Building Gurgly – Kallor’s 125ish gallon reef tank

[Origami]

Excellent. Thanks for the update.

 

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[Kallor]

Gurgly is doing quite well - thanks again everyone for your help and support during my previous l--k crisis. Now I've been able to get back to enjoying this project

 

For my next step, I made Gurgly a lid using the standard BRS kit. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out - the netting is nice and taught. I couldn't play tennis with it, but I certainly could rock out a game of badminton. The "lip" on the tank's top bracing made for a perfect place to rest the top - it really helps keep things looking clean. 

 

 

Gurgly's new hat. For the moment, this is just keeping any freakishly huge diatoms from jumping out of the tank . One day it will have actual fish to hold back.

 

I also painted the dry side of my algae scraper to better match the tank's decor. I used some paint leftover from painting the back of the tank.

 

Now I've got a question for my fellow WAMAS'ers: what do you recommend for my refugium's substrate? I'm definitely going to load it up with chaetomorpha, and currently it is loaded with live'ish rock that I had to remove from my main display to make my aquascape turn out the way I wanted. But for the substrate ... I was thinking either an inch or three of sand, bare bottom, or one of the various miraculous mud products (miracle mud, mineral mud, Fiji mud, etc.). However, I'd love some advice and/or pros/cons.

 

Finally, a giveaway if anyone is interested: I've got around 3-4 feet (I can get it out and measure it if needed) of 1" braided vinyl tubing free for the taking, as well as a few good sized chunks of dry rock. If anyone wants it, PM me and we can set up a time for you to swing by my place and grab it. I can also cut anyone a really good deal on 5 1" schedule 80 bulkheads (threaded x threaded - bought from BRS) - though I'd rather sell/trade those than give them away.

 

Happy holidays everyone!

Edited December 20, 2013 by Kallor

[monkiboy]

good for you. how large is the refugium for this tank? my initial response would be to leave it bare bottom. on those mineral muds, fuge specific substrates i'd pass 100x i pass. i've meddled with miracle mud with no appreciable results and a problem when i didn't want it anymore. very few reviews i've read recommend it's use. keep us updated and merry christmas!

[YHSublime]

I've heard same things listed above.

 

Nice hat. I'll be making one of those soon.

[Kallor]

good for you. how large is the refugium for this tank? my initial response would be to leave it bare bottom. on those mineral muds, fuge specific substrates i'd pass 100x i pass. i've meddled with miracle mud with no appreciable results and a problem when i didn't want it anymore. very few reviews i've read recommend it's use. keep us updated and merry christmas!

 

 

I've heard same things listed above.

 

Nice hat. I'll be making one of those soon.

 

Thanks for the advice guys! I couldn't have asked for two better responders! I really respect both of your opinions (having read so much about your builds on WAMAS). And to be honest, I'm actually quite happy with your advice - the various muds sounded messy and troublesome - and certain aspects of the marketing made me somewhat suspicious. I'm not making any value judgements, but for me at least ... I'll join the you both in the bare bottom sump club!

 

Also, good luck with the hat - making the netted top was substantially easier to do than I expected. I spent about 30 minutes on the whole thing. One nice part is if you make a mistake (with the exception of cutting something too short) you can easily redo whatever step you flubbed. I had to re-cut some overly long pieces of the framing 3 times.

[Kallor]

A quick update: After about 4.5 weeks, Gurgly's nitrogen cycle is wrapping up. At the moment I'm just waiting on getting a good buildup of algae and then I will add my clean-up crew. Here are some shots to show how growth in the tank currently stands:

 

A particularly funky spot on the sandbed

 

 

What most of the rocks look like

 

Happy New Years everyone! Hopefully in a week or so I'll have update photos filled with snails and crabs

[Kallor]

Soliciting Advice on Future Tank Inhabitants

 

As I’ve currently got some downtime as I wait for my cycle to wrap up, I thought this would be a good opportunity to request some input from the community regarding the critters that will soon inhabit my tank. Most of my comments below are based on what I've read or seen by watching these guys on youtube or at the fish store. As this is my first marine tank with inverts, I don’t have much first-hand experience, so if any of you see any misconceptions, feel free to point them out.

 

Thus far, I’m planning on a clean-up crew consisting of:

• Micro hermits - General purpose cleaning, and fun to watch. I know they might occasionally gobble up a snail.
• Snails - Nassarius for the sandbed, and some algae eaters for the glass and rocks – perhaps cerith, nerite and trochus? 
• Mithrax crab - I know they can get nippy with corals, but everything is a risk, right? Also, I like how they look and find them interesting to observe
• Sea cucumber - For sandbed maintenance, and to give me something challenging to look for in the tank
• Conch (or two) - Fun to watch, and good detritus and sand cleaners
• Brittle starfish - I’d like to get a yellow one. They are good scavengers and interesting to observe when they stick their arms out.
• Red Fromia Sea Star - Mostly to enjoy watching her starfish about the tank.
• Cleaner shrimp - Fire, skunk … I’m not too sure. Any recommendations?

