Megabite's 180 Reef - Round 2

[MegabiteOG]

Awesome pics!

Thanks! Can’t wait until mine is a couple of years old like yours. This one is only at a couple of months.

 

[reef’r]

nice thread man tank looks awesome. Are you still in central Florida?

 

[MegabiteOG]

That Naso...(I'm drooling!) one of my bucket list fish for sure!!! Just never had a system big enough I felt like I could responsibly own one!

Thanks. First fish my wife wanted. She fell in love with one at a LFS when I still had my smaller tank and couldn’t get one. I know your pain. It’s probably why I went through so many tanks in such a short time. I wanted the fish I wanted.

 

[MegabiteOG]

nice thread man tank looks awesome. Are you still in central Florida?

Thanks. No I’m not but still have family in Florida and frequently visit. Living just NW of Atlanta now.

 

[reefmaster70]

Great looking tank and nice thread going here. I am in the same boat now as you were not long ago. I started a 120g reef tank back in 1997...yeah, complete with 10K metal halides taken from an old school gymnasium, computer fans mounted into wooden plywood canopies, and DIY kalkwasser reactors made out of white plumbing PVC..times were VERY different back then. Kids came along and my tank went away for many years. Fast forward to 2024 and with my kids pretty much grown, I was looking for something again, and got "the call" of a tank in my mind again. So I currently have a 20g Nuvo set up above our living rooms fireplace, and a 75g reef tank with 20g sump in our dining room. All well and nice..but just wasn't quite cutting it...SO......sitting in my garage right now is a 180g reef tank and a 60g sump waiting for me to do my custom plumbing, work on the rockscape going into it, but have to take into account that the rock from the 20g and 75g will need to fit into the "grand rockscape" somewhere as well. SO...I've got a ways to go before my 180g gets wet..but we'll get there, and I can't wait to get this monster tank set up. All of the new "automation" nowadays just blew me away when I first came back to the hobby. Everything has an "app" for control, or is DC, or is LED, etc. It made my head spin. I am happy to say I am up to speed so to speak, and have figured out things like the AI App, Mobius, I have a Neptune Apex that controls pretty much everything on my 75g tank, which I am still blown away that I figured all of that out, but here we are! LOL

Anyway, it's great to follow your thread, and gives me hope in my own progress, and that even us old dogs can learn new tricks in this hobby. :)

 

[MegabiteOG]

Great looking tank and nice thread going here. I am in the same boat now as you were not long ago. I started a 120g reef tank back in 1997...yeah, complete with 10K metal halides taken from an old school gymnasium, computer fans mounted into wooden plywood canopies, and DIY kalkwasser reactors made out of white plumbing PVC..times were VERY different back then. Kids came along and my tank went away for many years. Fast forward to 2024 and with my kids pretty much grown, I was looking for something again, and got "the call" of a tank in my mind again. So I currently have a 20g Nuvo set up above our living rooms fireplace, and a 75g reef tank with 20g sump in our dining room. All well and nice..but just wasn't quite cutting it...SO......sitting in my garage right now is a 180g reef tank and a 60g sump waiting for me to do my custom plumbing, work on the rockscape going into it, but have to take into account that the rock from the 20g and 75g will need to fit into the "grand rockscape" somewhere as well. SO...I've got a ways to go before my 180g gets wet..but we'll get there, and I can't wait to get this monster tank set up. All of the new "automation" nowadays just blew me away when I first came back to the hobby. Everything has an "app" for control, or is DC, or is LED, etc. It made my head spin. I am happy to say I am up to speed so to speak, and have figured out things like the AI App, Mobius, I have a Neptune Apex that controls pretty much everything on my 75g tank, which I am still blown away that I figured all of that out, but here we are! LOL

Anyway, it's great to follow your thread, and gives me hope in my own progress, and that even us old dogs can learn new tricks in this hobby. :)

Outstanding post! Very similar to my start this go around. You’re going to love the dimensions of the 180. Six foot length allows for most fish, two feet deep allowing you to reach the bottom without getting your pit in there, and two feet front to back which is just enough for a decent scape. I love the 180 size although would not have minded going just a bit bigger with 30” front to back for scraping. But, the 180 dimensions fitted perfectly where I wanted it.

Good luck with the new tank. I will check out your build thread and follow along as you transition to the 180.

 

[alabella1]

It sure is. I’m almost fully there. I’m considering a frozen food feeder as some of my fish don’t care for the pellets yet.

Pickup the InD a4 Frozen Feeder. You won't regret it!!

 

[MegabiteOG]

Pickup the InD a4 Frozen Feeder. You won't regret it!!

Thanks for the advice. I've been looking at them. I may just do that in the near future.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Thanks for the advice. I've been looking at them. I may just do that in the near future.

Your wallet/bank account will just be $500 lighter/emptier.

 

[Scallopking]

Quick update.

So I got back from a 5 day trip and then had family at the house for another 6 days. Not much time for the tank, but everything is still doing very well. Five days away just produced a dirty glass and no other problems. The automation went well.

The Tenuis’ in my tank are doing very well and thinking It’s safe to get a Walt Disney without killing it. I was lucky enough to find a nice frag at my LFS for $100. It’s just under 2” with 2 branches. I was at a couple of the very nice central Florida stores and much smaller Walt’s were going for $250. I figured this was a pretty good price.

