Scopus' 65 Gallon Reef Diary

[Wy Renegade]

65 Gallon Reef​

Been going to do this for awhile, but haven't had time. Some of you I know have seen several of these pictures, but I wanted to compile all of them into a nice diary. It'll take me some time to get everything posted so bear with me.

My goal when I started this tank was to create a Indo-Pacific Reef with a DSB and refugium, with minimal impact on existing reefs (as you will see, I have kind of strayed from my objective)

I've kept saltwater tanks for several years at the high school were I work, but deal with several issues, like limited budgets and summertime heat, so this was to be my very own ~ limited only by my own budget.

First, the tank and equipment list
Aquarium: AGA 65 gallon reef-ready tank
Stand: Custom built-in stand & canopy of aromatic cedar (still not complete)
Light: Coralife Aqualight Pro 250W 10,000K MH w/ two 65W PC true Actinics and two 1W 470NM Blue Moon Glow LED Moonlights (Swapped out 10,000K for 14,000K Phoneix)
Canister Filter: RENA XP2 (carbon only) (Swapped out for Mag350, moded to run off a Maxijet 1200)
Heaters: two Visi-therm 150W Stealth heaters
Powerheads: 2 1200 Maxijets w/ Hydor flo deflectors (Swapped out for 2 Hydor Koralia #1s and 2 Hydor Koralia #2s and a Hydro macro)
Sump/Refugium: Orca Eco-series 24" x 10" Profuge Refugium w/ Skimmer (Swapped out for DIY 20gal sump/refugium ~ Swapped skimmer for Coralife Super Skimmer 65 w/ moded collection cup) (Second DIY sump built from old bioball 20gal sump)
Return Pump: Used mag (Swapped out for a Quietone #4)

Please feel free to comment on what I've done, ask questions, and make suggestions ~ I don't promise to take all advice or suggestions, but I do like hearing them.

After all, its not the endpoint alone, but the journey, as well as what we learn along the way!

 

[Wy Renegade]

Having kept salt tanks at school for several years, I became frustrated with issues of trying to successfully keep them at school, and became determined to have one at home. In March of 2007, I begin finishing the master bedroom area in our home, and we had designed a library/den area off the master bedroom. I decided (with my wife's permission) to include a salt tank in the area. The tank was going to be builtin and reef-ready. The pictures below show the work in progress.

View from the master bedroom out;

View from the library to the master bedroom;

By the beginning of June, the library/stand was semicomplete and ready for water;

Unfortunately, I'd been waiting for a manufactored sump from ORCA, which was ordered through my LFS for several months already, and it still hadn't arrived

.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Finally frustrated with being unable to receive an intact sump through my LFS, I ordered one myself in October. Since the goal for the tank was minimal impact on reefs, I had predetermined that I would be using man-made rock as well. So in early November, with the sump on the way, I ordered my man-made rock.

By November 21st, both sump and rock had arrived, and I was ready to start. Plumbing was completed and the tank was finally aquascaped (or so I thought) and running by Nov. 25th.

Full Tank Shot

Close-up of Aquascaping

The skimmer shipped with the sump begin dripping water in the stand on day one, so was removed at the end of the first week and replaced with the Coralife Super Skimmer 65. Once the tank was running, I added LS to activate my DSB.

 

[Wy Renegade]

After adding the LS, cycling the tank began, and I didn't have to cycle with either shrimp or a fish. By Dec. 15th, ammonia and nitrites had both spiked, and I'd done my 20% water change to reduce nitrates. The diatom bloom was underway. On the 20th, with nitrates near zero and diatoms receding, I added my first corals (gifts from a fellow reefer; Dennis210); a GSP frag (knew enough to make it an island colony), a hairy mushroom frag, and a Xenia frag (silly me), and the first few members of my clean-up crew; cerith snails, nassarius snails, tongin snails, turbo snails, and some mixed blue and red-legged hermit crabs. I also added a banded serpent star and a astrea seastar.

Close-up of Green Star Polyp;

Close-up of hairy mushrooms;

Close-up of Xenia;

Astrea Seastar (taken May 12, '08);

Mixed hermits;

Red-legged hermits;

and a Tongin snail;

I loved the look of the GSP under my true-blue actinics;

 

[rarelyseriousb]

nice start. and the wood work in your house is beautiful.

