Custom 80 gallon

[Swymby]

Hello,

I am very new to reefing - didn't even know it's a thing until few month ago. :D I am currently setting up my first reef tank. Decided to go with 80 gallon custom build because they mostly sell red sea aoi around here and, reading this forum, I'd got a bit scared of them.
I am almost ready to fill it up, so please, if you would take a look at my aquascape. :-)

I went a bit minimalistic but there are still holes and caves at the bottom and lots of overhangs. Also, there is going to be about an inch of a live sand from aqua forest.

Sorry about the photo quality, need to find a way to picture it properly. :-)

 

[fishywishy]

Nice

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Aquascape looks great!

 

[Swymby]

Thank you. :-)

Small status update - finally up and running. Well, almost, my ATO unit gave up after the second refill and the pump for UV is loud as hell, so I am going to change that.

Any tips for visualizing the flow? Currently it's rearanging my sand bed. :upside-down-face:

Anyway, here are some pictures.

 

[fishywishy]

Nice

 

[lilopop11]

Welcome to Reef world ..


try adding a wavemaker on the left side, it will make the current more balanced .. nice scape btw

 

[Swymby]

Thank you, I'll try that. I have a month to play with it anyway.

Also I am planning to buy Kessil AP9X light since it is a single center mount and with right coverage for my tank.

 

[Swymby]

It's been more than two months so a quick update.
Added cleanup crew, two clown fish and a few corals.
Lost about 5 out of 8 trochus snails and one conch. I think I added them too soon and they kinda starved to death. Trochuses probably fell from the glass and were unable to get back on their ... foot. Conch just stopped moving and died, dunno why.
Clowns are doing fine, one is getting noticeably bigger than the other and is a bit domineering - as expected.
Soft corals also look good and I've added euphyllia today - fresh out of the dip and opening up nicely.

Had some diatoms, though not as many as I feared I would have. They are slowly dying out and getting replaced by some algae.
Hooked up santa monica rain algae scrubber last week. So far I am getting very tiny growth in the corner.

Also got my first ICP result. Everything looks ok, except barium is a bit high.

Any recommendations for a fish? Looking for something that swims around a bit more actively than the lazy clowns (and doesn't jump from the tank, since I don't have a cover). :-)

 

[Pizzafam!]

Love the rockscape ! Especially the center rock,reminds me of pride rock from lion king !

 

[Swymby]

Thank you, and you are right, it looks similar. Also, I just have a hermit crab standing on the top like Rafiki. :D He just fought another hermit and then ran away to the top of the mountain, trempling frogspawn and kenya tree in the process.

 

[Pizzafam!]

Thank you, and you are right, it looks similar. Also, I just have a hermit crab standing on the top like Rafiki. :D He just fought another hermit and then ran away to the top of the mountain, trempling frogspawn and kenya tree in the process.

That is scene to be in person for haha sounds epic.

 

[Swymby]

Hey guys, an update.

Added a few frags (some are from discontinued reef and not in the greates shape) and a coral beauty fish.

Also bought an orange photo filter. Here are some pictures.

 

[Swymby]

It is one year since I started the cycle so I thought I would drop some update.

During the year I've switched from wanting a mixed reef to wanting euphillia dominated reef because I just love them. Though I still threw some SPS in there.

Currently I am in the process of eradicating GSP from my main rock (probably my biggest mistake was to put it there 10 months ago). Scrubbed most of it of but there is still some odd polyp here and there.

As for fish I have 10 anthiases, 2 clowns, melanurus wrasse, coral beauty, watchman and sixspot gobbies. I have to overfeed them, otherwise my nitrate drops to 0 so they look happy enough. :-)

Also changed the lights from kessil to reef flare (yeah, before I knew they went bankrupt) and I will try to get a better flow, because I think I have some reserves there.