sethsolomon November 26, 2019 Share November 26, 2019 Hello everyone! So back with a passion to make this next tank my forever tank. Currently working out the details of getting a new tank but wanted to reflect on the last 10 years of my reefkeeping journey with all the mistakes I have made as well as the successes I have had and wanted to share them with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon November 26, 2019 Author Share November 26, 2019 So First some mistakes, I think about 90% of my mistakes were user error on the tank. Anytime a coral died it was because I was lazy and not keeping up with my testing or checking equipment. Reflecting on this makes me realise that the simple steps are some of the most important. Water changes: over the past 5 tanks this is one thing that is vital to good coral growth. The best results I ever had with a tank was with my 120g back in Colorado. I religiously did water changes on that tank and I had amazing coral growth with that tank. Those trace elements in saltwater are much more vital than we know. Keeping the tank stable includes these trace elements not just the big 3, Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. So the goal with the next tank is to take a page from my friend Bradly Syphus out in Utah and make Saturday mornings my tank maintenance and fish tank zoning out time. Butterfly fish: So one thing with my last tank that I really made a mistake with was getting some butterfly fish. I feel like the with caution reef safe designation is a little generous. In tanks the size that most people have, a butterfly fish will slowly kill corals off as they sample the polyps. I observed this from all the varieties of butterflies I had. So a butterfly fish will never have a spot in my reef going forward Pump cleaning: This is something that i have not done much in the past and it had taken its toll on a few tanks in the past. I had my calcium reactor pump die on me and I never realised it was dead for about 2 weeks and at that point it was too late and caused a tank crash. This is one thing I want to do at least monthly is go through and check and clean my pumps. Testing: These mistakes were 100% on me. I would get lazy and not do testing for sometimes months at a time. This is a vital thing to do weekly so you can keep track of your tank and keep everything healthy. Doing it on a regular basis will help catch things before they can cause problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon November 26, 2019 Author Share November 26, 2019 And to cheer it up with some success, Leopard Wrasses: one thing people have always asked me was how I was able to have such good success with leopard wrasses. At first I thought it was a lot of luck, but it is really how I introduce them to the tank. I have found that keeping them in a tank by themselves for a few weeks allows them to build some dominance and helps them cope with the stress of travel whether it's from an online retailer or just the trip home from the fish store. The key to the tank they stay in before your display is to have a tank with at least 2 inches of sand, well cycled with tons of pods, and nice hiding spots. The pods are a major key to this, they are the buffer zone you have to help make sure the fish is eating frozen food. More pods you have, the more time you have to get them transitioned to prepared food. Once they are eating frozen, regularly for 2-3 days, then they can be introduced to the display. From my experience, after about a month in the display eating a little frozen and having pellets on an auto feeder, I have always seen the leopards eating pellet food. The reason they are labeled as "Expert" fish is because you need to have the setup available to give them the time to transition to prepared foods. Clams: These have been something that I have always loved and all my successful tanks have had. They are gorgeous creatures and also IMO a vital part of cleanup crew. They absorb many of the bad nutrients that we try to remove with water changes. A must have in my reefs. I am hoping I can get a squamosa back to the size of the 15" one I had in my 120g. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlem November 26, 2019 Share November 26, 2019 welcome back buddy. So you're going to go with that 600g you told me about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon November 26, 2019 Author Share November 26, 2019 1 minute ago, hlem said: welcome back buddy. So you're going to go with that 600g you told me about? I wish I had room for a 600 I am hashing out details for a 150g cube. this is probably going to be a pretty slow build. I want to do it right and take my time. There are several things I wish I would have done differently with my 225g that I am going to do with this 150g. Like having a proper sump. I am currently also shopping around for the right sump to go under a 150g cube. I am also planning on having a 10g tank plumbed into the tank under the tank for bringing in wrasses and letting them get used to the parameters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlem November 26, 2019 Share November 26, 2019 good luck with the build. Let me know if you need help anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime November 27, 2019 Share November 27, 2019 Tagging along for this ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon November 28, 2019 Author Share November 28, 2019 The tank has arrived!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime November 28, 2019 Share November 28, 2019 YES! Looking good man, can’t wait to watch this grow out!