It’s alive!!!Matt and Maria’s 180 gallon build

[Mattb1612]

So after a year and a half we broke down our 65 gallon Red Sea reefer and sold it since we were moving. We decided with a new house we needed a new bigger Tank. Dsparri(aka dan) was the mastermind with helping us. He housed all are live stock from our 65 gallon while we were in transition. We bought a 180 gallon from LiveWire and began our build. Dan helped with the move and the plumbing. It’s been a process. Here is some teaser shots of what it looked like and what it somewhat looks like now. As far as specs go: were running 3 ocean revive t247. filtration will be marinepure Spears, aquamaxx cone 2 skimmer, santimonica algae scrubber, jebao 10000 return pump and gyre maxspect 150 , 5 manigroves with Cheeto and 160 pounds of rock and 160 pounds of sand.

 

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[Mattb1612]

Sorry it posted weird.

 

 

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[Mattb1612]

Tank is up and cycling. Ugh the waiting game begins.

 

 

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[harticus5]

Looks good!!!

 

 

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[Origami]

Nice. Not sure if there's any benefit to having the lights on during cycling, though. It may be better to have them off so bacteria develop without (or with less) competition from algae.

[Mattb1612]

Thanks you guys. I just wanted them on for the shot. I’ve been keeping them off like you said. I’m seeding the tank with live rock I hope it cycles quick.

 

 

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[Mattb1612]

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you guys. I’m finally almost done cycling. I have zero ammonia’s and I’m at .25 nitrates. So it’s going good. I added a Melanarus wrasse and a CUC. I also added a refugium light and some cheato to help nitrates. I also added a test piece of gsp to judge when it would be ok to add my rocks and corals back.

 

But everything is going good so far. I’m still learning how to setup the apex and it’s the next task for next week. This hobby is always interesting with new challenges!

 

 

 

 

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[Mattb1612]

One last picture of what the aquascaping looks like.

 

 

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[Mattb1612]

Updates So I hit a snag and learned some lessons. One alway qt untrustworthy fish stores and two make sure you test at least weekly. The tank is starting to look good I’m adding more sps my wishlist for next couple months: sunset milli, strawberry shortcake Afro, red planet acro and green planet acro. My biggest challenges is making sure levels are stable. Sorry I’m using Tapatalk so pictures are pasting in weird.

 

 

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[flooddc]

Look like you got some nice live stocks. The photos are so blue so it's hard to see those nice stuffs you have in there. 

[Mattb1612]

Look like you got some nice live stocks. The photos are so blue so it's hard to see those nice stuffs you have in there.

Yea I’m not good at taking photos I’m going to start practicing some more and see if I can get some better shots. Oh I forgot to add current livestock: 3 clowns, leopard wrasse, melanarus wrasse, yellow tang and diamond goby.

 

 

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[flooddc]

Yea I’m not good at taking photos I’m going to start practicing some more and see if I can get some better shots. Oh I forgot to add current livestock: 3 clowns, leopard wrasse, melanarus wrasse, yellow tang and diamond goby.

 

 

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Get some gel filters and use the orange filter and place it over you camera lens to filter out the blue light. It should improve your photo.

 

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gel-Filter-Flash-Diffuser-soft-box-12-Sets-of-Colorful-Studio-Lighting-Flash-Gxn/222914227461?hash=item33e6b92d05:g:8xAAAOSwU2VZn4Lu