Marks_Reef SPS dominant tank (hopefully)

[Mark K Leishman]

Tank Specifications

Fish Tank Fabrications Tank - Steel Stand.
Tank Dimensions: 72" (L) X 26" (W) X 26" (H)
Sump Dimensions: 48" (L) X 20" (W) X 18" (H)
Tank Volume: 800L
Sump Volume: 150L


Return Pumps: Ecotech Vectra M1, Jebao DCP10000
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Regal 200s
Pumps: Tunze 6105 x 4
Heaters: Aquamedic titanium 600W + 300w w/D+D Heater/Cooling Controller
Lights: ATI Powermodule Hybrid 8 x 80W
Auto Top Up: Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155
Alkalinity Monitor/Doser: Alkatronic/Dosetronic

FTS 24/11/20

 

[Mark K Leishman]

Introduction;

Have always had a fascination with animals, i kept discus for years, someone i work with is the reason i started marine, as seeing photos of his tanks and then looking at my discus just put them to shame.
I setup my first reef tank in september, long story short, added a fish to an immature tank with a disease (presumed velvet) and wiped the whole tank, which started me to look into quarantining.
Since then i've spent countless hours on the @Humblefish forums and talking to other hobbyists that quarantine in a whatsapp group..
Every Fish and Coral that enters the tank from now on goes through quarantine.
Haven’t started dosing yet, but will be putting some frags into a frag tank upstairs in the coming months, I will be dosing Reef Zlements complete (a brand new U.K. based brand) have spoke to the owner for several hours discussing my tank goals etc and he’s been nothing but accommodating to a newbie. Much appreciated


I hope to have an SPS dominated tank but im a long way off from there, and have a heck of a lot to learn, ill be purchasing equipment to help me along the way IE alkatronic, as im a bit of a tech nerd, but i dont believe in overpriced controllers (just yet).

I started cycling the tank 25/10/20 and will be doing a 4 month cycle with the lights off, dosing dr tims ammonium to 1ppm every 2 weeks or so.

Let the fun begin...

 

[Mark K Leishman]

The tank arrived in July and from my 425xl Red Sea reefer it felt absolutely massive, it’s a custom build on a steel stand as I hated the thought of my old tank being on a melamine stand.

Heres some photos of it when it first arrived.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

I hate mess, so I decided to build an enclosure for all my electrical stuff out of acrylic and then wrap it the same colour as my tank,

I think it came out pretty well.. out of sight out of mind!!

 

[Mark K Leishman]

Then it was time to move onto the Sump/Pipework,

I hate bare glass and wanted to hide the grey wall behind it so I wrapped the sump and started the pipework,

I decided to go with two return pumps (although it makes the weir large) I feel for piece of mind this was pretty vital, the plan is to add more redundancy as I go along (more on that in future posts)

 

[Mark K Leishman]

Being as this is my first attempt at coral, I figured I better come equipped..

Anything that makes my life that bit easier I’m up for!
I have a coral quarantine tank cycling alongside my display tank at the moment, so as soon as I think both tanks are ready for coral (I’m following the brs/wwc hybrid method) cycling for 4 months and only adding coral when coraline algae is evident and growing so will be a while before the display tank sees coral but I don’t want to rush.. the old rule of nothing good happens in a reef tank Is something I hope to now follow after having a velvet outbreak in my old tank!

Which will lead me onto my next post!

 

[Mark K Leishman]

As per my previous post, a little bit about my old tank,

It was setup in September 2019,
I followed many reefers in not quarantining (not going to happen to me obviously?)

I rushed an immature tank, having around 13 fish in 4 months from day one (first mistake)
All was going well until I added a pair of blue throat triggerfish, within a week I noticed white spots on my Kole tang, within around 3 days it was dead,

i wasn’t well informed of disease so I asked around and a few people directed me to the @Humblefish forum, unfortunately it was too late, I attempted h202 but within the first fish dying to the last was around 7-9 days,
Me and several other a lot more knowledgable people came to the conclusion it wasn’t just ich, it was velvet and potentially brooklynella. Nightmare.
Since then I’ve spent countless hours talking to other enthusiasts and reading papers and scrolling through the humblefish forums
The only thing that enters my tank has to be quarantined. Be it a snail/coral/fish.

unfortunately I know it won’t be a straight forward path but I feel this is the best way to achieve a 10+ year tank.

