Gonna start my first tank build thread.

JMM744

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Greeting and welcome to my “long winded” introduction to my first ever tank build thread. WARNING: it’s gonna be slow..... I am self employed as a full time Taxidermist and am quite busy keeping my clients satisfied and content so reefing can and does come last. My clients are the ones who allow me to enjoy the hobby so I owe them a lot!!

After about 25 years away from reefing I stepped back in about a year and a half back. It’s been an almost overwhelming experience trying to catch up on technology and advancements in this hobby to say the least. You have probably read about how things were back then so I will spare you the details accept to say it was hard.
First tank I got running as an introduction back to the hobby was a used 30cube with a hang on the back power filter. Used a couple small powerheads inside to get good flow going. Cycled the dry rock using bacteria in a bottle and ammonia which went rather well. Went through the algae bloom and survived. Using the reef breeders led ( good lights but couldn’t get them dialed in) light to provide the necessary illumination I added some soft corals once the tank had cycled. Also added some snails and blue legged crabs to help keep the bare bottom clean. About once a week I preformed the 50% water change I felt was needed to keep things fresh. Reef Chrystals by instant ocean is my preferred salt and I seem to get good results to this point. After a bit I finally added a purple fire fish to provide some interest in the tank. Gradually added some mushrooms and hard corals as well. At the time of this tanks inception Dragons Breath algae was becoming very popular so I added some to the tank via a rubber band and a rock to anchor it. I absolutely loved the stuff and was very successful at growing it. One of the few things which did well in the tank actually. I ran this tank for about 8-10 months before tiring of the lack of coral growth and the mess and labor involved in the weekly water changes which had to be brought up from the basement in 5 gallon buckets. Algae returned somewhere along the way and low and behold along comes Vibrant ! This stuff did a great job of ridding my hair algae issue and along with the occasional use of peroxide the problem was solved. I gave thought to drilling the tank and adding a sump but just didn’t think it would be worth the trouble hence the “upgrade”. Something we all seem to like the idea of.
My first upgrade tank purchase was a used 120 rr tank with stand and screen top. It is actually the subject of the upcoming build so will ignore it for now.
Next came the chance to purchase a 70 gal. tank and complete setup from someone semi local. I was all in for that so away I went to capture this great deal. The tank had some issues as did the equipment but all in all it was a good start. After cleaning it out and transporting it home I got busy cleaning and refiguring the equipment and adding a proper overflow ( reef Synergy) to the back of the tank. Next came an upgrade to the return pump in the 30 long homemade sump underneath the tank. Quick rework of the plumbing provided had me up and running in short order. This tank is in my unfinished basement/ tomb! It’s an older basement that is just dreary and unpleasant, especially as I had spent about 5 years working at my trade in it before getting a new shop built and moving upground where you can see the sun!! Gave thought to moving it to our living room but in the end it’s staying in the basement till it’s useful days are done. I must admit that it’s just too easy for me to make a mess around my tanks so why bring that mess to our living room carpet?! Ok tank is ready and up to salinity and temp so off we go. Added the rock which came from the tank along with more bacteria in a bottle to get the cycle going. Mission accomplished. Over time I learned of these wonderful places that had such amazing selections of corals and fish that could be bought and or viewed that some road trips became necessary. So did the need for money! Ouch goes the wallet!
Will not bore you with the details of the next year but let’s just abbreviate..... killed fish, killed corals, restarted with fish and had some success. Repurchased corals and had some success and some failures. Took everything out of the 30cube and added it to my 55 gallon refugium- misc. tank or the 70. Firefish had died so the only livestock left was snails and crabs. Found a guy near by who was getting out and bought several corals from him along with some equipment to help improve my set up.
Finally got some things going in the right direction and had some nice fish in the display too.
As things progressed my business , which demands lots of my time, had kept me very busy, like 60 hours a week busy, maybe more at times so things fell by the way side. The 120 got drilled for the overflow and the pre- installed overflows were taken out( greatly disliked those black columns in the back of the tank). As of today that’s where the tank sits.

