Reefer58’s mixed reef

Reefer58

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Hello everyone! :)

I am starting my first build thread pretty late but my tank is still going through changes and I am thinking that I will redo some of my rock work very soon! I have been apart of this forum for quite a while and have learned a lot from it :). Like many people, I have gone through A LOT of ups and downs with my old tanks and even with my most recent build but that is just apart of the learning process. I still am learning something new in this hobby everyday. I also love taking lots of pictures of my tank so I will say that this build thread will be picture heavy! Also, you are welcome to post pictures of your tanks, coral and other pets. This hobby and the people here on R2R are amazing!

Custom built: 4/18/2020
-Aluminum stand
-Tank size:
90”Lx32”Wx32”
-Sump: 48”Lx24”x16”H
-Frag tank: Connected to display tank
*With the display, sump, and frag tank all connected together it has a total of 400+ gallons.

Equipment:
-Two Gen 5 radion pros
-One Gen 4 radion
- JBJ Arctica 1/4 chiller
-Two return pumps
-Two of the LocLine Circle Flow Nozzles for some random flow
-One Uniclife 3400 GPH Controllable Wavemaker
-One reef octopus skimmer
-One phosban reactor (currently running carbon only)
-Lots of bio balls in two chambers in the sump
-One UV sterilizer


The tank is located outside in our patio and with this Florida weather a chiller was a must :). I will keep editing/posting all old pictures till I get caught up to the most recent ones!

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vetteguy53081

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Looks real nice.
The one concern I have will be how close the tank is to the window/glass
The power of UV even with shades and curtains closed is strong often causing algae issues
 
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Reefer58

Reefer58

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Looks real nice.
The one concern I have will be how close the tank is to the window/glass
The power of UV even with shades and curtains closed is strong often causing algae issues
Thank you! You also just reminded me that I forgot to list the UV sterilizer that’s hooked up to the tank! :). It has definitely been a bit of a challenge since the tank does get a lot of direct light so I do have to clean the glass quite often
 
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Reefer58

Reefer58

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I think it’s time to get caught up to my current tank! More background information: I started my first nano saltwater tank in 2015 which did not last very long due to the tank crashing because of a mistake I did (woke up, immediately stuck my hand in the tank to fix something and then left for school only to come back 8 hours later to see everything dead. I was very sad about that because I completely forgot I had put cream on before I went to bed that night (huge lesson learned about rushing in this hobby). The nano was home to my sensitive little dwarf seahorses.

Nano 10 gallon: 1/7/2015
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After the crash, I took that tank down completely and did more research which then resulted months later in me setting up a 120 gallon tank with the intentions of trying to make a mixed reef. My 120 had a lot of ups and downs as well and I never dosed anything in the tank which always resulted in my reef tank parameters fluctuating. Sps didn’t always last very long for me whenever I tried to introduce them into the reef. Once I got my first mushroom and anemone from my LFS, I discovered that I love them :). The tank also went through a hurricane which resulted in my power going out for almost a week (always have battery operated air pumps). I lost quite a few fish and coral that week but I did not give up. In 2016, I found reef2reef and my knowledge expanded from there. I learned a lot just by always reading other people’s experiences through this forum. In the end, this tank ended up being a huge accomplishment to me.

120 gallon mixed reef: 6/5/2015-5/30/2020
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I felt confident enough to set up another tank which got hooked up to the 120. I set it up so I could keep smaller fish and have more room for coral. It became another accomplishment for me!

Tall reef tank: 8/22/2018-5/30/2020
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Both tanks got torn down after the new tank arrived which was sad but exciting :). My fish and ribbon eel definitely needed a bigger home. I learned a lot including having more patience in this hobby and one of the things I regret was not dosing and keeping my parameters stable for the years I had the reef tanks. I was always worried about dosing and then having a tank crash again. F6B9A7A7-8137-4590-B107-3B2EB1498038.jpeg
 

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Looking good!
 

TriggerFinger

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I do love progression pics! To me, seeing how much a coral has grown is a great feeling. Anyone else have some progression pics of a coral they'd like to share? :)

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Progression pics are fabulous!! We don’t really notice the growth looking at our tanks every day. Pictures really bring it into prospective and make you realize how far you have come.
All of your tanks have been beautiful! Looking forward to more pictures!!
 
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Reefer58

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Progression pics are fabulous!! We don’t really notice the growth looking at our tanks every day. Pictures really bring it into prospective and make you realize how far you have come.
All of your tanks have been beautiful! Looking forward to more pictures!!
Agreed :). Thank you!!
 
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Reefer58

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So, this is probably one of the worst nightmares you can have with a torch. Brown jelly had formed on the side of one of my torches a few days ago. When I first saw it, I immediately reacted. I blew all the slim off the corners with a Turkey baster and did a revive dip on it. It reacted well and immediately opened up after. I went ahead and ordered a dremel tool that’ll arrive Thursday-Friday so I can cut off the bad head. For now, I am just trying to keep the brown jelly at bay by dipping and removing any little trace I see. Hopefully I can save this torch :(.
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Hated to keep spamming the “love” reaction, but that’s all I could use to decide the photos! Your coral is awesome? Especially the bounces and nems!!

Edit: Also, sorry to hear about the torch. :(
 
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Reefer58

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Hated to keep spamming the “love” reaction, but that’s all I could use to decide the photos! Your coral is awesome? Especially the bounces and nems!!

Edit: Also, sorry to hear about the torch. :(
Feel free to post any favorite tank pics anytime (that goes for anyone who’d like to share as well haha)! Thank you for the kind words :). I’m still trying to get things on the right track with this tank so there will be lots of pics of everything!
Update on the torch: I did a hydrogen peroxide dip two days ago because the brown jelly started spreading quick and completely consumed one head. It made me completely nervous because I have never done a hydrogen peroxide dip on a coral before but the last head of the gold torch seems to have reacted well to the treatment and is completely opened back up. No signs of brown jelly yet but I’ll update this thread with more pics today! :)
 

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Feel free to post any favorite tank pics anytime (that goes for anyone who’d like to share as well haha)! Thank you for the kind words :). I’m still trying to get things on the right track with this tank so there will be lots of pics of everything!
Update on the torch: I did a hydrogen peroxide dip two days ago because the brown jelly started spreading quick and completely consumed one head. It made me completely nervous because I have never done a hydrogen peroxide dip on a coral before but the last head of the gold torch seems to have reacted well to the treatment and is completely opened back up. No signs of brown jelly yet but I’ll update this thread with more pics today! :)
You can H2O2 dip on a fleshy coral? Always thought you could only do that for softies.
 
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