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5K views 48 replies 8 participants last post by  ETOWNE 
#1 ·
I just wanted to start a build thread. Here's a list of what I have.

currently:
100 gallon Clear for Life Acrylic tank
Eshopps 250 sump
Rio 2500 pump
Eco Tech Mp40w
Eco Tech Mp10w
Reef Octopus Diablo 2500
Marineland 48" Reef Capable LED
Wave Point 48" 4X T5 Ho
2 12k's
2 Blue's
Coral life turbo twist 12x
105lbs of live sand
100lbs of Live rock

Live Stock:

Fish:
1 Yellow Eye Cole Tang
1 Green Mandirin
1 Gold Bar Maroon Clown
3 Chromi's
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Yellow Watchmen Golby
1 6 Line Wrasse

Corals:
1 Hammer Coral
1 Pink Carnation
1 Kenya Tree
3 Superman Mushrooms

Inverts:
5 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Strawberry Crab
1 Blood Shrimp
1 Monaco Cleaner Shrimp
1 Copper Banded Pistol Shrimp
1 Yellow Sea Cucumber
8 Astrea Turbo Snails
2 Cerith Snails
2 Nassarious Snails
1 Sand Sifter Starfish
1 Blue Tuxedo Urchin

First water test:
gh:120
kh:80
ph:7.0
no2:0
no3:0
salinity: 1.023

Anyways, fired tank up yesterday. Getting ready to test water.
Here's some pics.




 
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#3 ·
Ahhh, we'll let them gofor the minute. The owner of my LFS has been here 3 days in a row setting up sump. We had a bulkhead fitting give him all kinds of fits,fixed now.I live on a 2nd story apartment and couldn't have water on the floor. Anyways, until he advises me to do something wrong, it's his puppy or fishy......lol. He's been very helpful, how many owners willcome to your house 3 days in a row becauseof your concern?

Anyways, quick update, Bought 10lbs of live rock and 3 Sgt. Majors from the store. Acclimating then I'll put a picture up.
 
#4 ·
Woohoo, made it past first week ......lol Anyways added 3 chromi's saturday. Lost 1 of the Sgt. Majors last monday. Water is looking pretty good on test strips, tested every day. Have been adding a cap full of ph buffer every morning. Ph seems to linger around 8.0. Keeping an eye on a coral and a polyp. After getting christmas out of the way, I plan on buying a mp40 and a reef octopus nwb 150. Anyways, here's a pic.
 
#8 ·
Ya,I hear ya. Just needed some color and activity! I'm in the process of restoring a couple vintage motorcycles, cafe style. Got the next three months to finish one and make a vintage racer out of another.
Anyways, got some new toys this week! Tuesday night picked up my Mp40w. Very strong power head. Awesome design! Wasn't hard to set up at all. Had to move it , still not completly satisfied, around on the tank. Word to the wise, wait till you get it where you want it to put sticky backs on glass. Then wednesday , my skimmer showed up. Reef Octopus Diablo 250. Brand new model ! I know most of the equipment is overkill but, plan on upgading later. I also have another 35-40 lbs of old live rock that I'm getting ready to cook. Figured about the time all of my rock gets coralined will be the time I want a bigger tank. Should give me 105-110 lbs of rock. Anyways, here's some pics:




Tomorrows project, finish getting power head where I want and clean the wiring mess up! Yes, I will ziptye the cord on the mp40. andmount the controller on the front of the stand.
Oh ya, hammer is splitting on one end,pod, whatever it's called....lol
 
#9 ·
I would lose the bioballs. Between your live rock and that skimmer the bioballs are not helping anything the live rock and the skimmer cant do except trapping nitrates. Your water will be cleaner without them now.

Tank is looking good, my only suggestion is lighting. I have had one of those fixtures and it ended up being less than reef capable. The lights burn out quick and in order to grow SPS and some LPS you need 2 of these fixtures. I had nothing but problems with it. Maybe you got a better one than i did however still I think that long term you can probably only handle softies and some lps. My advise is to just place your LPS higher in the tank.
 
#10 ·
Ya, I've been thinking about just converting it to socks or replacing it with a different sump all together. I want a refugium....... so many options.....lol. I think the marineland will do fine for now. I have moved the supermans almost halfway up the rock and they look alot better. Hammer is doing fine on the bottom, it started splitting on one end today. I have been looking into eco tech's lighting. Would be nice all plug and played. Pry do something this fall on lights.
 
