Artimusclyde1974
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2019
- Messages
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Ok friends this is my first build thread ever so if I’m missing something your interested in knowing plz ask and I will be sure to fill in that gap!
so I currently have a 12 gallon reef tank I love the hobby and have been waiting soooo patiently
( not really) to upgrade. My wife said once we get a house and see our budget better we can talk.
Well folks we did it! Our first house!!! I am blessed.
But as nice as it is I feel I must have had gills in a past life because it needs a big fish tank lol
So I got a 130 display 40 gallon 170 peninsula!
It’s from water box and I love it.
So let’s start with the tank
It is 55” long 26” wide and 25” deep
It came with a 40 gallon sump
I got with it a vectra m2 return pump
1 mp40 and a nyos 160 skimmer
so it has had water in it about 2 weeks now I am finding it hard to keep the ammonia up I have a trio of chromies. ( sorry for all the no fish cyclers)
And I feed them quite heavily every day and I can’t get the ammonia past .50 it’s usually at .25
I started with dry rock and sand and seared the tank with sand from a lfs I trust it also has a refurgium with macros in it I think that is my ammonia sink but I rather it be a slower cycle then a hard swims on the fish
the tank it’s self is super quiet once I found out how to tune the over flow in and with the vectra m2 I’m able to get the amount of flow in my refurgium I prefer
The mp40 (my first ever) works great with nothing in the tank it’s very hard to see how much flow I have I keep it at 60% power cuz any higher I get a rocking effect I’m scared might tip over the lip of the tank! As of now I have it on reef crest
The skimmer is beautiful lol I was so excited to plug it I. And see it work! And as it’s my first non air stone skimmer lol I was sad to see it fill my sump then tank with micro bubbles. After posting here I opened it up fully and just left it. As a noob to skimmers I looked up all the issues and found it was in to deep of water.... but because it was new it spit out a lot of bubbles that got cought I. The bubble trap (duh) bur that would restrict flow to the return pump chamber... which would back up the water in the skimmer chamber till it had enough head pressure to push past the bubbles... what that means is my skimmer spit out bubbles cuz it’s new... and becuz of this it made the skimmer chamber water raise and be cuz of that it spit out more bubbles lol sooo frustrating!!!
But one day I came home and the water level was back to normal and the bubbles where just gone! It had broken in and now works beautifully so to any one new to skimmers leave it alone if after a week or so it’s still a mess then post!
So the rock is Marcos rock and I waited very impatiently for my kids to come into town for an early Christmas so we could scape it together! This is what we came up with I hope it is pleasing to the eye but I love it any way it is a good memory.
I plan on having mostly soft coral mushrooms leathers and the like and shelling montipora and some easy to grow anacropora pretty much what I have in my tank currently
The difference will be fish! Not just my 2 clowns I want the new chromies to stay and I want tangs!
I am super scared to buy any more fish with out proper research and iv been doing a ton but never feel ready lol I have plenty of time so if u want to suggest fish please do!
The light are going to be 3 ai primes eventually mounted on a brs hybrid t5 system( when I get the money lol
As of now I have a 55 gallon drum that I put my r/o water in and it is plumbed through the wall of my laundry room to the sump I manually pump water in each day to fill it cuz I only have one ato and it’s a tunze nano and it’s on my 12 gallon lol
The larger tunze will be my ato for this tank that will be my first purchase b4 the fish b4 the coral b4 the lights it’s a must!!!!
I am also in the process of building a bar table around the tank ! I use old wood I find at work and I burn it to give it this look lol it’s simple but I really enjoy it.
Well I hope you guys pop in and talk I’m excited to see how this build evolves!
Put a back drop up and hung the first light my other lights have to stay on the tank I am upgrading from until I can move all the coral over
Also finished the clear coat on the bar top just need to make the legs
Now I just need one more hanging mount!
Coral has been fragged and placed in the tank! I can’t believe a 12 gallon had so much in it. I mean it’s not a lot to the new tank but still I’d say once it all grows in it will fill it nicely but plenty of room for more!
