40 Gallon Breeder reef tank build...

Dkuhlmann said:
Looks good! I was wondering today where you've been.
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Thanks. Just been a busy year that keeps on getting busier. The reef is really nice and relaxing to come home to, with almost no work whatsoever. Just kind of self-sustaining aside from cleaning the front glass, feeding and keeping my ATO filled. Just writing that made it seem like way more work than it is. LOL.
 
ZeeSparrow said:
Nice to see an update. Looks great! I'm totally jealous... :)
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Thanks. You shouldn't be jealous. Every tank is its own world and goes at its own pace. I looked at your thread and I'm sorry you've dealt with so much with it. I'm in the "less is more" camp when it comes to "maintenance". I'm a minimalist, so I spend less time chasing numbers (test kits) and more time observing and letting the inhabitants tell me how it's doing. Everyone has their own methods. Best of luck with your tank.
 
Isaacs55 said:
Nice update buddy!! Coming along very well
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Thanks. I'm in total coasting mode now. I only add something when just the right piece to the puzzle presents itself...at the right price. ;)

It is so easy to maintain I sometimes forget I have a tank...until I'm chilling in the living room and look at it.
 
New pics will be coming soon. I added some more mushrooms, a nice rock with more zoanthids on it, a beautiful Green Kenya Tree, a bunch of peppermint shrimp (which promptly ate all my aiptasia that had been popping up), and a cute little pajama cardinal. I'm just waiting on them to settle in before I post pics.
 
Swope2bc said:
Can't wait!! Glad to hear you sorted out your apitasia too!
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I bought 4 peppermint shrimp. Three like to hang out together and one is kind of a loner, but they cleaned up every bit of my aiptasia. Now they're just interesting additions.

I'll try to get some pics soon. The green kenya tree is starting to come back around, the green zoa is looking pretty, and my Pajama cardinal is already quite happy and out in the open and eating.

I did lose my Torch coral and my plate coral. I guess I'm just not meant to have anything but softies (which was my plan all along anyway). They were just an incredible price I didn't want to pass up on.

I definitely want more GSP, mushrooms and zoas. I really love the look of zoanthids. I hope my green Kenya tree takes off like my reddish brown ones have as they are my favorites. I'm weird that way.
 
mmittlesteadt said:
I bought 4 peppermint shrimp. Three like to hang out together and one is kind of a loner, but they cleaned up every bit of my aiptasia. Now they're just interesting additions.



I'll try to get some pics soon. The green kenya tree is starting to come back around, the green zoa is looking pretty, and my Pajama cardinal is already quite happy and out in the open and eating.



I did lose my Torch coral and my plate coral. I guess I'm just not meant to have anything but softies (which was my plan all along anyway). They were just an incredible price I didn't want to pass up on.



I definitely want more GSP, mushrooms and zoas. I really love the look of zoanthids. I hope my green Kenya tree takes off like my reddish brown ones have as they are my favorites. I'm weird that way.
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I love Kenya too, I actually killed mine though lol... GSP is great too but zoas are my fav! I'm working on a rock about 12" around that I'm covering.
 
Good start so far... 40 gallon breeder is a very good tank for a reef.
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Here's some updated pics. My Green Kenya Tree isn't fully out and extended yet and some of my other ones are going through their "Purge and Inflate" stage, so they aren't fully out in the pics either. None of my fish were very cooperative and they are kind of blurred in the pics from moving. But here's a bunch of new pics.

Here's a pic of my Clownfish. When I first got them they were both about 3/4" and now the larger of the two is about 2 1/2" long and even the smaller one is about 1 1/2" long. You can see my new Green Kenya Tree at the bottom of the pic below the left Clownfish.

clowns2.jpg


Here's a pic of my Royal Gramma...

gramma.jpg


One of my gorgeous Coral Beauty which is about 3" to 3 1/4" long now. Green Kenya Tree above him and my new mushroom rock below him...

coral-beauty.jpg


My new Green Kenya Tree and mushroom rock. One of my other Kenya tree (reddish) to the right and my GSP to the left...

green-kt.jpg


And a couple of pics of my new green zoa rock. Kenya Tree below it (one pic showing my Cleaner Shrimp (which has gotten massive)...

zoa1.jpg


zoa2.jpg


And of course, the obligatory Full Tank Shot. Hard to get the lighting right, fish were uncooperative, Kenya Trees not fully out today...and you can see my new Pajama Cardinal (almost dead center, about 2 o'clock above my Green Kenya Tree in the middle). And yes, the starfish is real, but a dead one my daughter just leaned on the glass in front (on the outside). You can see my dead plate coral leaning on the rock wall way on the left, and the spire of my dead Torch coral to the right of it on a rock (cleaner shrimp is right between them in the pic). :(

aquarium.jpg
 
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Yesterday I did my second water change on my system since I set it up. Everything is doing fabulous...Kenya trees are really open, mushrooms are wide and moving on the rock. You're thinking..."What, did you just say this is only the second water change in a year?!!!" Yup. :D

No nitrates. Never had any since it cycled. The GSP, kenya tree and the macro algae in my sump is taking care of it and my skimmer is always pulling out crap, which I empty once a week. I feed every day and my fish and corals are really healthy, and have been growing all along. Of course, without regular water changes I can't keep any LPS or SPS, but I'm a softie lover anyway.
 
Looks great! Your DIY rock cave is aging nicely too! Looks even more natural than it did to begin with, if that is possible lol
 
Swope2bc said:
Looks great! Your DIY rock cave is aging nicely too! Looks even more natural than it did to begin with, if that is possible lol
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Thanks. Yes, the fish and shrimp all make regular use of all the overhangs and caves. It's nice seeing them move in and out and all around it.

I added an anemone yesterday. seems to have found a nice spot for himself right next to my zoas on the left, so now I moved my zoas to another rock. I know they move all over the place, but the 'nem seems to have found a place it likes and is anchored itself deep in between some rocks where it gets good light and enough flow. Now I just have to make sure that my LM Blenny doesn't go and knock that zoa rock off where I put it. That darn LM Blenny is such a "bull in a china shop". He just moves anything and everything not nailed down.
 
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