200g display / 400g system build

[fox2589]

in ur first couple of paragraphs you mentioned stacking the rocks in a way so detritus doesnt collect as easy...im thinking detritus should not even happen with the flow u have in that thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol..anyway thats looks pretty amazing..too complicted for me to build all that stuff but props for doing it..best of luck!-drew

[aquawolf]

Now that barnacle rock is cool! The first thing I thought when I saw the picture was it's barnacle blenny time.

[benny z]

i've finally cleaned up my temporary ballast wiring mess.



this is the electrical board - more simplified than my last setup. the two white cords going through the wall are power strips for the halide ballasts which are mounted on a shelf behind the wall:





and finally, a reverse shot of the fish room from the far corner. this shows my stainless dog bathing sink - perfect for cleaning reef equipment and bathing the dogs. also, my ro/di unit is mounted above the sink.

[benny z]

couple of more pictures of the skimmer in action - this is 4 days after thoroughly cleaning the skimmer. remember...there are ZERO fish in the tank!





my theory is that the crap being skimmed out - and also to an even larger extent the crap being pulled out by the filter sock - is "mulm", or the denitrifying bacteria and byproduct of the bacteria living in the rocks. zeo users have an extreme amount of mulm buildup in their zeovit reactors because the bacteria on the zeolites are so efficient at breaking down ammonia - the zeo reactors have a "shaker" (if you will) inside the chamber with a rod coming through the top that allows them to shake the media daily, releasing a majority of the mulm from the reactor into the water column. we do the same thing when we blow off our liverocks with a powerhead. especially in lower flow systems, some of what you blow off is detritus, but a big bulk of it - especially in high flow (40x turnover +) systems - is this mulm.

i am adding about a cap full of ammonia to the system every other day now that the system has fully cycled. i'm also feeding a tiny amount of rods food and dt's phytoplankton every few days to feed the pods and other infauna. by comparison, though, i am definitely skimming out way more crud than the food that i am adding. still, i am adding food for the bacteria by way of ammonia and decaying food, so the bacteria's byproduct of mulm is what i am seeing. i have blown off the rocks a few times and am amazed at the amount of mulm being released!

[benny z]

ok - we have some fish!





lights are off for a couple of days to let them settle in.

[mr.reef24]

Can't wait for you to post more picture's of the progress keep them coming.

Mr.Reef24

[aquawolf]

Great looking fish room! Congrats on getting the new fish as well I hope they work out well as your first additions to the tank.

[benny z]

thanks!

i normally would not start out stocking a tank like this, but the opportunity to pick up an established purple and the similar-sized achilles at the same time was too much to pass up. i know all too well the fate of most achilles, but i figure if i'm going to try one, it should be before the tank is stocked full of fish. we'll see how it goes.

late last night before i went to bed i captured the small scribbled rabbitfish i've been holding in one of my smaller systems and acclimated it to the big tank, too. figured another established fish that knows how to eat wouldn't hurt to help teach the achilles what to do.

turns out this morning that they have discovered the rest of the tank - traveling everywhere in a little pack. the rabbitfish thinks it's a tang, as most do. i put some rods in the water and all three fish ate aggressively. hopefully this keeps up!

[YLChik]

fingers crossed for you Ben!

[crvz]

Awesome pair of fish, congrats! Good luck with them!

[benny z]

well, what i expected would happened has happened - several white spots on the achilles...and a few on the purple.

fed them three times today, though, and everybody's still eating aggressively...twice with rod's food and a third time with nori. when there wasn't food in the water they were pecking at the rocks and playing in the current. we'll see what happens tomorrow. as long as they keep eating i'm not too worried.

[aquawolf]

There was a discussion on here a while ago about tangs developing white spots that were not ich when being stressed a little. It seemed that some people had a few tangs that anytime they messed with something in the tank white spots would appear for a few days to a week or so and then go away again. Hopefully this is the case for you as well.

[benny z]

today there is no real change - everyone is eating and very active. still some spots on both tangs, but for now they do not seem to be getting worse.

the tank now houses in addition to the tangs and rabbitfish...

1 cleaner shrimp
2 fire shrimp
1 cleaner goby

both tangs are swimming up to the cleaner goby and letting it do its thing. that is a positive sign.

oh, and i soaked their food in a bit of tank water along with a chopped fresh garlic clove and then fed it along with the food. rabbitfish and purple tang i think were eating the garlic...achilles snubbed its nose to it. i'll keep trying daily.

couple of more pics w/ the flash showing the trio:

[Dragonist]

awesome build...i so want a yellow tang but have been told qmy 55g is'nt big enough for them...jsut waiting on my move @ the end of this month m ay get a tank upgrade...also how nessary is a skimmer for a tank? Currently not running one...I have a mechanical filter running.

(tank stock)

1 condy anemone
1 green mushroom
3 red mushrooms
1 three stripe damsel
3 two stripe damsel
1 engineer(convict) goby
2 hermit crabs(grn)(black) white stripe)
2 scarlett hermits
1 hawiian hermit crab(its red white and blk lps said its a adult scarlett reef crab)
1 snail hitcher hiker

[benny z]

hello and thanks!

agreed that a 55 is really quite small for any tang. only tangs i'd keep in a 4-foot tank would be bristletooth tangs, and even then it is smaller than preferred. typically i advise 6-foot or longer tanks for tangs.

you can run a reef tank without a skimmer - many people do. there are thousands of ways to run a system and no one way is right or wrong. personally i feel strong skimming is necessary for the animals i intend to keep, but if you only plan to keep soft corals and the other inverts you've already acquired it will likely be fine without a skimmer. just be sure to keep up on regular water changes and don't over feed.

good luck,
ben