Defelipes' 75 Build

[907defelipes]

I'll try to be better about documenting progress. 2 weeks ago, I drilled my tank and did a test run with freshwater.

This past weekend I added live sand, caribsea life rock (and base rock) and water. I then started the cycle with microbacter xlm and fritz fishless fuel.

I decided to go pretty minimal with the rock with this one. In the past I have had a ton of rock, usually 1.5 to 2 lb per gallon. Currently I'm at about 70 lb, which for me is pretty light.

Mechanical filtration is a reefmat, thanks to the fact that i live in alaska and people who move to the lower 48 really like selling their stuff pretty cheap so I got it for like 150 bucks with a Tunze ATO. I also am running a skimmer which is currently running with the valve open to not collect anything yet.

Day 4 of the fishless cycle, I'm seeing a bit of a jump in Nitrite, Nitrate is starting to climb and ammonia is already starting to fall. Whether it was the live sand, Microbacter or if the rock legitimately has bacteria spores that have gone active, the cycle is going pretty quickly. If it continues to move this quickly, I'll 100% be a microbacter believer.

My intent with this tank is a mixed reef using some of the lessons learned from all of my previous reef tanks. No GSP (they are pretty but they explode) no Palys (see reason for no gsp) and most of all nothing that is going to make it's way into a powerhead and nuke me.

I love the look of a mixed reef with softies and LPS down low and SPS high in the tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

Great original stand and canopy!
What lighting are you using?

 

[Shnetts]

nice lookin stand!

 

[907defelipes]

Great original stand and canopy!
What lighting are you using?

I am using 2 Pop Bloom RL90s. The options today are crazy. It wasn't that long ago it was just the Halide guys talking smack about T5 and T5 guys accosting the Halide guys for using too much power and both of them making fun of the Power Compact peeps. I will say these lights are beautiful for the few minutes I have seen them functioning

 

[907defelipes]

nice lookin stand!

Thank you! The stand and canopy were marketplace finds but I did find the flooring he used to skin it and will be building a cabinet next to the tank for my ATO and dosing pumps since the 40B sump takes up almost the entire thing.

 

[Tahoe61]

I am using 2 Pop Bloom RL90s. The options today are crazy. It wasn't that long ago it was just the Halide guys talking smack about T5 and T5 guys accosting the Halide guys for using too much power and both of them making fun of the Power Compact peeps. I will say these lights are beautiful for the few minutes I have seen them functioning

I love my Popbloom RL90. The app is easy to use and I like the color. My Zoanthids and Maxi-mini Anemones are doing great. I am only running them at 40%, but it's only a 6 gallon tank.
Gone are the days of MH. :-(

 

[907defelipes]

I love my Popbloom RL90. The app is easy to use and I like the color. My Zoanthids and Maxi-mini Anemones are doing great. I am only running them at 40%, but it's only a 6 gallon tank.
Gone are the days of MH. :-(

They are beautiful and they will be fine. I'll check par at some point but I feel good about them.

 

[907defelipes]

Just checked water. I'm doing a fishless cycle with fritz fishless fuel and I dosed with Microbacter XLM.

Ammonia was at 2 PPM yesterday and has dropped to 1 ppm today. Nitrite was at about 1 ppm and nitrate at about 10. I went ahead and brought the ammonia back up to 2 PPM and we will see what happens overnight. It seems to be moving pretty fast.

 

[907defelipes]

It's been a minute since I updated. Everything is looking pretty good. I added first few fish and corals on saturday.

Water is still testing good and everything seems to be rolling right along.

 

[Oldsman]

Looks good Is that a midas blenny ?

 

[907defelipes]

Tank is coming along nicely. This tank is now basically a place holder. My wife, who was pretty "meh" about this whole thing has really gotten into it and has become a tang lover. Who am I to deny her? So now there is a inch and a half sailfin tang in the tank that will inevitably outgrow this tank in a year or so. Wife wanted him and I had already said no to the clown trigger and queen angel. Heres a recap of the convo
Wife: "Babe he's adorable, go ahead and say no"
Me: "he's reef safe"
Wife: "cool, let's get him"
Me: "our tank is too small"
Wife: "he's so tiny"
Me: "not for long"
Wife: "we can get a bigger tank when he outgrows it"
Me: "BAG HIM UP NOW BEFORE SHE REALIZES WHAT SHE JUST SAID"