Starting a 100 gal soon, and want advice on my plans

Rubymoon286

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Just what the title says. I'm ordering an IM 100g Peninsula in the next couple of weeks and want to start putting my plan together.

I currently plan to light it with two AI Prime HDs that I have since they both have a 24"x24"x24" spread and I'll upgrade if needed but like the idea of not having a giant fixture. I already have a suitable filtration plan, including a sump, skimmer, and a couple of different reactors that I can swap in as needed - as well as a uv system from when my bigger system ended up with dinos.

For rock, I'm not certain. Currently my tanks range from 1 gallon pico dwarf seahorse habitat at work, a 5 gallon dwarf seahorse refugium that's attached to my 20 gallon flat mixed reef with a 40 gallon sump, a 20 gallon AIO drop off lps dominant reef (euphyllia primarily.) I started the bigger system with live rock, and added previously live rock that bought from someone else, nuked, and recycled for the ponies, and dry "life" rock for the drop off so I've had experience with both.

For cost reasons I'm leaning more towards dry rock since the scope of the tank is much larger, and Tampa bay saltwater is quoting me over 1k for live rock and sand before shipping. I think what I might do is order live sand from them, to seed the tank and cycle some dry rock with it, even if that's not necessarily the pretty option.

I am also considering growing some mangroves into bonsai (my other extremely expensive and patience requiring hobby) controlling size and growth with root trims and selective pruning/wiring to get the desired shape. I'm just not fully sure if carefully curated mangroves look okay with a reef right by them, or if they'd seem out of place. I would like to plant them in plastic trays that are shallow enough to go under the sand bed to help control root growth which in turn controls how big the tree gets, and makes it a lot easier to manage the root system without disrupting the entire tank. What is the general consensus on Mangroves in a reef display?

My thought is having the trees on the return and drain side so that the branches don't eventually interfere with coral growth, and I can put a plant specific light over the mangroves to be sure they are getting all the light they need to be healthy and strong. I then plan to have an island of rock, possibly two space allowing for coral. I don't plan on any acros at this time but I would like to make a mixed reef with some montis and "easier" sps along with lps, and maybe some softies, if it wouldn't be too jarring with the trees. If the trees are a weird look, I am also considering doing a display refugium similar to the one I have on my first reef, but make it all sea grasses and a mangrove - maybe some macro in there to add some color. I'm not sure if I'd do dwarf ponies in that, but I do have experience with ponies and a reef being in the same system, and I'm currently struggling to keep up with how fast my ponies are breeding, so it's likely they'd end up in a display refugium of seagrasses and such. I do plan to heavily seed the system with pods too with the hope of eventually having a pair of

Sump, the plan is a skimmer and macro of some sort, probably chaeto, reactors as needed, but with how large the tank is, I'm more worried about lack of nutrients during the early stages and while I learn to manage a giant tank (compared to my experience with small tanks)

I'm very excited to start on this journey, and excited for how lovely the tank will be in a few years when it's had some coral growth, and now I have options for fish that weren't previously options, which is exciting too. If you read this far, thank you for reading my ramblings and thoughts, and I look forward to reading everyone's opinion on my loose plan I have right now.
 

Queen City Corals

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The tank sounds awesome! Super excited to see it set up, but I would recommend going with a more powerful light to start with, while you might be able to get away with the primes I think that it would save you the headache of replacing the lights in the future and probably save you some money as well. I would recommend going with either two AI hydra 32s or if you want something a little smaller two XR-15 pros, these will give you better spread and penetration for such a deep tank. I also think that going with dry rock will be fine especially if you add some bio-media like marine pure from another established tank or just a few pieces of live rock. I love the look of Mangroves in displays and you can check out this tank for some inspiration. I agree you might have nutrient issues but I wouldn't worry about that too much because you can add more food, or directly dose nitrate and phosphate as needed.
 
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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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The tank sounds awesome! Super excited to see it set up, but I would recommend going with a more powerful light to start with, while you might be able to get away with the primes I think that it would save you the headache of replacing the lights in the future and probably save you some money as well. I would recommend going with either two AI hydra 32s or if you want something a little smaller two XR-15 pros, these will give you better spread and penetration for such a deep tank. I also think that going with dry rock will be fine especially if you add some bio-media like marine pure from another established tank or just a few pieces of live rock. I love the look of Mangroves in displays and you can check out this tank for some inspiration. I agree you might have nutrient issues but I wouldn't worry about that too much because you can add more food, or directly dose nitrate and phosphate as needed.
Thank you so much for your reply - I think I will look at either the Hydras or the XR-15 pro - I had looked at hydras for it and I am more likely to go with AI since I already have the lighting schedule I like on the app and am familiar with it. I will still compare the XR-15s before I make a final decision too. The other light I looked at in my initial search was Neptune's SKY, but I think I want to stick with a lower priced light to start since I'd need 2 of the SKY and nearly 900 for a single light that has the same spread is a quite more than I think I want to spend!