Here are a couple of pics of the very nice polyp extension I’m getting from my Tenuis and the new Walt frag. I will get a better pic of the Walt once it settles in.

Sweet! They look super happy. Nice pics too. I like to second one a lot with the snail in the foreground.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Thanks man.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Your wallet/bank account will just be $500 lighter/emptier.

Haha

What’s another $500? As most do know, its just a drop in the bucket in this hobby.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Question for those with an opinion on N & P.

My nitrates are holding steady at 18 - 20 and phosphates steady at just under 0.2. Everything looks healthy and growing well. Great polyp extension and color on all corals (sps to softies).

Yet, my old school reefing instincts tell me to reduce nutrients by at least half. I’ve read a lot of how nutrient management has changed from when I kept my last reef tank (16 years ago). Should I ignore my instinks on this one?

Quick tank background:
Just over 2 months old.
Half of live rock is well established from other tanks and the other half is from Gulf Live Rock.
Half sand from Gulf live rock other half is dry special grade.
Filtration is roller, skimmer, and ozone
Currently dosing alk, cal, and part c with trace and 9ml of Carbon (Vodka) daily.
Not using anything else to control N & P. No fuge either.

Question is if N & P continues holding steady and all livestock continues looking good, should I leave it alone? Or…….. slowly reduce P to .1 and N to 10 to give myself some buffer? Tank is SPS dominant with a big mix of LPS and softies.

I’m open to all schools of thought. Thanks!

 

[MegabiteOG]

Tanks seems happy. I picked up the acro below and threw it in the tank 3-1/2 weeks ago and has started encrusting nicely. Is this normal growth speed or pretty fast? Don't recall the name of the acro. In anycase, I'm loving the progress.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Some top down shots I took this afternoon.

 

[JonoH]

Some top down shots I took this afternoon.

Awesome shots!
You using a porthole for these?

 

[MegabiteOG]

Awesome shots!
You using a porthole for these?

Thanks @JonoH.

Sort of. It's an old acrylic box I've had for over 15 years. A few scratches and such on it. I want to pick up a new porthole though that I can mount the camera on. This one is a little short for my camera.

 

[reefmaster70]

Thanks @JonoH.

Sort of. It's an old acrylic box I've had for over 15 years. A few scratches and such on it. I want to pick up a new porthole though that I can mount the camera on. This one is a little short for my camera.

Did I read correctly that your tank is 2 months old? I wouldn't even be concerned about chasing Phosphate and Nitrate numbers if they are sitting at 20 ppm for Nitrate and .2 for Phos. That's pretty balanced, and should cause NO issues. Like you, I too am an old time reefer. Started in the hobby back in 1997. Back when any Phos or Nitrate was considered Reef suicide. Times have changed, as have filtering methods, dosing methods, etc. Bottom line if your numbers stay put, your tank is stabil and your critters look good, then leave it alone.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Did I read correctly that your tank is 2 months old? I wouldn't even be concerned about chasing Phosphate and Nitrate numbers if they are sitting at 20 ppm for Nitrate and .2 for Phos. That's pretty balanced, and should cause NO issues. Like you, I too am an old time reefer. Started in the hobby back in 1997. Back when any Phos or Nitrate was considered Reef suicide. Times have changed, as have filtering methods, dosing methods, etc. Bottom line if your numbers stay put, your tank is stabil and your critters look good, then leave it alone.

Sure did. 70 days today to be exact since I put my first bucket of water in it.

Thanks for your thoughts. I've read enough that tells me to let it be, but...... it's tough for me since I'm bad at leaving well enough alone. I will not intervene unless it starts creeping up higher or something doesn't look right. Thanks again.

Here's a shot I took after the others. It's through the glass with pumps on. This one is really starting to color up. Lights were pretty blue and dim when I took it. It's an acro from SBB corals call Shane's Fantasy.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Question for those with an opinion on N & P.

My nitrates are holding steady at 18 - 20 and phosphates steady at just under 0.2. Everything looks healthy and growing well. Great polyp extension and color on all corals (sps to softies).

Yet, my old school reefing instincts tell me to reduce nutrients by at least half. I’ve read a lot of how nutrient management has changed from when I kept my last reef tank (16 years ago). Should I ignore my instinks on this one?

Quick tank background:
Just over 2 months old.
Half of live rock is well established from other tanks and the other half is from Gulf Live Rock.
Half sand from Gulf live rock other half is dry special grade.
Filtration is roller, skimmer, and ozone
Currently dosing alk, cal, and part c with trace and 9ml of Carbon (Vodka) daily.
Not using anything else to control N & P. No fuge either.

Question is if N & P continues holding steady and all livestock continues looking good, should I leave it alone? Or…….. slowly reduce P to .1 and N to 10 to give myself some buffer? Tank is SPS dominant with a big mix of LPS and softies.

I’m open to all schools of thought. Thanks!

Did I read correctly that your tank is 2 months old? I wouldn't even be concerned about chasing Phosphate and Nitrate numbers if they are sitting at 20 ppm for Nitrate and .2 for Phos. That's pretty balanced, and should cause NO issues. Like you, I too am an old time reefer. Started in the hobby back in 1997. Back when any Phos or Nitrate was considered Reef suicide. Times have changed, as have filtering methods, dosing methods, etc. Bottom line if your numbers stay put, your tank is stabil and your critters look good, then leave it alone.

I am of the school of though, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. If you are seeing results you are happy with, I'd just let it ride!