In-wall/Behind-wall, 180g peninsula, with a basement fish closet

[New&no clue]

I added in corals this week. I had several zoa frags and a couple of small gonis floating around on the sand bed. I decided to add these into the tank to test the water, lights, flow, etc. I wanted to make sure everything was okay before moving all the rocks and big corals over. So far, so good, everything looks good and is opening up. Last month I saw a fellow reefer selling some amazing corals for a great price. I reached out and asked if he could hold them for me until my tank was ready. He, very nicely, agreed, and I just received them. For him, I got a fantastic torch, a giant goni, a good size acan, and a couple of zoas. Those have all been added to the tank and are looking great as well.

View From my desk

View from the dining room

Next weekend will be about a month of the tank being up and running. If the corals continue to do well, I plan to make the big move next weekend.

 

[New&no clue]

Algae is a blooming in the tank. I am still on track to move over all my livestock from my old tank this weekend. I have had a large GHA outbreak in my old tank, so I plan to do a three-day blackout this week and then scrub the rocks before moving into the new tank. I may use some hydrogen peroxide as well on some spots. I plan to move over as many of my CUC from my old tank to the new tank as possible, but they have been dwindling over the year, so I thought I would put in an order from reef cleaners as well. I went with his cleaner packages. As this is a new tank, I didn't think I needed to go full-blown, so I order a package for a 75 gallon. I also added on a couple of conches, peppermint shrimp, and a brittle star. Even though I felt like I underbought, it still seemed like way too much. On top of that, the package comes with two emerald crabs... and the crab he sent was the BIGGEST emerald crab I have ever seen. I have never had a problem with them in the past with corals or fish... but this is Godzilla, so he may be moved to the refugium sump if needed.

 

[New&no clue]

This weekend I made the transfer of all livestock over to this tank. It was extremely messy, I don't know how many times I had to wash towels, but 99% of everything made it over. One snail refused to be pried off the wall of the old tank. I had one rock structure that completely fell apart when pulling it out of the tank, which was no fun. I used my kid's sand sifter from the beach to dig through the sand and pulled out as many snails, brittle stars, and one lone conch that I could find. The sump was a mix of chaeto, GHA, detritus, and bristle worms. I tried to get as much of the GHA out of the chaeto that I could, but I'm sure my refugium will turn into a mix as well. I had a lot of GHA growing on the rocks I moved over. I did a three-day blackout on my old tank to kill off or weaken the GHA. As I pulled rocks out, I put them into a bin and scrubbed them, then rinsed them with fresh saltwater. In a couple of areas where it was very thick, I spot treated with hydrogen peroxide. So far, everyone seems to be doing okay. Most of the corals' haven opened back up, except for one holdout, my white toadstool. The fish all seem to be happy, exploring the new tank. The clowns have picked a new corner and don't ever leave. However, I did get a blue hippo tang who also seems to like that corner as well. My kids get a kick out of Dory and Nemo hanging out together.

FTS Dinning Room

FTS Office

New Rocks

Old Rocks

New Fish

Basement Sumps

Old Tank- getting ready to start cleaning it out and listing it for sale.

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on all the new livestock! Looking good! We'll have to change your name soon!

 

[New&no clue]

Congrats on all the new livestock! Looking good! We'll have to change your name soon!

Nah, it’s never good to get too confident. Maybe in 10 years we can change it to NotNew&SomeClue

 

[New&no clue]

I just had a super dumb moment. I have been wrestling with microbubbles from the return for some time. In my old tank, this typically meant that the water level in the sump was too low, and the pump was sucking in air with water. I noticed that the refugium sump's return section had a lower water level than the other sump. I assumed this was because I had raised the baffled between the return and refugium section to have a higher water volume. I tried to add some more water into the return section, and I tweaked the valve on the PVC pipe to the pump. This took multiple attempts to get it all flowing correctly and find a happy place. Each time I messed with the refugium sump, it would change the water volume in my skimmer sump. This would make the skimmer act up, and my ATO pump in too much water, or have the overfill alarm sounding. Finally, I was able to find a balance between the two sumps and get some consistency. However, after all this, I still have microbubbles in the DT. My next thought was the skimmer, but I have a bubble trap between the skimmer section and the return section. I was debating getting a thicker sponge there until I noticed it.

I have a reactor set up in the skimmer sump, and the return line goes into the return chamber, right in front of the bulkhead. The water coming in is making bubbles, which are being sucked up the bulkhead, traveling into the DT. I moved the return line of the reactor over to the skimmer side, and no more microbubbles.

