My First Upgrade:72 Bowfront

[john.m.cole3]

Hello everyone and welcome to my tank!

My name is John, and I'm an addict. I just can't get this hobby off my mind! I mean... this stuff is so cool and I can't believe I have all of this in my living room! My tank is the first thing you see when you come in the house from any door; front, back, and garage. Let me give you a brief run through on how I got here.

I was always attracted to the fish section most when visiting the pet stores as a kid. But every time I asked, I was reminded that we couldn't afford to buy or maintain a fish tank... END OF DISCUSSION!

When I was 18 my GF and I lived together and we had different pets; dogs, emperor scorpion, corn snake, hamster, and a bearded dragon. We bought a 20 gal tank and added some goldfish. The fish died after every tank cleaning, but we replaced them and kept it going for about 2 years. We didn't have access to all this information that we do now on this here internet.

Hast forward 14 years and I am mostly settled down with a wife and a kid. Christmas of 2014 my kid's granparents gave him a betta fish in a half gallon bowl. My pet keeper instinct kicked in and I upgraded the little guy to a 10 gallon deluxe apartment in the sky! The fish bug just laid its nest...

2 months later I saw a 46 gallon bowfront for sale on craigslist. I got the clearance and bought it. On the way to pick it up, my wife asked me what kind of fish I wanted to keep. I said African Cichlids, she said, "Why don't you do a saltwater tank? The fish are so pretty and you are good at doing anything you set your mind to." so, with an inflated ego, I started the endless journey that is better known as reef keeping

I made all the rookie mistakes on the 46 and once I felt ready to do things the right way... I upgraded!

That's right! Proud owner of a 72 gallon bowfront. It was a used tank that I rehabbed back into normal society condition. Check out my rebuild thread here, http://reef2reef.com/threads/my-2nd-first-try-72-gallon-bowfront-re-build.230852/page-3#post-2807112

This thread was created so that I can track my progress and share with others. I'm no expert, so comments and suggestions are welcomed! Let's do an equipment list first

DT - 72 gallon bowfront
Sump - 30 gallon DIY
2x jebao RW-8
Eheim compact +2000 return pump
Synergy Reef Ghost Overflow
Glass Holes 3/4" return kit
Skimz Monzter 203 DC skimmer
300W finnex titanium heater w/ digital control
200W cobalt Neotherm heater
ATI 48" 6 bulb dimmable t5 sunPower (this light is STRONG!)
40 lbs CaribSea special grade sand
50 lbs rock is from @billysreefconnection
25 pounds live rock in sump (from my old system, it has corraline and I can't let it go yet)
Marine Pure spheres (from old tank)
Marine Pure Block (waiting to add this one)
BRS reactor. I like ROX carbon, GFO, and purigen in mine (when the time comes)
eggcrate lids for now
Tunze Osmolator w/ Tunze calcium dispenser for ATO and kalkwasser

I cheated with this tank start. I skipped the cycle. Yep... skipped it, sorry but I don't have time for that. I also rinsed my live sand... I KNOW!!! In my defense, one of my friends told me to do it. And, YES I would jump off a bridge if... oops, side tracked again. Shiny object shiny object

I rinsed the crap out of my live sand, built my rock formations, added rock, added sand, added 80 gallons of RODI, mixed 50 gal worth of Reef Crystals w/ 30 gal of reg Instant Ocean salt and let sit overnight. In the morning I added a big bottle of Dr. Tims One and Only and 2 capfulls of Prime. Got home at lunch and transferred all fish and coral within 24 hours of setting up tank. I also put my live rock and Marine Pure spheres in the sump. Skimmer off.

5 days later...
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
2.5 nitrate
SG 35 ppt
Temp 78 - 78.8 (gets hotter w/ lights on)
Alk 10.2
Calc 450
Mag 1300

Mag is a bit low and Alk/calc are a bit high. Tank needs to settle a bit more before I initiate kalkwassser

Pics

 

[john.m.cole3]

More pics. I don't know how to set my DSLR properly for this applicatio.

 

[john.m.cole3]

The live rock is in the DT to help seed the tank. I'll move it to the sump at some point. Weirdest thing of all is that I can't find my bicolor blenny or cardinal fish through his tank transfer. I've inspected all of the old rocks, but nothing. I'm hoping they surface in the sump area real soon.

