Chrissreef's - 280 A.G.E. Treasure Chest (60x36x30)

[chrissreef]

On Thursday the replacement Dart wet-end arrived (GREAT manufacturer customer service imo!) and on Friday my LR came in! It’s been a long journey and despite the day being exactly 365 days away from our upcoming wedding, my lovely Fiancee was wonderful and let me focus on the tank since I had been waiting so long for this day to come. 350lbs of 18-24” Tonga Fusion arrived at 11:30pm and I stacked until around 6am (I was sleep deprived and was barely functional at that point! lol). I pulled each rock from the box, looked into each hole for unwanted pests (I would shoot seltzer water in if I did â€"œ the rock is more of a fused branch with less holes for unwanted critters to be in). I came across about 4 dead crabs and 2 alien life forms… I have no idea what they were. Other than that, the rock was pretty clean.

I then dipped/rinsed each rock in a bucket of salt water and then sat them in the black tub of water while I decided which piece would go where in the tank â€"œ and then I just stacked away â€"œ focusing on large rocks on the bottom and having large openings. I’m happy with both the LR and stacking (I need to stabilize one rock better… and put more carbon/phosguard on the tank which has very green water right now… as well as block off ambient sunlight from the nearby window)

My next tasks will be to get all Tunze's on, mount the electrical on the black panels by the skimmer and get the Ca reactor up.

<a href="http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/?action=view&current=crack.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/crack.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

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<a href="http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/?action=view&current=P1010228.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/P1010228.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Here’s the Reeflow 250 skimmer 4 hrs into operation â€"œ it has not had a vinegar bath.

<a href="http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/?action=view&current=P1010234.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/P1010234.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


<a href="http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/?action=view&current=P1010235.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/xcapier/280%20Reef/P1010235.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[chrissreef]

At 8 weeks and 2 days the tank FINALLY finished cycling. I had intended to turn the lights on a few hours each day for the last few weeks â€"œ but when I turned them on around the 4th week the water turned green. I decided to avoid algae and just left the lights off until the cycle was done.

When Nitrites were on the downswing I added 6” of sand to the empty fuge and added Chaeto to the other part of the fuge. I installed 2 T5’s here which for the time being I am keeping on 24/7 to grow the chaeto. I may also grow frags in the fuge since it’s literally set up perfectly for this.

I have not seen a single amphiopod, starfish or worm in the tank… since the rock was Tonga Fushion it has quite a bit less holes compared to other rock and is relatively "clean". The hard cycle probably also contributed to the lack of population right now. (or at least that’s my guess since I’m used to seeing at least a few critters somewhere at this point after setting up a tank â€"œ I’ve never “cooked” rock before however.

I also set up the calcium reactor â€"œ I love the design… but I’m not happy with the bubble counter. I see a lot of other Ca reactors with this style bubble counter so I may have set it up wrong. Basically I got saltwater into the bubble counter and I don’t know how to keep it from coming back in.

The Reeflo 250 has been rocking â€"œ I’m having trouble getting “wet” foam no matter what I do. The bioload may still be too small at this point.

Temp - I'm cycling between 80-83.3 with 3 fans blowing accross the surface of the water. Apartment thermostat is set at 80... I'm playing around with the AC now and looking at chillers. TX just gets too hot! =(

Tank - my wife/fiancee now thinks it's too small and that I need a bigger tank =P

Mirror - the fish haven't noticed/fought with themselves yet. I've never seen a fish fight with a mirror in one of my tanks, I'm not really sure why.

Tunze 7095 wavemaker, AC3, UPC are also all set up.

Finally, I had a 55g QT tank with all my fish in it. Exactly 1 week before the tank was cycled everyone stopped eating and started acting lethargic. The pyramid butterfly was breathing heavy so I moved him to a 30g QT I also had set up. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I lost the pyramid, the next day the tank finished cycling so I put everyone in it and crossed my fingers. I lost the Achilles the first night (he was doing GREAT in the QT for 6+ weeks), the large Blue and Spotted Cheek tangs didn’t eat for almost 2 days in the reef so I was really confused. Everyone finally started eating again 2 days later. I also lost a small blue tang in the 55. No idea â€"œ his right fin stopped working or something and he kept going in circles.

Aussie Elegance (skeptical â€"œ but he’s been at the LFS for weeks in a terrible spot â€"œ but looking good)
Aussie Hammer

Zoa frags and monti caps â€"œ once everyone shows growth I’ll move other corals over that my friend is currently holding onto.

Question: The current just seems VERY strong for the two LPS. I lowered the flow to 50% but it still looks like a bit much. Anyone have suggestions for powerhead location? These work quite a bit differently than the MJ1200’s I’m used to.

 

[mcliffy2]

Chrissreef - Its looking good. Nice to see it all coming together. I feel your pain on the fish, it sounds like you did everything you could.

I'm guessing the aquascaping is more dramatic in person because the photos lose the depth. If I might make a suggestion, try removing the 2 rocks in the upper right, and sliding the rock on the lower right with the flat rock to make a bit larger "island". This will give you more dynamics with height and open space. I think this pic shows what I'm thinking:

 

[JRaquatics]

Your bioload is too small as there may not be enough organics in your system yet. The Spotted Cheek is looking good. I like your aquascape but I do agree with ^Mike. You can add depth to your tank by doing as he suggested. You can then mount a few tables to the overflow to help hide them. It looks like you do have a lot of flow for LPS, and you will have to find spots of less turbulence for them. It is just one of those thing all us mixed reef owners face.

