Our Journey from 5 gallon AIO to our 125 Madness Tank

Trouble1375

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This is just the start of my thread. I need to transfer all the photos from my phone to my computer so I can post pictures (which are not very good quality) of the progression.

This all started in mid-late 2018 when my boyfriend and I would watch Tanked and he would get sentimental about certain fish or corals that he saw and talk about how much he missed his tank he had 20ish years ago. It was a 300 gallon mixed reef. I've never seen pictures and that was long before we met. I decided, for Christmas, to get him a 5 gallon AIO system so we could have a little piece of reef in our life and that's what started this journey to madness ( we call our 125 gallon tank Reef Madness because it was madness that drove us there).

I had done various freshwater and brackish tanks but never saltwater before so newbie here working with a veteran, who was out of the game for 20ish years, reefer.

Lots of mistakes to be made and learned from.

More to come after I get a chance to transfer pictures and organize them so I can continue our saga.
 
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Trouble1375

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The tiny tank that started it all. For some reason I only have a few pictures of the inhabitants, not the overall tank. We upgraded the lighting to Current Orbit Marine and added a small powerhead but wishes for a bigger tank were forming fast. Boyfriend said I brought out the monster with this tiny teaser and we would need to go bigger soon. This was set-up from just after Christmas 2018 until late April of 2019.

Fluval Sea Evo V Saltwater Fish Tank Aquarium Kit​


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Trouble1375

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The next step was disasterous. We bought a 50 gallon breeder from LFS. Got everything set-up. Added water, came back home with more rocks to add and realized it was leaking - slowly but leaking. Called the LFS - no help from them because we didn't buy the "stand that the manufacturer recommends" with it so rocks into bucket and inhabitants stayed in the 5 gallon while we figured things out. This was late April/early May 2019.
 

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Having boycotted the first LFS - we have 4 within 15 minutes of the house and a few more within a one hour drive, we selected another LFS that we knew had a large selection of tanks and I went browsing on a Saturday while my boyfriend went to his uncle's funeral. I sent him a few pics (attached) and he said put the deposit down and we'll be back as soon as they open on Sunday to pay it off, pick a sump and some other necessities and take it home. Had to find someone with a vehicle we could borrow because the madness was not fitting in either one of our cars.
 

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Sump selected and boredom while waiting for the tank to arrive via friend's van - I moved some stuff in the living room and did my best to impose the tank into the room via my horrible editing skills
 

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Realizing now - in the early days - I didn't take pictures of progress in the build just new inhabitants. Made some newbie mistakes. Adding things well before the tank was far enough along. We lost all of our original fish in a huge double whammy - ich outbreak and then while we were at Cedar Point for the day - the anemone decided it liked the wavemakers and it nuked the tank. Reset - let the tank fallow for 76 days - only adding coral during that time. Finally started adding livestock again and got nuked again. Never should've used the return pump that came with the tank, also should've had a grounding probe in the tank the whole time. One misbar black occelaris clownfish survived - his name (now a her) is Sparky in remembrance of survival. Replaced both return pumps and the heater just for peace of mind and added a grounding probe.
 

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Realizing now - in the early days - I didn't take pictures of progress in the build just new inhabitants. Made some newbie mistakes. Adding things well before the tank was far enough along. We lost all of our original fish in a huge double whammy - ich outbreak and then while we were at Cedar Point for the day - the anemone decided it liked the wavemakers and it nuked the tank. Reset - let the tank fallow for 76 days - only adding coral during that time. Finally started adding livestock again and got nuked again. Never should've used the return pump that came with the tank, also should've had a grounding probe in the tank the whole time. One misbar black occelaris clownfish survived - his name (now a her) is Sparky in remembrance of survival. Replaced both return pumps and the heater just for peace of mind and added a grounding probe.
The hand pictures are from the carpet anemone stinging me. It grabbed hold when I tried to get it out of it's packaging. My hand was swollen and hurt for days after that.
 
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The latest issue nearly ended our Madness but fast thinking and being sort of prepared we were able to save most of it. Read my thread What a Monday for details but here's a few pictures from 10 days ago.
 

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Trouble1375

Trouble1375

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Current system is the following:

125 Gallon DT - mixed reef and heavily stocked with fish - list below
Lighting -2 QMAVEN ii LED mounted 15" over the tank on BRS recommended settings
2 Gyre Wavemakers (350's I think) mounted vertically on opposite ends to obtain the flow we wanted - set on OGC 100/100
Return pumps are 1200GPH each and not regulated or tuned down in anyway

Dual Sumps
Left sump - Standard sump - overflow going into filter sock section then through refugium which has some live rock and is reserved for future Chaeto if need arises, through dual layer poly filter, into return pump section which is where our ATO and Doser for Essentials PRO enter the system
Right sump - 29 gallon long converted to DIY sump overflow going into 2.5gallon which has eggcrate top to hold a dual layer poly filter in place, going into refugium section which has our DIY ATS and some rubble rock scrapes, 2 peppermint shrimp (so the wrasses don't eat them), then back to the return pump which has a 2nd dual layer poly filter.
Left and Right sumps connected by water bridge to keep water levels stable between them.
Poly filters and filter sock changed every other day

