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I'm a little late in getting this thread up and posted, just been a busy month or so. I've finally outgrown my little 29 Biocube, you can only stuff (80+) so many corals into a small tank for so long before you outgrow it. I have hit that point. So the time has come, to move everything from this; to this; Yeah, thats a beer in my reef tank, that's just how we do it down here with the Richmond Reefers, first FTS has to contain a lucky beverage. I'll be moving most of the SPS over, most of the LPS will be sold off to help cover the cost of the upgrade. The equipment (specs) list for the 60 is as follows; 60 gallon Marineland Reef Ready Rimless Cube Marineland Stock Stand Vertex Omega 150 Skimmer Sicce Silent 3.5 Return Pump Nextreef NRS-24 Sump AI Hydra 52 LEDs (w/Director) JBJ NanoGlow LEDs for the Sump ReefKeeper Lite Tunze Osmolater ATO (3) Ecotech MP-10 Wireless Pumps Finnex 200w Titanium Heater 60lbs BRS Reef Saver Dry Rock 60lbs Tropic of Eden Reef Flakes MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia The only real modification I did was to have the rear panel drilled for my return, I opted to use both existing pipes in the overflow for a full siphon drain. I cut the smaller 1" pipe about 6" lower than the (larger) overflow pipe and tune it with a gate valve in the rear of the tank. With the exception of a small trickle, it's dead silent. The sump fit so well, I tried to talk my wife into positioning the stand so that the sump was always visable just so I could stare at it all the time, we compromised, so the answer was NO. The next thing I started working on was the scape, set up a mock tank in the man cave and started putting the BRS Reefsaver rock together, 1.5 tubes of aquamend later I get something I'm excited about, May 03 2015, tank went wet. Under the hood - It looks so much different now with all the equipment mounted, I'll need an updated Pic. With everything being white, it's hard to see exactly how it looks, but you'll have to trust me, it's prety neet looking. Very open with so many coral mounting options. I did an old school cycle, which is to say, a very slow cycle. Brand new sand, brand new rock, brand new water. One thumb sized chunk of raw shrimp, one cup of existing sand from the BC. Almost exactly 30 days later a complete cycle. I was going to do a slow transition over to the 60, but in the end, I did it all in one day. I've only suffered one partail casuality, my ORA Borealis. It's about 80% peeled, but still hanging on. Keeping fingers crossed. Now here we are, at (just over) the 2 month mark. Had a moderate GHA outbreak, mostly on the back wall. Nothing unusual with a new tank. Just for shnits-n-giggles I put my lawnmower blenny in there to see if he would munch on any of it. Didn't have high expectations as I thought he preferred macro or film algae. Let me tell you, he dug into that stuff like an all you can eat buffet. Back wall is clean and top of tank (where he stays) about 80% clean. Bottom half still has some, so I figure a few turbos should finish it off nicely. Corals have colored back up realy nice, a couple still have a way to go, but all in all I'm very pleased. Corals and tank as of last weekend; First up SPS -
Ok, so i am a habitual lurker, not big on the social medias. Figured it was time to contribute to the greater good. I have learned alot from the members / posts here and on RC and thought i could share my experience (read mistakes) and help others avoid them in the future! Long story short back story. I have had a 55g standard for probably 12 years which had african chiclids up until about three years ago when i made the switch to saltwater. Got sand, some rock from a LFS and a pair of b&w ocellaris (still with me, tough little buggers) and off i went. I have gone from hang on the back skimming, to variations of sumps in the stand to my current set up which is a plumbed basement sump room (corner of the laundry room actually - i cant get authorization for a whole room I was very proud of my little sump room set up. And that is where my problems started. Started having issues with inverts (snails, crabs, worms) and my couple of attempts to add some hammers. Nothing stayed alive long. The corals slowly receeded and died over time. Snails and crabs started lasting a day or two after being added. But my tank was sparkling clean! No algae, clean white sand. Then the cyano started taking over, everywhere. I was stumped. Richard at ERC even tried to help (we are neighbors) but no luck. I eventually ordered up a testing kit from Triton labs. I suspected copper, but wasn't sure. Well, i got the results back and it was copper and zinc, here were my results. So the lightbulb went off after i got these results. I know there have been mixed reviews on Triton Labs, but have to say it did what i expected it to and confirmed my suspicions. I had plumbed a brass gate valve in my return line from the sump room. #Hasbrown NewbMistake #1. Brass = copper & zinc, and um corrodes in saltwater. Needless to say was pretty pissed at myself for basically nuking the tank. I figured my sand and rock were pretty much ruined for a reef tank at this point. So time to hit the reset button and might as well go bigger, right