 

[chrissreef]

Thanks! Interesting idea... will be thinking about how to move it and the other rocks.

maybe I'll have to go the SPS route if these pumps continue to be to strong for my LPS =)

 

[Ed Reef]

Try not to let your pumps blow directly into your corals....both LPS and SPS will not like it. Maybe try blowing it towards the glass panels and let the glass panels reflect the wave just my 2cents

 

[LECorals]

Love the rock stack very nice

 

[chrissreef]

LE - thanks, it's hard to see the depth in pics. I'll try to get ahold of a better camera =)

Ed - great idea! I'm glad I went with PH's instead of a closed loop... leaves me a few more options =)

 

[Typhon]

Chris.. Great looking tank!!

I was wondering how the spread is like for the lumenbrights? Are you getting full cover over the full 36"? If yes, how high are the lumenbrights for water level?

 

[naldopr]

nice tank Chris

 

[StripestheEel]

Coming together well!

 

[chrissreef]

Typhon - the LB larges are spreading pretty good, but not as good as a L3 - I'd say they spread about 30"... which leaves the front glass and back glass a little dim. The front isn't that big of a deal, the back... not sure yet. I for the most part don't mind and don't really notice. The bulbs are about 22" and the LB's are about 17" off the water. I may raise them 2" more.

I'll also take some updated pictures this weekend =)

 

[skey44]

love to see the update. how did you aquire your maculiceps?

 

[13threefmaniac]

Did you have any 'landscaping' problems with the 30" depth? All thats missing now is a nice clean SSB for the Elegance to live on. Placing them on rocks damages them, especially when there is a lot of flow. Is your return a regular Dart or the new Dart Gold? Btw...Love the rockwork.

 

[naldopr]

any updates?

 

[sly fox]

yep, new pics please

 

[chrissreef]

Sorry for the gap in time, I’ve been pretty busy with real life =) I’m an impatient person so I picked up almost all the fish (just need to add 15 tank bred blue line eye cardinals from ORA) and start continue my SPS frag picking now that the tank is older/ready for sps. An unfortunate result of getting fish early in the life of the tank is some algae growth from the 2-3x daily feedings. I intend to do more water changes and focus on the tank more to improve the coralline algae growth which has strong growth in some areas but completely lacking in others.
Many of the corals are on the bottom of the tank… this is due to TLF epoxy not working well and my blue hippo tang picking frags up and rearranging the tank =) I’ll get this straightened out as having 7 of my corals on the bottom doesn’t look to impressive =)

Favorites â€"œ I LOVE the fish, “Big Blue” has a ton of personality, the Black Scopas is new to me… he looks almost like a Gem tang, and aussie green hammer I’ve never seen before (green on green?) the orange hammer is stunning and the scolymia’s look AMAZING!

Corals
4 scolymia australis
2 scolymia vitiensis
3 lobophylia
3 acan lords
2 brain trachyphyllia
4 aussie hammer corals (green, orange and 2 “orange” ones that weren’t very orange)
4 fungia (red, 2 green, brown)
1 tongue coral (orange w/ purple tip)
3 favia
2 candycane
1 yellow toadstool
9 O.R.A. and mariculture SPS corals
2 maze (pink, green)
1 crocea clam
Various zoa’s
3 cleaner shrimp
1 feather duster
1 blue tang
1 spotted cheek tang
1 powder blue tang
1 yellow tang
1 black scopas tang
5 lyretail anthias
4 Rods reef Onyx clowns (2 in sump, 2 in tank)
1 canary blenny
Wrasses (Radiant, Yellow Coris, Red Tail tamarin, Cleaner and another I can’t remember the name of… green/red striping â€"œ he appears to have some deteriorating decompression issue =(

 

[tigerarmy40]

tghe orange and green pieces in the front bottom of the tank tank are amazing....what are they and wehre can I find one?

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Awesome coral selection so far. Where did you purchase the Orange Hammer corals, Live Aquaria? You have over $800 worth of Scoly's!

 

[chrissreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13738059#post13738059 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tigerarmy40
tghe orange and green pieces in the front bottom of the tank tank are amazing....what are they and wehre can I find one?

Thanks! I've picked them up from various websites online... zoanuts, oceaninabox, ebay, exoticaussiecorals, austinaquafarms

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13738127#post13738127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rickyrooz1
Awesome coral selection so far. Where did you purchase the Orange Hammer corals, Live Aquaria? You have over $800 worth of Scoly's!

The Orange Hammer on the right (really orange) was from Zoanuts and the one on the left (I don't like as much) is from AustinAquafarms. I haven't picked up any LA corals... my Radiant Wrasse was my first livestock purchase from them... nice quality imo. I just don't see many corals I like from them. (color wise... they all look extremely healthy - I like those psychodelic (sp?) colors =)

$800 worth of scolys!?!? Please tell me you meant $80! (my fiancee may read this!!)