The Dawn of my 125 gallon Reef!!!

[Reefing Newbie]

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I will be starting a frag tank build soon, or at least I hope so. This will serve as a coral QT tank as well for the beginning. The idea behind the frag tank is QT initially, but to hopefully get some nice interesting corals to add to the DT later. I will also use it to frag off corals as they grow to get a bit of extra cash for this addiction(the thought crossed my mind on building a larger tank again ). More details to come on this later. It will be a few weeks out.

[iwishtofish]

Beautiful fish! I read they can be aggressive. Do you by any chance have a net rigged for the top of the tank (jumping)?

[ludiNano]

Originally Posted by Reefing Newbie

Bubbles I must say your turn around pictures from 1/22 are amazing. Congrats on the first fish.

Will you be running the frag tank as a separate system from the DT?

Originally Posted by iwishtofish

Do you by any chance have a net rigged for the top of the tank (jumping)?

I highly recomend the window screen kit. ^^^

[Reefing Newbie]

Originally Posted by iwishtofish

Beautiful fish! I read they can be aggressive. Do you by any chance have a net rigged for the top of the tank (jumping)?

I have heard about aggression from them too, but I am willing to take the risk with them. This isn't going to be a "peaceful" reef, more like middle of the road with a damsel, purple tang, and PBT being in the mix(PBT being the last addition). I will definantly be building a screen top for the DT. I keep getting my BRS order pushed back because of various things arising, but the screen materials are the bulk of the order.

Originally Posted by ludiNano

Bubbles I must say your turn around pictures from 1/22 are amazing. Congrats on the first fish.

Will you be running the frag tank as a separate system from the DT?

Thanks! I am very proud of myself thus far. Will upload DT pictures because I finally got the rest of the rock over to the DT system. Played with the middle island a bit.

The frag tank will be a separate system. I don't have room to add it to the DT as of right now(won't until all fish have been QTd) and don't want to wait a year because that is when the tail end of my stock will be in QT or soon to be. I decided on a 40 breeder for the frag tank, with a custom built sump(built locally by an LFS or club member), and a DIY T5 retro(thinking 4 bulbs).

[Dragon moray ki]

looks good man good luck

[Reefing Newbie]

Thanks! Can't wait for the frag tank to be full of corals!

[Dragon moray ki]

neither can I with mine I just started cycling my tank and a I have a pair of clowns and a very small tang in my 70 gallon qt so I can wait until its ready I love ur tank btw and good job passing on ethe sailfin I know it's hard as u know about my tang adiction any way it's so good to be back

[Reefing Newbie]

Update-
As expected I have diatoms coming in on the sand. I haven't noticed it anywhere else yet, just waiting lol. I have 20ish nerites, 50-100 cerinths, and 30ish florida cerinths. They should help it from getting too out of control before silicates are removed from the water.

[Reefing Newbie]

Just a small update for today-
Did a test for all of the test kits that I have on the DT. Learning how to use them because I was using API prior to the tear down. Now I am using Salifert and Red Sea. May go back to API for pH and nitrite(maybe ammonia, but I didn't have an indication card for it before so I never used it.), but want to make sure I am doing everything right before switching back. Here is what my numbers are for what I have(don't have a calc, alk, or Mg test yet, but will when I do my next BRS order).

Salinity(or SG can never remember which is which)- 1.024(will be bumping up to 1.025 or .026)
Temp- 78.6*F

Salifert Tests
pH- 8.0(could barely see the color in my testing water)
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm(again, hard to see color)

Red Sea
Nitrate- .75-1.0 ppm
Phosphate- .04

Let me know how it looks for a two monthish old tank! I managed to trade a kenya tree coral(growing in my QT tank like a weed) for some red gracilaria, ulva, and chaeto. Put them in my fuge last night. Glued the gracilaria to a small rock. Hope they grow and get the NO3 and PO4 down.

Pictures of the macros and new scape(very slight change in the middle island)-


Something growing on the glass:








Montipora that has been in the tank for about a month and a half because I can't get rid of it.


Video of my clowns assosiating with a PVC pipe(just minutes after being in the tank, hope they assosiate with nems that quick!)

[Reefing Newbie]

A little odd...

I brought a water sample to my LFS yesterday and he said my Calcium was at 480 and my Alk was low(no numbers given). I tested today with my leftover API(about to expire, but I heard they last longer than said). I got a reading of 440 for Calcium and 7 dKH for my Alk. I know my alk is low so I am needing to figure out how to get it up a bit. I don't know what my Mg is yet so I need to find a test kit for that. I used Red Sea Coral Pro and the readings are suppose to be 450 Calc, 12.2 dKH, and 1340 Mg. My calcium is close, but understandably being used because of the coralline algae and the one monti that is in the tank. Where the heck is my alk going?

