F2's 80 Gallon Reef Tank

Dan I

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Hey, finally starting a build thread for my tank! I have been in the hobby for around 3 years which began with a 20 gallon long. I quickly moved to my 80 gallon and ran it for a year-ish successfully until I had a bad GHA/cyano breakout which led me to restart.

This new start will be the same route as in being a mixed reef. I will be trying to be hands off as much as possible and taking it super slow.

Tank 10/2/17
10-2 Tank.png


As work got busy, I rarely had time to give time to my tank. Then I got all these algae problems that I could not control. The algae that I kept getting was a type of GHA/turf and cyano. I tried everything from using Fluconazole,Vibrant, 3-day blackout, feeding less, and etc. to control these breakout. I tossed the towel and moved to a restart. I tossed my fish to the garage 40 gallon breeder and the rocks out to dry.

Fish in Garage Tank.png


Tank 1-10-18
1-15-18 Tank Before Cleaning.png


Tank Specs

Tank : Visio 80 Gallon (48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 23 3/8)
Light : 48" ReefBreeders Photon v2 (Adding Aquatic Life T5HO Hybrid with the Photon v2)
Overflow : Modular Marine Low-Profile 1200 GPH Overflow
Stand : DIY
Sump : Skimz UP30 Sumpro Sump
Return Pump : Jebao DTC-6000
Skimmer : SCA-302 180 Gallon Protein Skimmer
Heater : 2x Finnex 200w Heater
Powerheads : 2x Jebao PP-8 Wavemaker
Filtration : Expressions LTD ATS and Skimz Mesh Socks (Will implement Micro Scrubbing Bubbles)
Dosing Pump : Jebao DP-4
 
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Dan I

Dan I

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I deep cleaned all equipment with a vinegar bath and a good scrubbing. I laid all equipment to dry for a day and a half. In addition, I had my rocks dry out for almost 2 weeks. Then I gave all my rocks a muriatic acid bath for an hour with a deep scrub after. Once I finished deep cleaning, I rinsed all rocks with tap water jet stream and swished them in RO/DI water for 15 minutes. After, I placed them in my backyard to dry until I had my tank equipment reinstalled.

Equipment Cleaned.png


I played with several aquascape ideas and had a hard time finding placement for each rock I had. I made several scapes, but did not photograph all of them. In the end, I ended up with a complete different scape which I truly am happy with. The final scape is inside the tank and not shown in the pictures below.

Rock 4.png

Rock 1.png
Rock 3.png

Rock 2.png
 
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Dan I

Dan I

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It's been a hectic week reorganizing the equipment. I light coated a PEG board I had laying around with a water resistant coat to house my wavermaker and heater equipment. I tided up as much as I can then placed the tank back to its orignal location and began filling the tank.

Tank Progress.png

Under Tank Stand.png

Filling Tank.png


Once done, I added 40lbs CaribSea Argonite Fiji Pink Dry Sand and 20lbs CaribSea Fiji Pink Live Sand. It took around 3 days to clear up. I messed up by using mesh socks instead of 200 micron felt socks. I added a bottle of Dr. Tims One and Only to kick off the cycle and will be adding fish within the week. Will post update once I start getting stuff transferred over into this tank.

Cloudy Tank.png
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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