Started to see growth in the corals in the 70 so the next step was to dose. I guess nows a good time to say “ I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF WATER CHANGES” , just don’t get them done so dosing was very needed. Let me say this also “ DO NOT FORGET TO DOSE EVERY DAY”! So guess who got too busy and started to get lax on his dosing schedule? Guess who lost almost all his sps corals? Guess who didn’t know how susceptible sps corals were to alk swings? Guess who almost threw in the towel?
Guess who had BRS Dosers in a drawer in the fish room and just didn’t get them installed ? Guess who lost a lot of hard earned cash as he threw those dead corals out in the garbage?
Oh my! That was a very hard learned lesson folks, very hard. If it were not for fish that still needed attention I probably would have called it quits right there. One more lesson learned this past winter and we can get past this history lesson.... I love my brain corals, really like viewing them a lot. So I had several nice ones on the tank bottom including a bleeding apple and a wonderful trachy which was stunning....
66C5EC04-C5D4-423F-A528-C3F14ECCA88F.jpeg

This picture just doesn’t do it justice. It was big and flashy and just beautiful! Well it started to recede from the skeleton a bit. I had no idea what was wrong but eventually all my brains were doing the same thing. Sadly this guy just wasted away over about two weeks time. I tried dipping in iodine a couple time but alas to no avail. As a last resort I took all that were left and threw them in the 55 refugium/ misc tank. Several died but a couple made it in that tank. What I eventually found was that my nitrates were very, very high. Why, I don’t know. At one time I was dosing stump remover to get them up a bit as they would be at 0 all the time but now they were off the charts. Through the help of a person who had a small reef shop and I had come to know a bit I learned about vodka dosing and how it would help lower my no3. Ah, one more of those BRS Dosers has found a use! As the numbers came down my corals responded and started to grow a bit or at least color up more. As of today my no3 runs around 10 and phosphates are around .03-07 and controlled through lanth. chloride . Sump has Chaeto now so hoping it will pick up some of the slack.
These guys survived!!
479D7588-85E2-4ED6-9332-79EB469A8F78.jpeg


CCC0DAEC-DACA-4A9C-9487-059CFEB69DD7.jpeg
F47CF230-E46C-4EF4-86F0-AA32983C0EC4.jpeg

These guys have survived and are now re-acquainted with the 70 gallon reef and doing well. Here is one of the montipora that was completely browned out and, I thought, dead....
50CA746A-017D-440A-B558-D1CE5B5FEFED.jpeg


Nice recovery!
More of the 70’s residents....
1FE5A3C4-0772-49AC-B51F-1D3A5A40685C.jpeg


These Favia had all but died and now have rebounded.
3B9BF867-38E9-4DD7-B52F-2B27934C3AFD.jpeg
8800A2F3-20CB-43DB-8D39-9247D56B35B3.jpeg
0A04AB40-E6EB-41D3-A55A-53E9F4C43F91.jpeg
090AA0C6-4CB4-491B-9F44-8DEB47D5AA72.jpeg


There are more but good pictures just don’t exist yet. My camera is my phone so many of the pictures are not yet transferred to the tablet. Will get more for later. I always like seeing other reefers pictures so will keep you somewhat satiated. Somewhat!

68ABDFF5-739E-497D-8DBA-169B2BE24C3B.jpeg


D05DDB9D-6E46-4E89-9934-91BCC59E207C.jpeg


206C7E3A-B6D6-4CA7-B276-4A31E49927F5.jpeg


Sorry, tried to delete the last picture but it won’t go away.
This build will be continued on the next disc.....
 
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JMM744

JMM744

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Greeting and welcome to my “long winded” introduction to my first ever tank build thread. WARNING: it’s gonna be slow..... I am self employed as a full time Taxidermist and am quite busy keeping my clients satisfied and content so reefing can and does come last. My clients are the ones who allow me to enjoy the hobby so I owe them a lot!!

