Vinyl tubing. The sound seems to be coming from the pump itself, not because of vibrations against anything. It makes the noise even if I hold it in my hand.
ktownhero's Red Sea Reefer 425XL build
- Thread starter ktownhero
- Start date
Vinyl tubing. The sound seems to be coming from the pump itself, not because of vibrations against anything. It makes the noise even if I hold it in my hand.
So the above pic is my final aquascape. The last piece is I want to order some TBS live rock to add in and seed the tank. How much do you think is needed? That's only about 40lbs of pukani in there but I know pukani is misleading. I don't have a ton of room to add more rock without marring my scape, but there are some spots in the back and maybe smaller pieces up front. I was thinking maybe 20lbs or so ...
mpderksen
New member
I totally dig it for fish-only, but I'm having trouble visualizing your coral placement. Not much room to put stuff on the sand bed, which is fine (I don't have any there either). The right side looks awesome, but once you add something to the top of it, you'll be near the waterline.
I also assume you'll get really great flow, since you are staying off the sides and back wall. Are there enough hiding places for shy fish?
What kinds of coral will you be growing?
I also assume you'll get really great flow, since you are staying off the sides and back wall. Are there enough hiding places for shy fish?
What kinds of coral will you be growing?
I think it's awesome. And those small rocks peeking out of the sand-brilliant!
Thanks for the feedback!
So my approach here was very specific in that I wanted to create the look of an isolated, partially buried piece of reef you may find off by itself in the sand. Keeping that in mind, I agree that coral placement isn't as obvious as it may be with typical scapes. That said, all of the rocks poking out of the sand bed are places for corals, if I so choose. And they are easily adjusted if necessary. There are several swim throughs and caves in the middle and on the right that aren't visible in the pictures for fish. Placing corals on top of that big rock I'm unsure about, but attaching them to the side I think will be interesting. I may end up adding a little extra rock on the left rear side to the right of that far left rock. Not sure yet though. I don't want the rock to look busy.
All in all, I plan on this being a mixed reef with an anemone and little to no sps. On the small rocks I like the opportunity to have little gardens, on the left some taller soft corals could be fun. I'm an open book right now and will choose corals to fit the scape, not the other way around. The tank will be light to medium stocked overall. I always welcome advice and criticism!
Thanks! I got that idea from scraps after using a hacksaw on some of the larger pieces. I'm very happy with how it turned out!
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Ron Reefman
Active member
ktownhero, I agree with Michael, I love the scape and the rocks just out of the sand look very cool. Somebody mentioned the right side maybe being too close to the water surface. I disagree. In fact I tried to get some rock very close to the water surface. And I've found the snails and cleaner shrimp seem to love it up there. Really nice work all the way around! Congratulations.
Ron, thanks for the kind words!
Not yet, it's just sort of rigged for cycling right now while I wait for a plumbing part. I will soon I'm sure though!
Here's a shot of it as it stands right now:
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Well, the gear is all here and I'm just getting it all set up in a temporary mode before I start cleaning things up for the final set up. I wanted to keep the plumbing simple, so I just plumbed a short line to the left with a Cepex ball valve that then connects to the return pump via silicon tubing. The Vertex skimmer is on a temporary eggcrate/pvc stand. I'm just letting it sit there and overflow, patiently breaking it in. No rush. And obviously the Apex is just all thrown together because I wanted to get it all started.
The cycle has been complete for about a week, so I'm just ghost feeding now. I found a mini brittle star and some pods hanging out in the anti-bubble foam. I got them out and put them in the display. But, otherwise, the tank is just sitting like this. I just got my 10g QT tank today... The good news is that my 1262 has a well-cycled piece of foam that I can use to get it jump started. I haven't even done a CUC yet because... I haven't had any algae pop up yet. Hopefully some shows soon and I can get some life in here!
Something interesting to note is that it seems with my more open layout a single MP40 is more than adequate. I get tons of flow in the tank even all the way back behind the big rock on the far side. That's with it running at about 50% in NTM or ReefCrest. NTM even makes a wave! I don't think I'll be bothering with a second one for a while, if ever.
Gear:
Tank shot:
The cycle has been complete for about a week, so I'm just ghost feeding now. I found a mini brittle star and some pods hanging out in the anti-bubble foam. I got them out and put them in the display. But, otherwise, the tank is just sitting like this. I just got my 10g QT tank today... The good news is that my 1262 has a well-cycled piece of foam that I can use to get it jump started. I haven't even done a CUC yet because... I haven't had any algae pop up yet. Hopefully some shows soon and I can get some life in here!
Something interesting to note is that it seems with my more open layout a single MP40 is more than adequate. I get tons of flow in the tank even all the way back behind the big rock on the far side. That's with it running at about 50% in NTM or ReefCrest. NTM even makes a wave! I don't think I'll be bothering with a second one for a while, if ever.
Gear:
Tank shot:
Well, the QT has been set up for a few days. The sponge from my return pump served as a nice starter for the cycle. Already at the nitrite phase.
Also got some wire management done on the sump side of the stand. I'm more of a functional person so it's not the prettiest, but it's organized and works
...I don't even know where to start on the dry side with the wiring though...
Also got some wire management done on the sump side of the stand. I'm more of a functional person so it's not the prettiest, but it's organized and works
...I don't even know where to start on the dry side with the wiring though...
