First ever reef!

[manringjk]

A few days ago I posted in the meet and greet forum. Now I’m going to do a dedicated thread for the evolution of my first marine tank!

Tank: fluval evo 13.5 that I got off marketplace. It’s previous owner also gave me all sorts of goodies including a fluval sea wave maker, an aqua top nano uv, a fluval mini protein skimmer and a fluval heater (as well as a variety of foods, test kits and air pumps.

Gear: currently I am running the stock filtration, pumps and lights with the addition of the fluval wave maker and the aqua top uv. I tried to set up the protein skimmer and was so confounded by it that I decided to leave that until my bio load necessitates it lol.

Hardscape & substrate: I am lucky to be in a place with a lot of different LFS so I was able to acquire several pieces of wet live rock. I also got 2 bags of caribsea Hawaiian black for $7 each so one of those full bags is in the tank. Salt mix is instant ocean.

Now the fun part: livestock:
—2 yellowtail damsels (were purchased to help along the cycle, alas they have continued to survive and thrive)
—1 cleaner shrimp (Lindsey)
—1 pincushion urchin (Jason)
—1 neon dottyback (Brad) who miraculously has stayed out of trouble and leaves the damsels alone and vice versa
—3 unknown zoa frags (2 from LFS in Pittsburgh, thriving. 1 from LFS near home, not thriving)
—1 GSP frag (came from the same LFS as the not thriving zoa, he also came with aipstasia that I just lit a knife on fire and hopefully scraped off since I don’t have any aipatasia-X on hand yet)

Pardon the water stains on the back, can’t reach my arm back there so waiting for a water change to pull it off the wall a little more lol.

Plans for the future: the world of modding out this tank is opening up so many fun possibilities. I just purchased a custom clear lid from Etsy because the stock hood and light upset my sensibilities.

I will probably purchase an RO system as well. I currently have dechlorinated tap (I know, I’m sorry) in there now. My local water has a pH of 8.0 and a hardness of 300dkh out of the tap which has kept my alk at 11 or so. We all live and learn!

plans for the near future include a better light (worried about losing strength through clear lid though) and I’ve been contemplating the idea of a diy HOB fuge. I use house plants in my FW tanks and I like the idea of chaeto, etc in a fuge to function in a similar way.

I also want to do something different in the overflow chambers but I’m not sure what yet. I run an oase canister filter on my 60g FW and I love the ability to add filter floss and ceramic rings but I’m not yet educated enough yet on marine filtration media.

As far as livestock goes, my plan is to trade in the damsels and replace them with a pair of ocellaris clowns. I’d love to get some Xenia and other softies once I see more success with my current corals. I love the look of a carpeting zoa garden with softies at mid level.

I’ve made it my winter goal to clean up my basement and make it an enjoyable space so that I can get a much bigger tank setup down there.

More to come!

 

[Subsea]

I like your rock work.

For Aptasia eradication, use a toothbrush dipped in peroxide.

Instead of Chaetomorphy in a refugium, consider some ornamental macro in your display. All macro algae consume large amounts of nutrients so gradually ramp up your nutrients in by feeding more, until you find balance.

With respect to the compartments in your AIO, consider adding live rock rubble as a cryptic refugium & pod habitat. You don’t need a light.

I use cannister filters as cryptic refugiums on several large systems. Most on this forum would not agree with cannister filters in marine systems.

Good fortune on your journey.

 

[manringjk]

I like your rock work.

For Aptasia eradication, use a toothbrush dipped in peroxide.

Instead of Chaetomorphy in a refugium, consider some ornamental macro in your display. All macro algae consume large amounts of nutrients so gradually ramp up your nutrients in by feeding more, until you find balance.

With respect to the compartments in your AIO, consider adding live rock rubble as a cryptic refugium & pod habitat. You don’t need a light.

I use cannister filters as cryptic refugiums on several large systems. Most on this forum would not agree with cannister filters in marine systems.

Good fortune on your journey.

Oh this is so helpful, thank you!!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Subsea]

Consider some red & green colors for the. Christmas season:

Caulerpa racemosa var. peltata​

A beautiful, hardy, species that does very well in marine aquariums. Rhizoid-bearing rhizomes give rise to small flat topped umbrella shaped uprights. A distinctive variety usually found in low-light habitats under reef ledges and deep water habitats. We collect two varieties, one with rounded caps, the other with flat caps. It will grow in tall strands if given strong bright light and will remain more compact if exposed to a high current and partially shaded habitat. You will receive several portions that are 6-8" long

Caulerpa cupressioides​

This interesting species of Caulerpa features long, stiff uprights with finger-like clusters of notched blades. It is typically found growing in sea grass beds or shallow water habitats to about 10 ft. This algae prefers sandy substrate, but will attach to rocks and coral fragments. This particular species is not as invasive as others and makes a good addition to a mixed reef aquarium. You will receive a specimen that is 12" in length with 5-6 stalks.

Botryocladia (Red Grape)​

Rare, but abundant when found, it appears as slightly different

Gracilaria hayi​

This beautiful species of red gracilaria features a bright red coloration with rigid, irregular shaped lobes that form a tight symmetrical bush. This is one of the most beautiful and hardy species we offer. It grows in protected shallow estuaries that are nutrient rich. Due to its stiff and lightly calcified branches its not known to be very palatable

 

[manringjk]

Being a new reefer means watching your tank like a hawk and celebrating tiny changes like it’s your birthday…right?

I noticed that my biggest zoa frag has started moving towards encrusting a nearby rock!

Additionally, my GSP frag who had been struggling with some aipstasia is starting to bounce back (after I went mad scientist and burned the aipstasia off)

Overall, it has been a joy so far doing maintenance and watching this tank. My poor FW tanks are jealous of all the doting attention paid to my reef tank

 

[manringjk]

First loss: the dottyback. Not sure what happened but everyone else is still doing well. I had to fight the cleaner shrimp off to get the body out of the tank lol

 

[manringjk]

It’s been a minute! Life gets crazy around the holidays. We’ve had some new arrivals and sadly, another departure.

Made my first trip to Tidal Gardens and got a pulsing Xenia and a mystery softie which turned out to be a white tipped toadstool leather. Both are doing well! (Have to say, the prices, the size of the frags, the way they are packaged for transport, and how well they acclimated is really amazing. I cannot recommend them enough).

So I had purchased 2 cheap YT damsels to help along the cycle awhile back knowing there could be trouble down the line. The weaker of the two died, though I noticed it was starting to struggle and was able to remove it once it had stopped breathing. Luckily no ammonia spike.

My diatom bloom in the beginning was expected but now I’m getting an outbreak of thread algae. I have an in tank UV running and I did end up getting the skimmer up and running. The urchin seems to prefer munching on diatoms rather than the thread algae so I’ve been manually removing as much as I can. My plan is to pick up some more CUC to help with that down the line.

I am still keeping my eyes peeled for some fish that will be compatible with my current livestock. I may trade the damsel in and get an ocellaris clown and perhaps a goby of some kind. Suggestions welcome!