After about 25 years away from reefing I stepped back in about a year and a half back. It’s been an almost overwhelming experience trying to catch up on technology and advancements in this hobby to say the least. You have probably read about how things were back then so I will spare you the details accept to say it was hard.
First tank I got running as an introduction back to the hobby was a used 30cube with a hang on the back power filter. Used a couple small powerheads inside to get good flow going. Cycled the dry rock using bacteria in a bottle and ammonia which went rather well. Went through the algae bloom and survived. Using the reef breeders led ( good lights but couldn’t get them dialed in) light to provide the necessary illumination I added some soft corals once the tank had cycled. Also added some snails and blue legged crabs to help keep the bare bottom clean. About once a week I preformed the 50% water change I felt was needed to keep things fresh. Reef Chrystals by instant ocean is my preferred salt and I seem to get good results to this point. After a bit I finally added a purple fire fish to provide some interest in the tank. Gradually added some mushrooms and hard corals as well. At the time of this tanks inception Dragons Breath algae was becoming very popular so I added some to the tank via a rubber band and a rock to anchor it. I absolutely loved the stuff and was very successful at growing it. One of the few things which did well in the tank actually. I ran this tank for about 8-10 months before tiring of the lack of coral growth and the mess and labor involved in the weekly water changes which had to be brought up from the basement in 5 gallon buckets. Algae returned somewhere along the way and low and behold along comes Vibrant ! This stuff did a great job of ridding my hair algae issue and along with the occasional use of peroxide the problem was solved. I gave thought to drilling the tank and adding a sump but just didn’t think it would be worth the trouble hence the “upgrade”. Something we all seem to like the idea of.
My first upgrade tank purchase was a used 120 rr tank with stand and screen top. It is actually the subject of the upcoming build so will ignore it for now.
Next came the chance to purchase a 70 gal. tank and complete setup from someone semi local. I was all in for that so away I went to capture this great deal. The tank had some issues as did the equipment but all in all it was a good start. After cleaning it out and transporting it home I got busy cleaning and refiguring the equipment and adding a proper overflow ( reef Synergy) to the back of the tank. Next came an upgrade to the return pump in the 30 long homemade sump underneath the tank. Quick rework of the plumbing provided had me up and running in short order. This tank is in my unfinished basement/ tomb! It’s an older basement that is just dreary and unpleasant, especially as I had spent about 5 years working at my trade in it before getting a new shop built and moving upground where you can see the sun!! Gave thought to moving it to our living room but in the end it’s staying in the basement till it’s useful days are done. I must admit that it’s just too easy for me to make a mess around my tanks so why bring that mess to our living room carpet?! Ok tank is ready and up to salinity and temp so off we go. Added the rock which came from the tank along with more bacteria in a bottle to get the cycle going. Mission accomplished. Over time I learned of these wonderful places that had such amazing selections of corals and fish that could be bought and or viewed that some road trips became necessary. So did the need for money! Ouch goes the wallet!
Will not bore you with the details of the next year but let’s just abbreviate..... killed fish, killed corals, restarted with fish and had some success. Repurchased corals and had some success and some failures. Took everything out of the 30cube and added it to my 55 gallon refugium- misc. tank or the 70. Firefish had died so the only livestock left was snails and crabs. Found a guy near by who was getting out and bought several corals from him along with some equipment to help improve my set up.
Finally got some things going in the right direction and had some nice fish in the display too.
As things progressed my business , which demands lots of my time, had kept me very busy, like 60 hours a week busy, maybe more at times so things fell by the way side. The 120 got drilled for the overflow and the pre- installed overflows were taken out( greatly disliked those black columns in the back of the tank). As of today that’s where the tank sits.

Started to see growth in the corals in the 70 so the next step was to dose. I guess nows a good time to say “ I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF WATER CHANGES” , just don’t get them done so dosing was very needed. Let me say this also “ DO NOT FORGET TO DOSE EVERY DAY”! So guess who got too busy and started to get lax on his dosing schedule? Guess who lost almost all his sps corals? Guess who didn’t know how susceptible sps corals were to alk swings? Guess who almost threw in the towel?
Guess who had BRS Dosers in a drawer in the fish room and just didn’t get them installed ? Guess who lost a lot of hard earned cash as he threw those dead corals out in the garbage?
Oh my! That was a very hard learned lesson folks, very hard. If it were not for fish that still needed attention I probably would have called it quits right there. One more lesson learned this past winter and we can get past this history lesson.... I love my brain corals, really like viewing them a lot. So I had several nice ones on the tank bottom including a bleeding apple and a wonderful trachy which was stunning....
66C5EC04-C5D4-423F-A528-C3F14ECCA88F.jpeg

This picture just doesn’t do it justice. It was big and flashy and just beautiful! Well it started to recede from the skeleton a bit. I had no idea what was wrong but eventually all my brains were doing the same thing. Sadly this guy just wasted away over about two weeks time. I tried dipping in iodine a couple time but alas to no avail. As a last resort I took all that were left and threw them in the 55 refugium/ misc tank. Several died but a couple made it in that tank. What I eventually found was that my nitrates were very, very high. Why, I don’t know. At one time I was dosing stump remover to get them up a bit as they would be at 0 all the time but now they were off the charts. Through the help of a person who had a small reef shop and I had come to know a bit I learned about vodka dosing and how it would help lower my no3. Ah, one more of those BRS Dosers has found a use! As the numbers came down my corals responded and started to grow a bit or at least color up more. As of today my no3 runs around 10 and phosphates are around .03-07 and controlled through lanth. chloride . Sump has Chaeto now so hoping it will pick up some of the slack.
These guys survived!!
479D7588-85E2-4ED6-9332-79EB469A8F78.jpeg


