Lurch72's 350 Reefer build

Blutspitze · Jul 8, 2019

Looking good so far - loving the plumbing setup and hope things go pretty smoothly still.

Westside Guy · Jul 8, 2019

Lurch72 said:
I went ahead and ordered an Ice Cap 300 Gyre , it came in yesterday and I installed it this morning. It wouldn't have been my first choice but the Red Sea Gyres are still no where to be seen. Regardless this thing can put out some incredible flow. So far it's dead quiet even at high flows. The instruction manual on the other hand is pretty bad. Especially concerning programming it for a 24 hour schedule and cleaning. Nothing a quick google search couldn't fix though. My refugium light and mounting arm also arrived and were installed. As odd as it is to me, my wife is far more impatient about getting stock in the tank. She's getting sick of hearing "When the tank tells us we can." as an answer to her daily "When can we get fish?".

Don’t let her pressure you too much, I experienced the same pressure and lost my first 2 fish due to a ammonia spike. I have since learned that patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to reefing.

Lurch72 · Jul 8, 2019

I felt pretty good about starting to stock the tank. Friday I dosed to 1-1.5 ppm and the next morning it was 0 ammonia 0 nitrite.

Lurch72 · Jul 9, 2019

So ammonia and nitrite were still zero this morning, nitrate is somewhere between 10-20ppm, dang API tests. I'm going to have to get a kit with more resolution than this. I have water mixing and warming at the moment, going to change out 20% and see where I am after that. Both of my clowns are pretty much the same. The black one is all over the tank, the orange one hangs out in the corner except a few times a day. She seems to really like the black one and will hang out with him when he's on her side of the tank but only rarely follows him. She does get more active and explore when the lights start ramping down. So, here are a few pics just for the heck of it:

Chaeto is still growing like mad, it was slightly larger than a golf ball 9 days ago.

t No sure what this zoa is called but it's polyps are extended at all time, unlike the other two that close up after lights out. Snail is giving its plug a little cleaning. Third polyp opened right up afterward.

No idea what these last two are either. LFS owner told me but I forget, I didn't recognize any of the names as any I commonly see on R2R.

Still cant get the hang of my note 9 and taking more realistically colored image, even in pro mode. I'll have to break out the DSLR and see if I get better results.

Blutspitze · Jul 12, 2019

So jealous of your chaeto growth; I had bad luck when I tried it.

Lurch72 · Jul 12, 2019

Blutspitze said:
So jealous of your chaeto growth; I had bad luck when I tried it.

I read about 100 threads on chaeto grow lights. I didn't want to drop 200.00 or more on sump light. Seems like this https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Spectrum-Hydroponics-Organic-Wavelengths/dp/B0748D2SMB is a popular cheaper light so I gave it a try. I couldn't be happier with it.

Blutspitze · Jul 14, 2019

Lurch72 said:
I read about 100 threads on chaeto grow lights. I didn't want to drop 200.00 or more on sump light. Seems like this https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Spectrum-Hydroponics-Organic-Wavelengths/dp/B0748D2SMB is a popular cheaper light so I gave it a try. I couldn't be happier with it.

Very cool. I think my main issue when I tried it the first time was it didn't tumble enough - the chaeto ended up getting smothered by other algae on top of it. I've not tried again, but added a small powerhead to the fuge for when I do.

Lurch72 · Jul 17, 2019

Blutspitze said:
Very cool. I think my main issue when I tried it the first time was it didn't tumble enough - the chaeto ended up getting smothered by other algae on top of it. I've not tried again, but added a small powerhead to the fuge for when I do.

Mine never tumbled, but I also don't have any algae yet.

Lurch72 · Jul 17, 2019

Everything is still going well. Another 15 gallon water change yesterday reduced nitrate to about 5ppm. Both fish still seem happy and are joined at the "hip" most of the day. I've yet to see any diatoms or other algae. I still can't find just the right spot for one of my zoas. Depending on where I put it one side of it's polyps or the other do not open fully. I moved them again yesterday so I'll see how it goes. I also picked up a Galaxea frag and a small Ricordea mushroom on Saturday. They seem to be doing well also. Here they are:

Blutspitze · Jul 18, 2019

Lurch72 said:
Mine never tumbled, but I also don't have any algae yet.

Mine would constantly have part of the main chaeto 'structure' exposed out of the water, so it acted as a hold for GHA and the like - they ended up strangling the chaeto

CDMI · Jul 31, 2019

Following along. My 350 Deluxe is due on Monday... transfering rock/stock from my 12+ yr old 70g reef but it's been neglected for a while so I have some cleanup & planning to do. Still no complaints with the return pump? It's on my list of ones to consider, hoping to order today!

Lurch72 · Jul 31, 2019

CDMI said:
Following along. My 350 Deluxe is due on Monday... transfering rock/stock from my 12+ yr old 70g reef but it's been neglected for a while so I have some cleanup & planning to do. Still no complaints with the return pump? It's on my list of ones to consider, hoping to order today!

No complaints. I'm going to order another soon to use in my water mixing/delivery station. That will also give me a spare if the current one were to fail.

