30 gallon reef tank

[jachrist]

Just starting a thread to document the start of my new tank. This is the first tank I have ever owned fresh or salt. I have a 30 gallon and it is now about 2 months old.

 

[jachrist]

Posted is a picture from it being a month old after cycling and the first addition of coral.

 

[jachrist]

In the above picture I had GSP, a blue/purple mushroom, and anthelia that I did a few different things with

 

[jachrist]

Here is another picture showing my tank after I upgraded lights to a full spectrum LED and also added some coral and clowns

 

[jachrist]

One of my favorite additions was my cleaner shrimp.. Right after I added him he went right to work cleaning my domino damsel.

 

[jachrist]

Also just a couple days ago, I had to build a auto top off system for the tank since I would be leaving for a couple weeks. It is a pretty sketchy build but it gets the job done pretty well. I'm looking to build a cabinet to sit next to the tank to hold the water and other aquarium supplies.

 

[jachrist]

Finally got back to check on the tank-- it's been running for a little over two weeks completely automated with few problems. I do think the tank may have suffered a swing as the hammer and frogspawn frags from a buddy weren't looking the greatest. But after two different tests, we were able to rule out the usual culpurates. The parameters look great (cal, mg, alk, ph, etc). The fish look happy. Here's a quick update of what's in the tank...

2 ocellaris clown fish
Domino damsel
Black and white striped damsel
Black and yellow damsel
CUC- 7 Astraeas snails, 10ish nassarius snails, 1 cleaner shrimp, and a common starfish

A Few of the Corals:
Green goni
Green branching hammer
Frogspawn
Anthelia
Pulsing Xenia
Green polys (unsure technical name)
Blue mushrooms
Firework Zoas
Iceberries Zoas
Winter Forest Zoas
Volcanic Zoas
Purple Digi
Green Mushroom
And a couple hairy mushrooms
And a couple random things I've probably forgotten

I've got another frag pack in the mail that will arrive after the first. Looking forward to it.

 

[jachrist]

Figured I would show the newly designed tank.

 

[Chief Reef]

Here is another picture showing my tank after I upgraded lights to a full spectrum LED and also added some coral and clowns

This is honestly the best looking picture of your tank in my opinion, Those corals growing on that flowerpot to the left look awesome, ive never seen that before and was getting hype to see what it would like with more coral and coraline algae growth on it. Was slightly disappointed when i saw they were removed later. Overall nice tank though.

 

[jachrist]

I liked it as well. There just wasn't enough room! I'm thinking of setting up another breeding pot like this one when my clowns become old enough though

 

[jachrist]

Sorry for picture madness overload-- but I want this thread to serve as a time lapse for the growth of my corals. It is my hope to get a little more information about the type of light that I'm using. Enjoy! The following pictures were taken 1/9/15. I'm going to try to update each month. Here are some of my favorites!

Firework Zoas (picture is a little blurry, but they have came back from from whatever bacteria was covering them! They've even began encrusting the plug with new heads!)

Purple People Eaters

Pulsing Xenia

Pink Cat Palys

Mushroom Rock

Ricordea with small baby (there's another baby at the end of the rock that's not in the picture)

Green goni

Green Hammer

And last, but certainly not least, the tank entertainer "Gus"

 

[FireFoz]

I actually didnt like the flowerpot haha... i think it did improve

Can't see the latest pictures btw.

 

[jachrist]

I will have to make the girlfriend fix that.. lol

Thanks and be prepared to be amazed! (hopefully)

 

[jachrist]

Corrected links--

Pink Cat Eye

Ice berries

Lemon Sour

Purple People Eaters

Hammer

Blue Smurfs

Fuzzy Blue Mushroom

And the always wonderful "Gus"

 

[jachrist]

Quick FTS to keep track of the growth.. Might post individual pics of a few more corals later.

 

[Chevre]

Looks fantastic! Its really come together

 

[Saltwaterwill]

Very creative

 

[jachrist]

Just added a dual t5 fixture to my set up to see what would happen with growth. Coral has been growing nicely and I have also had a wall hammer for about a month now. I'll be posting some new pics soon!