Back in again. 75g sps build thread

[DesertReefT4r]

I can turn them up but then those chromis' hide in the corners or under the overflow and the surface of the sand gets blown around. Way stronger flow than any powerhead I have used so far. I will not have any issues with too little flow thats for sure. On a side not I just added sand to the fuge. I also found a fuge light I really like in my budget from fishstreet.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Some pics I took after feeding tonight. Dam chromis is fast. All fish and the cleaner shrimp seem to be doing well, all have a healthy appetite. I feed 2 times a day. The live rock is looking nice, if you look if you can see some pineapple sponges, some nice color starting on it.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Sand in the fuge section now. Loving how this skimmer performs. Its makes a good foam head even with my light bio load, it just keeps skimming.

Water is crystal clear, no carbon, no water changes yet. Doing firsr wayer change tomorrow or Monday, going to do a large 50%.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Got my fuge light 2 days ago, pretry happy with it and it should grow chaeto. I added chaeto to fuge today. Saw 1 large pod in the chaeto so hopefully there will be more soon. Once the fuge is growing macro well and I get my po4 to about .05ppm I will start slowly lighting the display with the MHs then corals will start to be introduced.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Sad update. I woke up today to find my lubbocks wrasse dead. Not sure what happened to him, he was a little skinny but not beat up at all and I never saw him get harassed my any other fish. He was eating pretty well over the last few days too. I have alway had difficulty keeping most wrasses long term.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sad update. I woke up today to find my lubbocks wrasse dead. Not sure what happened to him, he was a little skinny but not beat up at all and I never saw him get harassed my any other fish. He was eating pretty well over the last few days too. I have alway had difficulty keeping most wrasses long term.

Ugh. That sucks. Sorry to hear.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Ugh. That sucks. Sorry to hear.

Thanks for the sympathy, yea it sucks. Regretting not having a qt tank but I made an offer for a new 10g starter kit on CL today. So with a little luck....

On a side note I finally finished extending the wire to one of my MH pendants so now it will reach the ballast. Fired it up to test it and it works! Also the first time the display has had more than just ambiant light from the windows. Its temperary as I said just a test as I need to route the wires still and find a way to hide the huge PFO ballast, hate that thing it needs to go one way or another. I will take a pic with the 1 light on before I turn it off again. Still waiting for a while to light the display, trying minimize the aglae unglies, plus no corals that would need the light.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Light, old school style.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Started adding CUC. 2 margarita snails, 2 cerith snails, 2 Astros snails and 2 trochus snails

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Looking good! Sorry about your wrasse.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Update. Got my lights hooked up and running from 6:30pm to 10:45pm. Just a short lit period when I get home, figured I would get the algae blooms out of they way. Hopefully they will not be too bad. Sunday is water test day. Ph 8.11, Alk 9, Cal 400, No3 10ppm, Po4 .25ppm, temp 78.7 no lights, SG 34. API used for alk, cal, no3 and po4. Ph and temp measure with ReeF Keeper. Cleaned the glass and blew off the rock also.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Video upload test. Yes it worked!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Video upload test. Yes it worked!

The system is looking great! The rockwork looks even better in the video. I can really see how nice the layout is.

 

[mattgsa]

The tank is coming along nicely.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Just read your whole thread and great build. I'm going to start a 75g soon so I will still some of yours ideas...LOL

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Just read your whole thread and great build. I'm going to start a 75g soon so I will still some of yours ideas...LOL

Go for it, if anything I have shared helps anyone I would be very happy.

The chaeto in the fuge is doing very well. It has nearly filled the fuge space already, so I guess that light is working well. The plan with making the smaller fuge work well as a nutrient export is to harvest 80-90% of the macro very 2-3 weeks or sooner if growth allows. Getting some diatoms on the fuge sand but I could care less, algae belongs in the fuge. And the tank survived a second pest control treatment today, so far so good. Glass lids on and skimmer off for 18-24 hours.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

So what does the hive mind think? Time to start adding in corals? Just hardy softies and lps to start. Thinking maybe some zoas, nice mushrooms and acans? Still going to wait a few more weeks to introduce any sps and will start with montis and other hardy sps.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

New youtube vid tour of my reef. Got a new fish and added the first coral to the tank yesturday. New fish is a Talbot Damsel, Im not big on damsel fish but this one kept caughting my eye at the LFS. Talbots have a peaceful demeanor unlike most damsel fish and they will also build a borrow in the sand under rocks. So far it is doing well and is adjusting to its new home. The first coral frag! Not a sps but its a start. Just a simple tester frag of some zoas. Green skirt, orange center with a purpel mouth and ther are a few of another zoa on it as well.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Water test day, well a day late. @melevsreef, #watertest.
Alk 9dkh, API
Ph 8.08, RKL
Cal 400ppm, API
No3 0ppm, API
Po4 >.25, API
Temp 77.0°f, RKL
SG 1.025 refractometer.
Last weeks testing showed No3 at about 10ppm, looks like the chaeto is doing its job at removing the No3. Need to harvest my already full fuge.

 

[madweazl]

The refugium does little to remove nitrates; I suspect something else is the cause for that (test error or the kit lacking accuracy to measure below 10ppm) especially since the phosphates showed little change. Setup is looking really nice though; you've left plenty of room for the corals to grow out (something most of us forget to do).