Pura vida Reef project !

[juanmanuelsanch]

Hi all ! Well finally after many years of wanting a reef tank my project is finally here. The tank is located in Costa Rica !

I will post updates on how it goes and of course asking for some advice as events comes up.

Lets begin with the tank, its a 143 gallon tank (515 liters).

Equipment so far:

1) Octopus 150 NT classic skimmer
2) 2 Wavemaker jebao rw 4
3) 2 Prime AI LED lights
4) Jebao return pump up to 8000 liters per hour (2113 gallons per hour)


Now some pics:

I also did some decoration using expansive foam and dead corals from the local beach (they were on the shore away from the ocean) the sand used is also from a local beach.

The problem with the decorations is that it has a huge buoyancy. So the damm thing was floating the first time I set it up :headwalls::mad2:

After reading and using some creativity, I glued two pieces of glass to the base, and paste that base to the aquarium... it worked so far !

After two weeks of cycling using 4 dead shrimps that I got from the grocery store this are my chemistry levels, Im just using tap water so far... water is pretty clean here is Costa Rica

Any advises are welcome !

 

[sfsuphysics]

Is that foam going to be safe in the tank?

Also what type of corals (if any) are you going to keep? I would be inclined to use something more powerful than the RW-4 pumps (or more of them)

 

[dave.m]

Best get some books to start with. Also ask the moderator to move this to the reef forum as this tank is less than 180 gallons.

Dave.M

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Is that foam going to be safe in the tank?

Also what type of corals (if any) are you going to keep? I would be inclined to use something more powerful than the RW-4 pumps (or more of them)

As far as I read there is no problem with expansive foam, just let it cure and do the cycling. I hope Im not wrong...

About the pumps. I have nice water circulation... I will post a video of it later, the return pump makes some nice currents too. And Im hoping to have all kind of marine life here (fish and corals) as many as I can hold.

 

[pogie]

Your post is making me nervous.

Costa Rica may have pure water but have you tested it? Water which may be great for drinking can be not even close to acceptable for a reef tank.

For stocking levels "as many as I can hold" tells me you really need to learn a lot more before you can be responsible for the inhabitants of a reef tank.

Please get better informed before you go further.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Your post is making me nervous.

Costa Rica may have pure water but have you tested it? Water which may be great for drinking can be not even close to acceptable for a reef tank.

For stocking levels "as many as I can hold" tells me you really need to learn a lot more before you can be responsible for the inhabitants of a reef tank.

Please get better informed before you go further.

I already purchased a RODI unit, should be here by next week, I will use that water for water changes.

As far as the phrase "as many as I can hold" its a generalization, I know I cant overstock and I know there is a huge stress on a new tank.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

well a little update. I bough a 4 stage RODI unit:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOG64FM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Working great so far...

Im having an issue and is that when I make water changes the skimmer goes nuts and starts overflowing. I have an overflow hose that goes to a 5 liters (1,5 gallons) recipent, it just fill it in minutes and makes a real mess in the floor. I have wooden floor, imagine how mad I was :angryfire:

This are the test results from the last days.

18 june 2016:

22 june 2016:

29 june 2016

This is how it looks now with the lights on:

 

[timnem70]

I'm with Pogie. That foam is not good, get it out of there. Please read/research much more before you proceed. Those readings you are getting will kill anything you put in there. I wish you luck.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[parkinsn]

There's nothing wrong with using expanding foam. Make sure you did the research on what kind you used though. I know Great stuff in the red can is fine. However the blue can have anti mold and fungus ingredients in it that are toxic. I've used the red can on many tanks with no problem, not in the quantity to make rock structures float though.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

I'm with Pogie. That foam is not good, get it out of there. Please read/research much more before you proceed. Those readings you are getting will kill anything you put in there. I wish you luck.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

The foam so far is good, no problem with it. The readings of course are toxic, the tanks is still cycling.

Still a week or maybe a week and a half.

 

[bfrench]

Will be cool to see this build progress.

Subscribed[emoji3]

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Another update ! Finally got a diatom bloom, the tanks is starting to have brown and green algae. Even the foam is starting to be invaded by it... I also found a "coral plant" in the beach the other day (it was on the shore). I put it in the tank but I dont think it will make it. Since it disintegrates...

The ammonia levels are near zero but all the others are on peak.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Well after almost 2 more weeks of cycling. This are the levels now, all at zero. The most impressive thing is that then came to zero in almost 3 days, there were almost no changes and suddenly everything went down.

My question is. Do I still need a water change?. I will have my first 2 fish on Wednesday!

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Finally got newcomers !

I got a powder brown tang which is shown in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0_N4LtwuWU

And I also got angel coral Beauty (this guy is really shy) so I dont have a pic of it at the moment.

I also got a coral (if someone can help me identify it I would appreciate it). It seems to be happy and adapting.

 

[bigzman]

Looks like gsp. Be carful as it can over run a tank. I would keep on a rock that is not near main rock work so it does not jump. It stings other corals and can over take it. Wonderful looking but if not watched can be a pain later to deal with. Very hardy I tired killing that stuff and it would always come back.

Soy tico. nací en San José

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

Well its time for an update. Sadly my first 2 fishes died. A Powder brown tang and a coral beauty RIP.

Here is a video of the guy when it was still alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0_N4LtwuWU

My new stock (3 months later) is:

1 Yello eye kole tang
1 Mandarin
1 Flame angel
1 Six line wrasse
1 Bicolor Blenny
1 Purple tip anemome.
2 Cleaner shrimps

And of course cleanup crew (got them from the local beach)

The tank also got some upgrades.
I got 2 Jebao PP-15 900-3400 GPH Wavemaker
Also some carbon filters, bio balls and ceramic for the sump along with some Xenia.

Here are some pics and of course a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4VjLAPY9yc