Finally got my 125 after being out of saltwater for 25 years!

NashobaTek

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25 years ago I had a 60 gallon cube with my usual favs. But life gets in the way and I let it go to a friend of mine. Fast forward 25 years and I have my new dream tank. ( Actually my dream tank is way bigger, but this is a great start) lol.

I managed to sell enough paintings to finally get the tank and stand. It also happened to go on sale right about than. It came with the usual standard lights. Btw, this is a bare basics tank. Prior to getting the tank, I had been buying coral skeletons and sea fan skeletons, along with the dry rock.


Purchased the following:
6-8 bags of Hawaiian black caribsea live sand. ( Can't remember how many it was. Enough for a 2" substrate).
2 double head power heads.
2 hob marineland bio filters for 75 gallon tanks.
1 air pump and long air stone.
1 API master test kit for saltwater

Bottle of prime, bucket of IO salt, bottle of pure ammonia, putty for use in water and gorilla gel glue.
Also bought a few other test kits and vitamin,selcon etc.

We found out that a 6 ft aquarium fits in a Ford escape, if you're the passenger, you're not going to be comfortable on the ride home.
My friend also bought a sunken ship decoration for the tank.
I can't find the pictures of the tank sitting empty and dry for the first month.
So the pictures start after the tank was cycled. During the cycle after the ammonia went to zero I would do a bigger dose of ammonia every morning and by that evening it was zeroed out again. Kept doing that until the day before the first critters arrived.

Critters that have gone into the tank are:
CUC
Brittle stars
Assorted snails
A condy, a RFA.. common color, and a ultra green polyp coral.

The fish include: my baby--- a pinnatus batfish. 1 " on arrival and now over 7" fin to fin.
3 mandrins, 1 male and 2 females.
1 Hippo tang,
1 Royal Gramma
2 ocellaris clowns

Ok more later, with more details and pictures !

IMG_20200205_142025.jpg IMG_20200212_134927.jpg IMG_20200224_182050.jpg IMG_20200527_193214.jpg
 
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NashobaTek

NashobaTek

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received_2678855735540692.jpeg

Dry fitting for the coral skeletons before the stand got home.

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Filled with water and starting to clear up.
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Red macro algae from gulf coast live plants.

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My one piece of live coral from ISP when I ordered more CUC and mini brittle stars. This was right after I put it in the aquarium.

I have had a on going issue with the sister-in-law using chemicals near the tank and killing things. Mainly the inverts. So far the fish and coral are doing great.

I test the parameters at least weekly. And I have been having a brown algae issue, but we added a new better LED light system and everything seems to be doing better. Brown algae is turning into green hair algae.
I also made sure that I had a huge pod population before I added the mandrins.
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NashobaTek

NashobaTek

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Thanks! I am thinking about coral and fish, maybe a RFA garden. Need to get an anemone for the clowns.
It's still very much a work in progress, only been up since late December and January cycled.
 

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Cool Setup!
I love your batfish, and the red macros are awesome.
Mandarins are by far my favorite fish too.
How is everything coming along on the tank?
 
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NashobaTek

NashobaTek

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Cool Setup!
I love your batfish, and the red macros are awesome.
Mandarins are by far my favorite fish too.
How is everything coming along on the tank?
It's going through the uglies with massive GHA, scrub everything several times a week, everyone is doing well and growing like crazy.
I hope the fat little mandarins spawn at some point.
We will be moving soon so I'm hoping to get a small amount of live rock to add in. We would like to have a RFA garden and some coral, but this tank was specifically for the batfish. It's pushing 8 inches and eats out of my fingers now, really cool fish.

Thanks for your comments!
 

SMSREEF

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It's going through the uglies with massive GHA, scrub everything several times a week, everyone is doing well and growing like crazy.
I hope the fat little mandarins spawn at some point.
We will be moving soon so I'm hoping to get a small amount of live rock to add in. We would like to have a RFA garden and some coral, but this tank was specifically for the batfish. It's pushing 8 inches and eats out of my fingers now, really cool fish.

Thanks for your comments!
I’m going through major uglies on my 60 cube too. Like your plan, I’m quarantining some live rock to try and help. I Am quarantining because the LFS that has the best rock had some sick fish in with it.

I’m so jealous about your batfish eating out of your hand, but my 60 cube is as big as I can go. At least until I win the lottery and move into my new mansion;)

I love RFAs and will be getting a few in a few months when my tank is more mature. If you have any questions about RFAs @Ron Reefman has an amazing build thread you should check out.
 

Ron Reefman

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I have a lot of experience with RFAs, but I do not claim to be an expert. In fact another Reef Squad member and I are doing some research and breeding experiments on them. We've found very little info about them in the world of science and research.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have. I love RFAs! This is my old 40g tank.

Almost FTS June 2019.jpg
 
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NashobaTek

NashobaTek

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Are your mandarins pellet trained? If not, how are your feeding them?
No they are not, they are eating pods that I added and I feed fresh brine shrimp hatch twice a day. I have seen the male eating the grated shrimp for the pinnatus batfish. All 3 are very fat and happy.
 
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