My First Softy Tank... which has turned into a mixed reef

[Magellan]

Although being up off the sand on a rock doesn’t guarantee safety in this tank. He is currently burying the zoas which are up on a rock.

I hope you named that fish Bob the Builder! He is a machine!

I have a green hammer that gets a lot of light from a metal halide and grows like a weed, you can see it in my build thread. I have mine right at about the upper third of the tank, but I’m sure there’s no need to move it that high! I wouldn’t be afraid to elevate yours onto one of those rocks, maybe 8-12” off the sandbed? Just keep it out of direct flow and you should be fine!

some before and after pics and under blues

 

[New&no clue]

some before and after pics and under blues

Your hammer looks great. I checked out your build thread, I want a cube as well for my office. I moved the hammer off the sand and it seems to be doing really good, now the goby can run free.

 

[Magellan]

Your hammer looks great. I checked out your build thread, I want a cube as well for my office. I moved the hammer off the sand and it seems to be doing really good, now the goby can run free.

Thanks! I would highly recommend one, this thing is pretty much bulletproof lol

edit: any new hammer pics?

 

[ScottB]

Wow @New&no clue you are deep down the reefing rabbit hole! At least you have plenty of company here on R2R!

 

[New&no clue]

An update on Satan (aka the goby)

So last week the goby dug all the sand out from my middle rock structure so the base was laying on the glass bottom. He has done this several other times and I’ve always picked up the rocks, moved the sand back and put them down. This time I took some rubble I had and glued it to the bottom to create legs. Now he can dig under the rocks without them moving.

Im hoping his issue is he just hasn’t been able to find a good home, and once he does he will STOP! Of course my sand has never looks as clean as it does now because he moves it all over.

He has successfully buried one side while leaving a hole to come in and out of. Currently no corals have been harmed in the making of this burrow.

 

[Magellan]

I always wanted a sand sifting goby until I saw this thread, I had no idea that full tank terraforming was an option!

 

[New&no clue]

I always wanted a sand sifting goby until I saw this thread, I had no idea that full tank terraforming was an option!

agreed... no one told me about this craziness. Either I have an insane goby, or this is normal but no one talks about it so others make the same mistake and we can all be miserable together. Maybe there is a support group I can join to talk about the emotional terror this goby puts me through.

 

[Magellan]

Shhhh don’t tell anyone either!

 

[New&no clue]

Soooo.... kinda been slacking on the tank maintenance here.

I am pretty good at doing a 23% WC every two weeks, I change my filter socks and skimmer cup whenever it starts to overflow and I scrap my glass at least once a week. And that's about it. So I decided I need to get into a better cleaning and maintenance routine. Going forward each water change I will do one of the more difficult task.

On Friday I am getting an Anemone so I need to put the guards on my power heads, so I started my maintenance routine by cleaning those this week. I pulled them and soaked them in hot water and citric acid. After letting them soak I scrubbed them with a toothbrush and then emptied out the container and put RO water in and let me soak in that while I finished the water change.

The other items I have on my list to do are fully clean out my skimmer, suction up the crap at the bottom of my sump (I swear half the flake food I feed ends up down there), empty and refill my bag of carbon, clean my return pump. I also need to replace the mesh guard on the power heads every two-three months so that timing would work well.

Weekly-change filter socks, empty skimmer cup, scrap glass, test (not really doing this now probably should start)

Monthly- wash filter socks in washer with bleach and extra rinse cycle, let dry 24 hours, soak in RO water over night, let dry.

Week 1- WC, clean power heads, clean or replace guards
Week 3- WC, clean skimmer
Week 5- WC, empty and fill carbon, suction bottom of sump
Week 7- WC, clean return pump

Hopefully this schedule will keep me on track

 

[New&no clue]

remember 21 days ago when I told my husband I wouldn’t buy any more corals until after Christmas?

yep... I don’t remember that either. What happens on cyber Monday stays on cyber Monday... until a box from WWC arrives... whoops.

I’d actually like to thank WWC. The bottom two corals were not bought during their live sale (winter pipe organ, & speckled leather). They kept going up and I kept missing them by seconds. I was so sad at the end. I went to their website to buy them at regular price and they didn’t even have any at full price. I reached out to them and they found me one of each to send to me. The winters pipe organ looks similar to the frags they posted, the speckled leather looks a good deal big. So happy with my purchase.