#11 ·
I hope you picked up some pods for that new fish, he looks like a good size and would have a good apatite!

tanks is look'n alright, but I agree you may want to slow a little bit and let things settle in before adding anything else...

also that heater is not going to last long fully underwater like that, just get the tip top poking out...
 
#14 ·
you can....

but after a given time the seal will leak a little or a lot and moisture and salt water with electronics got mix well....

before I took my aquarium break, these where the only heaters I had used...


^ The one in the middle

so when I got my first submersable heater I didn't know what to do with it, the paper said it could go under water but it went against everything in me, so after seeing all these reefers put theirs under water I decided that it was ok, well a few months later it leaked and burned up, so I got a replacement, another brand, and it got moisture in it, so after that and reading up on it, I decided they are not 100% submersable for long term (well a lot of them, like that Hydor)



^ this is how I deal with it now....
 
#13 ·
I've been dropping a tsp of reef bugs in twice a week. Just drooped a cube of frozen cyclops yesterday. A little flake food LFS give me to try and tetra micro crabs cyclo-pezee granules every other day. I dropped a established filter sock in the sump last week. Ammonia was on the way up, fine now.Showing 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates since water was fired up.Only lost one sergeant major so far, firts 48 hrs. of new water. Want to get damsels out....lmao. Nate, thanks for tip on heater, didn't know that. Will fix tomorrow night.
 
#15 ·
I've been dropping a tsp of reef bugs in twice a week. Just drooped a cube of frozen cyclops yesterday. A little flake food LFS give me to try and tetra micro crabs cyclo-pezee granules every other day. I dropped a established filter sock in the sump last week. Ammonia was on the way up, fine now.Nate, thanks for tip on heater, didn't know that. Will fix tomorrow night.
I just had the EXACT Hydor heater fail on me, I was home when it happened, but can never to too careful around saltwater and "high" voltage...
 
#19 ·
what buffer are you using?

most pH buffers raise the Alkalinity, so when you add more your pH will rise and then go back down, as you keep adding the buffer the Alkalinity will build up in your water, and once its off enough it will affect your Mg, Ca, and Alk Balance, and make your pH unstable, participate out, not to mention stress/burn/kill your corals....

unless your testing for an element, don't add it... (simple rule, but one of the most important)

also make sure you check your foods, flake food is usually loaded with PO4 (Phosphates) pellets are generally a little better, but Blender Mush is better IMO...

Ya, like I said earlier, just needed to see some color.
Don't we all :D
 
#23 ·
lol i know i was bein a jerk just thought it was kinda funny i apologize for making fun at your expense also wanted to say that i like youre rock primarily cause for long tanks i like the stretched out reef-like look.. i have a cube so i did more of a pillar with holes in the middle
 
#24 ·
Well, made it through my first month....:dance:.. Tested water this morning just like everymorning and here's the results:
Temp:80
Salinity:1.024 up a little since mp was installed
GH:120ppm
KH:80ppm
pH:7.8 no buffer this morning
NO2:0ppm
NO3:0ppm
Everything is looking very well and like I posted earlier,hammer is still splitting. It is about 3/4 the way finished.Both sgt. Majors ick clearedup 3 weeks agoand they eat everything,fatso's! Clown is doing fine. Chromi's are fine. Scooter blenni is being fed cyclops and reef bugs. He is not getting fat by any means but he's not losing any either.Polyp and Candy cane that came on rock is growing. Calerpa algae is taking over 1 end of the tank. Going to take water to LFS tomorrow for further testing.
 
#26 ·
+1 alk flies up quick with ph buffers,
+2 slow down

I added my first fish at three weeks, and my first coral at 2+ months and that was still quick but I broke out the elbow grease and got through the uglies (algae blooms) my whole tank was green for about two weeks. i syphoned, scrubbed, cleaned, and developed good husbandry before adding anything more than a damsel, and a CUC.

I've only been at saltwater for 3 years, and fresh for 10 but i still have issues and have to figure out a way to correct them.
 
#30 ·
Ordered a 100 gallon Advance Aqua Tanks Clear-for-Life acrylic tank and a Wave point T5ho 4x48 with 2 sun wave and two blue wave lamps. Then ordered a Marineland Majesty stand. Pry order the canopy in a couple weeks. I also have been cooking 40lbs of rock Igot from a friend.It's ready to go. Pry switch everything over in 2 weeks.
 
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