Reef908's 180 Gallon Upgrade

[Reef908]

Water is in. Salt is in. No leaks! Successful day so far. MP40s are running to help mix and heaters are on.

Now I'm working to fine tune this ghost overflow. Anyone have used this system and have suggestions on how to combat the noise coming from the front box as the water falls through the front weir? I already have turned back the return and it's helped a bit.

 

[Reef908]

Well the tank is finally looking like a real setup. Still have to port over some live rock to finish the aquascape, stuff more live rock into the sump, set up the ato, and do some serious cord management haha. Hopefully with all the live rock I am adding the cycle will be minimal!

 

[Reef908]

Alright everyone. Time to talk stocking list. Currently I have:

Melanaurus wrasse
Green Coris wrasse (halichorius)
Juvi Aussie tusk
Red Sea regal angel
Purple tang

Currently in QT and just done with TTM process
Powder blue tang
Tomini tang
Male spot breast angel

Personally i love tangs but know the limits due to past mistakes and learning experience. I'd like to add one more along with maybe a few more small angels. My thoughts are:

Either a lavender or convict tang
Flame angel and potters

Thoughts?

I also will be adding a small group of anthias. What do people recommend? I am not sure of the more hardy ones outside bartletts but I don't want go with them this time. Also will be adding to my wrasse list with some flashers and fairies plus a pintail and probably linatus/rhomboid.

 

[Reef908]

Alright everyone. Time to talk stocking list. Currently I have:

Melanaurus wrasse
Green Coris wrasse (halichorius)
Juvi Aussie tusk
Red Sea regal angel
Purple tang

Currently in QT and just done with TTM process
Powder blue tang
Tomini tang
Male spot breast angel

Personally i love tangs but know the limits due to past mistakes and learning experience. I'd like to add one more along with maybe a few more small angels. My thoughts are:

Either a lavender or convict tang
Flame angel and potters

Thoughts?

I also will be adding a small group of anthias. What do people recommend? I am not sure of the more hardy ones outside bartletts but I don't want go with them this time. Also will be adding to my wrasse list with some flashers and fairies plus a pintail and probably linatus/rhomboid.

So no one has any thoughts or a sugggestion? Any anthias recommendations?

 

[Joe0813]

you might have some issues with that purple tang and the powder blue. they both can be jerks

 

[Reef908]

you might have some issues with that purple tang and the powder blue. they both can be jerks

Yeah, I definitely thought about that. My purple is about twice the size of the PBT. My hope is that if they all go in together, it will be a much better situation. I just added the tiny Tomini and the Green and Melanaurus wrasse to the tank. I put in a few raw shrimp and there was zero ammonia and nitrate after a week. We will see how this goes but I think all of the live rock I put in seems to be capable of handling the bio load as I slowly add the fish to it. I will give it a week and continue to test daily before adding the next few fish.

 

[Reef908]

Quick update. All the coral and most of my original fish are in with the exception of my purple tang. I did add the tiny tomini in since he is the smallest of tangs at the moment. He went through TTM, prazi and a formalin dip with over a week of observation (close to 4 weeks total). He's constantly pecking at the rocks and eating all foods thrown in. My regal is definitely enjoying the extra space and has a nice cave of his own. He already is a lot more outgoing than he was in the 75. The most personable fish though is still my juvi tusk. He will follow and stare at me whenever I'm near the tank. I'll post a pic when I can get a good one soon

 

[Reef908]

So I wanted to post a 6 month or so update. The tank has been going good overall and I have had zero fish loss. Corals are alive but I have not seen great growth for most. My Duncan has been sprouting heads like crazy the last few months which is real cool.

The good:

• 
  Fish are happy and definitely fat. Only minimal tang aggression with the desjardini on the receiving end mostly. All happens at night and I don’t see during the day at all.

• 
  Corals have good PE but not really growing much.

• 
  Skimmer has been a champ and sucking up great skimmate (went with the large SCA).

• 
  Kessils have been good but the shimmer is kind of is annoying actually to me. It’s too much sometimes but overall I’m happy for quality vs cost.

• 
  Love the size of the 180. Will be adding some more fish soon. Thinking wrasses, chromis/damsel, and some anthias. I’m done with big fish. Maybe one dwarf angel like a flame though. Anyone have any thoughts?

The bad:

• 
  Tank definitely has ick. I did TTM with QT an observation for the new fish (3 tangs and the spot breast angel) and none had signs at all. All fresh rock and coral was in my old tank that definitely did not have it (or so I think). Powder blue is only fish really to show spots but never Flashes and eats like a pig. I know they are prone but I wanted a parasite free tank. I’ll deal for now but it is frustrating after all the hard qt work I put in.

• 
  The tank had some bad turf algae for a while but I had bare bones cleanup crew. I added 10 Mexican turbos and in 3 days it was near gone. They work wonders! I also got about 10 blue leg hermits, some small nassarius, and 2 tiny emerald crabs. I wanted to add another shrimp to replace the one that my Aussie tusk merc’d randomly after 8 months of peace but I though against adding an expensive meal for him again lol.

• 
  My biggest issue is the tank got over run on the rocks by vermitid snails. The small ones. They are everywhere on the rocks. I had one little tube on a frag that was in my old 75 for 2 years and that was it. I thought I crushed it off on the base but I guess I was wrong, or there were others I just never saw at all on a coral plug. In this tank now there are thousands! I think it’s unsightly and it definitely is something I wish to be rid of!

• 
  My two MP40s have not been doing great with consistent flow. I need to add a few more power heads to get better even flow. I knew this going in and I’ll add but my main issue really has been with the Reef link. It has dropped the pumps connection and I can’t update the schedule. I can’t figure out how to get them to work together again. Currently they are just greyed out and I can’t select them. Anyone have any ideas?

Lastly I also added a few recent iPhone pics. Let me know your thoughts!