New build thread... 210 gallons

[AZBigJohn]

I've been lurking on this thread. I'm about to start down the same road (for the 3rd &^%&* time). Looks great so far.

Long time since I've seen you!

I remember you had an algae battle, too!

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[Stolireef]

That's a wee bit of an understatement.

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[AZBigJohn]

Well, this past 6 weeks have kicked my butt between work and life in general. Rather than being up and cycling already as planned, I just finished my rock layout.

Using all of your advice, I went rock to the glass, then will add sand.

Here is the rock layout. What do you think?

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[Jayreefer]

Rock work looks good.

 

[Stolireef]

Looks really good.

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[Stolireef]

Can you get behind the rock?

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[AZBigJohn]

Can you get behind the rock?

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Yeah, the tank is 2 feet wide. The back of the 2 coves are still 3" from the back. I'll try and take a top down picture tomorrow.

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[AZBigJohn]

Here is a couple of top-down shots of the rock work:

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[evolved]

In the spirit of constructive feedback, one guideline I've always lived by and found useful is try not to stack rock more than half the height of the tank.

I also see coral placement rather challenging with how it stand currently.

 

[AZBigJohn]

In the spirit of constructive feedback, one guideline I've always lived by and found useful is try not to stack rock more than half the height of the tank.

I also see coral placement rather challenging with how it stand currently.

I appreciate the input. I added the top row because it looked so barren with only being half full.

I must admit I look forward to the day I have problems fitting coral in there!

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[AZBigJohn]

After 3 days of making salt water 50 gallons at a time, I finally had the tank running at 9pm last night.

And this morning a single raw shrimp went for a swim (Well, sink, not swim really)

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[Stolireef]

I've been using Bio-Spira and ammonia for my cycle and it's working well so far.

 

[Stolireef]

So what's your initial stocking list going to look like?

 

[AZBigJohn]

So what's your initial stocking list going to look like?

My previous occupants are 2 occ clowns, a firefish, a huge PJ cardinal, a canary blenny, a bicolor blenny, and a yellow watchman goby. They are relaxing in a 45 gallon hospital tank, waiting on their new digs.

I recently won a gift certificate to Live Aquaria that will probably go to a harem of anthias. Not sure of which particular flavor yet, I just like them.

Ultimately want a couple tangs, or maybe a "safer" Angel...

Just trying to take it slowly, qt everything, and grow it up right.

Corals will slowly increase if we ever have an auction on a Saturday I don't work! I have some zoas, hammers, and fuzzy mushrooms along with a larger green nepthia, but that's all I have so far.


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[Stolireef]

They still have a Gem Tang at Diver's Den.

You know, you can always have someone bid for you at the auctions. I've seen several people do that. If the frag doesn't look as good in person, the trusted bidder just skips it. You set the max that you want to spend on any particular piece. Way way way cheaper than either buying online or at an LFS and usually much nicer frags.

 

[AZBigJohn]

They still have a Gem Tang at Diver's Den.

You know, you can always have someone bid for you at the auctions. I've seen several people do that. If the frag doesn't look as good in person, the trusted bidder just skips it. You set the max that you want to spend on any particular piece. Way way way cheaper than either buying online or at an LFS and usually much nicer frags.

That is indeed a beautiful fish! My wife is incredibly understanding of my addiction, but somehow I don;t see that understanding stretching to $2700 on a single fish...

I should be off for the next one (I work 8 weekends on, 8 weekend off) so we'll see how it schedules out. If not, I may need to recruit a bidder!

 

[AZBigJohn]

Had an awesome time at Frag Fest, even walked out with some new RFG nozzles for my return lines from the raffle and a couple frag for the tank. Cycle is pretty close to established, just need to do a big water change for nitrates.

Got the lights up, the Apex Jr installed and firmware updated, and got the new Gyre installed. Here's how it's looking:

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[Stolireef]

Looks great. How far along are you in the cycle?

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[AZBigJohn]

Looks great. How far along are you in the cycle?

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Pretty well done. I've added ammonia twice, and it's gone to zero. I finally cheated on the second week and added a bottle of BioSpira. So much for my going slow...

I need to do a big water change because nitrates are too high. I hope to move fish over this weekend!

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[Stolireef]

Pretty well done. I've added ammonia twice, and it's gone to zero. I finally cheated on the second week and added a bottle of BioSpira. So much for my going slow...

I need to do a big water change because nitrates are too high. I hope to move fish over this weekend!

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I've got nitrates hovering at 25 more work to do

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