New to saltwater - The story of a recycled tank

Emptyness

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Enjoying the tank and appreciating it's beauty while dealing with the minor setbacks is what makes this hobby so attractive. Keep it up!

Btw, what are the zoas on the first picture? (I think I've got a frag of them in my tank as well, but still not sure what are they - they were sold to me as Tubbs Blue)
 
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Arthur_Dent

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Tank update:

- Clownfish laid eggs (brown chicken brown cow)
- Corals haven't died
- Committed genocide on all algae and dinoflagellates
- Dealing with slightly elevated po4 (0.2ppm) and nitrates (15-20ppm) via carbon dosing and water changes. Looking into other methods, and possibly setting up a display refugium in an adjoining room.

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Arthur_Dent

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Tank update:

Corals seem to be growing well. Lots of corralline. Nems have split a few times, and now we have 6. Clown has been bullying the blenny, but they appear to be mostly tolerating each other.

The most interesting thing is that the clowns are hosting a flower pot we chunked in there. They've spawned 4 times in the last two months. Probably going to give a go at growing out some of the fry at some point. Good times.

5/15
5/15 No3 5
Po4 28ppb = 0.086ppm
Ph 8.2
Temp 78
Mag 1320
Cal 465
Alk 9.3

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Arthur_Dent

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Enjoying the tank and appreciating it's beauty while dealing with the minor setbacks is what makes this hobby so attractive. Keep it up!

Btw, what are the zoas on the first picture? (I think I've got a frag of them in my tank as well, but still not sure what are they - they were sold to me as Tubbs Blue)

Sorry for the non reply. I think that they are "fire and ice", but not 100% sure. Got them as part of a pack with 10 frags, and none of them had names on them.
 
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Arthur_Dent

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Found an old chunk of brain coral in my dad's yard the other day, because, you know, why wouldn't there be an old chunk of brain coral in his yard...

Bleached, washed, dried and rinsed it, then chunked it in the tank. Going to let it come to life, then start a 10 gallon frag grow out and observation/quarantine tank with it. Much too bright at the moment...

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Arthur_Dent

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Started placing corals around the tank. I think I'm getting the hang of this. Also, nitrates very low lately due to carbon dosing. Halved my dose two days ago back to 8 ml of DIY NOPOX, vs the 15 I ramped up to before they fell. Aiming for about 5ppm, and they're at 2.5 as of two days ago.

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Arthur_Dent

Arthur_Dent

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Quick update.

7/11
Ph 8.38
80.6f temp
No3 - 5ppm
Po4 - between 0.03 and 0.1 (salifert)
Calc - Above 460 (retest)
Mg 1350
Alk 9.7

(note - topped off ato with plain rodi water. Some minor cloudiness developed in the tank, and ph jumped up to 8.5 after a bit of water was added from plugging the ato back in. Planning to check everything again tomorrow evening. Hopefully I haven't overdosed kalk sludge or anything)

Otherwise, tank is doing great. Everything seems to be thriving.
 

Emptyness

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Awesome look. The coraline algae growth is also outstanding. Keep it up and try to not overdose the kalkwasser. Maybe setup a separate dosing pump for it and don't use your ato for that, since the water evaporation is bigger in the hot summer.
 
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Arthur_Dent

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Thought I'd take a minute to post some updated shots of the tank here. Appears to be thriving. I have learned some lessons about bottoming no3/po4 along the way, and also learned some lessons about dosing alk and ca. Good stuff.

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Arthur_Dent

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It's been a while since I posted an update, so here goes.

Tank is thriving. No issues to speak of, other than the plague of BTAs that have taken over the joint. Recently added some SPS, and they appear to be doing fine.

I've decided to add a 40b connected to my existing sump and move the nems, and some skunk clowns currently living in the sump, into this tank. Some build photos posted below. I built a manifold to feed both tanks. Purchased a Jebao DCW-8000 to supply water. 2100 gph should be enough to do ~4x turnover in each tank with a bit of room to spare.

First, here's the tank today:

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Next, the genesis of the nem tank. Disregard the 75g tank on the floor. That was a freebie and will be used for something else.

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I set the plumbing up so that if I want to run a sump, I can, and I can easily disconnect this tank from the main tank at will. The 20 long will be used for an ATO reservoir while the systems are connected to each other.

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Flow will be provided via Jebao mcp-90's.

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For rock, I acquired about 300 lbs of this stuff, for less than a dollar a lb. Not a bad deal if I do say so myself.

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Arthur_Dent

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Tank update and glamor shots.
- Recently finished connecting the 40 breeder to the main system for a total volume around 120 gallons via a manifold and a new DC pump. Need to finish connecting the main tank to the manifold and remove/clean the existing pump.
- The 20 long under the new tank will become my main ATO tank for now, and the existing 5 gallon ATO will be re-purposed.
- SPS corals are doing well. Seeing growth in all 5 frags. (2 types of montis, stylo, poci, and a green thing. perhaps a slimer)
- Params are holding steady: no3 - 3-5ppm, po4 - 0.03-0.06, temp 77, alk 9dkh, mag ~1400-1450, cal 450, salinity 1.026.
- carbon dose is set to 4ml/day

Next step:
- Need to build a hood for the new tank and put some doors on the stand.
- cycle some dry rock I have in a trash can. test water for copper before adding to system.
- move most nems to newly added tank. move skunk clowns from sump to new tank (they're demon spawn)
- add cleanup crew to new tank when it starts to grow funky stuff.

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Arthur_Dent

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A few updates. After adding new aragonite rock and sand to the new fishtank, phosphate bottomed out. I've been dosing it up to 0.1ppm and watching it fall to zero in less than a day. At some point, they saturate, and I'll find a balance.

Until then, running a small uv and will continue to fight the small dino explosion.

Otherwise, tank is great. Alk steady at 9.1-9.2. Calcium around 450. Mag around 1400-1450. Nitrates still staying below 5 ppm.

I'm also working on catching some ******* skunk clowns outta the sump. Need to move them over to the new 40 breeder side, since this will become an anemone haven.

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Arthur_Dent

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After dosing a bunch of PO4 over 2-3 days, now it seems to be holding above 0.03, which is nice. Will wait out the dinos in the extension tank.

Some photos I took last night of the main tank because I was bored.

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Arthur_Dent

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Day 42: You'll notice not one, but two, yes, TWO, jihadist clownfish in a new cage. "Operation Capture Clowns" was a success. Now moving on to "Operation Build a Larger Rock Pile", followed by, "Operation Tentacle Drop". Stay tuned...


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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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