Rookie's 40 Breeder Build Thread

mfdrookie516 · Jan 14, 2012

That's a good question. I haven't even cracked the lid on the tests yet. I've been too worried about making sure ammonia and nitrite were non existent, and nitrate wasn't bad. So far, since the cycle ended, I've stayed at 0 on ammonia and nitrite, and somewhere between 0 and 5ppm on nitrate.

I figure I'll end up changing it around again. It's so hard to visualize without having the coral here... and it being my first tank, I'm not sure what to expect. As things progress, I'm sure it'll be altered to best fit what's needed.

mfdrookie516 · Jan 14, 2012

Here's a new video taken today. The goby is still a bit shy, so I had to take it from a room down the hall a bit... hence the shakey camera syndrome.

New Additions - YouTube

mfdrookie516 · Jan 15, 2012

Got my corals today. Very happy. These are just testers to see how things go. Hoping they work out for me, I love them.

New Corals - YouTube

Reef Breeders · Jan 15, 2012

Looks good, keep it up!

mfdrookie516 · Jan 21, 2012

Here's the tank tonight...

Built a new stand for 2 reasons. A - I'm tall, the stand I had was really short. Now I can see the tank without sitting down, getting on the floor, or bending down for long periods of time. B - now I can run my refugium separate from the sump... so the 'platform' on the right just above the sump will hold a 20 long packed full of all kinds of neat stuff (or maybe just chaeto, who knows).

Anyhoo, it's almost 11pm and I still have to get the rock, coral, and fish back in the tank before I go to bed. Fun times.

bige · Jan 22, 2012

Looks good. I like the new tank level. Getting right in the early stages is a good thing.

coraltastic · Jan 22, 2012

looking good. so is this a new tank or just redoing the other one.

mfdrookie516 · Jan 22, 2012

This is the same tank, just torn down and moved to this stand. After seeing your 110 refugium, I decided to go ahead with what I wanted to do all along... the remote refugium. Plus, I can actually see in my tank now (well, once it clears up).

Here are some more pics. The tank isn't full yet, I am just too tired. It can wait until tomorrow. The fish are back in and getting settled.

coraltastic · Jan 22, 2012

everything looks happy.

mfdrookie516 · Jan 22, 2012

Here's a pic with the 20 long sitting where it will be once I get my bulkhead in and decide where I want to drill it-

And I got my reactor mounted this morning, so I just decided to take a pic from the side-

bige · Jan 22, 2012

That's sweet. I didn't realize you were gonna have another tank under there. Nice.

ReefDreams · Jan 22, 2012

great build man.

mfdrookie516 · Jan 25, 2012

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Being new to the saltwater side of the aquarium hobby is a little bit overwhelming.

Here's what has happend tonight -

And a quick video... quick, not good haha.

3 Tiered Reef - DT - Refugium - Sump - YouTube

Also, got my ATI Coral Plus bulb in. Definitely loving the look. Replaced an aquablue special with it. It looks like a 50/50 mix of a blue plus and aquablue special. Not too blue, not too white. Next week I will be ordering a Reefkeeper Elite and a few other things then all I'll have left to do is finish stocking.

mfdrookie516 · Jan 27, 2012

Here's a video from today with my new lawnmower. The video quailty sucks, and the stains on the glass don't help much. I'll be cleaning it this weekend and try and get a better video.

[video=youtube;fhB7ZN1UlY4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhB7ZN1UlY4[/video]

mfdrookie516 · Jan 28, 2012

Here's another not-so-great video from today after cleaning the glass-

[video=youtube;X3UctxrEtag]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3UctxrEtag[/video]

Next week, I'm going to purchase a Nova Extreme Pro, RKE, and a few other things... that should finish me out on equipment.