My new 65g SPS dominant tank build!

[Twillyg21]

Hello all!

I started a new tank build yesterday on a 65 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. I’ll update as I go, but here are the pictures so far.

So fricken excited!!

 

[mpekoske]

Off to a good start! Keep up the good work

 

[Twillyg21]

Okay!

Here’s the update from yesterday! Added 80 pounds of Aragonite sand, and refugium sand and dry rock rubble to the refugium.

Installed lights/pumps and added 75-80 gallons of Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix at 35 PPT. Installed heater and cranked it to about 85 F for the cycling and added a shrimp from the grocery store.

I’m using Aquatic Life T5 hybrid lights with 4 Blue plus bulbs and (2) AI prime HD Sol LED lights. I will be leaving the lights off during most of the cycling process.

Flow is 3600 GPH

Today or tomorrow I will be installing my Carbon/GFO reactor, but leaving that off for now too.

Finally (for now) I will be installing my refugium LED grow light today or tomorrow.

More updates soon! Thx

 

[Twillyg21]

Haven’t updated in a while because I had a horrible experience with dinoflagellates!!

I had to pull all of my corals and put them in my other 75 gallon tank as they were being smothered!!

I blame starting GFO way too early and a sand sifting goby that sifted much of my beneficial bacteria out of the sand. A mistake that I will not make on my new 125 gallon (yes I started another tank)

I have almost completely eradicated the Dino’s through a total blackout, addition of a UV sterilizing canister filter, and a large, I mean LARGE population of copepods!! (See white spots on glass!)

I will start posting pictures of my 125 gal in this post as well. The 125 will be a mixed reef. I would love some suggestions for fish and coral placement for both my 65gal SPS tank and my 125 gal mixed reef! I just added the cuc to my 125. See next post for pictures.

 

[Twillyg21]

Here is my new 125 gal!

I have Aquatic Life T5 hybrid with a Kessel A360 Tuna Blue and an ATI Hydra 32 HD. My plan is to have SPS far left under the kessel, LPS under the Hydra 32 (middle) and softies and coral with movement (pipe organ, Xenia, gsp, Duncans, etc..) on the right in the cove and under the circular arch!

Give me your ideas for fish and coral for both my 65 gal SPS and my 125 gal mixed reef!!

Thank you all!!

 

[Twillyg21]

Bump!

 

[Twillyg21]

Here’s my 75 gal mixed reef again for good measure!

 

[Sinibotia]

I'm too much of a noob to have anything worth suggesting, what with my experience limited to a 10 gallon softie nano. But I relate to the lack of build thread response and I love seeing bigger reefs so I'm following!

Ok, one contribution: Have you thought about neon green sinularia for softies around the arch/cove? It's one of my favorites, it's done really well for me so far and it moves really nicely with the current.

 

[Twillyg21]

I'm too much of a noob to have anything worth suggesting, what with my experience limited to a 10 gallon softie nano. But I relate to the lack of build thread response and I love seeing bigger reefs so I'm following!

Ok, one contribution: Have you thought about neon green sinularia for softies around the arch/cove? It's one of my favorites, it's done really well for me so far and it moves really nicely with the current.

Thanks for the suggestion and for following!

Is the coral you mentioned the one in this picture?:

If so, I love it!! Thank you!

 

[Sinibotia]

Yeah that's the one! This is mine, it's something like doubled in size in about 6 months:

 

[Albertan22]

Wow that's a lot of tanks in one build thread! I'm a little late to the game but have a few comments. I'd consider lowering your aquascape a bit in the 65g. If your going for a tank full of sticks you probably don't want the rock going more than half the height of the tank. You might find them growing right out of the water with little room to grow in on that aquascape. Maybe remove the top layer of rock. Also, make sure that scape has some depth to it so you have lots of room to mount and space out frags.

I really love the rock work you did on your 125, that tank is going to look awesome when you fill it up!

 

[Twillyg21]

Wow that's a lot of tanks in one build thread! I'm a little late to the game but have a few comments. I'd consider lowering your aquascape a bit in the 65g. If your going for a tank full of sticks you probably don't want the rock going more than half the height of the tank. You might find them growing right out of the water with little room to grow in on that aquascape. Maybe remove the top layer of rock. Also, make sure that scape has some depth to it so you have lots of room to mount and space out frags.

I really love the rock work you did on your 125, that tank is going to look awesome when you fill it up!

Thanks for the tips and kind words!

I see what you’re saying about the rock work in the 65g. Any thoughts on how to break apart the rocks that are mortared? ‍

It’s a pretty deep tank though too. As it is right now, there is 10” between the highest rock and the surface

I’m so excited about the scaping in my 125g! Thanks for the words!

 

[Twillyg21]

Yeah that's the one! This is mine, it's something like doubled in size in about 6 months:

I love it! I’ll keep that one on my list for when it’s time!

 

[Robertellis30]

What made you decided to go with all blue t5 with your new set up?

 

[Twillyg21]

What made you decided to go with all blue t5 with your new set up?

I have a 2 and 2 mix of ATI blue plus bulbs and coral plus bulbs. The pictures I have however are when only the two prime HD sol LED lights are on. I had bought them by accident when originally thinking I was getting the full spectrum. However, I really liked the look so I decided to keep them!

 

[Robertellis30]

I’ve been looking into the same setup with the 2 primes. Just curious what the different color combinations would look like.

 

[Vette67]

That is cool. Do you have all of those tanks in one room? And you’re starting them all at the same time? That’s a lot to take on all at once.

 

[dbl]

Came to check out your tank thread to discover three of them! Sorry to hear about the dino troubles but glad you got it under control. Looking forward to watching all three grow out.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Put a clown triggerfish in the big one mwahaha.

It's my favorite fish I've ever kept and I will recommend it to anyone who asks.

 

[Twillyg21]

That is cool. Do you have all of those tanks in one room? And you’re starting them all at the same time? That’s a lot to take on all at once.

The 75 gal mixed and 65gal SPS are in the same room, and the 125 is in the basement.

I started the 65 gal about 6 weeks ago, the 125 is about 3 weeks in, and my 75 gallon mixed reef is 6 months old.

When I dive into a hobby it consumes my mind and I research and study, problem solve and find every piece to the puzzle that I can find!

My kids and wife love it too! We also have 2 freshwater tanks and a 75 gallon turtle/fish tank!

The turtle shares a room with my 75 and 65!