 

[New&no clue]

I rented a PAR meter from BRS that I really should return. Now that everything is situated, I took some PAR readings, and I'm unsure what to think of them. I am not sure how reliable the PAR meter is or if I am using it correctly. There were several spots I would take a reading and then recheck it, and it was different. I had used the PAR meter when setting up my lights initially, but more to get a general idea of what PAR was at the top, middle and lower parts of the tank. I was aiming for 350 at the top and 150 at the bottom. One thing I noticed is it seems my screen top blocks more light than expected. I saw a BRS video about screen tops not affect PAR too much. Maybe they have a larger size screen? Mine seems to block more than I was expected. When I set my lights up initially, I had about 350 on the top of my rock work, but now it is only showing 300.

 

[Beau_B]

Neighbor checking in and tagging along. Nice upgrade!

 

[New&no clue]

I have a long bucket list of things I want to accomplish in my reef-keeping journey. I've succeeded with some of them, such as starting a reef tank, keeping fish and corals alive, getting an inwall tank, and having a basement sump. I don't think some things will ever happen, such as getting an anemone to host my clowns. However, one thing I have wanted for some time is a clam. One of the first tanks I fell in love with was MikeC's Softy tank. That was #tankgoals for sure. I contacted him and got a list of all the corals he had in that tank. Over the years, I've gotten a lot of them, including the elusive Fuzzy Pulsing Sinularia. The best part was front and center in that tank, a beautiful, giant clam. My obsession with them started, and I did a lot of research on them. I concluded that being a new reefer, with not the best equipment (especially lights) and not much experience, it was not the right time to get one. I decided to patiently wait until I did a tank upgrade and got high-powered lights. That time has come, and as if the Universe was speaking to me, PEA currently has Blue Maxima on sale for $99. I jumped at the chance to get one. I also plan to add a sand-dwelling one shortly.

After the excitement of ordering, it dawned on me that I have had another obsession through the years, and that is with inverts. I love shrimps, and crabs, and snails. And I've filled my tank with all sorts of critters. I'm now worried that my poor clam will be picked at or eaten. I decided to make a clam cage to put over it so everyone can acclimate to the clam being here without trying to eat it. I hope that some will investigate and then move on, others may be more aggressive trying to get it, and those ones I can watch for and move to the sump or my 30-gallon tank.

 

[New&no clue]

I have always heard horror stories of people flooding their basement when filling their RODI buckets. This is why the first thing I did was install a float valve in both my saltwater and freshwater containers. I have had no issues. However, last night, in my sleepy bedtime state, I went to turn my pump on in the saltwater container to circulate the water to mix salt in and forgot to close the valve on the freshwater container. Then I went upstairs and went to bed. I woke up to my water alarm going off and come down to check. I had pumped all my saltwater into my already full fresh water container. Which, of course, spilled over the top and all over my floor, sadly reaching my carpet. I use to have gate valves on my mixing station, but you couldn't tell from sight if they were open or closed. I didn't like that, so I redid it with ball valves. I guess accidents can still happen.

 

[New&no clue]

In anticipation of my clams arriving day, this post is dedicated to my inverts. As I have said before, I have a lot of love for my inverts, and I have the following in my tank;
Blue leg hermits
Red leg hermits
Emerald crab
Porcelain crab
Arrow crab
Pin cushion urchins
Cucumbers
Tiger conches
Skunk cleaners
Fire shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Pistol shrimp
Sexy shrimp
Anemone shrimp
Turbo snails
Trochus snails
Astraea snails
Cerith snails
Nerite snails
Nassarius snails

 

[New&no clue]

The clams have been settling in over the weekend. The Derasa are looking good on the sand. Their cage is keeping everyone away, and they are opening nicely. The only thing is they were supposed to be blue-rimed, and I don't see any blue. However, they are tiny, 1", so possibly they will develop a blue rim later? The blue max is a better size. I had the perfect place picked out for him with PAR around 400. The problem is the spot is right in the path of my MP40s. I'm worried the flow is too strong for it. I could move it down to the other side of the rock where it would be protected from the flow, but then the PAR would only be around 300. I love a mixed reef for its variety of corals, but it is tricky to get everyone in a place they are happy.

 

[New&no clue]

One week clam updated. The two Derasas are doing good in the sand. They are open every day, and the "cage" is keeping any pesky predators away. I've read that once they get a little bigger, they should be able to hold their own. The Maxima is not doing as well. While in the cage, its foot attached to the rock rubble, I moved that piece up the rocks, but he fell off. I think there was too much flow for it up there. So I've put it back into the cage with more rock rubble and hope it will attach again, and then I will try another place that is better blocked from the high flow. However, down at the bottom, it doesn't open up as much as it was on the top of the rocks.

I have also been diligently testing parameters. In this tank, my nutrients are low, which was also the opposite in my last tank. I was constantly trying to keep phosphates and nitrates down. I was concerned in this tank with my crew of Anthias. I feed flakes/pellets twice a day, frozen 1-2x, and Nori in the morning. I am trying to keep an eye on it so it doesn't bottom out, but I also don't want it to rock up unexpectedly.

