So at the behest of ReeferBlaine I am making a build thread for my first tank. Let's start with equipment.
120g 4x2x2 tank
29g sump (filter floss, bioballs, carbon/purigen if I need it (haven't yet) and 15ish lbs rock. Space for more.
1200gph return pump.(dual overflows)
1 ancient 400gph powerhead (ugrading to 2 maxiflow 1200 adjustable ones in a few weeks.)
2 150w heaters
Reef octo hob skimmer. (Rated for a lightly stocked 120 but can always upgrade later. Hard to say no to a 50 dollar skimmer new in box that costs 200+ .)
2 Fluval aquasky 48"leds. Put out pretty good light for how cheap they are but will be upgrading to reefbrite ones later. These lights are meant for freshwater planted tanks but the softies are responding well. Not the best color on the blue light tho.
120ish lbs of rock, i will be trading some of this out once i have enough dryrock built up to build a nice aquascape for half the tank. Just a jumble of balanced rocks at the moment which is obviously not ideal.
Basic led light for the cheato in the sump.
My stocking plan so far has gone well. Started with an initial stock of (after fishless cycle);
1 mocha longfin roundtail and one mystery ocellaris clownfish. (Lfs owner got some tags mixed up so i got it for 40 bucks. Got a literal ghostface on his flanks)
1 hi fin goby(false dracula)
1 tail spot blenny
1 2 spot blenny
1 bicolor blenny.
Then it gets fun. Local dude had a tank bust and i went from 30lbs of rock to 120ish covered in kenya tree, mushrooms, hairy mushrooms (close to 50), a paly or 2, xenia galore, 3 toadstool leathers bigger than my hand, and this pink stuff i think is called cabbage coral. Also got a bunch of asterina stars, i saw 1 bristleworm, and feather dusters galore. In addition I decided to take his diamond watchman. Apparently the tangs were stealing all his food so he was really underweight. Must not have had much of a sandbed for the big dude.
So then I did my second round of stocking
1 fire and 1 skunk shrimp
2 nassarius snails
4 trochus snails
1 tux urchin
Baby randal shrimp for the hi fin goby
And then 1 week later I took about 1/4 of the xenia and kenya tree and the smallest toadstool of the three to one of my 3 lfs stores. I was hoping to get maybe a couple cheap frags. Wssnt expecting much.
Dude hooked me up with a lot. I spent about 40 bucks after the trade to buy
2 zoa frags
1 hammer frag
1 green mushroom frag
1 aquamarine ricordia frag
And my personal favorite
7 rock flower anemones and
1 maxi mini carpet anemone that accidentally got mixed in. Little nervous to keep this one. Seems to be a debate on whether they can eat small healthy fish or only sick ones.
Other than that my stocking plans for the future are pretty open, as the only for sure additions I have planned are
1 kole or tomini tang
More snails
Some ornamental starfish. Thinking a multicolor icon and a pacific jewel to keep the asterinas in check.
Fire urchin?
Just ordered the 5280 pods from algeabarn.
Feel free to post opinions or stock suggestions below. Non aggressive reef safe stuff only please. I will post some pictures in the morning once I have the lights on and such.
120g 4x2x2 tank
29g sump (filter floss, bioballs, carbon/purigen if I need it (haven't yet) and 15ish lbs rock. Space for more.
1200gph return pump.(dual overflows)
1 ancient 400gph powerhead (ugrading to 2 maxiflow 1200 adjustable ones in a few weeks.)
2 150w heaters
Reef octo hob skimmer. (Rated for a lightly stocked 120 but can always upgrade later. Hard to say no to a 50 dollar skimmer new in box that costs 200+ .)
2 Fluval aquasky 48"leds. Put out pretty good light for how cheap they are but will be upgrading to reefbrite ones later. These lights are meant for freshwater planted tanks but the softies are responding well. Not the best color on the blue light tho.
120ish lbs of rock, i will be trading some of this out once i have enough dryrock built up to build a nice aquascape for half the tank. Just a jumble of balanced rocks at the moment which is obviously not ideal.
Basic led light for the cheato in the sump.
My stocking plan so far has gone well. Started with an initial stock of (after fishless cycle);
1 mocha longfin roundtail and one mystery ocellaris clownfish. (Lfs owner got some tags mixed up so i got it for 40 bucks. Got a literal ghostface on his flanks)
1 hi fin goby(false dracula)
1 tail spot blenny
1 2 spot blenny
1 bicolor blenny.
Then it gets fun. Local dude had a tank bust and i went from 30lbs of rock to 120ish covered in kenya tree, mushrooms, hairy mushrooms (close to 50), a paly or 2, xenia galore, 3 toadstool leathers bigger than my hand, and this pink stuff i think is called cabbage coral. Also got a bunch of asterina stars, i saw 1 bristleworm, and feather dusters galore. In addition I decided to take his diamond watchman. Apparently the tangs were stealing all his food so he was really underweight. Must not have had much of a sandbed for the big dude.
So then I did my second round of stocking
1 fire and 1 skunk shrimp
2 nassarius snails
4 trochus snails
1 tux urchin
Baby randal shrimp for the hi fin goby
And then 1 week later I took about 1/4 of the xenia and kenya tree and the smallest toadstool of the three to one of my 3 lfs stores. I was hoping to get maybe a couple cheap frags. Wssnt expecting much.
Dude hooked me up with a lot. I spent about 40 bucks after the trade to buy
2 zoa frags
1 hammer frag
1 green mushroom frag
1 aquamarine ricordia frag
And my personal favorite
7 rock flower anemones and
1 maxi mini carpet anemone that accidentally got mixed in. Little nervous to keep this one. Seems to be a debate on whether they can eat small healthy fish or only sick ones.
Other than that my stocking plans for the future are pretty open, as the only for sure additions I have planned are
1 kole or tomini tang
More snails
Some ornamental starfish. Thinking a multicolor icon and a pacific jewel to keep the asterinas in check.
Fire urchin?
Just ordered the 5280 pods from algeabarn.
Feel free to post opinions or stock suggestions below. Non aggressive reef safe stuff only please. I will post some pictures in the morning once I have the lights on and such.