Shoop's Reefer170

[ChicagoShoop]

Hey all! Was suggested by someone that i should start an official build thread so here we go!

Here is the equipment that I am running:

Red Sea Reefer170 Deluxe
Octo VarioS-4 Controllable DC Water Pump
Reef Octopus eSsence S-130 Protein Skimmer
Finnex 300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller
Reefer DELUXE 170 Aquarium w/ReefLED 90 - Red Sea
Vorteq MP10
BRS 75 gal/d 4 stage RODI
Red Sea Pro Salt
40lbs of Life Rock

Livestock:
Snowflake Clown
Frostbite Clown

Coral: (link to pictures- https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/first-reef-tank-red-sea-reefer170-deluxe.703432/post-7303234)
Tank Raised Duncan
ARC Golden Galaxea
Orange Ricordea Mushroom
Nice Watermelon Chalice
Cherry Blasto
An unknown Acan- any help identifying would be great
Utter Chaos
Bowser Paly
Neon Green Cyphastrea
Tyree Baby's Breath Favia


Tank filled on 4/3

Tested parameters on 4/5 and resulted in the following:
Salinity reading 1.025
Alk 9.5 dkh
Ca 360 ppm
Mg - no reading. couldn’t get part B of test kit to drop fluid
Ph 8.3

LFS store tested my parameters on the same day with different results.... user error!
Salinity reading 1.025
Alk 11.2 dkh
Ca 460ppm
Ph 8.4

Did a skip cycle start and added a large bottle of Fritz turbo start 900 on 4/5 and added two clowns the same day.

On 4/6 i test ammonia and came back cloudy yellow which is perfect. Did my first 10% water change that day as well to be proactive. Since i removed some of the bac that was addede on 4/5, i tossed a small bottle of fritz in; 3/4 in DT and 1/4 in the sump.

4/7- 2 feedings later, ammonia still testing at cloudy yellow, perfect! Bac is working as expected. Set my ReefLED90 on a 60 day acclimation period and placed 10 frags in the tank that i purchased last saturday during the ARC live sale.

4/8- Frag rack coming from a local guy who manufactures them out of his house. Will be moving frags from the rock and onto the rack so i can acclimate them to higher light slowly.

 

[Peace River]

Excellent start to your build thread! I like your choice of equipment!

Here is the link to add the build thread banner if you are interested:

So you want a MY TANK THREAD badge???

Well, here's the way to get one! STEP 1: Start a tank thread in one of our member tank forums (CLICK HERE). *Btw, it doesn't have to be a new tank. It doesn't matter if your tank has been up for 40+ years, we would still love for you to start a tank thread where we can follow all the updates...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[fishguy242]

i think you have to copy link and paste in profile @Daniel@R2Rcan you help? thanks guys

 

[ChicagoShoop]

yep got it! thanks guys

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking great!

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Corals placed on frag racks and look happy as all have opened back up after moving. Tested ammonia again, because why not, still cloudy yellow. Also turned back on my skimmer for first time in 3 or 4 days. Going nuts again but that should calm down in 12-24 hours I imagine. I’ll give it about 4 or 5 days wide open before I start to dial it in to an appropriate level (might need some assistance there). Thanks for following! More updates to come!

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Hey everybody. Been a few days since last update so figured I’d post one. Did another 10% water change today and tank is looking pristine. That bottled bac skip cycle really delivered. Fish have been goofy as can be and only real trouble I’m having is feeding them. They don’t seem all that interested at times. I have to turn all pumps off and pour a little bit of shrimp directly above them and wait for them to go at it. Sometimes I have to net out what I’ve poured and try again. Hoping this changes because I was under the assumption that clowns were pigs.
Skimmer has been going nuts since last Wednesday, took top off on last Friday and it was overflowing until Sunday morning. Now the bubbles are staying in the cup and draining back into the tank but it sure made a salty mess inside the cabinet. Need to do a good clean this week.
I do have a coral question for the pros out there. On one of my zoa frags, I noticed a small green leaf looking thing. Any ideas what it could be ?
Attached an updated pic of the tank as well, some junky 1.99 iPhone app. Any tips on how to take better pics are welcome as well!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[fishguy242]

hey looking good,post pic of leaf?

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Any good way to show it? Can’t seem to find the right filter settings to get a clear picture.

 

[ChicagoShoop]

 

[fishguy242]

can try shooting pis through reef glasses if have or red orange filter??

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Yea I don’t have any filter to put on the phone. Let me do some research. Maybe there is a setting I haven’t found yet.

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Thinking about first upgrade already everyone..... I think i want to get rid of the stock filter sock and get a filter cup. I would use about half filter floss in there that i can change out every 5 days or so. Any suggestions as to what i should place in there? bio media? i dont really see the need to use carbon as i dont run it in my FW planted tank and have never had an issue with water clarity.... but open to suggestions!

 

[fishguy242]

floss, phos remover if no fuge

 

[Bryan68]

Hey everybody. Been a few days since last update so figured I’d post one. Did another 10% water change today and tank is looking pristine. That bottled bac skip cycle really delivered. Fish have been goofy as can be and only real trouble I’m having is feeding them. They don’t seem all that interested at times. I have to turn all pumps off and pour a little bit of shrimp directly above them and wait for them to go at it. Sometimes I have to net out what I’ve poured and try again. Hoping this changes because I was under the assumption that clowns were pigs.
Skimmer has been going nuts since last Wednesday, took top off on last Friday and it was overflowing until Sunday morning. Now the bubbles are staying in the cup and draining back into the tank but it sure made a salty mess inside the cabinet. Need to do a good clean this week.
I do have a coral question for the pros out there. On one of my zoa frags, I noticed a small green leaf looking thing. Any ideas what it could be ?
Attached an updated pic of the tank as well, some junky 1.99 iPhone app. Any tips on how to take better pics are welcome as well!!
Thanks in advance!

What did you use for your MP10 wire clips? They look sharp!

 

[ChicagoShoop]

I picked up some plastic clips from Home Depot over by the picture mounting stuff. They have those pull tabs on the back to release. Forgetting the brand name though.

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Played around with the iPhone camera editing to see if I could get a clear picture of the leaf looking thing on my frag. Any help identifying would be appreciated!

 

[fishguy242]

looks like a macro ,leafy plant ,think ok ,just monitor..

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Will do! Thanks

 

[ChicagoShoop]

Went to the LFS today to pick up some CUC as I noticed some small brown spots on the sand. Talked with the guys there and walked out with 10 small hermit crabs and a purple firefish. Crabs went to work immediately and that sand bed is darn near spotless. Few brown spots left but I’m sure it will be gone by tomorrow. Firefish was trying to hide in open spots for the first couple hours. Now he seems to have found a really good one as I haven’t seen him in the last 3hrs. Hope it comes out soon, really pretty fish.