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals November 30, 2019 Share November 30, 2019 I hope you enjoy the tank as much as we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 7, 2019 Author Share December 7, 2019 So an update. Ordered a sump and a skimmer from the black friday sale. Went with the Trigger Systems Ruby 30 sump and a Skimz Monster 167 DC skimmer. Hopefully I will get the base stand built this weekend so I can place the tank up on a stand. I am going to make the stand 33" tall so it will just barely fit through a doorway. Still debating on how to skin the stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 8, 2019 Author Share December 8, 2019 Here is the assembled skimmer and sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 9, 2019 Author Share December 9, 2019 So I have been thinking about the stock list and here is what I have decided on so far: Fish: Macropharyngodon geoffroyi Macropharyngodon kuiteri Macropharyngodon choati Macropharyngodon negrosensis Macropharyngodon meleagris Macropharyngodon moyeri Gramma loreto Nemateleotris helfrichi Nemateleotris magnifica Nemateleotris decora Stonogobiops dracula x2 Anampses neoguinaicus Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis Acanthurus tristis Cleaning Crew: Tridacna squamosa - Aquacultured Blue Tridacna squamosa x maxima - Aquacultured Mespilia globulus x2 Tripneustes gratilla Lysmata amboinensis x2 Lysmata debelius x2 Fromia indica x2 Trochus sp. x30 Nerita sp. x30 Nassarius sp. x30 Cerithium sp. x 80 Long Term Goals: Gramma dejongi Macropharyngodon lapillus Anampses femininus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlem December 9, 2019 Share December 9, 2019 Do you have pictures or common names? I have no clue what those are without googling.. and I’m too lazy to copy and paste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 14 hours ago, hlem said: Do you have pictures or common names? I have no clue what those are without googling.. and I’m too lazy to copy and paste Potters wrasse Kutier leopard wrasse Choat's leopard wrasse Black leopard wrasse Leopard wrasse Moyer's leopard wrasse Royal Gramma Helfrichi firefish Purple firefish Orange firefish Dracula gobies China wrasse Rhomboid fairy wrasse Eblii mimic tang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlem December 10, 2019 Share December 10, 2019 2 hours ago, sethsolomon said: Potters wrasse Kutier leopard wrasse Choat's leopard wrasse Black leopard wrasse Leopard wrasse Moyer's leopard wrasse Royal Gramma Helfrichi firefish Purple firefish Orange firefish Dracula gobies China wrasse Rhomboid fairy wrasse Eblii mimic tang Awesome. Looks like it’ll be a very cool tank. Go check out Supreme Reef. He has a nice display with lots of smaller fish like what you’re planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, hlem said: Awesome. Looks like it’ll be a very cool tank. Go check out Supreme Reef. He has a nice display with lots of smaller fish like what you’re planning. I will check him out. Yah thinking about stock lists, one thing I am doing new to this tank that I have not done in any other tank, I am not going to do any crabs. I am going to stick to only snails, shrimp, conch, urchins, and clams for cleanup crew. And I think I am going to do 3 part dosing instead of running a calcium reactor like I had on all my past tanks. It's probably going to cost me more in the long run, but i really like that ability that you can change the dosing on the fly and it is much more configurable than a calcium reactor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime December 10, 2019 Share December 10, 2019 2 hours ago, sethsolomon said: And I think I am going to do 3 part dosing instead of running a calcium reactor like I had on all my past tanks. It's probably going to cost me more in the long run, but i really like that ability that you can change the dosing on the fly and it is much more configurable than a calcium reactor. How is it more configurable than a calcium reactor? I've always believed it to be the other way around, but I've never used a reactor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, YHSublime said: How is it more configurable than a calcium reactor? I've always believed it to be the other way around, but I've never used a reactor. With a calcium reactor, the levels come in at the proportions that the media was generated in. If you have corals that are making bases that are not in the ratios the same as the media, the levels can go out of balance. With dosing pumps, you can adjust for those different requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime December 10, 2019 Share December 10, 2019 22 minutes ago, sethsolomon said: With a calcium reactor, the levels come in at the proportions that the media was generated in. If you have corals that are making bases that are not in the ratios the same as the media, the levels can go out of balance. With dosing pumps, you can adjust for those different requirements. But 2 part or 3 part is mixed up to a ratio, don't you have a baseline like that with your reactor media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, YHSublime said: But 2 part or 3 part is mixed up to a ratio, don't you have a baseline like that with your reactor media? the calcium reactor media melts to a specific ratio. but depending on the coral in your tank, you could be using more or less of one mineral vs another. so you have to manually adjust for that difference to bring it back into balance. With dosing pumps, you just increase whatever nutrient your tank is using up more. So with dosing pumps, you can adjust more to keep your levels more consistent. EX: Say the calcium reactor is melting out at 8 parts calcium, 8 parts alk, and 0.5 parts magnesium but your tank is using 5 parts calcium, 8 parts akl, and 4 parts magnesium, you will have to manually dose those other nutrients to keep it in balance. vs the dosing pump route you can just set the pumps to dose those 5,8,4 parts the tank is using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA Reefdog December 10, 2019 Share December 10, 2019 That stocking list should be a very impressive tank. Can't wait to see how all those wrasses look together. Always wanted most of those wrasses- should be beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 11 minutes ago, VA Reefdog said: That stocking list should be a very impressive tank. Can't wait to see how all those wrasses look together. Always wanted most of those wrasses- should be beautiful. Yah the key will be when to introduce them. The 10g tank under my 150g will be key to make sure they are very healthy before they go into the display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlem December 10, 2019 Share December 10, 2019 This CalRX here is supposed to be super easy to adjust. but its $$$$ https://www.deltec-aquaristic.com/en/products/calciumreactors/crtt-series/deltec-cr-twintech-3000/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon December 10, 2019 Author Share December 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, hlem said: This CalRX here is supposed to be super easy to adjust. but its $$$$ https://www.deltec-aquaristic.com/en/products/calciumreactors/crtt-series/deltec-cr-twintech-3000/ but you are still limited to the ratio of the media which still can cause an imbalance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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