So I added my first livestock over the weekend. My LFS had a large selection of these black perculas that I just couldn't resist. I bought a pair and put them in the QT. Pics below, but it was hard to get a clear shot! But they are real cuties and are eating well. It's been about 10 years since I shut down my last tank so having a pair of clowns really brings me back. Their personality is just the best.
My LFS also had some small frags priced well and were buy 3 get 1 free so I grabbed:
- Green star polyps
- Zoas (orange outer circle with blue in the middle)
- Palys (green and brown)
- Brain coral
Since I have so many little rocks independent in my sand bed, I figured these would be good places to put things like GSP and Zoas to create a "garden". I'll save the bigger rocks for the bigger corals. They seem to be doing ok, they all have fully extended already and I fed the Palys some frozen mysis. Unfortunately the frags are small and don't photograph well, so I didn't bother. I dipped the coral in Coral RX after acclimating it and boy was that worth the effort... There were totally a few creatures that fell off the frags. I don't think anything serious but still, it really reaffirms how important it is to not judge things simply by what you see.
My LFS also had some small frags priced well and were buy 3 get 1 free so I grabbed:
- Green star polyps
- Zoas (orange outer circle with blue in the middle)
- Palys (green and brown)
- Brain coral
Since I have so many little rocks independent in my sand bed, I figured these would be good places to put things like GSP and Zoas to create a "garden". I'll save the bigger rocks for the bigger corals. They seem to be doing ok, they all have fully extended already and I fed the Palys some frozen mysis. Unfortunately the frags are small and don't photograph well, so I didn't bother. I dipped the coral in Coral RX after acclimating it and boy was that worth the effort... There were totally a few creatures that fell off the frags. I don't think anything serious but still, it really reaffirms how important it is to not judge things simply by what you see.
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It's been a while since I updated! I finished a 4 week QT for the clowns and treated them with Prazipro. They are now in the main display. I have now added 3 more fish to the QT: Kole Tang, Coral Beauty and a Six-Line Wrasse. They were just added last night and are still a little skittish, so I will get some pics soon.
I've also added the following inverts to the tank:
- Galaxea
- "Christmas" Favia
- "Evil Eye" Zoas
- Green Polyp Leather coral
- "Ultra red" BTA
- Emerald Crab
- Various hermits (mostly scarlets)
- Various snails (mostly astreas)
- Serpent sea star
I decided to pull and toss the brown palys that I originally purchased. They were ugly and I didn't want to be bothered with the risk of their toxins. The rock in the tank is almost entirely covered with green coralline algae that seems to slowly be turning a rusty red/purple. Some of it is appearing on the sand too since I'm using reef flakes which are pretty big grains. I also went ahead and added a second MP40wQD to the right side of the tank. I have them running in reef crest anti-sync at about 50% max power, which seems to be enough flow for anything!
I have not been great about pics with the tank I know! I will get my DLSR out soon and take some good quality pics. In the meantime, here is the BTA I got and a FTS from about 2 weeks ago (before the BTA and clowns).
I've added the slight diffusion lens kit to my AP700 as well, which I like. It toned the shimmer down a bit and had a relatively minimal effect on output. It also makes the pucks less glaring when looking at the tank.
I've also added the following inverts to the tank:
- Galaxea
- "Christmas" Favia
- "Evil Eye" Zoas
- Green Polyp Leather coral
- "Ultra red" BTA
- Emerald Crab
- Various hermits (mostly scarlets)
- Various snails (mostly astreas)
- Serpent sea star
I decided to pull and toss the brown palys that I originally purchased. They were ugly and I didn't want to be bothered with the risk of their toxins. The rock in the tank is almost entirely covered with green coralline algae that seems to slowly be turning a rusty red/purple. Some of it is appearing on the sand too since I'm using reef flakes which are pretty big grains. I also went ahead and added a second MP40wQD to the right side of the tank. I have them running in reef crest anti-sync at about 50% max power, which seems to be enough flow for anything!
I have not been great about pics with the tank I know! I will get my DLSR out soon and take some good quality pics. In the meantime, here is the BTA I got and a FTS from about 2 weeks ago (before the BTA and clowns).
I've added the slight diffusion lens kit to my AP700 as well, which I like. It toned the shimmer down a bit and had a relatively minimal effect on output. It also makes the pucks less glaring when looking at the tank.
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Great looking tank. I have the 425xl as well. Just put two clowns in Dt and added an algae Benny and royal gramma to QT. So we are about the same place in our ta k journey. I also am using two MP40s. I only have mine on 25% facing east/west. I'm new to all this but felt 50% was way strong, but honestly being my first tank don't really know what too strong is yet.
I have a torch, hammer, acan, favia and plate coral. Really debating on a BTA so keep us updated on that. Hope it behaves for you.
I have a torch, hammer, acan, favia and plate coral. Really debating on a BTA so keep us updated on that. Hope it behaves for you.
Nice! We are definitely in a similar spot with the tanks. I was actually going to do a royal gramma for the QT this weekend but ended up getting the ones I listed instead. A royal gramma is on my future list though!
I'll keep everyone up to date on the BTA but so far so good. I don't have enough coral to really worry about it yet, which is why I decided to add it now.
DM and the Boys
Member
I like the rock work! Man, I wish i had mine set up as clean and organized. What corals are next?
Thanks! I really want to track down some nice Euphyllia LPS corals i.e., frogspawn, torch, hammer... My LFS just has absurd prices for them though that I can't justify. I need to place a Live Aquaria order some day soon!
I do want to try to get some SPS up high on those rocks but I'm unsure where to start with that. I've never really done SPS.
