My VERY humble reef

chopper320 · 02/06/2013, 07:13 PM

History: 44 gallon pentagon mixed reef. Started August 2012. This was a tank that I had sitting empty for a while and I finally got the chance to get back into the hobby.

I started with about 40lbs of fiji and 5 lbs of manado live rock and a 4" dsb. There is no sump. I run a HOB cpr BakPak skimmer and an aquaclear converted to a fuge that also has a slot to run carbon 24/7. My lighting is a Chinese LED unit sold in the U.S. by Reefbreeders. So far I've been very happy with it and you can't beat the price. I had practically no cycle but still waited about 5 weeks before adding any livestock. I was kind of shocked that I didn't have much of a cycle but I guess this can be attributed to using all fully cure lr. I live about 30 minutes from Premium Aquatics so I didn't have to have LR shipped.

The tank has quite a few scratches and it presents a few issues due to its unique shape. The main issue is getting good flow. I currently have 3 phs. 2 hydor koralia 750's and 1 aqueon 550. This seems to get decent flow to most areas after a lot of time spent adjusting. I still have a few dead spots that I'm trying to remedy.

I'm really ready for a new tank already. I would like to go with a 40 gallon breeder drilled for a sump and a closed loop system. That is in the very near future!!!

Current Parameters tested for:
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia 0
Calcium - 380
Alk - 8 dkh

I do a weekly 4 gallon water change. I have a tunze nano osmolator setup in an ATO. I evaporate about a half gallon a day.

Anyway, my buddy came over last weekend and took some really cool shots for me with his camera that I wanted to share.

The closest thing to a fts we took:

What I think is a blasto but maybe someone can help id it for me:

My clowns were the first additions to the tank and were very small when I got them. They had really been fighting for a few weeks leading up to this. As you can see in the pics of them their mouths are white looking from all of the fighting. In the last week, they seem to have sorted out their dominance and they are healing up nicely. Hopefully I will have a breeding pair in the future.

Pulsing Xenia was the first coral added. I kept it isolated on my sand bed to avoid the dreaded xenia plague. This was a good thing, because it started out as 2 small stalks just a few months ago and now it's huge. I'm already fragging it.

Birdsnest bought from a local reefer. I've had it for about 4 months and noticed some slight growth:

Small acan colony

Ricordia - originally bought as 1 disc with 2 mouths, now it is 3 complete discs.

GSPs - Again isolated on sand bed to avoid a rampant spread

Yellow with blue polyps monti cap - the color didn't turn out quite right on this pic but it is a beautiful cap. I've had a good amount of growth in the 3 months that I've had it.

Other corals are a couple of small acro frags, a monti digitata that started out as a very small frag and has grown nicely, a pocillipora, green frilly shrooms, multi colored ricordia, toadstool, and green echinophyllia.

Fish - pair of clowns, sixline wrasse and a yellow tail damsel

Other inverts - serpent star and various snails and crabs for a clean up crew.

I dose 20 ml of 2 part C - Balance and so far that seems to keep my params in check. I plan to start testing for mag and possibly dosing for it soon.

Thanks for checking it out. Fire away with critiques or comments!

puleski · 02/06/2013, 09:29 PM

Looks good I like it.

worm5406 · 02/06/2013, 10:52 PM

Which type of gsp is that??

I like the tenticles and the way it looks.

Very nice btw.

Rain999 · 02/06/2013, 11:00 PM

Hey Chopper

Those are some really nice looking pics! Can't wait to see what your tank looks like as it grows in!

DM1975 · 02/06/2013, 11:28 PM

Your clowns look like they have been eating powdered donuts. :-)

Very nice looking tank.

chopper320 · 02/06/2013, 11:44 PM

Thanks for the compliments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by worm5406

Which type of gsp is that??

I like the tenticles and the way it looks.

Very nice btw.

I'm not really sure what type they are. They are in a high flow area though which seems to have made their polyps really extend. Interestingly my clowns are starting to host in them. It doesn't seem to bother them at all though.

chopper320 · 02/06/2013, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DM1975

Your clowns look like they have been eating powdered donuts. :-)

Very nice looking tank.

Lol! If you ever watched the Chappell show, they kind if look like the crackhead on there.

cloak · 02/06/2013, 11:52 PM

They almost look like cichlids to me...

DM1975 · 02/07/2013, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chopper320

Lol! If you ever watched the Chappell show, they kind if look like the crackhead on there.

