A Newbie's Tale: 32g reef build/journal

[TexChuck]

Looks great!! Can't wait to see pics of everything growing -- I'm doing a 32 BC build myself and just found your thread. Having the same questions as you did re: water levels... 2 weeks in and no appreciable spike in ammonia or nitrites, just some trates, which based on my experience suggests a cycled tank?? I threw shrimp in last night just like you, and nitrates are going up and everything else going down, so I think I'm gonna copy your CuC (minus the hermit's -- don't want clawed critters in here, and my daughters had a rough experience watching a freshwater cray chow down on their glofish)

Did you ever figure out how to dial in the coralife skimmer? I'm having the same problem -- no bubbles or full of water.

 

[Iamgarrett]

Did you ever figure out how to dial in the coralife skimmer? I'm having the same problem -- no bubbles or full of water.

I wish. I'll finally get it PERFECT and then two days later it's as if someone messed with the settings.

(Oh, and the blue-legged hermits are way safer than most other clawed critters. I'm still super pleased with the CUC, even almost all of the hair algae that came on one of my pieces of LR has been eaten away.)


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[Iamgarrett]

[Went to take pictures this morning for a fuller post as the corals have all opened up and look great. Except there's two aipstasia growing off of the frag plug the candy cane is on. About to attempt to pull it out (plug is superglued to rock), cut the cane off the plug, and then glue the cane back down. None of which I've done before.]


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[Flipperfin]

Your live rocks look awesome, wish my lfs had ones looking like that! :O

I know your pain with the API test kit, Im getting that exact color and can never tell whether its yellow or light green.. It kinda depends on the light
I look forward to seeing the progress!

 

[Bagabaga]

So your bacterial colony in the rocks was already established in the fish stores sump system and was able to handle the load of the shrimp. The algae bloom was probably due to nutrients being introduced to the tank.,

Looks good so far!

 

[Iamgarrett]

Who watches the watchmen?

Who watches the watchmen?

Day 37

So much to update. But first the full tank shot:

Long Story Short - all is well. Biggest thing now is tweaking the waterflow because whoops way too powerful everywhere I don't want it to be.

Roughly one week ago I added:

Nite Owl the Yellow Watchman Goby
and
Rorschach the Candy Stripe Pistol Shrimp

I of course loved the idea of them pairing up, and they of course have settled into opposite corners of the tank. But at least they seem happy. The YWG has clearly been getting more comfortable every day, spending more and more time outside of his cave and not rushing into as quickly when I come to take a look.

Yesterday I added my first corals:

A hammer coral

A duncan

And a candy cane trumpet

After drip acclimating and doing a coral dip for the first time in my life, I set about super glueing their plugs to the rocks where I wanted them. Unfortunately, it turned out that my planned "Euphylia island" doesn't work so great with the powerhead directed right above it. So then I turned it, but the candy cane was getting blasted. Finally pointed the powerhead in what seems to be a rather absurd direction but so far I think it's working.

Bigger issue was the Aipstasia that had hitchhiked along with the candy cane's frag plug. So I yanked that out, and after much googling, set about cutting it from the plug. I imagined this perfect straight cut across the base of the skeleton, and instead about 90% of the thing shattered. Luckily the most important portion stayed in tact, so I think it'll survive. Phew!

I guess that's it for now. Gonna wait another 1-2 weeks before adding anything else, and just keep testing and monitoring. And cleaning.

Bonus: Reef Tank Rave Party

 

[TexChuck]

Your tank is looking GREAT!! Awesome colors on the corals! You've done a great job and should feel good about your progress so far.

I a month or so behind you, and I'm hoping my tank looks as good as yours !

Question re: the super glue. What's your process there? You're gluing the wood plug to the rock? (noob question)

 

[Iamgarrett]

Your tank is looking GREAT!! Awesome colors on the corals! You've done a great job and should feel good about your progress so far.



I a month or so behind you, and I'm hoping my tank looks as good as yours !



Question re: the super glue. What's your process there? You're gluing the wood plug to the rock? (noob question)

Thanks! So far the corals are staying beautiful and puffing up fantastically, but at this point that probably still says more about my LFS than my tank.

For the super glue I use Loctite gel. The important is that it's a gel and that the only active ingredient is cyanoacrylate. Yes I glued the (ceramic I think) plugs straight to the rock. Used a copious bunch of it since, you know, underwater. After my trumpet surgery I glued the skeletal stem straight to the rock.

I'm excited to keep going, but forcing myself to wait at least another two weeks before adding anything else. Just gotta keep myself occupied with glass cleaning, water changing, and testing. And planning. Forever planning.



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[Iamgarrett]

(I apply the glue out of the water, then dunk it in and hold it place for about thirty seconds where I want it. Roughly. Because short arms and light diffraction always messes up my exact placement plans. If you search YouTube you can find some people showing how they do it, usually while advertising some "aquarium glue" that is chemically identical to Loctite. I don't plan on glueing ALL my corals. And while it holds them well it's not too difficult to grab the plug and break it off the rock should you need to move things later. At least that's what I've been told.)


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[TexChuck]

(I apply the glue out of the water, then dunk it in and hold it place for about thirty seconds where I want it. Roughly. Because short arms and light diffraction always messes up my exact placement plans. If you search YouTube you can find some people showing how they do it, usually while advertising some "aquarium glue" that is chemically identical to Loctite. I don't plan on glueing ALL my corals. And while it holds them well it's not too difficult to grab the plug and break it off the rock should you need to move things later. At least that's what I've been told.)


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That makes all the sense in the world ! I added 2 frags to my cube, and one was knocked off the rock by a molting shrimp, and the other that I placed in the sand bed was knocked over by a snail.

Loctite is good stuff I'm pretty sure I have some of the gel in my shop from other hobbies - I'll check and if so, I'll be doing some gluing tonight

Same boat -- want to add more but can't. Need to let it mature.. Soooooooooo hard....

Hopefully my new skimmer (tunze 9001) came in so I can redo chamber 2 completely again :spin1: