Rural Montana Reef

[Daasmo]

Moved all corals other than my acros. Everything was looking good after the 30 gallon waterchange, so i went to test the water for the first time in a while. All was good accept for phosphate… 2.06 ppm!?!? Nitrates were pretty low at .02.
Just did a 10 gallon waterchange change. Plan on doing a 30 gallon waterchange in a few days to see if that helps.

Not sure what you're testing with but over shaking with the hanna phosphate test kit can give you some high test results.

 

[Gjedde]

Not sure what you're testing with but over shaking with the hanna phosphate test kit can give you some high test results.

We did three seperate tests, two with my test kit and 1 with my buddies ulr kit. Half of the sand that i added to the tank was recycled sand, I thought i rinsed it out enough but perhaps not?

 

[Gjedde]

Phosphate is down to 1.6 today after a 10 gallon wc on sunday and a 15 gallon wc yesterday. I may just try for a 30 gallon wc today to see if i can get it under 1.

 

[Gjedde]

Just did a 35 gallon waterchange, water is at 1.02
So close! Ill do another one this weekend.

In other news, just recieved my @Dr. Reef order. So excited, just dumped the fish in after acclimation and things are looking good, ill post a picture of what i recieved this afternoon. Very exciting!

 

[Gjedde]

I have wanted a triggerfish for over 25 years. It was my favorite moment in my decades of fish keeping to see this fish make itself comfortable in the tank. Both the trigger and this beautiful juvenile mimic tang are stunning and in great health. 10/10
Will clean the glass in a moment as well to show some of the frags i got in a recent @Pieces of the Ocean auction. Equally impressed.

 

[Gjedde]

The tang ate nearly immediately, however the trigger is still hiding.

 

[Gjedde]

well, i had to remove the rabbitfish. It harrassed the tang nonstop since i added it. Checked out the tang a bit ago and it was sticking to two upper corners of the tank. In 5 minutes the rabbitfish attacked it probably ten times. It has a few spots in its fins where it was obviously nipped. I really hope the tang makes it as the rabbitfish was a bit of an impulse buy from my wife. Figured id have to get rid of it anyways eventually.

 

[Gjedde]

Also, it took me about 15 seconds to remove it with a little fishing line, a size 16 hook, and a little brine shrimp on the end of it.

 

[Gjedde]

Loving this little guy. Hid for the first 48 hours bus is starting to get more active.

 

[JumboShrimp]

How are you enjoying the build-quality of the tank itself? Pretty sweet, I bet.

 

[Gjedde]

Ive only ever had petco specials and a second hand reefer. This is massive leap in quality.

 

[Gjedde]

Just added the first acros, getting solid PE. Zoas were looking nice today. Noticed a couple baby orange yumas as well.
And (giga)Chad the trigger is starting to become very comfortable in the tank. Tang is getting fat and sassy.

 

[mjszos]

Following along! Are you planning on building a fish room behind the tank? Or what is the rest of the plan with the basement? It looks ripe for activities.

 

[Gjedde]

Out of curiosity does anyone know how to update “my tank thread” tag? On my profile it takes you to a tank that has been empty for years…

 

[mjszos]

Out of curiosity does anyone know how to update “my tank thread” tag? On my profile it takes you to a tank that has been empty for years…

Click on your Account in the top-right corner, hit "Account Details", scroll down until you see "My Tank Thread" and then just erase what's in the box and copy/paste a link to this thread in its place.

 

[Gjedde]

Following along! Are you planning on building a fish room behind the tank? Or what is the rest of the plan with the basement? It looks ripe for activities.

Ive got a sort of “harry potter” fish room under the stairs for my mixing station and eventually phyto/mysis/pod growing area. Ill go take a picture of it in a few minutes.

 

[Gjedde]

Click on your Account in the top-right corner, hit "Account Details", scroll down until you see "My Tank Thread" and then just erase what's in the box and copy/paste a link to this thread in its place.

Thanks! I switched to my laptop and found it right away.

 

[mjszos]

Ive got a sort of “harry potter” fish room under the stairs for my mixing station and eventually phyto/mysis/pod growing area. Ill go take a picture of it in a few minutes.

Got it. I saw the mixing station and what not under the stairs and that's a clever idea. I also saw the slop sink on the other side of the stairs.

Looks like a promising build, looking forward to see what you do with the rest of the space.

 

[Gjedde]

Thats my water system. As you can see the understairs “fishroom” isnt all too large but it gets the job done. Im loving that i dont have to use buckets anymore and my wife is loving that i don’t constantly have the RO attached to the kitchen sink anymore.

 

[mjszos]

That's the dream. I'm hoping our next house has an unfinished basement with plumbing hookups so I can build a peninsula style tank with a dedicated fish room that's attached to my home office. It's fun to dream :)