Miracles Dream 600 Build Thread

[djkms]

Please tell me there will be Moorish Idols in this one?

Great start! Wish you all the best.

I have some on order from @Dr. Reef . This will be my first time using them but if the order goes well I will be stocking my tank through them!

They will be the first fish to be introduced into the 600. After that I will order the most sensitive/least aggresive to the least sensitive/most aggressive fish to put in the tank then eventually transfer some of the fish from my 210 to the new tank.

 

[Raul-7]

I have some on order from @Dr. Reef . This will be my first time using them but if the order goes well I will be stocking my tank through them!

They will be the first fish to be introduced into the 600. After that I will order the most sensitive/least aggresive to the least sensitive/most aggressive fish to put in the tank then eventually transfer some of the fish from my 210 to the new tank.

Excuse my ignorance, but don't they need a mature aquarium?

 

[djkms]

Excuse my ignorance, but don't they need a mature aquarium?

What have you read about a mature aquarium for Moorish Idols? Curious what a mature aquarium would give them that a young system cannot?

Personally I have had Moorish Idols in almost all of my systems over the past 20 years or so. I have found they do best when they are introduced before most fish so they can establish territory and hierarchy. They also require a good amount of Nori in their diet. I also find they do well when the eat Spectrum pellets and not as much meaty foods but that's just my experience. I also think sourcing is important. Every MI I have purchased prior to this system was through Live Aquaria Divers Den.

Here are a couple videos of my previous Idols. Biggest mistakes I think over the years have been trying to keep one in a 125 gallon and introducing them too late with other aggressive fish.





I will say in the second video I did have to take out the Idol because he went to town and treated the whole tank as buffet and started to decimate my corals. Hopefully that wont happen with these Idols currently in QT but you never know. The good news is this will be almost a strictly acropora tank which should lesson that chance, hopefully.

Here is a video of that system at 1.5yrs old...

 

[jmarina]

I might be wrong, but I think I bought a skimmer from you about 11 months ago? I live in Hudson, FL. Your current setup looks familiar. Looking forward to watching your build come together, awesome so far!

 

[djkms]

I might be wrong, but I think I bought a skimmer from you about 11 months ago? I live in Hudson, FL. Your current setup looks familiar. Looking forward to watching your build come together, awesome so far!

Ha, small world! You bought my bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite from FB.

 

[jmarina]

Ha, small world! You bought my bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite from FB.

Yes that's me! It is a small world and great skimmer, thanks again!

 

[1000rrstunna]

mine had a few issues with packaging hope yours is good

 

[djkms]

Bummer, will have to check your build thread updates...

 

[1000rrstunna]

you can dm me crate was damaged it needed better construction in my eyes.

 

[djkms]

Tank made it home last night.



We had 7 guys plus my wife to help bring it in and it took every last bit of us to do it.. I rented a 1000lb hydraulic table from our LFS and we popped the seal on the table as soon as the full weight of the tank went onto it. We actually planned ahead for that to happen so we had 4 on each side to help guide the tank down when it happened. Wish I had more pictures/video of the process but getting the tank in was top priority.

That's me on the top left, David bottom left, Jon right, my wife trying not to freak out and my daughter.

Today we are going to get the rockwork in and hopefully plumb the closed loop. I am going to do the aquascape in the rule of 3rd's which is why I have tape around it.

Sump and dosing/ATO container

 

[1000rrstunna]

Looks amazing congrats bud!

 

[Raul-7]

Love all the planning and choice of equipment [closed-loop, Apex, etc.] Also goodluck on the aquascape!

 

[djkms]

I'm really torn about the aquascape. My buddy Jon was over and he has much more steady and patient hands then I do. We built the base structures outside the tank and then finished them inside. They are superglued and then mortared.

I really wanted super cool NSA pieces at rule of 3rd's but it was second priority to hiding the closed loop piping the best we could. Also Jon keeps restraining from adding more rock. He kept saying "you want room to grow coral or rock?"

Near the back wall I wanted to have a cave system so the fish could hide while the other 2/3rds was more NSA.

The challenge was entombing the closed loop returns but still have access to them should I need to move them around and change them.

I still wanted open swim channels as well. We stayed 5" from each side glass all the way around except the back

We stayed a max of 18" high so there is room to swim up top all the way around and corals to grow upwards with plenty of room

My daughter posing

I guess the thing I mainly dislike about it is that it appears to all the the same height for the most part but once corals start growing in who cares...

 

[djkms]

And I started the closed loop plumbing below tonight. I am beat though and its time to relax...

 

[Raul-7]

Looks great, only critique would be to vary the height. Keep the rock near the overflow the highest then progressively get lower on the other side.

One major rule of aquascaping is that symmetry is to be avoided.

 

[djkms]

Looks great, only critique would be to vary the height. Keep the rock near the overflow the highest then progressively get lower on the other side.

One major rule of aquascaping is that symmetry is to be avoided.

Yeah I know, that my frustration with it. Easier said then done though. I have to build up high enough on the front end so the closed loop returns dont blow sand everywhere (even though they will be turned at lower flow. I may build up the back wall a little bit but I don't want to go too high because I dont want coral growing out the water like my 210.

 

[djkms]

Hide the pipes or vary the aquascape height...that's my current dilemma. I could strategically place coral to help vary height as well...

I think I am going to play with the rockwork a little more in the next days...

 

[1000rrstunna]

Did you consider doing 2 3/4” loc lines from a T on your CL return ? I think you will like the flow “options” in the future when stuff grows out ect

 

[djkms]

Did you consider doing 2 3/4” loc lines from a T on your CL return ? I think you will like the flow “options” in the future when stuff grows out ect

For sure. I haven't glued in any pipes into the tank yet. I have a slew of 1" random flow generators from VCA and a ton of loc-line so plenty of possibilities. There are currently 4, 1" returns going into the tank.

 

[1000rrstunna]

Hide the pipes or vary the aquascape height...that's my current dilemma. I could strategically place coral to help vary height as well...

I think I am going to play with the rockwork a little more in the next days...

You could always run the closed loops lower. I planned on doing a long line under the sand with a few ports having Lockline with valves. So I can blow water anywhere and the tubing is mostly low under the sand wile having flow adjustment so all of them get equal flow