addictedreefer
New member
Not a good idea to add angels at this stage in the game, as evidenced by the nitrite spike. Would have been better to start with something hardier like clowns or a goby. Remember, take it slow.
Coming Back to Reefing 80g Tank Build
- Thread starter TheDeepSandBed
- Start date
Not a good idea to add angels at this stage in the game, as evidenced by the nitrite spike. Would have been better to start with something hardier like clowns or a goby. Remember, take it slow.
TheDeepSandBed
New member
Here is an image of the female
TheDeepSandBed
New member
I also changed up the aquascaping a bit. Wanted it to feel a bit more open.
TheDeepSandBed
New member
I'm torn to be honest.
Pros:
GREAT flow. I keep it at like 30% and still get tons of movement in every corner of the tank
Pulse mode is like an easy wavemaker in one unit
Cons:
Was not ready for how loud it would be. At lower settings it isn't too bad, but if you go above 50% it is loud
Reverse mode on it kind of sucks. Very weak and inefficient. Would rather see attention put into other aspects other than this lackluster feature.
Really expensive
Overall, so far I am happy but certainly still open to improvements/other options.
joshky
Acros & Wrasses
I felt the same way about the noise, and then my brothers broke on him and he still hasn't gotten it fixed. (it's been a while now, like two months) The motor stopped working after like a month, mine was still new in the box so I returned it to my LFS and picked up the first two MP40wQD that came in haha. I think they can be a nice product after they iron all of the issues out, just too new and unpolished. Not impressed with the customer service either, though it could be our LFS not prioritizing it/forgetting, I honestly can't say what the deal is. He said they were giving him the run around.
I had to look that fish up on liveaquaria. 
Such a newbie!
Hope the little one recovers. That fish wouldn't even be on my radar -- I'm just looking at easy things. Sometime when everything is established, I'll have to come back and admire what you've done!
I like the new aquascape.
Such a newbie! Hope the little one recovers. That fish wouldn't even be on my radar -- I'm just looking at easy things. Sometime when everything is established, I'll have to come back and admire what you've done!
I like the new aquascape.
TheDeepSandBed
New member
Quick update.
Water is looking fantastic! All levels are great. I have a few hermits coming to just help with any food that the angels might not eat. The female seems to be healing up slowly but surely. Everyone is eating tons and appears to be in great health.
I am also adding some chaeto to a small refugium as well as a copepod starter to see if I can get those going early.
Water is looking fantastic! All levels are great. I have a few hermits coming to just help with any food that the angels might not eat. The female seems to be healing up slowly but surely. Everyone is eating tons and appears to be in great health.
I am also adding some chaeto to a small refugium as well as a copepod starter to see if I can get those going early.
Spartanman22
New member
Reefwise is a very nice shop. They have some of the healthiest and nicest fish around IMO. They can be a bit pricey (particularly on coral) but the little extra is worth it since their fish are always so healthy. Check out aquapros for coral. They have a smaller fish section but I get all my coral (sps and collector zoas) there. If aquapros had a newer larger facility they would be the best LFS around quite frankly.
TheDeepSandBed
New member
Oh what a 6 months it's been since my last update.
First off, hubris is a motherf'er. And I would like to start off by saying conventional wisdom is correct and you can't rush reefing. So to all you young whipper snappers, please learn from my mistakes (I know you wont :bdaysmile: )
The Crash
So about two days after my last post, I added a pair of frostbite clowns from my LFS. This was the beginning of my nightmare. Let me start by saying I did NOT QT and I know I will catch hell for it from the forums. But the past is the past.
I added the clowns and everything was great for like 2 weeks, and then I started noticing my Potter's covered in ich. I did not have any medication on hand and no QT setup, so I did my best to keep them well fed and do a 5-10% water change every couple days to help keep water pristine for them to heal up. Unfortunately my attempts proved futile and my short lived but beloved Potter's Angels were both belly up. I was very sad for them.
Not two days later I started seeing signs of Brook on my clowns. They quickly followed suit of the angels. During all this I was constantly testing using Salifert tests and never had an ammonia spike or nitrite. My nitrates were pretty high around 40-50, but I wouldn't have thought lethal. I guess I was wrong.
I know at this point I'm moving too fast and that I have disease in my tank. I decide I am going to let it go fallow (at least fishless) for 78 days to eliminate the ich in the tank. Thankfully there is a CMAS (chicago reefers club) frag swap coming up at the end of the month. Plenty of pretty corals to spruce up the barren tank. And besides, I really like corals more than fish anyways
I go to the frag swap and make out like a bandit! Jason Fox corals on sale everywhere, local dealers with fire sales. Just absolute great deals and fantastic looking corals! I was very pleased. I spent like $200 and brought home more coral frags than I could carry. Again, I didn't QT my corals (there wasn't much left in the tank to worry about at this point), but did give them all a dip in Coral RX. I saw tons of little buggers fly off and knew it was working. Unfortunately 99% effective is NOT the same thing as 100% effective.
