rock and sand. I’m a bit of an aquarium hoarder as I’m sure many of you are. So I decided to setup my old 75g a couple of months ago. I bought new lights as to get with the times. I arranged my rock work to get ready for epoxy but some of it tumbled down against the front panel. It didn’t seem too bad until I put the lights on. That’s when I noticed the scratches! My heart sank. I tried to talk myself into living with it but ultimately I decided to buy a new tank. I opted for a 90g marineland cornerflow as I could use my existing stand and canopy. Definitely not my dream tank but so far I’m happy with it.
Don’t worry, I’ll cut to the chase soon

 

[reefrocker82]

Hope the new one goes well for you!!!

Thanks, there will be many pics to follow my long introduction.

 

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

So here is the equipment breakdown:

90g Marineland Cornerflow
20g DIY sump
2x Noo-Psyche K3 pro lights
E-Flux wave makers
E-Flux 6010 return pump
Hydor Korillia circ pump (may do away with)
ASM G2 skimmer w/gate valve mod
Bashsea reactor (may convert to Chaeto)
Cheap amazon grow light for refugium
Custom 3D printed sump lids
100+lbs dry rock (thoroughly cleaned)
8lbs live rock from my LFS
About 40lbs old black arag-alive sand thoroughly cleaned)
20lbs new black arag-alive sand

 

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

The rock work:

Many years ago I got a great deal on some Marshall island, Tonga, and Fiji live rock from Premium Aquatics. I have held on to it for all these years and am so glad I did. In my old setup I had all of the rock stacked against the back. It looked amazing and there were plenty of caves and crevices but it wasn’t optimal for good flow. This time I opted to keep it off the back and to strategically place and epoxy each rock. Now I have enough rock for another one or two tanks lol. This is what I have so far.

 

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

The sump:

I had an old DIY sump but it was a little tight for my ASM G2 so I decided to build a new one. I got some cheap baffles off of amazon and voila. I had to cut down the refugium size but I think it turned out okay. I like how the neon green baffles glow. Anyway, I did the gate valve mod on the skimmer and I built a manifold on the return for reactors/recirc. I also had a buddy at work 3D print some custom lids to keep down evaporation. The return, drain, skimmer and reactors will be hard plumbed to the lids with bulkheads. I didn’t feel the need to install valves on the drain or return as the sump should accommodate any drainage and my return pump is variable speed. Plus I have the manifold.

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

 

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

(Warning, long read lol)
I am finally getting back into the hobby, hallelujah! This has been a long time coming. Here is my backstory for those who are interested. Or just scroll down lol. My last reef tank crashed about 12yrs ago. She was beautiful and my pride and joy just after my awesome kids. She was a 75g 7yo LPS/softie dominant display with 20g diy sump. Unfortunately my mother fell ill with cancer so I spent the next three months with her until she sadly passed. Anyway, I was still checking in every couple of days and kept up on my feeding, dosing, and maintenance. However, one day I came home to find one of my many BTA had been sucked into a PH thus tripping the power strip and fouling the tank. The lights were also fed from the same power source. It had been a couple of days since I had last been home so lack of flow/no lights killed 90% of the fish/corals. I salvaged what I could into my QT. So flash forward 12yrs and here I am, ready to setup my new 90g.

Possible Livestock:

Once the tank is fully cycled I will seed heavily with copepods. I’ll let that cook for a while then start adding fish in phases beginning with the most peaceful and working my way up to the more territorial fish. Once this balancing act is complete and my parameters are all in order I will begin adding coral. Mostly softies and LPS and work my way up to some SPS.
Here are some contenders for potential fish.

Flame Angel
Coral beauty
Maroon or percula pair
Mandarin
Melanurus Wrasse
Flasher wrasse
3x green chromis
3x bangaii cardinal
Dottyback
Yellow watchman w/pistol shrimp
Purple fire fish
Clown goby
Blenny