Cruz Mc5’s first attempt at a reef tank

[Muttley000]

To raise a skimmer in the past what I have done is cut a piece of egg crate for a platform and then used PVC scraps to make four legs. Drill holes in the PVC and tie wrap them to the egg crate. I'm sure there are tons of other ideas but that worked for me!

 

[Cruz Mc5]

I’m debating between raising the skimmer similar to your suggestion or adding a piece of abs or acrylic between the fuge and skimmer sections so that I can still use the adjustable baffle to adjust the skimmer chamber height.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

And my first fish are just now starting quarantine! 5 Lyretail Anthias.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

Yesterday I installed an Apex flow meter on my return line. At full power I’m only getting about 275 gph, so I need to make a change in my return pump. My total water volume is probably 130-140 gallons. I’m currently using a Jebao DCP-8000. In looking at options for a different pump I could either get a bigger jebao pump, a varios-8, or a Vectra L1. Any advice on which route to go would be very much appreciated.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

I added my first set of corals today. 2 are really small frags that my LFS gave me (Kenya tree and a *really* small pulsing xenia), and then a toadstool. The toadstool was pretty upset with the move, but now seems to have settled in nicely.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

We also added an acan and a green/purple hammer. Everything seems to be settling in nicely. We are still running the AP700 in acclimation mode. And I might be crazy, but I could swear the toadstool has grown since Saturday.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

And we have fish. Yesterday we picked up our Lyretail Anthias out of lock up at the LFS (they’d been QTing them for us) and also got 3 ORA clownfish (2 occelaris and 1 Premium Black Ice). Everyone acclimated well and seems happy in the tank so far. As soon as I turned on a light in the room and sat down with my coffee, all the fish came out of their little crevices to say hi.

Also, it’s really hard to get good pictures of these guys. Here are some of my failed attempts.

Full tank shot, with a flash, lol.

Here’s the blurry clowns and the Black Ice Clown.

And here’s almost everyone trying to photobomb. I’ll try and get some better pictures today.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this thread. We’ve added a few more corals. Currently we have 3 different acans, 2 candy canes, 1 hammer, 2 ricordia, 1 lobo, 1 encrusting coral, a Kenya tree, and some pulsing xenia. We’ve also added 1 fire fish and 2 garden eels. Oh yeah, and a red sea serpent/star fish.

So far the fish are all doing well. The 3 clowns sleep in a ball in the corner every night. The fires in was very skittish at first and rarely came out. Now he’s out most of the day. All of them are eating well. I’ve been feeding LRS, roe, and recently made some fresh food with mussels, clams, and oysters.

The garden eels were added yesterday so no pictures yet. 1 keeps his head poked out most of the day, but the other one is still settling in. He makes very brief appearances and then hides again. I’m hoping he decides to move to a better part of the tank (right now he’s up front on the clowns sleeping corner).

The acans are really growing well. The red one currently has 4 new heads growing.

The toadstool is really taking off as well.

I’ve moved things around a little bit but this shows the hammer, candy canes, lobo, both ricordia, and you can actually see the Kenya tree and nub of pulsing xenia in the back.

 

[Muttley000]

I've been thinking of adding a tank to my system just for a few garden eels. Anxious to hear your experience with them!

 

[Cruz Mc5]

I managed to snap a few pictures of them.

Here’s the bigger one in his spot at the back of the tank.

And here’s the little guy. A shot from across the tank and a closer shot of him.

 

[Cruz Mc5]

Well, we had our first loss with this tank. We found the smaller garden eel sucked up into our powerhead yesterday morning. He had been changing places in the tank every night trying to find a good spot and must’ve got caught up by the powerhead.

Besides moving spots every night, he was doing great. Spent a decent amount of time with his head out and would really extend during feeding time.

The bigger garden eel has been in the same spot for the last 4 days or so, so I’m hoping he stays put. He’s up front in the tank in a great viewing spot. He’s eating well and extends a good 5 or 6 inches at feeding time. His favorite food so far seems to be roe, but he’s eaten mysis shrimp and my homemade clam/oyster/mussel food.

Edit: here’s a picture of the bigger one in his spot.