Lurch72 · Aug 8, 2019

So, almost everything in the tank is still doing well. One of my clowns has white stringy poo at times and I've started feeding them food medicated with API general Cure and Focus. I placed a bag of carbon in one of my cups just in case. We'll see how that goes.

Fish will have been in the tank 5 weeks this Saturday and I've yet to see so much as a diatom, let alone aIgae. Chaeto is still doing very well. Two weeks ago I trimmed off an almost basketball sized chunk and gave it to a friend that owns a pet shop and just started carrying saltwater fish. Two weeks later it's almost back to that size.

I did finally get around to setting up my QT tank. 20 gallon long with HOB filter and a powerhead. I have a Bangaii and a purple firefish in QT at the moment. Got them both eating mysis within two days.. I'll get some pics once they are a bit more comfortable in the tank, The bangaii is still a bit shy and the firefish hides right up until mysis hits the water then it wont let the bangaii eat until it has a full tummy.

I really need to clean up the right side of my cabinet, get the cords managed and figure out a better mounting system for my controllers. This has been my "next project" for about three tank projects now.

Lurch72 · Aug 9, 2019

I'm not sure how I forgot, but, I added a skunk cleaner shrimp to the tank last weekend. He still hides a lot but is getting more bold and we see him often now. At feeding time he goes berserk. My wife said my orange clown let him clean her last night while I was at work. I managed to get a picture of he and the clowns when I fed earlier:

Lurch72 · Aug 19, 2019

So, we lost our first fish. Our Bangaii Cardinal that was in QT. We'd had him for two weeks and he was doing fine. He seemed fine yesterday but this morning I found him lying on his side. Water tests were fine. I use API and they are known for showing .25 when no ammonia is present. It was showing .25 but my ammonia badge was normal. Just in case I put in some ammonia lock but he died 3 hours later. His tank mate, a purple firefish is fine and showing no sign of stress. I examined him after death and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I'm pretty bummed that I don't know why he died. On the upside the DT is still doing great. I did have to glue a tiny aptasia that I found on one of my zoa frag plugs. Hopefully that was the only one.

revhtree · Aug 19, 2019

Sorry about your loss.

Sad thing is sometimes fish die for no apparent reason. You're doing a good job!

Blutspitze · Aug 19, 2019

Sorry to hear about the fish. Hopefully the other soldiers on and stays healthy!

Lurch72 · Aug 31, 2019

We'll the Firefish came through QT with flying colors. She found herself a nice little hiding hole at the bottom of a rock tower. She stays in that general area for now and darts in when the clowns cruise by but is much less timid than she had been in the QT. She has no problem with us watching her up close and even lets me take pictures.

After I cleaned up the QT and refilled it I figured what the heck and went to my LFS and bought a small Starry Blenny, another Bangaii and Royal Gramma yesterday. They are all babies so I think they will be fine as far as bio-load goes. The Bangaii and Gramma both took mysis today. The LFS suggested some sinking algae wafers for the Starry but yesterday and today he just ignores them and hangs in his corner. Any suggestion for getting him to eat?

They also gave me some coraline scrapings and some empty shells for the hermits. Hopefully this combo gets me some pink/purple and stops the crabs murdering each other.

Well, anyhow here's Firefish in her new home:

Blutspitze · Aug 31, 2019

Glad that the firefish is looking good and hopefully the new ones do well also. Good times for sure and glad that they're eating already, at least.

Lurch72 · Sep 2, 2019

Well, I'm frustrated this morning. My Starry Blenny in QT died yesterday afternoon. He hadn't eaten the sinking algae pellets my LFS recommended for him. Yesterday morning I went to petco and bought some seaweed sheets with a clip and also some omnivore flakes. I put the seaweed in his hangout area, went up a few hours later to check if he'd eaten and found him dead. Checked all parameters and everything was fine. The other two fish were still doing well. I should have asked to see him eat at the LFS, lesson learned.

Funny story out of QT: Day two I went in to turn the lights on and couldn't fine our Royal Gramma, grabbed a flashlight to check every nook and cranny, moved everything in the tank, no dice. I came to the conclusion that he'd made it out of one of the small gaps in my makeshift screen top and had been crunched by our German Shepherd, Ajax, who will eat anything and everything. I Decided that later that day I'd get rid of the tiny gaps. Came up an hour or so later to do so and Royal Gramma, that my wife has named RGIV, is swimming around happily waiting to be fed. what the heck? Took me several times that day of waiting and watching to figure this one out. He had been hiding in one of the small channel cutouts of the air powered sponge filter. I wouldn't have figured he could get in there, but he can.

My Galaxea and one of my Zoas has been in decline the last couple weeks. The Galaxea isn't getting near as much extension as it had been and the Zoa is staying retracted more and more often. Parameters have been steady so I decided to lower my lights a bit. I have the Led90s, Id been running them at 80% blue, 60% white and decided I'll give 65% blue, 50 white a try for a week or two and see how they respond. The other two Zoas keep sprouting new polyps and my shroom seems just fine. I want to add some Euphyliia but I'm going to wait and see how my current cheap frags do before I get into anything else.