Rex's Sticks and Stuff Mixed Reef

[Preme]

Welcome!

Introduction
My names Riley "Rex", I've been in the reefing hobby for around 3 years now. I'll be using this to document the rebuild process of my reef. For those that are wondering the reason for the rebuild. Around 2 years ago I had set up a 30 gallon, which thrived for well over a year. Until it suffered a severe algae bloom, and set me back too the beginning. So I decided to shut down the tank. At this time I only had my cichlid tank running, and one day I went into the LFS and came across a beautiful saltwater fish. Again at this time I had no tank saltwater tank running, so I proceeded to hurry and set up my 56 gallon. Well weeks later things fell through, and here I was sitting with a tank full of water not knowing what to do. At this time I was missing the reef-side of things so I decided what the heck and I started to add a few corals. Which leads to the present day. I've obtained a few SPS and other various corals over the past few months, but don't plan on adding anything more until the rebuild is complete. I'm still in the process of finishing the sump design, once it's built and arrives I can then start getting the other equipment, build the new stand, drain/drill the tank and then plumb it.

Equipment
Tank: 56 Gallon 30" x 18" x 24" with Synergy Shadow Overflow
Sump: Custom Building An Obsession 24" x 12" x 12"
Skimmer: Vertex Omega 130
Return: Tunze 1073.050
Lighting: 24" ATI sunpower Dimmable
Flow: EcoTech MP10wQD
Controller: GHL Profulix 4

Rockwork and Substrate
Sand: 20lbs of CaribSea Fiji Pink, 10lbs of CaribSea Reef Sand
Rock: 30 pounds of dry live rock

Aquascape
When aquascaping this tank I knew I wanted the "2 islands" look, with a lot of room for corals but at the same time minimalistic. I also wanted to include overhangs and caves for various fish and corals. When putting the scape together I used zip ties along with epoxy, that way when I have to empty the tank to drill it I can put the rock back in exactly how it was.

Stocking
Fish
• Multicolor Angelfish
• 2 Standard Ocellaris Clownfish
• Royal Gramma
• Griessingei Goby
Coral
• SPS dominated
Inverts
• Cleaner Shrimp
• Maxima Clam
• Assorted Snails and Crabs




I Invite you to follow me along on my journey of the tank re build and future progression.

​

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Looks great, definitely following along! I love your aquascape. I actually ordered 40 lbs of dry rock for my 57g tank and was worried it might not be enough, but seeing 30 lb in yours reassures me that it's a good amount! I also plan on two islands but am going for asymmetry so one will be significantly taller than the other.

 

[Preme]

Looks great, definitely following along! I love your aquascape. I actually ordered 40 lbs of dry rock for my 57g tank and was worried it might not be enough, but seeing 30 lb in yours reassures me that it's a good amount! I also plan on two islands but am going for asymmetry so one will be significantly taller than the other.

Thanks :)
40 lbs of rock is perfect for your tank! In my tanks I've never used the "pounds per gallon" rule. Just because I'm a big fan of minimalistic scapes, and could never achieve the look I was going for with more rock.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Looking good Rex!

 

[fabutahoun]

Nice setup you got there, the aquascape is perfect.
Good call for changing your mind about the butterfly it is too big for this tank and will out grow it. the angel will be a better choice regrading size. however I am a little concerned about the scoly and zoas , Acros will be jsut fine

 

[PJS]

Love the scape! Kind of my dream set up for the bedroom, more of a nightmare for my bride...lol

 

[Preme]

Looking good Rex!

Love the scape! Kind of my dream set up for the bedroom, more of a nightmare for my bride...lol

Thanks Guys!