CCC0DAEC-DACA-4A9C-9487-059CFEB69DD7.jpeg
F47CF230-E46C-4EF4-86F0-AA32983C0EC4.jpeg

These guys have survived and are now re-acquainted with the 70 gallon reef and doing well. Here is one of the montipora that was completely browned out and, I thought, dead....
50CA746A-017D-440A-B558-D1CE5B5FEFED.jpeg


Nice recovery!
More of the 70’s residents....
1FE5A3C4-0772-49AC-B51F-1D3A5A40685C.jpeg


These Favia had all but died and now have rebounded.
3B9BF867-38E9-4DD7-B52F-2B27934C3AFD.jpeg
8800A2F3-20CB-43DB-8D39-9247D56B35B3.jpeg
0A04AB40-E6EB-41D3-A55A-53E9F4C43F91.jpeg
090AA0C6-4CB4-491B-9F44-8DEB47D5AA72.jpeg


There are more but good pictures just don’t exist yet. My camera is my phone so many of the pictures are not yet transferred to the tablet. Will get more for later. I always like seeing other reefers pictures so will keep you somewhat satiated. Somewhat!

68ABDFF5-739E-497D-8DBA-169B2BE24C3B.jpeg


D05DDB9D-6E46-4E89-9934-91BCC59E207C.jpeg


206C7E3A-B6D6-4CA7-B276-4A31E49927F5.jpeg


Sorry, tried to delete the last picture but it won’t go away.
This build will be continued on the next disc.....




Off we go....I read or listen to books on CD hence the disc reference.
As I proceed I will throw in some nice pictures of either the 70 that’s running or the 30 cube which has been de-commissioned. Might rly getting some pictures of the 120 and the 55 refugium/ misc. tank.
On with the show.... once the decision to keep everything in the basement had been made it became apparent that I needed a nicer place to keep the display, something more then ceiling joists and plumbing and block walls and that great looking”green indoor/ outdoor carpet”. You know the stuff that is made of plastic! Once this was determined and the room chosen it was time to remodel. First was to rip out the “ lovely” carpet or as much as I could. This room is full of stuff so things needed worked around. I picked the end wall that would best display the reef and got cooking. Time for some nice paneling and a drop ceiling so I went and bought the paneling and strips to attach to and pink board to insulate the walls some. Also had started an electrical curcuit that is just for this room so I can add lights and anything else I deemed necessary for my future comfort, like maybe a big screen tv! See my plan is to spend time in this room doing what I have time for like viewing the reef tanks and doing some art work. I like to draw with graphite and dabble in a bit of oil painting as well. This area would give me a place to go and unwind and do just that and get to enjoy watching the tanks as well. Now you know why I need a big screen , right? With me here ? Say 60 inches ?! Hey, that’s an upgrade for another time.

As of today the walls involved are paneled and the electric is run and the ceiling is started. Could only do so much as there are things preventing me going further like a 40 breeder set up that was an inverts only tank. It needs emptied out and moved out of the room. Good news though is that the end wall where the tanks will reside is finished save for floor molding so it’s time to get the bench built. I would be at the store right now purchasing the lumber but it seems I have contracted some bug which prevents much distance from the restroom so I am, instead, doing this ! Guess you all didn’t really need all those details.....
How about a picture instead,
 
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U_ser_ID

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Wonderful walk thru of your rent history, thanks for sharing your nightmare moments. I hope to learn from others before I take plunge.