 

[Quastermayne]

Nice tank!!! Love the dry box looks awesome.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

This is the Tank as it stands 24/11/20.
It’s currently been cycling a month,

I dosed microbacter start xlm and I am dosing dr Tim’s ammonium chloride every 2 weeks.
Half of the rock was already cycled from my old tank (the rock was left fallow for months)

I put some sump lights above as I want to get a photo every 6 months of progress in the tank (or lack of)

My actual lights are yet to be hung (ATI Hybrid 8x80w)

I have wrapped it the same colour as the tank (as below) I’ve ordered some aluminium framing (80/20) to span across the joists in my ceiling so I can hang the light, fingers crossed it will be hung in the next month.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

Nice tank!!! Love the dry box looks awesome.

Thankyou, yeah really happy with how it came out, it’s held on with very strong Velcro strips so should I need access behind, it’s fairly simple to get to!

 

[Leishman]

Looking good. (Cool name too)

 

[Mark K Leishman]

So ive changed my stocking list after looking at a few 6ft tanks which just seem to be filled with huge tangs,

Ive always liked wrasse, the colour and activity cant be matched by any other fish in my opinion, alot of research will be put into the stocking list so i have the best possible chance of having a successful wrasse dominated tank,

Cirrhilabrus Wrasse
C. Laboutei
C. Isosceles
C. Lineatus
C. Aurantidorsalis
C. Exquisitus

Anampses Wrasse
A. Chrysocephalus
A. Neoguinaicus

Paracheilinus Wrasse
P. Mccoskeri
P. Attenuatus
P. Octotaenia

Halichoeres Wrasse
H. Melanarus
H. Iridis
H. Melasmapomus

This list is subject to change as the asterisk are the ones that will need to be looked at properly, still cant make my mind up for those few.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

Update on the aquascape,

so I’ve struggled with the TMC rock leaching phosphate and after conversations with other reefers I’ve decided to rip it all out and start fresh, this hobby can be hard enough without added issues from the get go.

decided to go for a hybrid NSA scape this time, hopefully achieving good flow with minimal points on the sand bed but with a fair few hiding spots for fish to sleep/get out the way of more aggressive fish.

As it stands at the moment, I’ve completed one of the main structures, will add little bits to it and then cement it with e marco as recommended by a few people.

Still not entirely sure what to do with the other two structures, will decide as I go along.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

There’s still a smaller scape to do, but very happy with how this turned out,
Next step is to get superglue and then throw sand over it hiding the cement, once coraline has taken hold it shouldn’t be visible but I’d prefer to not look at a mess for the next 12 months or so,

plenty of space for coral and hopefully enough open space in between branches for flow,

if fish are displaying aggressive behaviour due to not enough hiding spaces I’ll put in some little caves etc

 

[Mark K Leishman]

15 second video update,

will do these from time to time to eventually be able to look back when it’s full of coral..!

 

[Mark K Leishman]

15 second video update,
Diatoms started thick and fast,
Still haven’t got round to finishing the middle rock work piece, but will make sure it’s done for the next update.

Green has started to appear on the rock so I fully expect GHA in the next update too.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

15 Second update, finally did the smaller scape, the katherines wrasse seems to be alot happier with more rockwork. Happy with the scape now.

 

[Mark K Leishman]

15 Second Update, Scape started to brown out, looks a lot more green on Camera than it actually is, have a few fish in QT personally and a friend is quarantining a few for me, so next few months should double fish quantity all being well,

Not to be soppy, but very glad i have a reef tank, otherwise id have probably had a nervous breakdown after the past 2/3 weeks!