Nice setup you got there, the aquascape is perfect.
Good call for changing your mind about the butterfly it is too big for this tank and will out grow it. the angel will be a better choice regrading size. however I am a little concerned about the scoly and zoas , Acros will be jsut fine

Thank you!
I'm planning on adding the angel in a few weeks to my QT tank. It will be in there for around a month to make sure it's eating well, after which I will add it to the DT. If I notice a TON of picking on the LPS and Zoas I'll be able to return him to the LFS!
I'm still in the process of figuring out exactly what fish I want.
I know for sure I'd like at least one dwarf angel not sure on the exact one, but the the multicolor caught my eye!

 

[30reef]

Looking good! Love the Scoly :)

 

[jsker]

Hey the rebuild is starting off great. Now following along.

 

[Abhishek]

Looking great @Rex and best of luck with the angel !!!
Since it's sps dominated , mind you sharing how many mp10s are you planning ?
In my experience , flow is one of the most parameters to provide nutrients to acros .. may be as important as light .
I would do atleast 2 if not more mp10s.
I had a gyre 150 , 2 tunze 6055 in my 30 in x 30 in tank and still feel it's so less flow .
Increased it to 3 tunzes and a seaswirl and some of my acros just jump started in encrusting .
Am planning to increase flow even more ..

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Preme]

Looking great @Rex and best of luck with the angel !!!
Since it's sps dominated , mind you sharing how many mp10s are you planning ?
In my experience , flow is one of the most parameters to provide nutrients to acros .. may be as important as light .
I would do atleast 2 if not more mp10s.
I had a gyre 150 , 2 tunze 6055 in my 30 in x 30 in tank and still feel it's so less flow .
Increased it to 3 tunzes and a seaswirl and some of my acros just jump started in encrusting .
Am planning to increase flow even more ..

Regards,
Abhishek

I plan on have at least 2 MP10's.
I'm going to start with one, because I don't want to create a sandstorm in the tank. I will be adding more flow as time goes on!

Hey the rebuild is starting off great. Now following along.
I like the sump concept, In the refugium are you thinking of adding a corner section so that when the water comes down from the overflow? The reason I am asking is, look at the plan now. When the water comes from the DT and hits the refugium the flow will blast any sand or mud and move it around. I did a layout of your sump with what I am thinking in AutoCAD so pretty much of your design work is done;)

Thanks! I actually was thinking of adding something quite similar to the design.

 

[jsker]

I plan on have at least 2 MP10's.
I'm going to start with one, because I don't want to create a sandstorm in the tank. I will be adding more flow as time goes on!


Thanks! I actually was thinking of adding something quite similar to the design.

I did the same thing with mine, but made it higher to spill over in to my filter sock section.

 

[Anirban]

Nice job Rex.....I am bit late to the party:D...where are all the corals from live sales???:p

 

[Preme]

Looking good! Love the Scoly :)

Thanks, one of my favorite LPS!

Nice job Rex.....I am bit late to the party:D...where are all the corals from live sales???:p

Well thanks for stopping by and checking it out :). I have all the corals in the tank (may be hard to spot because I took this around 60% light intensity). Still need to sort them out and glue a few down this weekend.
I'll work on getting a few pictures of the eye candy sometime soon ;)

 

[jsker]

Nice job Rex.....I am bit late to the party:D...where are all the corals from live sales???:p

I think @Rex is trying keep us in suspense and hiding frags:D

 

[exactlyobp]

I wish i had the option to return an angel fish. I really want a Potter's.. I don't have any plan on getting any softs or LPSs so... I might just order one from DD.

Looking real good too! How do you like the GHL Profilux 4?

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Following.

Awesome Scoly!

 

[Preme]

I wish i had the option to return an angel fish. I really want a Potter's.. I don't have any plan on getting any softs or LPSs so... I might just order one from DD.

Looking real good too! How do you like the GHL Profilux 4?

Thanks! I like Potters angels also, still deciding wether or not to take the risk of adding a Angel.

You must have missed it! I don't currently have that equipment (yet).
Switching over to different equipment within the next month or so.

Following.

Awesome Scoly!

Thanks! I love that Scoly, it has awesome markings.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Any updates?