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- Jan 15, 2016
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Hi!
I'm going to divide a lot of things into spoilers because I like to rant and this post is a little longer than expected
I'm a little less than 2 weeks into my first tank in about 7 or so years. My other tanks were species tanks with a few soft corals, mostly mantis shrimp. I thought it'd be interesting to document my progress.
I got this from a local reefer who was tearing down in preparation for moving. It was about 3 or 4 years old, I think. I got the lion's share of the rock and yes, even the sand. I was prompted by a combination of a larger-than-expected tax return and my poor spending habits lol. My original idea was to somehow separate part of the tank by a acrylic barrier and put a peacock mantis shrimp in 1/4 of it. My love of mantis shrimp is not to be understated But I soon realized that proper flow would be a real issue and I did want to keep some more sensitive coral, so having a large predator would make that untenable. Furthermore, they tend to do poorly under strong lighting and develop shell rot, so maintaining any SPS with them is tough. So I chose to make it a pure reef tank.
The eventual plan for the tank is:
Some background on the tank:
What I've done so far:
The equipment so far:
Now for what you've all been waiting for (and congrats on those who made it through that wall of text) PICTURES!
Full tank shot (what do you think of the aquascaping?)
Under the cabinet
My new blenny. He's still stressed from the move, but he's just started eating and coming out more so I think he'll color back up soon
1 of the mollies
Unidentified hitchhiker coral
My Orange Monti hitchhiker
My GSP and Xenia under mostly actinics
A peppermint shrimp cleaning my finger
My giant emerald, dubbed King Crab. He must be about 3" around. I'm keeping a close eye on him and keeping him well fed (I hand fed him a piece of nori today), but he seems peaceful so far.
What's next?
I'm going to divide a lot of things into spoilers because I like to rant and this post is a little longer than expected
I'm a little less than 2 weeks into my first tank in about 7 or so years. My other tanks were species tanks with a few soft corals, mostly mantis shrimp. I thought it'd be interesting to document my progress.
I got this from a local reefer who was tearing down in preparation for moving. It was about 3 or 4 years old, I think. I got the lion's share of the rock and yes, even the sand. I was prompted by a combination of a larger-than-expected tax return and my poor spending habits lol. My original idea was to somehow separate part of the tank by a acrylic barrier and put a peacock mantis shrimp in 1/4 of it. My love of mantis shrimp is not to be understated But I soon realized that proper flow would be a real issue and I did want to keep some more sensitive coral, so having a large predator would make that untenable. Furthermore, they tend to do poorly under strong lighting and develop shell rot, so maintaining any SPS with them is tough. So I chose to make it a pure reef tank.
The eventual plan for the tank is:
3-4 SPS colonies
A few LPS
some GSP and Xenia islands
1 Tomini Tang
2 dragonface pipefish (added about 4-6 months in at the earliest)
A mated pair of yellowhead jawfish
1 Midas Blenny
A few LPS
some GSP and Xenia islands
1 Tomini Tang
2 dragonface pipefish (added about 4-6 months in at the earliest)
A mated pair of yellowhead jawfish
1 Midas Blenny
Some background on the tank:
There were some issues getting the tank to my location, but suffice it to say it got here safely. It took the better part of a week to fill it, 10 gallons at a time (I couldn't mix in tank since the rock and sand we live). I still haven't got the sump filled since the plumbing is a little messed up. The Bulkhead for the return flow is loose so it will leak if I add any water. The former owner and I tried to disassemble it but it wouldn't unscrew. I think I'm going to have to use a dremel or something to cut it off and replace it. It's unfortunate because I just got my skimmer in the mail and I bought the ATO system from the guy, but I'm sure I'll figure it out in the coming weeks.
What I've done so far:
I moved somewhat haphazardly forward. The initial plan was to buy some partially cured live rock to help the cycle, but I found that the tank kept reading 0 ammonia. Then I added a couple of saltwater acclimated mollies (which I plan to return when I get the tang). Still no ammonia. Interestingly the tank came with a couple of hitchhiker corals, one of which seems to be an orange Montipora Digitata according to the SPS forum. It's growing rapidly and seems happy, which is encouraging. I knew this was an SPS when I saw it, though I had no idea what it was exactly. But I figured that this would be my canary in the mine. If things were going bad I'd see it here first, and it's thriving. So I got bold. I know that's a bad idea in this hobby, but it hasn't bitten me (yet). Next I added a stalk of Xenia and a small bit of GSP (isolated to islands) as well as a peppermint shrimp. When those were thriving as well I saw a beautiful and active Midas Blenny at the LFS on Monday and made an impulse purchase. I also got in a reef cleaning package from reefcleaners. The 105 package with hermits, 3 more peppermint shrimp and a couple of emerald crabs. Those were added yesterday. I'm keeping a close eye on the parameters and have an emergency 10% water change ready for the first sign of ammonia, but so far so good. The tank has been set up for 11 days and I've decided I'm going to let this be for a few weeks while I get the plumbing sorted out. I realize I've been moving too fast and am going to take it slow from here.
The equipment so far:
-2 48" Orbit Marine LED lights. About 100 watts between the pair, I figure it should be enough to grow most SPS within the top 1/3 of the tank. I was drawn by the programmability of them and the fact that they didn't need to be hung. The price point was right too.
-2 Koralia powerheads: 1 600 (Gen 2) and 1 1150 (Gen 3 with diffuser head).
-1 180 gallon SC Aquariums protein skimmer (waiting to get the sump running)
-1 Eheim 1260 (640 GPH) pump
-1 300 watt heater. Will be putting something with a little more heft in since it tends to get pretty cold in the basement
-40 gallon breeder sump with refugium
-ATO with 5 gallon reservoir tank
-2 Koralia powerheads: 1 600 (Gen 2) and 1 1150 (Gen 3 with diffuser head).
-1 180 gallon SC Aquariums protein skimmer (waiting to get the sump running)
-1 Eheim 1260 (640 GPH) pump
-1 300 watt heater. Will be putting something with a little more heft in since it tends to get pretty cold in the basement
-40 gallon breeder sump with refugium
-ATO with 5 gallon reservoir tank
Now for what you've all been waiting for (and congrats on those who made it through that wall of text) PICTURES!
Full tank shot (what do you think of the aquascaping?)
Under the cabinet
My new blenny. He's still stressed from the move, but he's just started eating and coming out more so I think he'll color back up soon
1 of the mollies
Unidentified hitchhiker coral
My Orange Monti hitchhiker
My GSP and Xenia under mostly actinics
A peppermint shrimp cleaning my finger
My giant emerald, dubbed King Crab. He must be about 3" around. I'm keeping a close eye on him and keeping him well fed (I hand fed him a piece of nori today), but he seems peaceful so far.
What's next?
I definitely need a screen top for the tank if I'm going to get jawfish, and I know Midas blennies will jump on occasion too. I've already order a kit on BRS and it should be here within the week. I'm waiting on help to get the plumbing sorted out, so that might take a couple of weeks. Once I get the skimmer set up I might move forward with some LPS corals, but in the meantime I'm keeping a close eye on the tank's chemistry and making sure that everything is happy and healthy. Next month I may look into getting the jawfish, though I understand that they're a summer fish so I may not be able to get them for a while. The tang is ~2 months down the road. The pipefish are at least 4, and I'm taking special care to make sure the tank will be well populated with pods. I may add some sps around this time as well, although I still haven't come up with a solution for how to maintain Calc/Mag/etc. levels yet and manual dosing seems like it would be unsustainable. I'd love some tips on that, if anyone has any.