Sorry hubby I promise not to go on unique corals live sale this weekend... shhhhh

 

[New&no clue]

I can’t sleep. I’m dreading my tank crashing. Why? Because I made the classic noob mistake of not being PATIENT and trying to do to much to fast... dumb dumb dumb. And the thing is I have patience, I have an almost 5 year old who wants me to do everything for him... except when we are late for school at which point he decides now is a good time to be independent and tie his own shoes and buckle himself in the car seat ;Dead. But I sit and wait and let him do it, so why didn’t I just wait now!!!

 

[Hop2jr]

Why is the tank going to crash the new corals? Just test water and keep it stable with water changes my GF gets something every time we go to the LFS an our tank is only 9 months old. I don’t buy coral for it to die but you have to keep her happy or I don’t sleep lol. Remember dip all corals and QT them nothing worst than getting bad hitchhikers. Good luck and reef on

 

[MrWheelock]

I can’t sleep. I’m dreading my tank crashing. Why? Because I made the classic noob mistake of not being PATIENT and trying to do to much to fast... dumb dumb dumb. And the thing is I have patience, I have an almost 5 year old who wants me to do everything for him... except when we are late for school at which point he decides now is a good time to be independent and tie his own shoes and buckle himself in the car seat ;Dead. But I sit and wait and let him do it, so why didn’t I just wait now!!!

Why is the tank going to crash the new corals? Just test water and keep it stable with water changes my GF gets something every time we go to the LFS an our tank is only 9 months old. I don’t buy coral for it to die but you have to keep her happy or I don’t sleep lol. Remember dip all corals and QT them nothing worst than getting bad hitchhikers. Good luck and reef on

Just like @Hop2jr says, just adding coral wont make it crash. Just keep up on testing and dosing you'll be fine.

 

[New&no clue]

No, sorry for the very vague post last night.

I'm panicking because I’m picking up an anemone today, well actually two. I’m worried because I should have waited a year, but I was also concerned that I would fill the tank with corals and wouldn’t have space. So I had on post on here

Rock Flower Anemone...Am I ready?

So I know that you are suppose to wait 6 month to a year to get an Anemone. However waiting is REALLY hard. So I started my tank, 55 gallon, end of March beginning of April and then end of August I upgraded to a 75 gallon. I brought over everything from the 55 to the 75, except the sand. So...

www.reef2reef.com

and everyone seemed real positive about the idea so I went ahead and did it. Now the day I put them in the tank is here and I’m wondering if I made an impulsive decision.

 

[MrWheelock]

Everything I've heard is they are super easy to keep.

 

[lavoisier]

No, sorry for the very vague post last night.

I'm panicking because I’m picking up an anemone today, well actually two. I’m worried because I should have waited a year, but I was also concerned that I would fill the tank with corals and wouldn’t have space. So I had on post on here

Rock Flower Anemone...Am I ready?

So I know that you are suppose to wait 6 month to a year to get an Anemone. However waiting is REALLY hard. So I started my tank, 55 gallon, end of March beginning of April and then end of August I upgraded to a 75 gallon. I brought over everything from the 55 to the 75, except the sand. So...

www.reef2reef.com

and everyone seemed real positive about the idea so I went ahead and did it. Now the day I put them in the tank is here and I’m wondering if I made an impulsive decision.

The animals we keep are so beautiful, and fascinating that I find it hard not to go out and buy them as I am researching them. It seems to me you are doing your research and asking good questions on the forums. That said, the slower we change our tanks the more stable they tend to be and stable is good in our hobby! Like others have said, you're doing a nice job, just keep testing water and maintaining your tank.

 

[ScottB]

I have noticed that you have been adding at an aggressive clip, but rock nems aren't all that troublesome compared to BTAs etc. Just stay smooth on your water parameters. Not perfect. Just smoooooooooth.

 

[Squidward]

I say you'll be fine with the anemones. My tank started up around the same time as yours. I just got an anemone a few weeks ago and it's doing fine.

 

[New&no clue]

I have noticed that you have been adding at an aggressive clip

I know I’m addicted. Plus my real problem is I can’t pass up a sale. I just think I’m going to buy these eventually, so why not when they are on sale today.

I've been trying at add a set each month. Give them a month to settle in, test and make sure everything is good before adding another batch... but then Black Friday came, and cyber Monday, and now Christmas sales .

I need to slow down, my tank needs me to slow down, my bank account needs me to slow down.

 

[Hop2jr]

I was like you didn’t wait a year only 9 months and added a BTA as long as you have really good light should be ok but I only added one. What lights are you running?