Troy's SPS Reefer350

[troywawrz]

Hello guys, this thread has been a long time coming. I have been planning this tank for over a year. Basically ever since I got out of the army. I am very loosely following the "wwc brs hybrid method". I am using brightwell aquatics neozeo method. I do like the kz but I am running on a budget for now and will see how things go.

Equipment
-Neptune Apex
-Geissman Aurora 48"
-Old Reef octo 110
-Aquamax zeovit reactor
-Gyre xf250 X 2
-Mp40 on the bottom to pick up detritus
-Bubble magus dosing pump with extra slave pump

Current Livestock
-2 clownfish one is one of the white ones.
-1 yellow tang (I know tang police but Im keeping the fish stocking light and he has 48" of swim room which is recommended.)
-1 Melanarus wrasse I just got

-Birds of Paradise
-Poneape
-Frogskin acro

This is it for corals for now until I can observe that they are doing well. I will post pictures in the next couple hours.
I would like to add I am located in Watertown NY. There is really only one lfs and petco to shop at. The lfs is very small. Nice guy but old fashioned and only has API and Kent Marine. I do most of my shopping online and actually I got the acro from petco. I used to work there and they have a good selection as far as saltwater fish goes.



Also another edit. Ive had this rock in a trashcan for about a year. I put a shrimp in there and kind of forgot to feed it for most of the year. Who knows if the shrimp was able to support the bacteria for that long or they were able to eat the organics. But about a month before I set up the tank I threw another shrimp in and another bottle of microbacter7. It seems to be pretty stable.

 

[Auquanut]

Looking good! Keep the updates coming. You may want to add some sand for the wrasse though. They need it to sleep in. Lots of folks will put a glass container of sand in their bare bottom tanks for the wrasse to sleep in.

 

[troywawrz]

Looking good! Keep the updates coming. You may want to add some sand for the wrasse though. They need it to sleep in. Lots of folks will put a glass container of sand in their bare bottom tanks for the wrasse to sleep in.

That is a good idea. Would a piece of tupperware about 6 inches long work? Hes pretty small right now but that should be big enough. For some reason I thought only radiants and a couple other needed sand. I made the thread because in highschool my 2 tanks I had both ended pretty badly with aptasia and other failures. Right now my budget is of course a little bigger but I am more patient and disciplined with my maintenance. So id like to document what is working and not working for those who are looking for ideas.

 

[Auquanut]

My melanaurus wrasse is about 3 years old and about 4" long. I would think a 6" container would be fine for quite awhile. Not sure if long term exposure to tank water would have a corrosive effect on tupperware or not. Can't go wrong with food safe glass though.

 

[troywawrz]

Update my nitrates just tested at about 30ppm. I am not sure what is causing this. Probably my laziness with the filter socks and the fact that I only have 2 sets. So I am washing them and temporarily increasing the carbon dose. I failed to read the instructions on the bottle and it says "new tanks/high nutrients" and says to dose higher. Im not really sure where my tank falls on that spectrum because Ive had the rock for so long. I will just keep testing and dose based on my water parameters. My water is crystal clear and the corals are healthy. So I am not super worried but I would like to see that number go down.