[iwishtofish]

Coralline algae is a calcerous algae, I believe, and thus uses alk as well as calcium. Low magnesium can make it difficult to maintain levels of Ca and alk, so perhaps that should be checked - I've heard that magnesium is depleted much more slowly than Ca and alk, though.

Where does your pH generally stay? To maintain my alk, I use a combination of sodium carbonate (aka soda ash, from Bulk Reef Supply) and sodium bicarbonate (Arm & Hammer baking soda) to create a "pH neutral" alk mix. I don't dose a lot, but it doesn't affect my pH at all when I do, which is just my preference. Most people, I think, dose a straight one or the other, depending on the effect they wish to have on their pH. The BRS website has instructions for all the mixing options.

[Reefing Newbie]

It is at 8.2 and has been there for a couple weeks. I figured it was because of my alk being so low. I don't want to do anything until my Mg level is checked though because it could be a waste if my Mg is off.

[Dragon moray ki]

Read the whole thread love the tank good luck.

[Reefing Newbie]

Update-
Today I went in with some hard airline tube connected to the flexible airline tubing to pick off as much red bubble algae as I could. I did pop a few, but luckily they popped while they were being sucked up the tube (still attached to the rock). Now just to get them off my turbo who let go of the rock he was on because a bristle worm was under him.

My dominant female pylei fairy is really morphing to being male. The black spot is nearly invisible and the coloration is getting much brighter!

Now to some nice things. I have been talking to a fellow reef club member for a few weeks who does acrylic work on the side. My tank needs a new sump because I will be getting a more effective skimmer to handle a larger bio-load. Thinking a Reef Octopus SRO-XP2000. One of my LFS has one that they will be taking off their frag tank system soon that I can get for $300. Been used for 8 months so fairly new. The only problem with my plan is that I am clueless as to how I will get the current sump out. Thought of cutting out the middle beam in the front of the stand and putting it back after everything is situated. I just don't want cut marks on the "skin" of the stand to stand out. If anyone has ideas, I am all for it!

Planned sump to be built with a 20 gallon high fuge separate from it(drains into the circle on the side of the sump)


And the front of my stand showing how much room the current sump takes.

[Reefing Newbie]

Got an update on the tank.

I am moving forward with the new sump and fuge. Picking up a new skimmer in a couple of weeks. I will be getting a 6 month old Reef Octopus SRO-XP2000I from one of my LFSs. They want a larger skimmer for their frag tank and I wanted a bigger skimmer than an AquaC-EV180 for my tank. I probably won't get the new sump and fuge until the end of April (two weeks into a summer job then). Today I picked up 10 Mexican Turbo snails to help me keep GHA under control until I can get the new filtration done. Need to replace GFO soon.

My stocking plans have changed as well. I decided to go with only one show fish. The show fish I decided to go with is a PBT. The rest of the list:

2x Ocellaris clowns
2x Pylei Fairy Wrasses
1x McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
1x Linespot Flasher Wrasse (I may get two female flame wrasses instead of flashers...)
1x Royal Gramma
3x Resplendent Anthias (getting 4 because I heard that some may die in QT)
1x Randall's Goby (may do a pair if any come up on DD when I am ready)
1x Yellow Tail and Starki Damsel
1x PBT

[Dragon moray ki]

Good I'm about to get a 150 dd with a 20 gallon sump and a protien skimmer rated up to 300 gallons do you thinks it's to much or shouldi go with the 200 gallon model

[Reefing Newbie]

You are going to want more than a 20 gallon sump. My fuge will be 20 gallons and the sump around 30.

[Dragon moray ki]

Sorry I ment a total of 40 wrong button soorry bubbles.

[Reefing Newbie]

Picked up a new toy yesterday. Drove to the LFS after they offered me a used SRO-XP2000I cone skimmer. They have used it for their frag tank/ coral tank system. They are going for a similar skimmer with a smaller footprint so I got this one. The skimmate coming out of his system was good so I can't wait to get it running on my system. The next step is the new sump. I should be getting that end of April, early May depending on how many hours I get in at work the next few weeks.

[Reefing Newbie]

Nothing much going on with the tank right now. In a couple weeks I should finally have a new sump. Next weekend I will be attending my first club frag swap, so I will be getting some LPS and acros.

RIP ludiNano. Your advice and following of my build was very appreciated, I know you are still following.