Oh yeah, lol. I didn't even think about that.

chopper320 · 04/01/2014, 09:07 PM

Update: I switched everything over to a 40 breeder in about April of last year.
Current system:
40 breeder with 20l sump
Lighting: 2 reefbreeders value fixtures - 7 hours all lights and an hour of blues only at start and end of light cycle.
Flow: 2 Jebao wp-25s and eheim 1260 return
Filtration: 40lbs live rock
Bubble Magus Curve 5 skimmer
chaeto in refugium.
continuously run gfo in a phosban reactor 150 changed every 3 weeks
continuoulsy run about 1/2 cup of carbon in a bag in sump changed monthly
Monitoring:Apex Jr running 2 dosing pumps for bionic 2 part, heater on temp controller and refugium light

Maintenance
Weekly:
10% water change
Clean Jebao pumps
Empty skimmer cup
Clean glass
Test alk, ca, Mg
Monthly:
Fill dosing containers
Trim Chaeto

Some updated progression pics

5/18/13

3/16/14

chopper320 · 04/01/2014, 09:10 PM

Just got these at the worc fragswapper in Dayton OH this weekend

betamed · 04/01/2014, 09:17 PM

tempting me to drag my 44 out of storage and set it up. great corner tank with good depth.

smtank · 04/01/2014, 09:34 PM

Very nice 40B.

ocellaris123 · 04/02/2014, 12:04 AM

Hey nice tank, are your clowns still fighting?

Usually if they are jaw locking like that it is a good indication they are both females.

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 06:20 AM

Every once in a while they will have a spat but for the most part they just stay next to each other. I was hoping that they would mate by now. They have both grown quite a bit but neither is getting much larger than the other.

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by betamed

tempting me to drag my 44 out of storage and set it up. great corner tank with good depth.

My only complaints with that tank were the height. It sure made maintenance a hassle. Also, it was hard to get good flow going in that tank.

After switching to a 40 breeder, I think I will always stick to a more shallow tank.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smtank

Very nice 40B.

Thanks guys.

crvz · 04/02/2014, 09:04 AM

there are some great pieces in there, looks nice.

mluntz · 04/02/2014, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chopper320

My only complaints with that tank were the height. It sure made maintenance a hassle. Also, it was hard to get good flow going in that tank.

After switching to a 40 breeder, I think I will always stick to a more shallow tank.

Thanks guys.

Not to hijack, but what modes are you running your wp-25's on? I just can't settle on what I like.

By the way, the tank looks great!

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 10:50 AM

I run them both on else mode and they are at opposite ends of the tank. I think the jabeo pumps are a great value but I do have to clean them every week or I have a noticeable drop in flow.

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 11:01 AM

I don't know how obvious it is from the pics but I have a constant battle with a caulerpa and cyano. I haven't positively identified the caulerpa but it gets roots way down in the rock crevices. My only action right now is manual removal but it is an endless battle.

The cyano is a green cyano and forms on the rocks mainly but occasionally on the sandbed as well. Both of these problems started a year ago when I switched everything over to the 40 breeder.

I run gfo and carbon around the clock. I feed very lightly, skim heavily and I'm stocked lightly. Nitrates and phosphates always register 0. I'm sure there are some but the algaes are consuming it all.

None of this seems detrimental to the corals and I keep it under control so that it's not an eyesore but I'd love for it to go away!

I'm also slowly removing the sand during water changes. I had about a 1" sand bed but the grain size is too small and it gets blown around by the pumps. I haven't decided if I will go barebottom or if I will add a larger grain sand back to the tank when I have all of the current sand out.

Blind45503 · 04/02/2014, 12:51 PM

Awesome tank really nice looking corals. Sucks about the algae Im currently in the same battle.

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blind45503

Awesome tank really nice looking corals. Sucks about the algae Im currently in the same battle.

Thanks! I guess if there wasn't some sort or challenge going on in our tanks it would get boring.

scott3569 · 04/02/2014, 02:36 PM

Nice looking tank!!! I am interested are you using any other filtration other than a protein skimmer?..and when did you start introducing your corals from when you first set it up? nice clear tank, That is what I am shooting for in the future.

chopper320 · 04/02/2014, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott3569

Nice looking tank!!! I am interested are you using any other filtration other than a protein skimmer?..and when did you start introducing your corals from when you first set it up? nice clear tank, That is what I am shooting for in the future.

Thanks! I have chaeto in my sump and run gfo in a phosban reactor and carbon in a mesh bag in my sump. Besides a lot of rock, that's it filtration wise.