Rent... Autocorrect. tank*
 
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JMM744

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48939669-232F-42CB-9E3F-51830DEAA504.jpeg
Here is a torch that survived the 30cube but almost perished in the 70 during the alk troubles.
And a small frag of green slimmer that is in the current 70. 80ADF32F-2228-4A28-AD49-4CF4ECE0F388.jpeg

That better now?
Here’s the plan so far, build a bench that will contain both the 120 and a future 6 ft. tank, probably a 180 but maybe bigger depending on what I find out there. I have 11 feet of wall so why not fill it up. This system will be run from the wall directly to the right of the set up . Behind said wall is an active 100 gallon sump full of live rock which is just waiting it’s turn to provide the filtration to both tanks. Yep, joint systems.
I guess here is a good place to stop and throw something out about the bench,,, I want it short so I can view seated and so , with my lower ceilings , I can suspend my ATI lighting over the 120. Picked up one of the newer 8 bulb fixtures with built in LEDs . Sweet fixture! It’s intended for the 120 build.
What might your thoughts be about this concept? How short? 36 inches maybe? Don’t know yet and looking for feed back really. Also, any suggestions to incorporate in the bench build while it’s still in the plannning stages? Foam over the top to cushion the tanks?
No sump under it so it’s all open space. 2 by 4 construction and a nice plywood skin. Probably a lighter wood color like poplar or oak. Guy who does my cabinet work for the shop will be employed in finishing off the base for me. I can rough it in but am no finish carpenter, for sure.
My next entry will include all the goodies I have stashed for just this event so stay tuned and throw those ideas out there, feel free to do so, PLEASE!
Here is one of my all time favorite pieces from the shop..... 2F62CA94-0FB6-4297-B033-7603116DBEA0.jpeg
Be back on the airwaves soon...
Take care , Jim
 
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JMM744

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Hey you are welcome. I didn’t give all the gory details though. Heart breaking. It’s all about learning and being one step ahead of the game. For instance, before going out and buying your first fish have a qt tank set up and ready to go. Have all the meds you need on hand. Get your water testers ahead of time.
The way I did it was to go buy some blue chromes, a cute little clown fish and some nice cardinal fish. Doing the temporary transfer method before sending them to thier final destination. Well that sure didn’t work! Instead the fish which were in hypo salinity came home full of disease. The chromes started it all so I blame them!
Now I find the need for a qt tank and not now but yesterday. Guess how that worked out, go ahead, guess.
Got a ten gallon set up and got what drugs I could and since it seemed it might be velvet I hit them with copper if I remember right. The whole dose too. I might as well have hit them literally since the final destination was “waste basket land” instead of the 30cube. But hey, I cure what ailed them. No more scratching or darting or labored breathing.
My oh my oh my, I could go on.....
Learn all you can and then some more U_ser_ID and thanks for tagging along. Appreciate the comments.
Jim
 
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JMM744

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Onward ho,
About the equipment intended for use on the build I have
Apex Gold with a couple extra power bars, an EB8 and EB4. This runs the 70 now. Like it bunches.
Icecap 3 k which runs on the 70. Will add two of these to the 120 for alternate flow. I found the gyre really pushes the water but not so much in reverse . Of course maybe I just don’t know how to properly set it up. Not that that’s ever happened before....
MP 40, got one used but have not tried to set it up yet. Intended for lower flow in 120 or even lower in back ( read out of site).
ATI 39 inch 8 build with LEDs light. Look forward to firing this light up. Making mini sunglasses for the corals.
Sump is the 100 gallon stock tank which is full of live rock.
Return pump is a Dolphin Pump which ought to supply plenty of water. Just unknown if it will be loud.
C1368FB1-3BD4-4CF7-AF8A-4720571B70AB.jpeg
Skimmer is a SWC 250 . Might be a tad under rated for this system but should be fine till the bigger tank comes on line. 4BFE6FBC-69C5-440B-B343-27D4B16B7524.jpeg
Heater will be provided through are hot water heater and a closed loop in the sump.
Controller for heater is apex and back up is Inkbird.
Sump lighting is Reef Breeders led set up.
I have lots of great rock and will build with pre soaked and cooked pieces.
Bare bottom all the way.
Plan to drill and use clear rods to attach rocks along with epoxy as needed.
55 gal. refugium will be added to the system but aptasia issue needs dealt with first. Only animals in this tank are starfish which were for mt Harliqen which left town at Christmas.
My guess is he hitched a ride with Santa and never looked back .
Cycle will be induced by bacteria in a bottle and whatever is already established in the sump.
Forgot the tank....120reef ready that has been modified to a synergy ghost overflow and the original over flows have been removed. Holes have been covered by a plate of glass.
I think I covered everything so far.
How about a full tank shot of the 70 gallon as it is today. Be warned, it’s not some glorious reef full of mature sps corals. Just a recovering, young tank with frags.
2EE550F1-F6AB-426C-B542-255D0E583948.jpeg

