First Time Reefer - 72g Mixed Reef

[Neilan]

So, Ive been a WAMAS member for well over a year, with intent to setup a reef tank. Well, I've finally done it, with much help from Ziggy953 and lots of others over on AA.

 

My complete build thread is over on AA, here's the link with all the picky details.

 

Tanks been up and running for less than a week so far, cycle underway.

 

 

72g bowfront tank, Drilled for a closed loop

29g sump

10g fuge with 2x13W PC light

2x175W Icecap MHs with Reeflux 12000K bulbs

2x54W T5HO retro with 1-geissman Super Actinic and 1-geissman Actinic+

Octopus NW-150 Skimmer

2x Koralia 2 Powerheads

Sump return is on a Mag7

Closed Loop is on a Mag12 with SCWD

Eshopps PF-1200 overflow

DIY Stand and Canopy

100 pounds Pohnpei Live Rock

Aragamax Sugar Oolite for sand - ~90 pounds in the DT and 30 in the fuge

 

Few bugs/issues to work out which I may be asking for help with, but overall things are going pretty well. I'm not 100% happy with my rock structure, but I disassembled and reassembled it 3 times already - lol. We'll see what happens with this in the future.

[zoozilla]

Nice start. Tagging along.

[jason the filter freak]

i think a really really awesome fix you can do on this tank to make more use of your rock work, open it up a bit so you can avoid dead zones, and cover more of your back wall/components up

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15962

 

check this thread out and make some jason the filter freak rock racks out of CPVC, eqq crate, zip ties, and krylon fusion. You could build some racks and get the rock stacked up so you have more room behind where your fish can dart in and out of, put one of those koralias back behind there blowing across the back of your tank pretty near the bottom of your tank, it will keep detritus from building up back there, then you can leave a little open cave and have a korlia pointing forward from the back of your tank blasting out towards the front of your bow while still keeping the power head sealed you can also leave small caves so you can direct the flow of those loc lines out of it. the racks can be cut to any shape and size height or width to give you a ton of scaping options.

 

heck provide beer, cash, supplies I'll do it for you, I love aquascaping , tank looks awesome so far though, love the plumbing you've got going on.

 

thats my one big thing that i think would be pretty simple and be great benefit to you.

[Steve G]

i think a really really awesome fix you can do on this tank to make more use of your rock work, open it up a bit so you can avoid dead zones, and cover more of your back wall/components up

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15962

 

check this thread out and make some jason the filter freak rock racks out of CPVC, eqq crate, zip ties, and krylon fusion. You could build some racks and get the rock stacked up so you have more room behind where your fish can dart in and out of, put one of those koralias back behind there blowing across the back of your tank pretty near the bottom of your tank, it will keep detritus from building up back there, then you can leave a little open cave and have a korlia pointing forward from the back of your tank blasting out towards the front of your bow while still keeping the power head sealed you can also leave small caves so you can direct the flow of those loc lines out of it. the racks can be cut to any shape and size height or width to give you a ton of scaping options.

 

heck provide beer, cash, supplies I'll do it for you, I love aquascaping , tank looks awesome so far though, love the plumbing you've got going on.

 

thats my one big thing that i think would be pretty simple and be great benefit to you.

 

Sorry to hijack, but Jason, how much beer do you need to fix my disaster of a re-reaquascape?

 

First attempt

 

Second attempt

 

Neilan,

 

If you want to come to DC for some free corals, I have kenya tree, xenia, and green metallic mushrooms.

[Vader]

Looks like you're off to a great start. I've just started my first tank too, so It will fun to watch and see how the tank progresses. I'll be tagging along and keep us updated.

[MisterTang]

I chose to do a similar rockwork design as yours ("island") on purpose - to give my tang more perceived swimming distance. He seems to enjoy swimming laps around the rockwork and (I hope) feels less cramped.

 

The biggest drawback has been flow. I plugged in a Maxi-Mod 900 and a Koralia 4 and got a swirling crapstorm of staggering proportions - I think I actually had a vortex starting in the center of my tank. No matter how I position my powerheads, I get a bit of a "toilet flush" effect. I suspect I will need to use several smaller powerheads to fix this. Other than this issue, I've been very happy with my aquascaping.

[CHUBAKAH]

Depending on what direction you go with corals, I think there is way too much emphasizes put on the rock work in this hobby, or aquascaping.

 

Of course that is just my opinion, but take a look at this tank and see if you see any rock at all?

This tank is 50 gallons. I don't mean to hijack, I just wanted to point out I think you have done a fine job with your rock work.

 

The coral placement will be key.

Edited January 1, 2009 by CHUBAKAH

[rioreef]

Enjoy looking at a tank with no corals or fish for awhile (months). BE PATIENT. Feed the tank with some food for the bacteria and you can have some cleanup crew in there also. But, again my advice is resist the urge. Wait til Spring to start adding the fish and corals and do it slow. Your tank will thank you in the long run. Based on my own experience, but if you don't you will be battling hair and slime algae.

[gsedlack]

The one thing I would do if I were starting over is to bond many of the rock pieces together rather than pile them on top of each other - no better time then now

[Neilan]

Thanks for all the tips. Jason, if you weren't so far away I'd bite on that offer in a heartbeat.

 

I agree that eventually the rock structure probably will be irrelevant, but I imagine that that is much more than a year away before I have a tank covered in corals, so for a while it does matter aesthetically.

[Vader]

Enjoy looking at a tank with no corals or fish for awhile (months). BE PATIENT. Feed the tank with some food for the bacteria and you can have some cleanup crew in there also. But, again my advice is resist the urge. Wait til Spring to start adding the fish and corals and do it slow. Your tank will thank you in the long run. Based on my own experience, but if you don't you will be battling hair and slime algae.

 

Listen to him, he speaks the truth. This is my tank after 3 weeks.

 

[Neilan]

Appreciiate the advice, but what exactly would I be waiting for? A tank that's 3 months old isn't just magically going to not have algae vs a tank that's a month old.

[Vader]

It's about getting all the parameters right and a good bio cycle started before adding live stock. I'm new to this hobby and my algae bloom is probably much worse than someone that has been in this hobby for years.

[jason the filter freak]

chewy is on to something if youre going to mainly quick growing branching sps and softies your rock work is ideal. how ever if you are going to be doing more lps ( non branching ie not torch hammer etc.) softies and slower growing sps and encrusting sps i would say you may want to consider opening up your rock work a bit and have some peaks and valleys for higher and lower light requiring coral and astetic reasons. if you want to achieve this with out getting more rock or having to drill or glue rock my egg crate and cpvc racks are a fantastic idea (my own opnion results may vary) and its not hard to do on your own i offered to help because i love it if youd like to talk more in depth about the methid shoot me a pm and ill give you my cell number

[Neilan]

So I kinda forgot I started this thread many months ago. The tank is coming along quite well IMO. I've reached a loading point where this week I've found the need to start dosing 2-part.

 

Here's some shots, at random, over the past few months to catch this thread up. I'll do better about keeping it alive.

 

Most Recent FTS - 5/1/09

 

 

I'm no photographer, as you can tell.

[jason the filter freak]

i like the tank you're going a good job first timer, stuff looks great

[Vader]

Looking very good, keep the up-dates coming.