I do love Jake Adams' work, though it's bitter sweet to go back through some of his older articles. I think I will toss in some extra bio media in my big system sump and between that and doing the Tampa Bay live sand, I think I'll have a decent start for dry rock. I ordered the tank today so between the time it takes the tank to ship, the time it takes the sand to get here, and the time it takes me to actually scape the behemoth, it should get a good start. I think I'll also toss a bit into my pod breeding system to get some pods established too
 

bradreef

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Yes, as said above . You can simply seed the dry rock. Place some in your existing systems for a few weeks and incorporate that into the new tank. I would plan on not running the skimmer right away if you as a macro in the sump. Unless you get a huge fish load quickly.
 
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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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Yes, as said above . You can simply seed the dry rock. Place some in your existing systems for a few weeks and incorporate that into the new tank. I would plan on not running the skimmer right away if you as a macro in the sump. Unless you get a huge fish load quickly.
I do plan on macro once I start getting a nutrient load, and then skimmer once I get enough of a fish load for it to be worth it. I typically am light on stock these days (except for my dwarf seahorses which have been breeding like rabbits lately) I don't anticipate needing the skimmer until I get to the halfway point of adding fish with my current stock plans. I will probably run chaeto in the sump once I start adding fish.
 
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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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I agree more light, I used 2 hd's on a 20 long.

I agree with not wanting a huge fixture though, maybe 3-4 evenly spaced or something you can add on in the future.
I'll look into that as well - I am leaning towards the Hydras since they are still pretty slim especially if I get them in black. I can probably use one prime with different settings in place of a grow light for the mangroves since, in theory, it should be powerful enough to grow trees since it can grow coral.
 

ReefGeezer

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Great system. Light might be an issue later though. You've spent a great deal on the system so far. Looks like I'm out of step with the others but, It would suck to not have the best experience because you skimped on rock & sand in the beginning. You could, buy about 75% of the base rock and all of the sand you will need, it is cheaper, will create less die off, and has all the life you need. Call KP Aquatics, GulfLiveRocks. com, and TBS to see to see if you can get a better deal shipped. You might get a better price if they know you are competitively bidding a pretty good sized order. You can add more base rock or some premium rock later.
 
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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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Great system. Light might be an issue later though. You've spent a great deal on the system so far. Looks like I'm out of step with the others but, It would suck to not have the best experience because you skimped on rock & sand in the beginning. You could, buy about 75% of the base rock and all of the sand you will need, it is cheaper, will create less die off, and has all the life you need. Call KP Aquatics, GulfLiveRocks. com, and TBS to see to see if you can get a better deal shipped. You might get a better price if they know you are competitively bidding a pretty good sized order. You can add more base rock or some premium rock later.
I will call around to the different places for rock and such - If I do the live rock, I'll start with the Primes I think. I don't plan on very many corals early on - maybe a softy or two while everything gets established Once it's running nicely, I can upgrade lights and add more light intensive corals. I do also plan on a few NPS gorgonians once I have a decent fish load (I'll still feed with phyto of course) I'd love to have a sun coral someday, but I'm only 4 ish years into the reefing side of fish keeping and I don't feel ready for a sun coral yet :grinning-face-with-sweat:
 
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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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For light, since you already have the two AI Primes, maybe you can look at the new AI blade to complement them? 2 blades + the two AI primes might be enough.
Oh interesting thought - I'll add it to my list for research! Thanks so much!
 

ReefGeezer

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I will call around to the different places for rock and such - If I do the live rock, I'll start with the Primes I think. I don't plan on very many corals early on - maybe a softy or two while everything gets established Once it's running nicely, I can upgrade lights and add more light intensive corals. I do also plan on a few NPS gorgonians once I have a decent fish load (I'll still feed with phyto of course) I'd love to have a sun coral someday, but I'm only 4 ish years into the reefing side of fish keeping and I don't feel ready for a sun coral yet :grinning-face-with-sweat:
I've been working on an article documenting exactly how I'd set up a reef tank. It is not completely finished and needs some polish , but it might be a good read for you. Check it out.
 

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Rubymoon286

Rubymoon286

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Nice! That's thinkin' ahead.
P.S. For the new 100, I vote 3 AI Primes and like the idea of Blades if needed to supplement and see what happens (low budget-ish)
That was my first reef - I had the fear of god put into me by all of the horror stories surrounding water parameters in nano reef tanks - total water volume in that system is 65ish and going strong. My 20 AIO has been just fine despite not having the extra water volume but right now I've just got two clown fish and coral in it, so weekly 5 gallon water changes have been enough to maintain it I do have a hob refugium with chaeto which has helped too. But I definitely think that having the larger water volume helped me learn the balance of reefing before I jumped into the drop off. It also helps that I had done Fish only set ups for several years before branching out into a reef as well as planted freshwater tanks.

I plan to research the blades tonight, and buying a third prime might just be the ticket and thinking about how to supplement with the blades if I end up needing it. A third prime plus doing 50% base live rock and 50% dry rock plus live sand fits in nicely to my budget for this build. I even have found a source for mature mangroves, so I don't have to start completely from scratch growing them from seed. I'm somehow even more excited for this build than I already was!
 

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