Stock List
8" Sailfin Tang - she was a rescue - in pics can see she is missing dorsal fin and has scars from HLLE - we got her from local reefer who was tearing down system for a quick move and wanted her to go to someone who had no other tangs - he had her for 5 years and nursed her back to health - LFS had basically wrote her off when she came in like that and he said he'd try to get her healthy
5" BiColor Foxface - gets the taste for zoas occasionally
4" Japanese Swallowtail Angel
Starry Blenny
Black Sailfin Blenny
Wide Barred Shrimp Goby
Watermelon Clown Goby
Misbar Black Occelaris Clownfish
Wyoming White Clownfish
Male Melanurus Wrasse
Female Melanurus Wrasse - disappeared for the 1st 47 days we had her
6-line Wrasse
Cleaner Wrasse
Boxfish
Royal Gramma
Striped Dottyback
Banggai Cardinal
Firefish
Knobby Brittlestar
Red Linckia Starfish
5 Emerald Crabs
Various Snails
3 Rock Boring Urchins
 
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Trouble1375

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Current system is the following:

125 Gallon DT - mixed reef and heavily stocked with fish - list below
Lighting -2 QMAVEN ii LED mounted 15" over the tank on BRS recommended settings
2 Gyre Wavemakers (350's I think) mounted vertically on opposite ends to obtain the flow we wanted - set on OGC 100/100
Return pumps are 1200GPH each and not regulated or tuned down in anyway

Dual Sumps
Left sump - Standard sump - overflow going into filter sock section then through refugium which has some live rock and is reserved for future Chaeto if need arises, through dual layer poly filter, into return pump section which is where our ATO and Doser for Essentials PRO enter the system
Right sump - 29 gallon long converted to DIY sump overflow going into 2.5gallon which has eggcrate top to hold a dual layer poly filter in place, going into refugium section which has our DIY ATS and some rubble rock scrapes, 2 peppermint shrimp (so the wrasses don't eat them), then back to the return pump which has a 2nd dual layer poly filter.
Left and Right sumps connected by water bridge to keep water levels stable between them.
Poly filters and filter sock changed every other day

Stock List
8" Sailfin Tang - she was a rescue - in pics can see she is missing dorsal fin and has scars from HLLE - we got her from local reefer who was tearing down system for a quick move and wanted her to go to someone who had no other tangs - he had her for 5 years and nursed her back to health - LFS had basically wrote her off when she came in like that and he said he'd try to get her healthy
5" BiColor Foxface - gets the taste for zoas occasionally
4" Japanese Swallowtail Angel
Starry Blenny
Black Sailfin Blenny
Wide Barred Shrimp Goby
Watermelon Clown Goby
Misbar Black Occelaris Clownfish
Wyoming White Clownfish
Male Melanurus Wrasse
Female Melanurus Wrasse - disappeared for the 1st 47 days we had her
6-line Wrasse
Cleaner Wrasse
Boxfish
Royal Gramma
Striped Dottyback
Banggai Cardinal
Firefish
Knobby Brittlestar
Red Linckia Starfish
5 Emerald Crabs
Various Snails
3 Rock Boring Urchins
The Foxface got evicted today. He was eating more than his worth in Zoas. Traded him at LFS for Black Sun Coral. Also purchased an Orange Sun Coral.
Based on losing 2 Diamond Gobies to tile surfing we added a Bicolor goatfish who turns the sand and eats the critters very well and we added a Citron Goby. Soon I will catalog our corals which are mostly frag size and closing in on a count of 60 or so.
 

flyfisher2

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Wow, I commend you on you perseverance. You've been through some rough ones but you're still there. Be patient and research steps as you go along. Lots of info here to be had. Enjoy the process.
 
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Trouble1375

Trouble1375

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About a month ago we added a roller mat and took out the filter socks. Removed the ATS and switched to Chaeto - now we can't get nitrates in the tank and the phosphates aren't falling.
 

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ouch! time to back down a bit? I stopped using GFO and phosphates seem to have stabilized at between .06 and .08.
I'm dosing less two part to maintain my 8.3 level on Alk. I think that in due time after the uglies and all, the tanks just balance out. What we do out of desperation just interferes with the natural process. My 2 cents.
 
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Trouble1375

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ouch! time to back down a bit? I stopped using GFO and phosphates seem to have stabilized at between .06 and .08.
I'm dosing less two part to maintain my 8.3 level on Alk. I think that in due time after the uglies and all, the tanks just balance out. What we do out of desperation just interferes with the natural process. My 2 cents.
We made the change because the bio-load increase as the fish and corals are growing (or adding new) and the ATS and filter socks weren't keeping up. Numbers were climbing more and more each week instead of being stable.
 

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We made the change because the bio-load increase as the fish and corals are growing (or adding new) and the ATS and filter socks weren't keeping up. Numbers were climbing more and more each week instead of being stable.
I understand your reasoning. In time you'll see things start to find there own way and stabilize. I'm learning myself, and I'm understanding the meaning of a "young tank" as time goes by. It's a learning process and one not without rewards. Enjoy it.
 
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