 

[New&no clue]

I love the idea of a mixed reef. You have the statuesque pristine quality of the SPS at the top. The movement and flow of the LPS and Softies are below—the mix of colors, the intermingling of expensive high-end with cheap $10 frags. The harmony of everyone together in one place, co-existing, cohabitating, thriving, is so magical. But OMG, is it near impossible to achieve? I am finding it very difficult to create a mixed reef. The softies like it dirty, but the SPS need it cleaner. The LPS are getting too much flow while the SPS isn't getting enough. The SPS is reaching for the light while the softies are shrinking away. Can't you all just get along?

 

[chaostactics]

Bummer to see pumps on a viewable pane.

Overall neat build! You may want to consider a clam hammock for the Maxima. The cage is a neat idea but a clam is going to want to move itself if conditions arent right.

 

[New&no clue]

Bummer to see pumps on a viewable pane.

Overall neat build! You may want to consider a clam hammock for the Maxima. The cage is a neat idea but a clam is going to want to move itself if conditions arent right.

I agree I need a different solution for my Maxima. Again struggles of a mixed reef. The best light has too much flow, and the low flow doesn't have enough light.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,tank looks great... question,what lights are you using ? Red Sea?

 

[New&no clue]

hi,tank looks great... question,what lights are you using ? Red Sea?

I have two ATI Hybrids, which does help with the mixed reef situation. I had planned to have the new rock in the middle of the tank and put my old rock on either side. However, it worked out better to have the new rock on one side and the old ones on another. The old rock is mainly softies with a couple of LPS. The new rock is my euphyllia gardens and SPS. Because I have two separate lights, T5/LED, I have the same T5 bulbs and the same color setup for LEDs. But what I did was turn down the intensity on the old rock side. When looking at the tank as a whole, it looks similar, but the PAR on one side is about 180, and the other is 350.

 

[New&no clue]

I've done a post about my inverts. This post will be dedicated to the fish. What first got me into the hobby was the beautifully colored fish. In my 75 gallon, I had seven fish, and I felt like I never saw them. I now have 19, and there is always movement in the tank. I love seeing them all out and about so much. I would like to add a goby/pistol pair to the tank and maybe another tang(Achilles).

My two black and white clowns were the first to be added to my first tank, a 55 gallon. They moved over to the 75 gallon when I upgraded and are now in the 180

The Coral Beauty and the Yellow tank were quarantined together and the first new fish added to the 75 gallon.

The mandarin goby was bought with the hope I could feed him. I've had him for over a year, and he seems to be doing great. He's gotten bigger and constantly picking at the rocks.

Starry Blenny was bought to eat algae... he does not. But he's so cute so I forgive him.

The fairy wrasse was the last added to the 75 gallon, the melanurus wrasse was the first added to this tank.

A group of 9 lyretail anthias (male not pictured) were added at the start of this tank. Along with the blue hippo tang.

Last addition is the Purple Tang. This is a fish I have wanted since the very beginning of my reef tank journey.

 

[New&no clue]

With a new tank comes new issues.

In the old tank, I could never keep SPS. I had one that lasted almost six months. It was growing and doing good, and then one morning, I woke up to a white skeleton. After that, any new ones I tried immediately died. I always blamed it on my lights being too low-powered or my parameters being off. I was looking forward to the new tank, where I would have better lighting and more stable parameters from the beginning. I added a couple of cheap Acros, a Pocillopora, and a couple of Montipora. They all seemed fine. Two weeks ago, AquaSD had a live sale where I bought a couple more SPS, a birdsnest, another pocillipora, an acro, and a stylo. A day before my order is to arrive, all my current SPS start to die. Some RTN others just turned brown and slowly shed. I'm not sure what the issue is now. Possibly my parameters are still off, or maybe the tank is still too young. I am planning to focus my attention on stable parameters. To start that, I will test every night for at least a week to see what changes occur.

There is trouble in my anthias paradise. I bought nine Anthias from TSM, one male and eight females. I wasn't sure if I should do it this way or buy nine females and let one transition to male. I looked through R2R and some others sites to see what was recommended and what others had done. There was no clear-cut answer, so I reached out to TSM and asked their option. They had none but did say that either way works or either way can have issues. The issue with buying nine females is two females could both transition to male before the pecking order has been established. The issue with one male and the rest females is the female group may not accept the male, and one in the group may transition to male. The latter is what happened in the tank. The group of females I received were all relatively small, except for one. That one has started to transition to male. The original male that was purchased has been shunned to the other side of the tank. I am assuming the best course of action is to rehome the original male.

Original Male

Transitioning Male