A Reef in the Desert - 120 Gallon Build

[Hentz]

My Reefer 170 was hit quite hard with AEFW... Again... They keep coming from somewhere in the tank and I can't figure out where. I haven't added anything in quite some time now. I went ahead and dipped EVERYTHING the other night and decided I won't be using this rock in the new tank. I don't want to have 2 tanks running too much longer so I went ahead and bought more rock.

Drill died as I went to drill the rocks together, so I just added them in the tank. Ended up making a decent little scape on accident. Seems like It'll be plenty of room for Acropora and maybe a nice Monti on the far right to let it take up that area, but undecided on the Monti.
What do you guys think of the aquascape? Should I leave it or change it on the right side?

I also am undecided now on using Triton.. I may just keep it even more simple with dosing + Weekly/Bi-Weekly water changes.

Other than that, tank is definitely on its way to being finished! Added the Fritz Turbo Start, some ZEObac, and some Sponge Power. Really let the bacteria set in!

The original rocks are getting the ugly brown algae and film algae is appearing on the glass. Going to give it another week or two before adding a fish or two. I think I'll add some snails and crabs tomorrow.

 

[Ucantwin]

Scape looks nice. I've only been using triton for a couple of weeks now and hard to say anything about it. What's changing your mind?

 

[reefmutt]

I like the right side. Scape is nice and irregular. It'll fill in nicely with acros.

 

[Hentz]

Scape looks nice. I've only been using triton for a couple of weeks now and hard to say anything about it. What's changing your mind?

Thank you, sir. Nothing in particular.. the closer I get for my tank being ready, the more I think just my chaeto reactor, 2-part, and weekly 10% water changes would be plentiful.

I like the right side. Scape is nice and irregular. It'll fill in nicely with acros.

Thanks Matt! I was going for irregular. As nice as a perfect flowing aquascape looks, I believe it's the irregular look that really adds a lot of character and "depth" to the tank when it fills with corals.

 

[Arkayology]

Looking good. What bulb combo are you using?

 

[Hentz]

Tested all of my water and everything came out the same aside from a .2 dKH in Alkalinity. So I added three corals to start with.

It's crazy that these seemed like colonies in my Reefer 170 and minuature colonies in my 120.

 

[reefmutt]

Looking good though.. small colonies just means more room for MORE acros!

 

[Ucantwin]

looking good!

 

[Wrangy]

Looking good though.. small colonies just means more room for MORE acros!

The lie we all tell ourselves until it's too late :lol:

 

[reefmutt]

The lie we all tell ourselves until it's too late :lol:

Ha! indeed... I've been walking willingly into that fire for EVER. :spin2:

 

[Stolireef]

So, did you decide on just two part? Love the setup. Very similar to mine but I'm on the LED wagon.

 

[Hentz]

Got the urge late last night to transfer my Apex over to the 120. Was tired of having the tank run off of a power-strip with no timers. Figured it was finally time to get my 120 in control since I no longer had any corals in the Reefer 170.

Everything is doing really well so far, minus the Fox Flame. It wasn't doing so hot in the Reefer 170 so I didn't expect it to survive anyways.
Fish are absolutely in love. My Wrasse is swimming through the rocks and racing across the tank. It's a really great sight to see. I can't wait to add more fish to the system as well.

For now, here is what we have:

 

[Hentz]

Looking good though.. small colonies just means more room for MORE acros!

Very true!! Only downfall is the wife might notice more acropora at this point... I figure once the tank is filled up, she will have no idea I'm still buying coral. :beer:

looking good!

Thanks!

The lie we all tell ourselves until it's too late :lol:

Lmfao yes it is. But yet we all still some how find more room .

So, did you decide on just two part? Love the setup. Very similar to mine but I'm on the LED wagon.

I think so, yes. I just bought a bottle each of Alk and Calcium from Fritz. I use their salt with good success so figured I might as well add their product. Still torn on the Triton method. Letting a few local reefers get their tanks dialed in before switching over, if I do.

 

[reefmutt]

Very true!! Only downfall is the wife might notice more acropora at this point... I figure once the tank is filled up, she will have no idea I'm still buying coral. :beer:

This is the response of a seasoned reefer!!
Excellent point.

 

[Hentz]

Picked up 6 new corals today. Fellow reefer has some nice stuff that he's selling. Stressed and browned out from dipping and battling AEFW, but you can see the total potential.

Here's just a few top downs of the new Acropora that have some color. Unedited and the blue's are insane on the two corals.

Not sure on the name of this one. It starts with an L he said. But smooth skin with a light green base and teal tips. Looks pretty promising!

 

[Hentz]

Hooked up my Chaeto Reactor tonight, just need to get some chaeto for it!
Everything is doing well. Added a fat and healthy looking Yellow Tang today from my LFS. Keep forgetting that I can NOW add bigger and more exciting fish and am not limited to a small size anymore with my Reefer 170.

Here are some pictures from tonight of the tank and sump. Please note the wire mess will be cleaned up sometime this next month!

 

[Wrangy]

Very tidy mate! Chaeto reactor should be a bit of fun

 

[Ucantwin]

Looking nice! What zeo products are those? Are you using them?

 

[reefmutt]

Looking good! Nice location. Very central.
Gonna be sweet when it's loaded up.

 

[Hentz]

Thanks guys! Can't wait until this bad boy is filled up. Everything is solid so far parameter wise. Caught some AEFW on my large Scripps acro so I ended up tossing the bitten chunk. Have a small chunk I'm going to dip tomorrow along with some others just to be safe.

Noticing some great color already on other Acropora. Polyp extension is great on everything. I'm sure all my acros are happy to be lit from all sides opposed to an LED.

Looking nice! What zeo products are those? Are you using them?

Thanks!
Currently just left overs. ZEOstart that has spit left (using .14ml just to use the rest of it and feed some bacteria). I have Pohls Xtra, full bottle leftover, basically that I've added once so far last night. I also have Coral Snow which I've been daily dosing at night. Then I have Sponge Power and ZEOfood which are 3/4 full. I've been dosing Sponge Power to get my Sponge population healthy. I'm sure the SPS don't mind it either.