 

[Wy Renegade]

nice start. and the wood work in your house is beautiful.

Thank you Spike; just for fun here's a couple pictures of the focal center of the almost complete master bedroom (still have trim to finish);

 

[str8salt]

looks good. See you tomarrow.

 

[Wy Renegade]

looks good. See you tomarrow.

A good time was had by all! Can't wait to see the pictures everybody took; those were some pretty amazing tanks!

 

[Wy Renegade]

After adding the LS, cycling the tank began, and I didn't have to cycle with either shrimp or a fish. By Dec. 15th, ammonia and nitrites had both spiked, and I'd done my 20% water change to reduce nitrates. The diatom bloom was underway. On the 20th, with nitrates near zero and diatoms receding, I added my first corals (gifts from a fellow reefer; Dennis210); a GSP frag (knew enough to make it an island colony), a hairy mushroom frag, and a Xenia frag (silly me), and the first few members of my clean-up crew; cerith snails, nassarius snails, tongin snails, turbo snails, and some mixed blue and red-legged hermit crabs. I also added a banded serpent star and a astrea seastar.

Close-up of Green Star Polyp;

Close-up of hairy mushrooms;

Close-up of Xenia;

Astrea Seastar (taken May 12, '08);

Mixed hermits;

Red-legged hermits;

and a Tongin snail;

I loved the look of the GSP under my true-blue actinics;

 

[Wy Renegade]

On January 12th three of us took a trip to the not so local LFS in Billings Montana. I added two blue mushrooms. Had the worst luck I've ever had getting these suckers to finally attach ~ one disappeared under the rock, so I was down to one . The following day, the three of us got together again, and I aquired a number of tank additions from established tanks, Including;

Two small colt coral frags;

(Blue mushroom in background);

Two plating montiporas (one purple, one tan (yellow) w/pink edges) for some reason I only have a pic of the yellow one;

My purple ribbon gorgonian (Gorgonia pterogorgia);

And a coralline covered red mushroom rock ~ which I got to introduce coralline to the system;

Here's a picture of what the right side of the tank was starting to develope into (Left side was pretty bare except for the colt and xenia coral ~ so no picture);

It was also about this time that I added my first fish, a small Scopas Tang (which I've always loved, but didn't really research all that well, or I would have known better);

 

[Wy Renegade]

Early the next week, I added new corals purchased from the LFS;
A blue bullseye mushroom rock;

A Orange w/blue highlights Ricordia;

Some Armor of God palys;

And some emerald green centered zoas with brown skirts (perhaps Incredible Hulk);

Fell in love with both the AoG and the Ricordia under actinic lights;

 

[Wy Renegade]

At the end of the week, a buddy (Dennis210) and I received a large shipment of zoa and mushroom frags from GARF; just a few zoathid frags

Unfortunately, the zoas (which were supposed to be 12 different zoas) turned out to be only two different color variations:
Eagle Eye;

And Radioactive Dragon Eye;

The Mushrooms consisted of a nice green Yuma, a neon red, and a green hairy:

Unfortunately within a few days, the scopas tang began eating my zoas and had to be removed ~ went into a similar sized tank at school.
On January 23rd, 2008 I was shown saltwater internet boards by Dennis210, and I been around bugging people every since.

 

[subielover]

:haha:

 

[Wy Renegade]

By the end of January, I'd added only one more coral, a red and green bullseye mushroom;

I also added a new fish, a diamond watchmen goby (which I also didn't research very well

).

Tank was doing good, the cerith snails where even laying eggs and I was starting to see some coralline growth showing up on the glass.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Febuary and most of March seemed to fly by with everything else that was going on. Things were growing, but I didn't take hardly any pictures for most of this two months. Busy trying to place corals (putty and superglue gel), changing the rock slightly (zip-tied some together), added fans to the hood, fighting with a skimmer (kept overflowing) and a sump (major evaporation issues). Changed out the two maxijet 1200s for hydro koralias. Removed almost all the rock work once looking for the missing blue mushroom ~ found it, but it disappeared for a good a little later. I added a few things over this period, candy cane coral, an emerald crab ~ which I see only once in a blue moon ~ and never when I have a camera, and a halimeda plant (Feb. 13, '08). I was watching the man-made rock to see how it developed (nice coralline growth showing up) and trying to figure out a balanced salt mix (couldn't keep alkalinity up and calcium refused to drop below 600ppm).

Zip-tied rock (notice the zoa growth; picture actually taken in April);

My new Candy Cane coral (had to photoshop this one a little ~ sorry about the crappy pictures, I do get better);

And the Halimeda behind my explosion of Xenia;

End of March, things began to change. Added a couple new corals and started building a DIY sump.

March 24, '08, we took our oldest boy back to college after spring break. Stopped in Billings Mont. at a couple of not so local LFS stores. Purchased a tiny ricordia (not attached), a orange "leather" coral (sure it's photosynthetic ~ why do I listen to LFS workers/owners? I guess it's hard to research something when you're 120 miles from home), and a flasher wrasse.

Ricordia attaching to rock rubble, along with that stupid blue mushroom that kept floating off, and the red one from Garf;

My orange leather coral, which turned out to be a nonphotosynthetic Carnation Coral;

Unfortunately the wrasse did not survive the trip home (1st time I've ever lost a fish on this trip, and I've hauled lots of them both fresh and saltwater) very sad ~ it was a gorgeous McCosker's Wrasse (and thus began my fascination with the McCosker's)!

 

[Wy Renegade]

On the 5th of April, I made a few additions to my tank:
A green toadstool leather (doesn't look very green, but the main body is ~ you can really tell under true blue actinic lighting);

A octocoral, one of the clove polyps;

A red gonipora;

A gorgeous red-green-purple open brain (pictured here in the LFS tank ~ it melted in my tank without ever opening :cry:;

And a couple of types of zoa:
Kedd Redd;

Dirty Blue Jeans;

 

[Wy Renegade]

Of course since I was adding corals, I also added two more corals from my buddy Dennis210 (Thanks Dennis):

Neon Green Trumpet Coral;

And some green-centered button polyps (anybody know if the button polyps are a morph of Grandis? I know they occur in red, green (couple different variations), and the green-centered morph shown here as well);

While I had my camera in hand, I updated shots of a few of the others:
Armor of God palys

Incredible Hulk Zoas

Radioactive Dragon Eyes located @ the base of my purple ribbon Gorgonian

Here's the colt and the xenia corals, xenia is growing like mad;

A step back to show the assorted corals on the left side;

And, another of the yellow pink-edged plating monti;

 

[Wy Renegade]

On the 6th of April, my buddy Dennis210 and I helped another fellow reefer tear down his 120gal reef tank. The poor guy is moving down to mexico to his beach front property, were he can snorkle reefs in his spare time, so he decided to part out his tank. In return for some money and helping tear it down, I ended up with the following;

A mated pair of golden-coral banded shrimp (which I almost never see both of);

A lawn mower blenny (which for some reason I never got any pictures of).

An awesome large purple feather duster;

And I also added some of his LS to add some more biodiversity to my sandbed.

 

[Wy Renegade]

The 16th of April, Dennis210 and I swapped out my sump. The Orca was exchanged for a DIY 20gal sump that we had designed and built. Got input from wattsupdoc and a few others over on another board on the build (thanks guys). Also modified my coralife skimmer by drilling the cup, based on info from another thread there.

Here's a picture of how it did look; last chamber was constantly getting low, exposing skimmer pump to air and overflowing the skimmer cup;

20gal DIY sump from front;

DIY sump top-down;

DIY influent water channeler we built;

Skimmer collection cup mod;

Out with the old and in with the new;

Dennis210 filling the LR rubble chamber (Thanks Dennis for all the help!);

Almost ready for the water :-bd !

 

[Wy Renegade]

Some close-ups of each chamber:

Influent return chamber (RL rubble, blue filter pad, heater, Mag350 outflow line, and skimmer pump);

Fuge (SSB, macroalgae; chaeto, halimeda and xenia, skimmer return);

Return chamber (QuietOne 4000 return pump, Mag350 return line, heater);

And finally, there she is up and running;

Soooo much better than that prefab ORCA; don't know how people do it with those 10gal sumps

.