My Ongoing Build Thread

[davehead86]

I have been wanting to start a build thread for a while now. I figure my central Illinois reefers would enjoy this the most!

I started my current tank around April of 2015 after another pet option didn't work out, I found a used 20 gallon tall tank on craigslist. Having only kept freshwater fish previously i figured i would start small and cheap with my first venture into the saltwater world. I picked up the tank, a HOB Tetra Whisper, and a metal stand for $50. I cleaned up the silicone, epoxied a few chips and filled the sucker with Tap water and added some salt. Then i went online and realized I did that part wrong, and almost everything else I planned on doing. :lol:

I let the cycle roll, started using RODI water, and waited ... waited for so long.

I got my water parameters in line and started with the traditional 2 "Nemo" clowns as my wife likes to say, and a CUC. Well the tank went great for a while and then the male clown decided to start a long slow death march. We never really figured out what the problem was, he stopped eating and was treated for parasites (along with the rest of the tank) but nothing ever changed for him and the ammonia spiked in the tank. We removed the clown and let the tank settle down for a while.

At the LFS a coral beauty angelfish caught my eye and i decided that was the fish to replace our poor male clownfish. We added the CB and a little later added a yellow watchman goby and a skunk cleaner shrimp.

At this point in time I have been completely bitten by the saltwater bug and my 2 year old is running around the house talking about "fishies" and goes crazy when we go to the pet store. My wife has no option but to give into the madness.

Ive started getting ready for the expansion to a 65 gallon tank this summer. This is where I will be posting the adventures on the way to the 65 gallon tank.

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have been. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

 

[davehead86]

This is the beginning of the tank. It was originally placed in the dinning room next to the fireplace. My wife thought it would be out of sight and out of mind. :lolspin:

 

[davehead86]

This is our current population.

1 Coral Beauty
1 OC Clown Fish
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Serpent Sea Starfish (very aloof except when being fed)
1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1 Hermit Crab
3 Snails


The CB is a beautiful fish and very active, it nips at the rock infrequently. I think its fed enough that it doesnt feel the need to nip at stuff.

The starfish has to be spot fed otherwise it starts to eat my snails and crabs. He is fed frozen mysis once a week and that keeps him happy.

 

[davehead86]

I picked up some extra work at work and the extra income is being funneled into the expansion of the tank over the next several months. I have been buying everything that i can off this website and from craigslist.

I built my own saltwater station, this was more expensive that I initially thought they would be with the saltwater station. It cost about $200 to get the station setup properly and ready to use. There was a plumbing issue and so there was only 1 brute can that didn't have problems. This will be fixed by the time the 65 gallon is installed. Currently the fresh RODI water is kept in containers my wife gets from work that are easily filled at the LFS when needed.

I purchased a Reefkeeper Lite from here to help automate the system. It currently only keeps my heater from frying my tank but has the SLX attachment so that I can add dosing pumps to the system / ATO. I installed it on the underside of the tank for the time being to keep little finger away from it. The rest of my electronics are plugged into an American DJ PowerBar that is also mounted underneath the tank.

I found a great deal on here for a 40 gallon breeder tank and 35 pounds of live rock. Im going to clean the 40 gallon out and turn it into my sump (which will be located in the basement directly under the tank). The live rock has some nasties on it and will be nuked in a vinegar bath over a few days when the weather is nicer.

 

[davehead86]

I know that I want to grow corals eventually so I needed an upgraded lighting unit. I went to the LFS and was going to get one of their lights. But after posting about it here and then looking at my dads tank running the same light i was convinced that this was not the option i wanted. I wanted a high quality light but didnt want to high quality price. I dug around here for months trying to find lights that were a good deal and came upon 2 older model Radions. They needed a DEEP cleaning and they will need to be upgraded but for the time being I am running a Gen 2 Radion above the tank.

I also finally had to buy the egg-crate light diffuser from Home depot and cut a custom tank topper to allow the lights to work properly.

It required some DIY work to instal it without buying the Radion Arm (since i wont be using arms on the new tank anyway).

I was hesitant to spend $400 on lights but I cannot sing the praises of these Radions enough. They are so easy to use and tank my tank to the next level with color. My fish even seem happier running these lights instead of the cheap-o lights i had previously.

**Dont mind the old glass top drying on the top of the tank :lol:**

 

[davehead86]

Since I have the lights I have decided to add my first corals. Upon researching what can actually go with a Coral Beauty i have noticed that softies work well. I picked up a $5 RBTA that is just GORGEOUS! This guy opened up within a few hours of being in the tank.

I also decided to add a GSP frag today. The frag was quite shocked, it was Coral RX dipped in some pretty cold water (oops). Some of the branches are coming out but its probably going to take a few days for the GSP to be out and in full display.