Also I made a post about my old live rock if any one wants it and is will I get to trade some frags or if your just starting out and local send me a pm and I’d be happy to give u live rock for free
I love that I was able to frag my sps and seed the tank so effectively once they grow in it will look so nice!
so I currently have a 12 gallon reef tank I love the hobby and have been waiting soooo patiently
( not really) to upgrade. My wife said once we get a house and see our budget better we can talk.
Well folks we did it! Our first house!!! I am blessed.
But as nice as it is I feel I must have had gills in a past life because it needs a big fish tank lol
So I got a 130 display 40 gallon 170 peninsula!
It’s from water box and I love it.
So let’s start with the tank
It is 55” long 26” wide and 25” deep
It came with a 40 gallon sump
I got with it a vectra m2 return pump
1 mp40 and a nyos 160 skimmer
so it has had water in it about 2 weeks now I am finding it hard to keep the ammonia up I have a trio of chromies. ( sorry for all the no fish cyclers)
And I feed them quite heavily every day and I can’t get the ammonia past .50 it’s usually at .25
I started with dry rock and sand and seared the tank with sand from a lfs I trust it also has a refurgium with macros in it I think that is my ammonia sink but I rather it be a slower cycle then a hard swims on the fish
the tank it’s self is super quiet once I found out how to tune the over flow in and with the vectra m2 I’m able to get the amount of flow in my refurgium I prefer
The mp40 (my first ever) works great with nothing in the tank it’s very hard to see how much flow I have I keep it at 60% power cuz any higher I get a rocking effect I’m scared might tip over the lip of the tank! As of now I have it on reef crest
The skimmer is beautiful lol I was so excited to plug it I. And see it work! And as it’s my first non air stone skimmer lol I was sad to see it fill my sump then tank with micro bubbles. After posting here I opened it up fully and just left it. As a noob to skimmers I looked up all the issues and found it was in to deep of water.... but because it was new it spit out a lot of bubbles that got cought I. The bubble trap (duh) bur that would restrict flow to the return pump chamber... which would back up the water in the skimmer chamber till it had enough head pressure to push past the bubbles... what that means is my skimmer spit out bubbles cuz it’s new... and becuz of this it made the skimmer chamber water raise and be cuz of that it spit out more bubbles lol sooo frustrating!!!
But one day I came home and the water level was back to normal and the bubbles where just gone! It had broken in and now works beautifully so to any one new to skimmers leave it alone if after a week or so it’s still a mess then post!
So the rock is Marcos rock and I waited very impatiently for my kids to come into town for an early Christmas so we could scape it together! This is what we came up with I hope it is pleasing to the eye but I love it any way it is a good memory.
I plan on having mostly soft coral mushrooms leathers and the like and shelling montipora and some easy to grow anacropora pretty much what I have in my tank currently
The difference will be fish! Not just my 2 clowns I want the new chromies to stay and I want tangs!
I am super scared to buy any more fish with out proper research and iv been doing a ton but never feel ready lol I have plenty of time so if u want to suggest fish please do!
The light are going to be 3 ai primes eventually mounted on a brs hybrid t5 system( when I get the money lol
As of now I have a 55 gallon drum that I put my r/o water in and it is plumbed through the wall of my laundry room to the sump I manually pump water in each day to fill it cuz I only have one ato and it’s a tunze nano and it’s on my 12 gallon lol
The larger tunze will be my ato for this tank that will be my first purchase b4 the fish b4 the coral b4 the lights it’s a must!!!!
I am also in the process of building a bar table around the tank ! I use old wood I find at work and I burn it to give it this look lol it’s simple but I really enjoy it.
Well I hope you guys pop in and talk I’m excited to see how this build evolves!
Put a back drop up and hung the first light my other lights have to stay on the tank I am upgrading from until I can move all the coral over
Also finished the clear coat on the bar top just need to make the legs
Now I just need one more hanging mount!
Coral has been fragged and placed in the tank! I can’t believe a 12 gallon had so much in it. I mean it’s not a lot to the new tank but still I’d say once it all grows in it will fill it nicely but plenty of room for more!
Also I made a post about my old live rock if any one wants it and is will I get to trade some frags or if your just starting out and local send me a pm and I’d be happy to give u live rock for free
I love that I was able to frag my sps and seed the tank so effectively once they grow in it will look so nice!
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