I added my first coral after a couple of months but didn't really start adding sps until about 6mo and the bulk of the sps were added after about a year.

chopper320 · 04/10/2014, 02:56 PM

Got most of my frags from the WORC swap placed. Now just have to wait for them to grow out!

Cant wait for this hawkins to grow!

I'm also digging the chalice. I didn't get an i.d. when I bought it. Anyone know what this one is?

Unfortunately I think I have red bugs. There were only a couple of corals that I didn't do a bayer dip in due to their sensitivity to dips and they must have had some on them. I am going to be ordering some interceptor for in tank treatment. Hopefully I can catch my shrimp and hermits before I dose the tank.

One last pic. Finally got a good shot(for me at least) of my sixline, so I thought I would share.

02/06/2013, 07:13 PM	#1
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	My VERY humble reef History: 44 gallon pentagon mixed reef. Started August 2012. This was a tank that I had sitting empty for a while and I finally got the chance to get back into the hobby. I started with about 40lbs of fiji and 5 lbs of manado live rock and a 4" dsb. There is no sump. I run a HOB cpr BakPak skimmer and an aquaclear converted to a fuge that also has a slot to run carbon 24/7. My lighting is a Chinese LED unit sold in the U.S. by Reefbreeders. So far I've been very happy with it and you can't beat the price. I had practically no cycle but still waited about 5 weeks before adding any livestock. I was kind of shocked that I didn't have much of a cycle but I guess this can be attributed to using all fully cure lr. I live about 30 minutes from Premium Aquatics so I didn't have to have LR shipped. The tank has quite a few scratches and it presents a few issues due to its unique shape. The main issue is getting good flow. I currently have 3 phs. 2 hydor koralia 750's and 1 aqueon 550. This seems to get decent flow to most areas after a lot of time spent adjusting. I still have a few dead spots that I'm trying to remedy. I'm really ready for a new tank already. I would like to go with a 40 gallon breeder drilled for a sump and a closed loop system. That is in the very near future!!! Current Parameters tested for: Nitrates - 0 Nitrites - 0 Ammonia 0 Calcium - 380 Alk - 8 dkh I do a weekly 4 gallon water change. I have a tunze nano osmolator setup in an ATO. I evaporate about a half gallon a day. Anyway, my buddy came over last weekend and took some really cool shots for me with his camera that I wanted to share. The closest thing to a fts we took: What I think is a blasto but maybe someone can help id it for me: My clowns were the first additions to the tank and were very small when I got them. They had really been fighting for a few weeks leading up to this. As you can see in the pics of them their mouths are white looking from all of the fighting. In the last week, they seem to have sorted out their dominance and they are healing up nicely. Hopefully I will have a breeding pair in the future. Pulsing Xenia was the first coral added. I kept it isolated on my sand bed to avoid the dreaded xenia plague. This was a good thing, because it started out as 2 small stalks just a few months ago and now it's huge. I'm already fragging it. Birdsnest bought from a local reefer. I've had it for about 4 months and noticed some slight growth: Small acan colony Ricordia - originally bought as 1 disc with 2 mouths, now it is 3 complete discs. GSPs - Again isolated on sand bed to avoid a rampant spread Yellow with blue polyps monti cap - the color didn't turn out quite right on this pic but it is a beautiful cap. I've had a good amount of growth in the 3 months that I've had it. Other corals are a couple of small acro frags, a monti digitata that started out as a very small frag and has grown nicely, a pocillipora, green frilly shrooms, multi colored ricordia, toadstool, and green echinophyllia. Fish - pair of clowns, sixline wrasse and a yellow tail damsel Other inverts - serpent star and various snails and crabs for a clean up crew. I dose 20 ml of 2 part C - Balance and so far that seems to keep my params in check. I plan to start testing for mag and possibly dosing for it soon. Thanks for checking it out. Fire away with critiques or comments!

02/06/2013, 10:52 PM	#3
worm5406 Not afriad to admit wrong Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South of WashDC in Maryland Posts: 7,774	Which type of gsp is that?? I like the tenticles and the way it looks. Very nice btw. __________________ Stock:LPS/SPS\|1 hippo\|4 OC Clown\|4 Pepp shrimp\|2 Brittle Star\|3000+ Copepods\|10+ MiniBrittle\|8+ Bristle Worm\|2 Anemone\|100+ mini-feather\|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR\|4" LS\|5x MP40W\|75g fuge\|5x RadionPRO\|RO DB250 skimmer\|Apex

04/02/2014, 09:04 AM	#17
crvz Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: houstonia Posts: 7,989	there are some great pieces in there, looks nice. __________________ -Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet?