 

[Sun357]

$5 RBTA? Jealous!

Nice read!

 

[davehead86]

Well I bought the lights from the same guy so I'm sure he did just fine letting me have the rbta for cheap. [emoji38]

$5 RBTA? Jealous!

Nice read!

 

[davehead86]

I think i have my radions on a schedule that I am happy with and the corals will be happy with too. I don't want to ruin them, but i can't stand having constant blue lights all the time. I need some white to see what's going on.

The day starts at 10 am for the fish and ends around midnight.

The GSP has also started to peek out so its acclimating nicely to the tank. We had to move a powerhead so that I didnt have as much water movement at the spot of the GSP. My wife comments "Why dont we have a PH that can change its flow." My comment was about saving money and using Hydor Korillia's since they are good equipment for a decent price. With her comment I get to buy mp10's for the new tank right? Thats what that means right? :beer:
**The picture is blue because we are starting sunset to night**

 

[Sun357]

That is a lot of hours of lighting. You may end up with algae issues.

 

[davehead86]

That is a lot of hours of lighting. You may end up with algae issues.

Its so hard to tell, there really is so much variance between people and what they want out of their lights. I used to run some cheap LED lights from 6:30am till 10:30pm. I figured cutting down to 12 hours would make things better (not that i have algae problems, rather maintain the current algae level).

Does a majority blue light 20K really promote algae growth? I thought the blues were light moon lights and just kept the tank colored for viewing in a night setting?

 

[Sun357]

10AM-Midnight is 14hrs of lighting unless I misunderstood. People do use all kinds of different times though. If you have problems I guess you can always dial it back.

The very low wattage blues are used as moonlights. I don't believe a Radion runs anything that cheap. Probably 3W blues and those will grow things just fine. Like i said though you can always see how it goes but if algae kicks up it could very well be excessive lighting.

If you want nice controllable but cheap powerheads check out the Jebao RW series. I run two RW-4's in my 25G Lagoon and they give crazy good flow.

 

[davehead86]

I dialed down the hours the lights are on, i also dialed down the brightness of the blues as the night goes on. Last night my anemone and GSP were closing up as the blues were coming on.

 

[davehead86]

This weekend saw an acid bath for the live rock that was purchased from someone else. I didnt realize that I should have done a bleach bath first then the acid. But oh well a little wasted vinegar isnt a huge deal.

So it sat for 2 days and then i scrubbed all the algae and leftover coral off it (best i could). Its now sitting in water diluting the acid so i can bleach the rocks this week.

Im hoping that the bleach will remove any final living residue (i know it will kill it, i want it off the rock). Then if the rock doesn't look the best I can dump some more vinegar on them (after the bleach is gone).

Im dreading the day that I have to clean the 40B out. There really just inst a great way to do it and I know it will just be a big mess. :lol:

 

[SpSChief85]

That is a lot of hours of lighting. You may end up with algae issues.

Not even close to true... I have a ai hydra52 and I run it for 14 hours with 3 and half hour ramp on each end. No algae issues what so ever.

 

[SpSChief85]

Its so hard to tell, there really is so much variance between people and what they want out of their lights. I used to run some cheap LED lights from 6:30am till 10:30pm. I figured cutting down to 12 hours would make things better (not that i have algae problems, rather maintain the current algae level).

Does a majority blue light 20K really promote algae growth? I thought the blues were light moon lights and just kept the tank colored for viewing in a night setting?

Any light with excess nutrients will grow algae, in my experience I enjoy the 20k setting and so do the coral I've grown, corals need the blues...

 

[davehead86]

Not even close to true... I have a ai hydra52 and I run it for 14 hours with 3 and half hour ramp on each end. No algae issues what so ever.

Any light with excess nutrients will grow algae, in my experience I enjoy the 20k setting and so do the coral I've grown, corals need the blues...

Thanks for the additional info. My corals do stay open on the 20K setting for a while and then start closing when that goes down at night. Pretty interesting watching them. The RBTA is massive, i did not realize how big it would be all spread out.

 

[Sun357]

Light helps propagate algae faster...obvious to see if you have a light on chaeto or not but like you said it's the nutrients that kick it in to gear it's just light that pushes it into overdrive.

Any new pics?

 

[davehead86]

Light helps propagate algae faster...obvious to see if you have a light on chaeto or not but like you said it's the nutrients that kick it in to gear it's just light that pushes it into overdrive.

Any new pics?

Ill have more pics this weekend. Ill be bleaching Live Rocks, an installing an ATO, and Ill try and get a new pic of the RBTA all opened up.

Stupid clownfish still wont hang out in the RBTA, it just keeps digging its little hole area to sleep in front of the glass every night. :lolspin:

 

[Sun357]

Some clowns never do, some do right away and some take time. Clowns are goofy.