Jim
 
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JMM744

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So I actually have made a little headway. I was able to get more ceiling hung and added two very nice, bright led fixtures to the ceiling. They were a bit costly but at my age you need the light. At this time of year I am quite busy in my shop so am not able to focus on the build like I would prefer but it’s my hope that I can get the tank set up and plumbed in the next two weeks. What I need is to get a stand put together and clean out the tank one last time and set it on the stand. Add the overflow to the back and start laying out the plumbing. The light intended for this tank is a 36 inch ATI Power Module LED hybrid. I purchased it used on here and it’s been spending its time keeping my countertop in the fish room entertained. As of yesterday it has been forced into operation due to the faulty workings of the light over my 70 reef. Having procured the local clubs par meter and having put it to good use I discovered the lighting was terrible. Par around 95/100 at the waters surface. I knew the tank seemed dimmer but paid no mind to it. For those that might like to know, the power module is a light glaring machine!! At 17 inches off the water it’s giving over 400 par at waters surface. That’s at about 80%! Want to melt some corals fast!?
ATI HAS ONE SWEET LIGHT in this power module. It was easy to program through thier app and my computer so I could start the light schedule on the low side. Not looking to make French fries here now. Nice thing is that I should know the programming well so when it goes over the 120 it should be easy to dial in.
I did have to reconsider my plans for placing two tank side by side. My fear is that I will have no room to work around them as the room is 121 inches and the tanks will take up 120 inches. New plan is to run the 180 across the back wall and just set up the 120 on the corner. Still easy to Plumb them together and viewing soundn’t be too bad. I also found that in my wisdom I had set my outlets at the exact height that the top rim of the aquariums is at. Ouch! It will work just fine but I certainly could have set the outlets higher. People with bad backs will understand my reasoning with high on the wall outlets. Young people with good backs, keep putting them at toe height so you keep limber. Time for a workout so will sign off for now. Have a great week folks!
Jim
 
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Work has been very busy and time consuming. It’s that time of year. Lots of little projects needing done and lots of big projects waiting in the wings. If I had 30 hours in a day I might make headway. This happened last year in the spring and it cost me terribly in that, as I was dosing by hand and had yet to set up my dosing pumps, I found myself missing doses multiple times a week. Also,neglecting testing the water or at least alk and calcium. My nice encrusting and growing sps frags just up and died. I set myself back in a big way. Lost a lot of money as well as I Watched so many nice corals waste away. At the same time my coralline algae disappeared. So did my cleaner wrasse and my purple firefish. They vanished without a trace.
I digress, as of today I have my 120 gallon tank stand on the premises. Picked it up from my woodworking vender. It’s oak with a detachable front panel for full access under the stand. Nothing is going under there as of now but just in case....
One minor flaw in the stand though. Joe made a little mistake, instead of the requested 28 inch height he made it 24 inches. Those four inches put the tank pretty low. Upside, easier pictures from above. Downside, nothing yet. There will be, I am confident. Tomorrow when my employee gets in we will transport the tank to it’s new stand and from there it’s only a matter of setting up the overflow, sealing up the bottom where the old overflow holes are and getting the thing spanking clean. Then the great water test. Will it hold water? Will it leak? Time will tell. Next update will include pictures of the tank and stand and hopefully a tank holding a substantial amount of water.
Side note, I ordered some fish to get started in qt for the build but they didn’t make it. I had a copperband and a saddleback along with a latticed butterfly fish. Also had a McCorsker’s flasher wrasse and a royal gramma coming. Vender notified me last night that all those fish had died . I am truly bummed. I have some checking locally yet to do but if all else fails I will try Live Aquaria for an order.
My future plans are to get the existing 40 breeder set up torn down this weekend and get the 120 set up in its place. I then still need to build a waterchanging station, cupboard for apex, incorporate the 55 gallon refugium and , worst of all, plumb everything together. Plumbing presents me with great trials and tribulations. No matter how slow I go, no matter how careful I am, no matter how much I prepare and plan, I suck at it. I can wire things and build things but I can not do plumbing, at least not well. I had opportunity last week to try to learn some about how to fit the fitting and such when we had to do an emergency replacement of out hot water heater. I thought plumbers used special tools and had secret ways of doing the pipe lay out and connections. Boy was I wrong. I watched in awe as the young man pulled out a little stick thing and just waved it over the tank and the plumbing just appeared. It was like magic. No, really, it was. I am now confident that I can not do plumbing for the best of reasons.... I don’t have the stick thing. That’s my story and I am sticking to it. Pun intended.
Next update should be a good one and hopefully by Easter this build will be a great deal further along.
My best to you all, Jim
 
