IM SR-60 - 1st Build!

[Res_Ipsa]

Happy New Year!!!!

It has been quite a holiday working with the family getting the tank up and cycling! After the kiddos getting a *little* too enthusiastic with the salt, I was reading about 41ppm following the initial fill. Whoops!

But I read the nitrifying bacteria can survive in salinity as high as 44ppm so I left it alone for a couple days and monitored. Today, I did a 10% water change and managed to get the salinity down to a respectable 36ppm. Numbers seem to be on track so fingers crossed everything is going as it should.

I’ve got no filtration at all right now and plan on leaving those off for a couple more days to make sure everything calms down.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Patiently waiting but today was the first day my ammonia levels starting dropping where I can measure them under 2ppm. That’s good I think.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Also taking the first steps to clean up the power mess! Hope to finish basic cable management this week.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Finished the first round of cable/power management cleanup to get rid of the rats near of wires. I mounted the power supplies for the lights behind the power rack, the Tunze controller on the rear, and the MP10 controller on my right.

I had to push the MP10 dryside assembly through my cabinet and it fit, barely, but saved me from cracking open the pump controller circuit board to pass the cord through.

The power supplies and controllers were mounted with a combination of Velcro and 3M Command picture hanging strips so they can be moved later on depending on final equipment.

In other news the tank cycle continues and ammonia is falling, as are nitrites, but nitrites and nitrates remain higher than my test kit’s ranges.

According to Dr. Tim’s I should have added fish already, but I plan to continue tracking and dosing ammonia until I can see that 2ppm concentration fall to zero in 24hrs.

View attachment 938895

 

[greennd79]

Looks good

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Finally looks like a great milestone today for my cycling!

It took about 4 days for my ammonia to drop from 2ppm down to 0, I redosed yesterday back to 2ppm and in 24hrs it has dropped to 0.8 and nitrites down to 0.35 from 1!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Update!

Water parameters have been solid the last few days following my nitrate spike and ammonia drops to zero after a day so I did a 33% water change and checked my parameters at a LFS. Everything looks good!

I put the filter socks on, ran the skimmer and pulled out the leftover bacterial sludge; water looking really clear!

This afternoon my kids and I went to a enthusiast LFS and picked out a black ice clown and a mocha clown for our first fish!

We spent a couple hours with a DIY drip acclimator and now have the larger (possibly female) in a segregated breeder net and the smaller male has been exploring the tank and looking well!

Very excited to have visible life in this tank!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Well, after the fish were added I had a big nitrite spike, probably due to the immaturity of the tank.

I started dosing Microbacter7 daily after adding the fish and today I finally saw my nitrates drop to near zero (my fresh mixed saltwater reads 0.35 ppm nitrite) and nitrates for the first time are a respectable 5-10ppm.

Fish are enjoying their new digs and have been getting along well!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Tank is continuing to mature and it looks like some diatoms have started to appear.

Clowns are eating well, Ammonia and Nitrites 0, Nitrates around 3.5, which is what my salt mixes up at. pH fluctuating between 8-8.2.

The clowns have been really pushing around the sand where they bed down for the night. Considering adding a toadstool softie to see if they’ll host in it. Also plan to add another fish in the next week or so.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

After waiting for Neptune’s Trident to be released I went with the low tech testing and auto water change solutions.

 

[NY_Caveman]

LOL. Nothing like having good helpers, especially if they are junior reefers.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Pretty quiet this week tank-wise. Diatoms are gone, hermit crabs are running around the tank keeping it looking fresh, and the clowns continue to bond and eat well. Water parameters have been pretty solid and I'm only testing about twice a week at this point just to verify pH and nitrates. pH has been holding between 8-8.3 and nitrates 3.5-5ppm.

However, although I liked the AI Prime HDs for what they were, I wanted to add a diffuser since my eyes are kinda sensitive to the disco ball effect and the tank is next to my living room. So, I sold the Primes and bought a pair of Radion XR15 Pro's with RMS mounts from a local reefer for $600. I'll add the diffuser kits down the road but want to see how it looks on the tank first.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Radions on and the wife feeding some Hikari frozen Mega Marine.

First impression is that these lights are waaaay beefier than the Primes. Very solid construction.

The Ecotech mounts also extend further into the tank than the AI Primes. At the maximum extension shown here, the lights are 1-2” further into the tank; exactly what I wanted.

The first pic is AB+ at 50% while the second is a cycled pre-set at about 20%.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Two new tankmates today: a Midas blenny and a sand sifting starfish!

Starfish joined the tank after a couple hours in the breeder net but the blenny will spend a couple days there adjusting.

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Update: Midas blenny went into the tank without a hitch after two days in the breeder net. Clowns danced around him to let him know they’re the bosses, LOL, but everyone seems to be getting along.

I have been curious to see how the tank will start supporting corals so I picked up a branching hammer coral and an acan frag from a LFS. I am learning how to dip them and looking forward to seeing how they do!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Closed up but no pests found.

 

[Alexreefer]

Wow looks great so far. Are you planning for a sps tank? Sps are my favorite corals. Those little colorful sticks make the tank look amazing!!

 

[Res_Ipsa]

Everyone doing well so far! #nofilter

 

[Res_Ipsa]

A couple updates:

1. Hanna Calcium checker -:(. Bought it "used" but brand new in the box from a local reefer. First reading was 600+, second reading was 563! Since I'm not dosing anything to the tank, I figure it may be because the Instant Ocean Reef Crystals salt I'm using is causing the high calcium readings. I may try a new salt mix next month to see if it comes down.

2. Livestock- The midas blenny (now named "Frank" because of his blue eyes) sure is fun to watch! He swims around using up a lot of the available swimming space and gets along just fine with the clownfish; no aggression between them. He also loves to make new caves and pass-throughs under my rocks so I'm letting him have his fun. Acan's are showing a good feeding response to a small pellet placed next to their mouths, hammer predictably is not interested in food.

3. CUC - was 5 blue legged hermits but I added 5 more hermits and 5 trochus snails. I also count the sand sifting star as part of the CUC; he's doing great and really working on those diatoms!

4. Ugly - tank is now going through an ugly stage of diatoms on the sand and green algae on the rocks. The CUC is doing a pretty good job of keeping it in check and the water parameters are mostly stable, so I'm going to let it play out and see how it does. I'm reducing 2x daily feedings to 1x daily feedings to see if that helps the nutrients from getting out of hand.

5. Interaction - the tank sure draws a crowd! My kids kiss the fish through the glass at night before bed, they steal my phone to take photos and videos of the fish while I'm sleeping, and my wife fights me to see who gets to feed the fish. I also catch her sitting in front of the tank at odd hours just to watch what's going on. Success!;Happy

 

[cancun]

Looking great! [emoji16]