 

[john.m.cole3]

There's a really cool guy on this forum that helped me when it came to skipping the cycle and rinsing my live sand. Here are the threads that convinced me that it would work

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-of...a-one-against-many.230281/page-2#post-2803234

Thanks @brandon429
BTW, know I can pick up a handful of sand in my tank, drop it from the water line and NO cloud! Also I've used Saileret for Ammonia and nitrite w/ 0 reading from day 1. THIS IS AWESOME! No 4-8 week waiting period!

 

[jsker]

Those are better pictures than I am taking

 

[john.m.cole3]

I used the built in flash for the ones that don't look that blue

 

[brandon429]

I'm so happy this went well, tank moves are a darn headache lol

Is that a fungia coral? It's polyps are so prominent I had trouble id'ing it...

 

[john.m.cole3]

the silver xenia on the sandbed? or the one on the rock?

 

[john.m.cole3]

Hey folks, my tank Cycles after adding the live rock bacteria and Prime to the tank a week ago. Today is the first day of my diatom bloom. I got rid of all my soft corals because they were melting away. I gave them to a local reefer with an established tank. Things are not going as planned and I'm sort of bummed out right now. I am more worried about the health of my fish and LPS and SPS

 

[john.m.cole3]

can't tell if that's growth or bleaching on my monti cap. he's been in there 4 days

 

[john.m.cole3]

day 11: I'm in a big diatom bloom right now (guess the tank DID cycle after all). I turned my light down big time. Letting my Skimz 203 skimmer break in, and am making about 30 gallons of RODI water in preparation of a big water change this weekend.

Also, I'll be hosting the Lubbock Reef Club meeting on April 10th, so that should be fun. Our town has had no one to host meetings since I've been in this hobby the past 15 months. Wow, how time flies when your brain is flooded with fish, corals, lights, water parameters, and so on...

Pictures coming this weekend!

 

[smiley28]

Awesome beginnings following along

Oh and sorry about the coral and cycle but atleast it should be over with soon

 

[john.m.cole3]

Tank parameter update:

I did a 32 gallon water change over the weekend. Today my values are:
SG 1.025
NO3 50
PO4 .11
alk 9.3
Calc 420
Mag 1260

My monti cap doesn't look bleached any more and my war coral/favites are taking shape to the rock they were placed on. My biggest concern now is that my RBTA detached from its rock and was tumbling around in the tank. I moved him to a corner of low flow to recover and he hasn't moved or opened up real good since. Mouth is still tightly closed and no tissue is falling off of him. He still opens wider w/ lights on, but not half the siz he used to be. I plan on leaving him alone, period.

My flame hawfish (new addition) stays in hiding until feeding time and my one spot foxface seems to be swimming by his area a lot lately. I hope those 2 calm down and start getting along soon.

Things are looking up! I will do another large water change next weekend to bting these nitrates and phosphates down further. Maybe a little less feeding too!

 

[john.m.cole3]

Today I am organizing all of my wires and equipment controllers by placing them in a cabinet. I bought a pre-made top shelf cabinet at Home Depot to house my switchboard and ATO reservoir.

First, I drilled 2 x 2 1/2" holes with a wood hole saw and drill guide. I used Minwax PolyShades black satin finish to color and protect my cabinet. I spent about 30 minutes doing the first coat, went to rinse out the brush and realized this was an oil based product :mad:. Now my hands are black as can be. AnyHoo, here's some pics to show how I spent my day off!

 

[smiley28]

We are pretty much at the same point for our tanks I'm trying to organize my wire now and painted a vanity black over the weekend

 

[cameronh]

Nice tank John! I need to clean under mine and get the wiring in order. What a mess I have down there

 

[john.m.cole3]

Omg this crap is oil based and does not clean off brushes. My hands are so black! Coats new wood real well.

 

[john.m.cole3]

Omg waiting for this Crap to dry is like waiting for flowers to bloom!

 

[john.m.cole3]

Flame Angel died. A buddy of mine told me the guy who sold me this fish had it in a tank w/ 2 tangs who had ich. I'm hoping he's wrong and that this fish died b/c the rabbit fish harrassed him to death. Thst's my most expensive fish and I was really looking forward to his personality and how he interacted w/ the other tank mates.

I might have to move everyone over to quarantine ASAP.

I'll look for white spots on my other guys later tonight when the lights come on.

Does anyone know about black velvet?

 

[john.m.cole3]

So I thought I had ich. I came back from vacation and my bicolor blenny was dead. My Foxface was showing spots. I moved everyone over to quarantine and my wrasse died yesterday. Today I found my mocha clownfish died after he was eating three and a half hours ago. Foxface is looking worse. Somebody told me the clown fish had Brook. If anybody has more info on what disease does might be I'd like to know