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Guess an update is long, long overdue. The 70 system came down with velvet last year. Tore it down and qt,d the fish. Tank went fallow.
Lost one Dotyback when it buried itself in a hole in a rock and we couldn’t find it in time. Other went into an overflow later and died. Sailfin got much bigger and just last week went home to a bigger tank. Yellow tank got too aggressive so traded it off. Black snowflakes are hanging in my 55 catch all tank. Going to be run through qt. and added to my 180 with the butterflies.
Here is my next addition once qt is completed... little tomini tang.
Terrible picture but just starting copper along with 6 p.j. Cardinals. Tang goes in 180 Fowler and cardinals go in my 120 reef.
Very excited as I am ordering some new buttlies from Humblefish. Can not wait !! No sure what all he can get but he has a list of what I would like so it will be like Christmas when the order is delivered.
Will continue at a later date with many new pictures.
Thanks, Jim
 
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Quick update, not much has happened since last post , lost the tang. After transferring it to the observation tank I think it freaked out and wedged itself under a rock and died there. The cardinal fish made it to the 120 fine. Have 5 dispar anthias qt’ing . Hard fish to get eating . Cyno has taken over both tanks and the sump. Trying to eliminate nutrients to get rid of it. Not working yet. Chemiclean might be my next choice. Starting to affect my sps corals. One last thing, added two gyre 330’s to the 120 and about to add two 350’s to the 180. Things are almost dead quiet and very powerful.
Next update I will try to post lots of pictures.
Have a great week.
Jim
 
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Just added these 3 from their acclimation box tonight. The fourth, the Auriga is not doing well and is in a qt tank probably dead before morning. It came in very small and no meat on it and never really ate well. The others have eaten well so one goes in its own tank and the others get to get put in their place by the other butterflies. The pecking order is being established as I type with the pearlscale, the low guy on the totem pole, chasing the little dot dash making sure it knows it’s its boss now. Adding all 3 at the same time should spread the aggression out a bit. Within a couple days everyone will know their place and the tank should normalize. Butterflies love to hunt and pick all day and that keeps them busy enough to keep fighting to a minimum. I will feed this tank heavier then normal for a while too to help make site the little guys get enough to fatten up some. My hope is to add just one or two more to the herd and then call it quits. The new tank should give them plenty of room once it’s here.
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Just added these 3 from their acclimation box tonight. The fourth, the Auriga is not doing well and is in a qt tank probably dead before morning. It came in very small and no meat on it and never really ate well. The others have eaten well so one goes in its own tank and the others get to get put in their place by the other butterflies. The pecking order is being established as I type with the pearlscale, the low guy on the totem pole, chasing the little dot dash making sure it knows it’s its boss now. Adding all 3 at the same time should spread the aggression out a bit. Within a couple days everyone will know their place and the tank should normalize. Butterflies love to hunt and pick all day and that keeps them busy enough to keep fighting to a minimum. I will feed this tank heavier then normal for a while too to help make site the little guys get enough to fatten up some. My hope is to add just one or two more to the herd and then call it quits. The new tank should give them plenty of room once it’s here.
8AEE541B-D726-4B40-93CD-A7B111363CE6.jpeg
I read that your heater setup when you first started was a closed loop system thru your hot water heater. That sounds pretty cool. Is it still working well? Do you have any info or pictures on that I’m very curious about this. Thanks for any info
 
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That was never set up. I considered it but here acquired all the parts to put it together. I am about to upgrade to a 8 or 10 ft tank and once that happens my new sump,will be 150 gallon so the closed loop will happen for sure as the total volume will be around 650 gallon.
 

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That was never set up. I considered it but here acquired all the parts to put it together. I am about to upgrade to a 8 or 10 ft tank and once that happens my new sump,will be 150 gallon so the closed loop will happen for sure as the total volume will be around 650 gallon.

Hey did you ever get your larger Acrylic tank?
 
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I did not. At this point I will just run the 180 till it's time to get out of the hobby. I have lost a couple butterflies for no obvious reason and my business and age are taking a real toll on my involvement in the system.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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    Votes: 74 37.6%
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  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.7%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.2%
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