The little hammer that could

[JerkinJohn]

My tank is a new setup. It's a 90 gal DT with 4" of sand substrate with 50lb's of dry rock from BRS. 20 gal 3 chamber sump with a mag drive 700 as my return pump. Ordering a mp40 friday for more water movement.

My question is about my one and only coral I have at the moment. A friend from work gave it to me about 2 weeks ago. I've had it in my fuge up until 3 days ago. Now it's in my display.

My lighting is a coralife 48" fixture with 2 96w power compacts actinics and 2 150w double ended MH AND 3 LED lunar lights.

I am posting a few pics. My concern is proper placement. Is it to high in the DT? What are some signs of it being to high?

I am currently running the PC Actinics for 10 hours and the MH for 6 1/2 hours. LED's are on 24 hours.

here is closeup of the hammer when it was in my fuge

and here is my display. The hammer is on the right hand side mid way up the pillar. I know its tough to see.

I'm just curious as to what I should be watching out for. So far he couldn't be looking better IMO. Although I may have to move him anyway once I get my powerhead going.

 

[Ghstwolf]

For starters nice aquascape.. Tons of open spaces for your fish to swim and be happy.. Alot of negative space for LPS corals on the sandbed too.. Again very nice.

I would say your placement is pretty spot on.. Everything I've read says middle to lower parts of the tank.. Just watch your MP 40 placement or run it at a lower setting..

Chrisfont23 has an LPS dominated tank and can probably give you ALOT more tips than me.. But in my opinion it looks like a healthy piece and in a good location.

 

[JerkinJohn]

For starters nice aquascape.. Tons of open spaces for your fish to swim and be happy.. Alot of negative space for LPS corals on the sandbed too.. Again very nice.

I would say your placement is pretty spot on.. Everything I've read says middle to lower parts of the tank.. Just watch your MP 40 placement or run it at a lower setting..

Chrisfont23 has an LPS dominated tank and can probably give you ALOT more tips than me.. But in my opinion it looks like a healthy piece and in a good location.

Thank you.The first time I had this aquarium setup was about 10 years ago as a fowlr tank. I actually wanted a reef but struggled with corals very much and eventually just stuck with more aggressive fish. I had 110lb's of live rock all stacked up and leaning against the back glass. Getting back into the hobby with the same tank I used all those years ago and realizing how much has changed in such a short time I decided to do things completely different. The aquascape with dry rock being one of them.

I hope to have great success this time around with a mixed reef.

 

[Ghstwolf]

I did the same.. This is my 4th tank in the past 8yrs.. My first tank was totally distroyed by a hitchhiker mantis shrimp that ended up cracking the back glass.. My second was a Nano, again used all live rock and had SO many problems it didn't even make 6 mths old.. My third another nano with more live rock but after 2 mths the tank was infested with aptasia so I scrapped it.. My 90 was started with dry rock, dry sand, pure RO/DI water and about 2 years of reading/research before I even bought the tank.

The absolute hardest part of this hobby is being patient.. Not one of my stronge suits
And weeding thru all the old mentalities that are still around, like the amount of liverock you must have, or how much flow you must have..

What works in my tank may or may not work in yours and vise versa.. If you have the time, go to youtube and look up the NewYorkSteelo, Bulk Reef Supply and or MrSaltWaterTank videos.. They are full of usefull information about starting/maintaining and running a mixed reef system..

Goodluck with your system and I look foward to seeing updates as you get back into everything..