All the corals seemed fine for the first two weeks. Nice PE, and some growth. Then I started noticing STN. First one coral, then two, and then the whole tank (except my zoas). I tested parameters furiously and everything looked fine. Not trusting my salifert tests, I ordered a bunch of hannah checkers and they confirmed my water was in good condition. I read up on radion LEDs thinking maybe my light was misconfigured. I tried more light, and then less light. Nothing seemed to help. Then one night while the moonlights were on I noticed a strange little tank critter I had never seen before. Unfortunately it turned out to be AEFW. I researched and found everyone talking about using Inteceptor to treat for a variety of nuisance critters. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to a perscription so I tried the Salifert Flatworm exit, which to my delight worked fabulously. I thought phew my corals are safe. And slowly they started healing and perking up a bit. All but my couple montiporas. Now hip to the coral eating pests area of reef tanks, I purchased a magnifying glass and set up a chair and just watched. And low and behold it was another pest. A nudibranch munching away. I read and read about ways to treat them and thought all hope was lost, until I stumbled upon a lovely little australian site that sold Inteceptor! Ordered a couple tablets, treated the tank, and ordered had been restored.
Having spent several months battling problems I vowed I would take it slow. I set up a 10 gallon tank as a little QT setup. Once my fallow period had ended, I purchased a 6 line wrasse to add to the tank to hopefully chomp any remaining pests. My corals had been decimated, but man are they resilient. From brown, dying, tiny specs of a colony, they have battled back and reencrusted and gotten their color back. Not sure if the end of the pest infestation or the 6 month anniversary of the tank were the reason because they happened at the same time.
Since then, the tank has been getting better everyday. I purchased another pair of frostbite clowns (man i love the way they look) and a couple more coral frags to add to the tank.
Upgrades
I have also made some changes and upgrades to the hardware of the tank.
I am now running my radion xr30wp gen 3's at 90% maximum color template for 12 hours a day.
I also grew tired of my gyre 150. If I ran it at anything above 30% my tank would become a sandstorm. Just don't think it was a great fit for a shallow reef. I changed it out for an mp40 and couldn't happier. Now my flow is rocking.
I also upgraded my stock return pumps (2 X 450 gph) for two Sicce 4.0 (945 gph each!) and swapped out the static return nozzles for these cool IM Spin nozzels that constantly rotate and randomize flow. Upgrading my flow has really revitalized the tank. I am now a firm believer in the idea that it is hard to have too much flow. As long as your substrate stays put, keep pushing the limits.
I was sufferign from higher nitrates than I was comfortable with (20-40) and so decided to swap out one of my filter sock overflows and modded it into a small refugium with chaeto.
I also got rid of my IM Ghost Skimmer. This is another lesson in listening to your peers. Everyone said it sucked, and I tend to agree. I upgraded to a Tunze DOC 9012 and couldn't be happier. This thing really rocks and skims above its weight class. Between the refugium and the new skimmer I now have the problem of running a bit too clean. I can't seem to get above 0 nitrates even though I would prefer to be at 1-5.
I removed the mesh screen on top as I thought it was blocking too much light and actually trapping in heat. I also hooked up a Ranco temperature sensor to power my heaters as I was a bit worried they weren't holding the temperature as well as I had hoped.
The tank has settled in and seems pretty stable. Corals are starting to color up (but still not as much as I would like), and are definitely growing but not at outrageous rates that I see in some other tanks.
Params and Routine
My params and current routine is as follows:
Ammonia: 0 (salifert)
Nitrite: 0.001 (hannah ultra low)
Nitrate: 0 (salifert)
phos: 0 (hannah ultra low)
calc: 430-480 (hannah)
alk: 7.9 - 8.3 (hannah)
mag: 1330
10 g water change every week or two
I feed rod's once a day to the fish. And pellets as I fancy (usually once a day)
acropower once a week
sponge power daily
reef frenzy 3-4 times a week
I have a 2 part dosing system setup, but after doing a bunch of daily testing haven't seen a need yet with my coral load. But I want to get a clam sometime after christmas so I will be ready when that happens.
I know this was a long post but I want to thank every person on reefcentral. You all have educated, encouraged and most of all inspired me in this truly challenging hobby. You all are great!
First off, hubris is a motherf'er. And I would like to start off by saying conventional wisdom is correct and you can't rush reefing. So to all you young whipper snappers, please learn from my mistakes (I know you wont :bdaysmile: )
The Crash
So about two days after my last post, I added a pair of frostbite clowns from my LFS. This was the beginning of my nightmare. Let me start by saying I did NOT QT and I know I will catch hell for it from the forums. But the past is the past.
I added the clowns and everything was great for like 2 weeks, and then I started noticing my Potter's covered in ich. I did not have any medication on hand and no QT setup, so I did my best to keep them well fed and do a 5-10% water change every couple days to help keep water pristine for them to heal up. Unfortunately my attempts proved futile and my short lived but beloved Potter's Angels were both belly up. I was very sad for them.
Not two days later I started seeing signs of Brook on my clowns. They quickly followed suit of the angels. During all this I was constantly testing using Salifert tests and never had an ammonia spike or nitrite. My nitrates were pretty high around 40-50, but I wouldn't have thought lethal. I guess I was wrong.