Regarding  vertebrate, swimming residents, I’m thus far thinking of:

• A pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish - I'd also like to get an anemone for them to pair with, and I'm leaning towards some type of bubble-tip at the moment
• A trio of Fusilier Damselfish – There isn’t much information available on these guys online,  but Steve at QR likes them and has told me they make for peaceful , hardy and not-so-shy additions to a reef tank. Does anyone have any hands on experience with these guys?
• A pair or trio of Kaudern’s Cardinals – My wife is partial to these guys, and I admire their interesting shape and spotting as well.
• Blue Dot Jawfish - Lovely fish with a cool personality
• Watchman Goby + Pistol shrimp
• Kole Yellow-Eyed Tang – I like tang’s, and I like the subtle spotting on these guys. Plus they don’t get quite as large so hopefully one would be happier in my not-so-long , squarish tank. I'm still a bit concerned about a tang being unhappy in my tank, so this is the potential inhabitant I'm most wishy-washy about adding.
• Green mandarin – I will of course will have to wait many, many months for a stable pod population before adding a mandarin.

I figure most of the clean-up crew could be added at the same time, with perhaps the exception of the red fromia sea star (which I would wait to add when the tank is more established). The fish would be added slowly - perhaps one species every month or every other month, based on how the tank responds. The mandarin would of course be added when the tank is ready, which I am guessing could take up to a year.

 

I'd really  love any feedback or advice on this basic plan. Thanks everyone!

[smallreef]

Everything on you list looks good...except the blue dot jawfish....unless your going to keep your tank cooler(like I do) at 76ish...they like more temperate water...getting over 78 is hard on them...

Other than that..everything looks nice...you also have more options for things like a Midas Blenny and while I love the goby shrimp pair sometimes they make their burrow far away in the back and you can't see them :(

[YHSublime]

I've decided not to keep mandarins anymore, after two attempts. It can be done, and is by many, I'm just not one of those who can! I would suggest adding as many pods as possible before adding fish. I would then wait 6 months before considering it, but jmo. Even at 2 months of being fallow, my tank was exploding with pods.

 

[Kallor]

Everything on you list looks good...except the blue dot jawfish....unless your going to keep your tank cooler(like I do) at 76ish...they like more temperate water...getting over 78 is hard on them...

Other than that..everything looks nice...you also have more options for things like a Midas Blenny and while I love the goby shrimp pair sometimes they make their burrow far away in the back and you can't see them :(

 

Thanks for the input regarding the jawfish. The more I read up on them, the less likely it seems like I can provide an ideal home for one of them. I think I'll cross the jawfish off of my list for the moment. I've heard about reclusive goby/shrimp pairs in the past, so I'll reconsider this idea as well.

 

I think I'll look at blenny's as a replacement - as well as a pair of firefish - I've always liked their shape and coloration.

 

I've decided not to keep mandarins anymore, after two attempts. It can be done, and is by many, I'm just not one of those who can! I would suggest adding as many pods as possible before adding fish. I would then wait 6 months before considering it, but jmo. Even at 2 months of being fallow, my tank was exploding with pods.

 

I appreciate the advice. I'm rather wary of being able to provide for the dragonette ... and your input reminds me of why that is. There are too many sad stories about trying to keep this lovely fish in an aquarium. Also, if I got a dragonette I'd have to worry about other 'pod eaters out-competing them for food ... so for the moment I'll leave one on my perhaps-in-the-future list, and see how things stand after I've added Gurgly's other inhabitants.

 

So for the moment, I'll keep most of what I had on my above list. However, I think I'm looking more now towards something like this (with the updates italicized):

 

    A pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish

    A trio of Fusilier Damselfish

    A pair or trio of Kaudern’s Cardinals

    An interesting blenny - perhaips a midas blenny

    Watchman Goby + Pistol shrimp - or perhaps a pair of purple firefish

    Kole Yellow-Eyed Tang

    Green mandarin – reevaluate in 6 months - 1 year

 

Of course more comments and feedback are always appreciated!

 

And now to sneak in some quick tank update photos

 

Bubbles bubbles bubbles! Photosynthesis bubbles! I think they look like little globs of molten silver.

 

A small bubble takes refuge under a bacteria/algae encrusted piece of filter floss

Edited January 3, 2014 by Kallor

[Kallor]

Well it has been a month since my last post, and I've certainly got some updates. 

 

I've had some challenges and upgrades since my last posts. One  upgrade I really like is the addition of an Avast Skimmate locker. Its storage capabilities are great - but I almost like the pressure sensor more. I did something wonky yesterday that set my skimmer off, and got a nice text message from the Apex in response. It definitely helps me feel more relaxed.

 

After having more bulkhead issues, I replaced all of my 1" schedule 40 bulkheads with 3/4" schedule 80 units - they fit perfectly in the pre-drilled holes for the 1" schedule 40s. I started to feel like my schedule 40's would get hairline cracks if I looked at them crooked. I've been very, very happy with the upgrade. I had plenty of flow with the 1" - and I still have more than enjoy for both the pump and the overflows. The Eheim I have has a 3/4" output anyway, and I had my overflow drains closed quite a bit. The switch over hasn't effected anything negatively, so even though it took some time I'm glad I did it.

