Paul's Return to Reefing 90G

[pauldrapeau]

Part 2 of the package impressed! I took a few less pictures just because of the volume of stuff I had to set up, sort, acclimate, etc. I also started the day with a wicked cold so I was sick on top of that. Oh well. Everyone is safe and sound in the tank.

I will say I bought too much rock. Even taking 10lbs or so and putting it in the new mantis tank made for a challenge to aquascape. I took my old rock out of the fuge and replaced it with some of the boulder shaped pieces from the package. This was a 60gal package if anyone is looking for sizing in the future. You'll have "Extra". In fact if anyone is local to MA and wants a few pounds I have some pieces in a holding tank in the basement. PM me (free to a good home:spin1:!!!).

Acclimation time while I rockscape...

Early Christmas!

Hitchhiking Long Spine Urchin

Glass box to reef tank!

I still have to say I couldn't be happier with my decision to go with the package. I recommend it highly. I'm still hunting hitchhikers and I will for a while (see next post). You'll probably see less and less of this post once I do an equipment update over the weekend because my plan is to observe this tank and leave it fishless for a few months. Taking it SLOW but that was always part of my plan. The package gives me life and cool stuff to look at (and outsmart) while I do that.

 

[pauldrapeau]

Red light hunting...

Saw this... scooped her out... Pregnant gorilla crab packing eggs...

Even though they probably could never live in a tank to maturity, this was pretty high on my NOPE list. FLUSHY FLUSHY!

 

[liverock]

Squish him and toss back in, your inverts will love you for it!:rollface:

 

[Esh1]

great setup! TBS has awesome rock with a ton of critters. I just got my part 2 from them on the 10th. 12 days later I'm still finding new things I didn't see when I first looked it all over. Just found a bunch of sea urchins last night.

 

[pauldrapeau]

great setup! TBS has awesome rock with a ton of critters. I just got my part 2 from them on the 10th. 12 days later I'm still finding new things I didn't see when I first looked it all over. Just found a bunch of sea urchins last night.

Yes it is pretty awesome. Like I said I would do it again. I've never had a tank this interesting in this short a time. I don't think I've ever had the diversity of life in a tank.

I never saw a bit of ammonia on the test kits (still monitoring for it) Nitrates have been low with minimal algae. I'll be stalking the tank for a while tho until I trust it enough to rehome my clown into it. I'm going to try another round of traps and see what I can pull out. I definitely have a lot of "bug" activity after lights out and I want to grab some of them and see what is up.

 

[MK3_LUV]

Tank looks good! I forget, what are the exact dimensions of the SCA 90? Something close to 36x24x24, correct?

 

[pauldrapeau]

Tank looks good! I forget, what are the exact dimensions of the SCA 90? Something close to 36x24x24, correct?

Yes external dimensions are 36x24x24. The depth is really perfect for the space (the "man room" was originally an inlaw apartment and this was a spot where a refrigerator fit in that kitchen). The tank is nice and visible from all three sides and the 36x24 footprint makes for enough space to make it interesting all around but not so much that it takes over the room.

 

[pauldrapeau]

Small update Taking it slow as I said. Things are still going very well. Plans to add some more corals and first fish in the coming weeks.

I'm still super happy with the TBS package! I gave some rock from my part 2 to a local reef club member and he did find an isopod on a fish. I've set stinky water traps and watched closely for a few months now. No bugs yet found in my tank. I've caught a bunch of gorilla crabs, they're a bit of a pain, but we just feed those to the mantis shrimp hitchhiker "Smashy".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCHU78wnwEI

 

[pauldrapeau]

Recent FTS:

Added some fish over the past few months. My clown has been with me for almost 13 years at this point and is settled right in. Two blue chromis, a bunch of frags and such... Yellow tang in QT.

For anyone wondering, I'm still loving the TBS package setup. The gorilla crabs have subsided. (I now have to feed "Smashy" shrimp on a BBQ skewer ) I would say the tank is home to 20+ porcelain crabs that made it, all of the initial CUC is doing well. The macro algae adds something to the tank IMHO and just needs to be pruned every now and then. I'm having issues growing chaeto but my sump is full of macro I've moved from the display so things are working out there.

Current interesting happenings in the tank mostly center around an extensive excavation project being undertaken by one or more pistol shrimp Big holes, things move... Most of the rock is epoxied as it sits and a big portion of it actually sits on the bottom so nothing major falls.