02/06/2013, 09:29 PM	#2
puleski Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ballston Lake,NY Posts: 58	Looks good I like it.

02/06/2013, 11:00 PM	#4
Rain999 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: DC Posts: 38	Hey Chopper Those are some really nice looking pics! Can't wait to see what your tank looks like as it grows in!

02/06/2013, 11:28 PM	#5
DM1975 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Kansas Posts: 183	Your clowns look like they have been eating powdered donuts. :-) Very nice looking tank.

02/06/2013, 11:52 PM	#8
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	They almost look like cichlids to me...

04/01/2014, 09:07 PM	#10
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	Update: I switched everything over to a 40 breeder in about April of last year. Current system: 40 breeder with 20l sump Lighting: 2 reefbreeders value fixtures - 7 hours all lights and an hour of blues only at start and end of light cycle. Flow: 2 Jebao wp-25s and eheim 1260 return Filtration: 40lbs live rock Bubble Magus Curve 5 skimmer chaeto in refugium. continuously run gfo in a phosban reactor 150 changed every 3 weeks continuoulsy run about 1/2 cup of carbon in a bag in sump changed monthly Monitoring:Apex Jr running 2 dosing pumps for bionic 2 part, heater on temp controller and refugium light Maintenance Weekly: 10% water change Clean Jebao pumps Empty skimmer cup Clean glass Test alk, ca, Mg Monthly: Fill dosing containers Trim Chaeto Some updated progression pics 5/18/13 3/16/14

04/01/2014, 09:10 PM	#11
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	Just got these at the worc fragswapper in Dayton OH this weekend

04/01/2014, 09:17 PM	#12
betamed Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Cooper city fl Posts: 1,383	tempting me to drag my 44 out of storage and set it up. great corner tank with good depth.

04/01/2014, 09:34 PM	#13
smtank Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1,204	Very nice 40B.

04/02/2014, 12:04 AM	#14
ocellaris123 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 2,123	Hey nice tank, are your clowns still fighting? Usually if they are jaw locking like that it is a good indication they are both females.

04/02/2014, 06:20 AM	#15
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	Every once in a while they will have a spat but for the most part they just stay next to each other. I was hoping that they would mate by now. They have both grown quite a bit but neither is getting much larger than the other.

04/02/2014, 10:50 AM	#19
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	I run them both on else mode and they are at opposite ends of the tank. I think the jabeo pumps are a great value but I do have to clean them every week or I have a noticeable drop in flow.

04/02/2014, 11:01 AM	#20
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	I don't know how obvious it is from the pics but I have a constant battle with a caulerpa and cyano. I haven't positively identified the caulerpa but it gets roots way down in the rock crevices. My only action right now is manual removal but it is an endless battle. The cyano is a green cyano and forms on the rocks mainly but occasionally on the sandbed as well. Both of these problems started a year ago when I switched everything over to the 40 breeder. I run gfo and carbon around the clock. I feed very lightly, skim heavily and I'm stocked lightly. Nitrates and phosphates always register 0. I'm sure there are some but the algaes are consuming it all. None of this seems detrimental to the corals and I keep it under control so that it's not an eyesore but I'd love for it to go away! I'm also slowly removing the sand during water changes. I had about a 1" sand bed but the grain size is too small and it gets blown around by the pumps. I haven't decided if I will go barebottom or if I will add a larger grain sand back to the tank when I have all of the current sand out.

04/02/2014, 12:51 PM	#21
Blind45503 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 51	Awesome tank really nice looking corals. Sucks about the algae Im currently in the same battle.

04/02/2014, 02:36 PM	#23
scott3569 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Middletown,VA Posts: 929	Nice looking tank!!! I am interested are you using any other filtration other than a protein skimmer?..and when did you start introducing your corals from when you first set it up? nice clear tank, That is what I am shooting for in the future.

04/10/2014, 02:56 PM	#25
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	Got most of my frags from the WORC swap placed. Now just have to wait for them to grow out! Cant wait for this hawkins to grow! I'm also digging the chalice. I didn't get an i.d. when I bought it. Anyone know what this one is? Unfortunately I think I have red bugs. There were only a couple of corals that I didn't do a bayer dip in due to their sensitivity to dips and they must have had some on them. I am going to be ordering some interceptor for in tank treatment. Hopefully I can catch my shrimp and hermits before I dose the tank. One last pic. Finally got a good shot(for me at least) of my sixline, so I thought I would share.