 

As I implied above, also got my Apex's email/SMS alarms set up properly - and I actually found a use for my Comcast email account  - they were the only provider I could find that still lets you send email without using an authentication mechanism that the Apex sadly doesn't support. I think the Apex cloud update will fix this, but until that rolls out of beta it is nice to have the email  and text alerts working. 

 

Earlier in January I ordered some 'pods and other assorted stuff from InlandAquatics. In hindsight, I was a little hasty with this, but the critters I got was the stuff you normally would get with your live rock, so I think for that reason it turned out ok. I ended up with various pods, some chaeto, bristle worms, a hair worm, some micro brittle stars and some other type of micro star. They've all done quite well - and I'm pretty sure the bristleworms have reproduced already. It is fun to watch the whole crew come out and feed. The micro brittle star's are particularly enjoyable to watch.

 

Below are some shots of the starfish. The micro brittle stars are just a bit bigger than a quarter, and the other unnamed micro star is about the size of your pinky's fingernail.

 

 

 

I've also recently starting noticing teeny white 'pods scurrying around low flow areas of my glass. Always a good sign, I think. And when I clean the foam surrounds on the MP-40s, I nearly always rinse out a large 'pod or two.

 

Finally, one critter I've particularly enjoyed watching has been the hair worm. I didn't notice him for the first week or so after he was added to the tank, but for the last 2 - 3 weeks he has set-up shop in the front corner of the aquarium. I made a short video illustrating how he spends his day. I'm not really sure how to embed a video into the post, but you should be able to watch it by clicking here.

 

With my cycle wrapping up, I think I should be ready for my first fish in a week or two. I'm going to start with a pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish, and then work from there. Exciting times!

Edited February 3, 2014 by Kallor

[YHSublime]

Looking good! Good job at sitting back and waiting!

[londonloco]

I had to look up hair worm, really neat.  If you don't mind me asking, what was the music in the background of the worm video...I really liked it, thought it would be a great track to run with.  

 

Tank is looking great, keep up the good work!

[Tracy G]

I really wish I had your patience. Looking great!

 

 

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[Sharkey18]

I LOVE the macro shots of the bubbles!  Looks good. 

[tpallas]

Nice tank! Off to a great start. I'm down the street in Ballston, we should be frag buddies.

Tom

[s2nhle]

.   Beautiful set up.  Thanks for sharing. Tagging along.

[Kallor]

I had to look up hair worm, really neat.  If you don't mind me asking, what was the music in the background of the worm video...I really liked it, thought it would be a great track to run with.  

 

Tank is looking great, keep up the good work!

Thanks for the kind words!

 

The song is Windbrake - Walsh & McAuley Remix Edit. It on my workout mix as well - and I think also works pretty well for general lounging around.

[Kallor]

I really wish I had your patience. Looking great!

 

 

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Looking good! Good job at sitting back and waiting!

 

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm trying my level best to 'do it right'. To be honest though, I've been kept relatively busy just doing the routine tank setup tasks - programming the Apex (which I suppose one is never finished with), dialing in the skimmer, dealing with getting the ATO set up correctly (avoiding siphons in both directions, etc.). Living vicariously through everyone else on the forums has also helped However, I must say I am more than a wee bit excited about finally getting my first fish in the tank!

[Kallor]

I LOVE the macro shots of the bubbles!  Looks good. 

The kind words are much appreciated! I hope to get better at my aquarium photography as Gurgly's inhabitants will also surely grow my interesting. On and off for most of my cycle I've gotten a variety of bacterial blooms that has clouded the water (and glass) quite a bit. That seems to be setting down *fingers crossed* and clear water should certainly help in the photography realm.

 

Thanks again!

[Kallor]

Nice tank! Off to a great start. I'm down the street in Ballston, we should be frag buddies.

Tom

Absolutely! When I can finally frag a piece of coral sounds like a lifetime away - just being able to place one in the tank almost does as well. But hey, in a few months hopefully I'll be ready. It would be great to be able to join in the community frag swapping!

[YHSublime]

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm trying my level best to 'do it right'. To be honest though, I've been kept relatively busy just doing the routine tank setup tasks - programming the Apex (which I suppose one is never finished with), dialing in the skimmer, dealing with getting the ATO set up correctly (avoiding siphons in both directions, etc.). Living vicariously through everyone else on the forums has also helped

 

If you ever get done doing that stuff, let me know. I am still slowly accomplishing everything you mentioned.

[londonloco]

Thanks, downloaded and on my playlist!  Now, on with the build.....

[surf&turf]

Tank looks great, nice scape!!

[Kallor]

Tank looks great, nice scape!!

Much appreciated! As my nitrogen cycle settles out I'm starting to get quite excited about placing corals on it - hopefully my 'scaping plan will play out. I've been envisioning acropora near the rear of the tank near the top and near the pumps, and then having softer stuff in the front. Hopefully my anemone will pick a good spot ... the idea is to have him settle in the front left corner of the tank (which I suppose would cramp my hairworm's style). But time will tell!