I know at this point I'm moving too fast and that I have disease in my tank. I decide I am going to let it go fallow (at least fishless) for 78 days to eliminate the ich in the tank. Thankfully there is a CMAS (chicago reefers club) frag swap coming up at the end of the month. Plenty of pretty corals to spruce up the barren tank. And besides, I really like corals more than fish anyways
I go to the frag swap and make out like a bandit! Jason Fox corals on sale everywhere, local dealers with fire sales. Just absolute great deals and fantastic looking corals! I was very pleased. I spent like $200 and brought home more coral frags than I could carry. Again, I didn't QT my corals (there wasn't much left in the tank to worry about at this point), but did give them all a dip in Coral RX. I saw tons of little buggers fly off and knew it was working. Unfortunately 99% effective is NOT the same thing as 100% effective.
All the corals seemed fine for the first two weeks. Nice PE, and some growth. Then I started noticing STN. First one coral, then two, and then the whole tank (except my zoas). I tested parameters furiously and everything looked fine. Not trusting my salifert tests, I ordered a bunch of hannah checkers and they confirmed my water was in good condition. I read up on radion LEDs thinking maybe my light was misconfigured. I tried more light, and then less light. Nothing seemed to help. Then one night while the moonlights were on I noticed a strange little tank critter I had never seen before. Unfortunately it turned out to be AEFW. I researched and found everyone talking about using Inteceptor to treat for a variety of nuisance critters. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to a perscription so I tried the Salifert Flatworm exit, which to my delight worked fabulously. I thought phew my corals are safe. And slowly they started healing and perking up a bit. All but my couple montiporas. Now hip to the coral eating pests area of reef tanks, I purchased a magnifying glass and set up a chair and just watched. And low and behold it was another pest. A nudibranch munching away. I read and read about ways to treat them and thought all hope was lost, until I stumbled upon a lovely little australian site that sold Inteceptor! Ordered a couple tablets, treated the tank, and ordered had been restored.
Having spent several months battling problems I vowed I would take it slow. I set up a 10 gallon tank as a little QT setup. Once my fallow period had ended, I purchased a 6 line wrasse to add to the tank to hopefully chomp any remaining pests. My corals had been decimated, but man are they resilient. From brown, dying, tiny specs of a colony, they have battled back and reencrusted and gotten their color back. Not sure if the end of the pest infestation or the 6 month anniversary of the tank were the reason because they happened at the same time.
Since then, the tank has been getting better everyday. I purchased another pair of frostbite clowns (man i love the way they look) and a couple more coral frags to add to the tank.
Upgrades
I have also made some changes and upgrades to the hardware of the tank.
I am now running my radion xr30wp gen 3's at 90% maximum color template for 12 hours a day.
I also grew tired of my gyre 150. If I ran it at anything above 30% my tank would become a sandstorm. Just don't think it was a great fit for a shallow reef. I changed it out for an mp40 and couldn't happier. Now my flow is rocking.
I also upgraded my stock return pumps (2 X 450 gph) for two Sicce 4.0 (945 gph each!) and swapped out the static return nozzles for these cool IM Spin nozzels that constantly rotate and randomize flow. Upgrading my flow has really revitalized the tank. I am now a firm believer in the idea that it is hard to have too much flow. As long as your substrate stays put, keep pushing the limits.
I was sufferign from higher nitrates than I was comfortable with (20-40) and so decided to swap out one of my filter sock overflows and modded it into a small refugium with chaeto.
I also got rid of my IM Ghost Skimmer. This is another lesson in listening to your peers. Everyone said it sucked, and I tend to agree. I upgraded to a Tunze DOC 9012 and couldn't be happier. This thing really rocks and skims above its weight class. Between the refugium and the new skimmer I now have the problem of running a bit too clean. I can't seem to get above 0 nitrates even though I would prefer to be at 1-5.
I removed the mesh screen on top as I thought it was blocking too much light and actually trapping in heat. I also hooked up a Ranco temperature sensor to power my heaters as I was a bit worried they weren't holding the temperature as well as I had hoped.
The tank has settled in and seems pretty stable. Corals are starting to color up (but still not as much as I would like), and are definitely growing but not at outrageous rates that I see in some other tanks.
Params and Routine
My params and current routine is as follows:
Ammonia: 0 (salifert)
Nitrite: 0.001 (hannah ultra low)
Nitrate: 0 (salifert)
phos: 0 (hannah ultra low)
calc: 430-480 (hannah)
alk: 7.9 - 8.3 (hannah)
mag: 1330
10 g water change every week or two
I feed rod's once a day to the fish. And pellets as I fancy (usually once a day)
acropower once a week
sponge power daily
reef frenzy 3-4 times a week
I have a 2 part dosing system setup, but after doing a bunch of daily testing haven't seen a need yet with my coral load. But I want to get a clam sometime after christmas so I will be ready when that happens.
I know this was a long post but I want to thank every person on reefcentral. You all have educated, encouraged and most of all inspired me in this truly challenging hobby. You all are great!
