It's been 15 years... 15 Long Years

Ocellaris40

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Hi All,

I've mostly been out of the hobby for about 15 years, way back when it seemed like we pulled any fish, rock, or clam out of the ocean we wanted, not worrying about how it affected the marine ecosystem. My last tank was a 180 gallon reef with near 400 lbs of live rock and dual overflows, 750 watts of metal halide, and a beautiful array of actinics for that deeply relaxing blueish color. Alot about me has changed over the years - lots of world travel, changes in worldview, and better introspection, but so to has this hobby. In the last couple of years I've maintained a 300 gallon outdoor fish pond with goldfish and rosy red minnows all of which have reproduced insanely, and a ten gallon with neocaridina shrimp, which are now also multiplying. I've been lurking on the threads for a bit and bingeing alot of the BRStv videos, which I stumbled upon trying to go to marinedept.com. I'm really excited to be back, but enough about the past and lets look at the present:

My current tank is a 40 gallon breeder. I opted for a 10 gallon sump mostly so I could get the heater, skimmer, and return pump out of the display, and a little extra water volume wouldn't hurt, of course. I'm making an effort to take a slower, methodical approach to this, and not rush anything. The last time I cycled a tank, the option seems to have been the live fish method or chunk of shrimp, which no longer jives with me. I'm amped there are alot more options for doing so - but it through me for a loop when I learned that live rock pulled from the ocean is less of a thing than it was back then.

Current setup:
40 gallon breeder w/ 10 gallon sump
Nicrew 150 watt w/ controller (extraordinarilly excited LED's took over for a multidude of reasons)
300w aqueon heater - probably will upgrade to a titanium heater at some point, but the room the tank is in is generally much cooler than the tank will ever be.
Return pump is a magdrive 12 - because I had one - but I'm very excited about the DC pumps that seem to have taken over.
Auto Top Off system is on the way, updates to follow.

Ambitions:

I'd like to start with a pair of clowns (hence the name) - they've long been among my favorite - besides my Blue Hippo Tang (RIP) who's long passed, maybe my next tank will be large enough.

From there, I'm not sure, but what I do know is that I want to do as much aquacultured inhabitants as I possibly can, and I'm very excited by the number of options that there are, what a positive change for the hobby. Given my lighting pick, I do want to get into some corals starting with the likes of GSP and similar to start. Feel free to drop your recommendations below. I have some pictures along the way. The pictures below show cloudy water - I mixed the salt in the tank so I can get a really good read on the dry rock and sand displacement.


TLDR: Holy crud everything has changed so much since my last fish tank 15 years ago, and I can't believe someone else paid the utlities for my 180 gallon tank way back then. So many great things have changed in the hobby too!

J

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Welcome back to reefing my friend. I to was away for a number of years and it was really nice to have the excitement and anticipation that I had the first time I did saltwater a few years ago. It’s amazing how much a little time away can really give you new perspective and vigor for something. With that said welcome to R2R and I can’t wait to see your new reef come to life.
 
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Ocellaris40

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Welcome back to reefing my friend. I to was away for a number of years and it was really nice to have the excitement and anticipation that I had the first time I did saltwater a few years ago. It’s amazing how much a little time away can really give you new perspective and vigor for something. With that said welcome to R2R and I can’t wait to see your new reef come to life.
Thank you! Dry rock (Base rock as I Knew it way back when...) just arrived so Aquascaping will be fun!
 

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Thank you! Dry rock (Base rock as I Knew it way back when...) just arrived so Aquascaping will be fun!
Absolutely. I had fun creating my aquascape, but at the same time I was frustrated because as my GF says “I overthink everything and never just got with the flow”. But ultimately I was happy with it and honestly a reef tank is just as much about the journey to having it as it is enjoying it and showing it off. I for one can’t wait to see what you come up with.
 
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Ocellaris40

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Absolutely. I had fun creating my aquascape, but at the same time I was frustrated because as my GF says “I overthink everything and never just got with the flow”. But ultimately I was happy with it and honestly a reef tank is just as much about the journey to having it as it is enjoying it and showing it off. I for one can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Oh I totally agree. It's interesting, I'm spending so much more time deliberating what to do now with flow, minimizing deadzones to help stave off future issues, and that takes time. The process is the point I think. I'll add some more pictures ones the water clears up. I just added the live sand.
 

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Oh I totally agree. It's interesting, I'm spending so much more time deliberating what to do now with flow, minimizing deadzones to help stave off future issues, and that takes time. The process is the point I think. I'll add some more pictures ones the water clears up. I just added the live sand.
Sounds great man, I can’t wait to see it
 
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Ocellaris40

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Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes! It's been a lot of fun planning all of this. I want to capture a few of my thoughts so I have them saved somewhere and welcome everyone thoughts and insights.

I have pods on the way, and probably just a few days to go (~4-5) on cycling. I used Dr. Tim's fishless cycle method, which I find to be the most ethical. I can't believe I subjected fish to such a thing.

I also got my reef glue so I'm going to do some final spot glueing my rock today and i'll share pictures after.
Interesting note, I'm glad that I added water first so I could get a good understanding of displacement of the rock and sand, I put it at about 2.5 gallons, so my total water volume system wide is ~45 gallons. I suspect this will allow me to be more accurate when I begin dosing anything I need to dose.

Stocking List: I think I skew on the lighter bioload side of the debate, but what I'm thinking is below, ultimately I 'm trying to make sure my pics are 1. tank bred/raised, or otherwise ethicaly sourced:

40G breeder w/ 10 gal sump (filled ~3/4)

2 False percs
2-3 Pajama Cardinals (never had them before and they're pretty interesting)
1 Mandarin
Perhaps a lawnmower or similar blenny

obligatory cleanup crew of course, a couple of turbo snails, some hermits, and a cleaner shrimp. I'll have to consider nassarius or similar snails for my sandbed, but it's not particularly deep (~1.5 in or so).

The order of addition I think is also going to be the same as the order above.

What do you think, is this too much, too little, or just right?
 
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Ocellaris40

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As promised! Rocks are glued, so only good comments please jk. This is my first go at really aquascaping and not just stacking rocks.
 

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Ocellaris40

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I'm very delayed on responses. so I apologize.

Many things have happened. One, the cycling process didn't go as planned, while I followed Dr. Tim's process it seemed to last longer than I had hoped, but we're past that, so all is forgiven!


Currently I have one blue neon goby and two false perculas. Neon goby was first, a week later, GSP. A week after the GSP, perculas, and then another week later some Zoa's/hammer coral. later this week (fish spaced 2 weeks apart, at this point) come Biota Royal Gramma and a Court Jester Goby, which I'm really excited for, as well as some on sale Zoa's.

We've been very stable in the past two weeks 0/0/<25 Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and i've been doing just over 10-20% water changes weekly.
 

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Gumbies R Us

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I'm very delayed on responses. so I apologize.

Many things have happened. One, the cycling process didn't go as planned, while I followed Dr. Tim's process it seemed to last longer than I had hoped, but we're past that, so all is forgiven!


Currently I have one blue neon goby and two false perculas. Neon goby was first, a week later, GSP. A week after the GSP, perculas, and then another week later some Zoa's/hammer coral. later this week (fish spaced 2 weeks apart, at this point) come Biota Royal Gramma and a Court Jester Goby, which I'm really excited for, as well as some on sale Zoa's.

We've been very stable in the past two weeks 0/0/<25 Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and i've been doing just over 10-20% water changes weekly.
Glad you got the tank cycled, also your coral and fish from the pictures look great!
 

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

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