The Petri Dish - SR's 90Gal Journal

[TheScientificReefer]

Excited to start a build thread this run through is going to cover my 90gal display.
Its been about 2 years since I last posted a tank and boy has a lot changed.. Ive learned so much from reef2reef, friends, experts, my peers, and my job in the industry giving me tons of hands on experience. Shoutout to three big people who gave me very impactful advice and help: 399k, Seth, and Ben.

Huge Greateful Special Thanks to BoostedReefer and 399k for helping me haul this baby home as my birthday gift!

Back in Febraury me and two aforementioned buddies hauled this tank to my house, it was given to me for free thankfully (Shoutout CoralNerd) I was upgrading from a 60gal lagoon which was my main display at the time. This guy was in ugly shape and took quite a few hours of cleaning

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Here it was after I cleaned the sides and front , I didnt bother to clean the back at the time, In the back of my mind I was worried it would cause some ill effects but nothing came of it thankfully it erroded as time went on.. I went ahead and added new sand to get things started

Fast forward a few weeks!! I first moved rock in from my previous tank to spread bacteria and added Dr Tims, I had some issues dealing with the previous owners overflow/return setup so didnt setup my sump for about 2 months and kept the water level below the overflow. I was trying to salvage/make the previous owners setup work but ended up just gutting out the old piping and redoing it which is much safer anyways

At this point I had moved over only some minimal livestock/coral This is about Week 1-2 of March

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank looks like it is progressing well!!

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Update 3: At this point I had raised the water level some and was letting things sit for a bit I got a pair of mocha vinci, my whitetail died, RIP Whitetail... and I sold off my Gem Tang to put some funds in my pocket. I also started adding some coral like hammers at the bottom left. Keep an eye on the pale gorg too it was all stick and no polyp at that point and any point before

Stocklist at this point was..

Fish:

• Gem Tang
• Mocha Vinci Grade A Pair
• Exquisite Wrasse
• Flame Angel
• Dracula Goby w/ Purple Spotted Pistol Shrimp (Usually pairs with a White Cap Goby)
• Firefish

At this point were at March week 3-4

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Update 4: Sump and ATO has not been setup, here a huge mistake on my part... It ended up with my topping off directly into the tank onto the acantho thus bleaching it and ultimately losing it
We are at the May (Week 1)
I added much needed rockwork to the right side of the tank, sold my gem and traded in the Mocha Vinci for black storms! Things were maturing quite nicely! My gorg was so much happier aswell turning from a white stick to a regaining polyp extension! Added a few coral aswell. Forgot to mention my beloved Radiant Wrasse last post aswell who came over to this tank from my previous one!

Equipment:
x2 XR15 Radion G5 (1 Pro, 1 Blue)
x1 Titanium Heater
x2 Jebao Wavemakers

Fish:

• Black Storm Pair
• Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
• Radiant Wrasse
• Choati Leopard Wrasse
• Kuiters Leopard Wrasse
• Flame Angel
• Dracula Goby w/ Purple Spotted Pistol Shrimp (Usually pairs with a White Cap Goby)
• Firefish

Notable Coral:
Dragon Tamer Torch, Gorg & Yellow Gorg, Branching Hammers x4, Green Weeping Willow Toadstool, Neon Green Cabbage, Neon Green Alveo, Lavender Petal Goni, Space Invader, Branching GSP, Zoas, (White Zombie, Jedi Mindtrick, Frozen Apple, Blue Hornet, Red Hornet, Frozen Hornet)

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Update 5:
Here we are guys, I finally feel like im back at my peak. The hard work has been paying off big time. At this point were June 21st.
The sump is completely setup, Skimmer ✔, ATO ✔. While everything did well prior to this with easier corals, the peace of mind provided to me has been amazing. It has afforded me the chance to upgrade my corals as well.

Parameters are tested 3-4 times a week, The health of the corals is everything, the best advice given to me back when I was a younger reefer was. "Don't deal with problems when they show up, mitigate problems before they happen" So got to stay true to the philosophy.

There's been lots of coral growth to go around in a short amount of time, but something still feels off? I suspect its the lighting, my intensity is probably on the low side I fear. To make sure, I buy a par meter from a local reefer, next update should have the info on par. Also a Borbonius is looking likely cant wait for that!

Equipment: x2 XR15 Radion G5 (1 Pro, 1 Blue) x1 Red Sea ReefWave 45 x1 Simplicity 240DC In-Sump Protein Skimmer x1 Bubble Magnus BM-T11 Doser x1 Tunze Osmolator 3155 x1 Titanium Heater x1 Jebao Wavemaker (Banished to sump for flow)

Fish: Black Storm Pair Exquisite Fairy Wrasse Radiant Wrasse Choati Leopard Wrasse Kuiters Leopard Wrasse Flame Angel Dracula Goby w/ Purple Spotted Pistol Shrimp Firefish Mimic Eibli Tang Janns Pipefish Debelius' Reef Lobster (Refugium Mascot)

Notable Coral:
Torches:
x2 Purple Tip Holy Grail, Pink Tip Holy Grail, 24k Holy Grail, NY Knicks, Dragon Soul, Dragon Tamer, Random Indo Green.
SPS:
Walt Disney, Merlins Staff, Blue Tort, Blue Green Tort, Vivid's Rainbow Delight, Pink Cadillac, Heartbreaker, ORA Pearlberry, Master Yoda, PC Rainbow, Grafted Monti, Mystique Monti
Zoas:
(White Zombie, Jedi Mindtrick, Frozen Apple, Blue Hornet, Red Hornet, Frozen Hornet, Grim Reaper, Acid Trips, Pretty in pink, SynthWaves, Utter Chaos, Utter Peace, Little Shop of Horrors)
Shrooms:
OG Bounce, Magic Carpet, CK Deadpool, Nimbus Bounce, Raunchy Red Bounce, Gonzo Golden Dragon.
Misc:
Bleeding Apple Bower, Holy Grail Micromussa, Red Cynarina, Branching Hammers x4, Neon Green Weeping Willow Toadstool, Neon Green Cabbage, Neon Green Alveo, Space Invader, Branching GSP, Fox Flame Chalice, Flamethrower Chalice, x3 Ricordea

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Update 5.5:
Par map was made im a little late though, this was about a month ago.
My par was on the lower end especially not the numbers I want to see for acros... I raised by intensity by 15% over the following 2 weeks to adjust and get the par to around 400 to the top. Thats almost at max output I think im going to have to end up upgrading to XR30s instead of 15s.