62 gallon tank started 01/07/2021

[MrBubble47]

Hello everyone, i want to show you my new tank and equipment.

- Aquatlantis 250 liters

- Skimmer Deltec: 600i

- Return pump: Blau Aquaristik Reef Motion 2.3KDC

- Heater: NEWA VTX 400 W

- Sand: 18kg ATI Fiji White Sand

- Rocks: 20kg D-D Aquascape Natural Aquarium Rock

- Salt: Instant Ocean

- Bacteria: Aquaforest Pro Bio S

I need to order:

- Lighting: Aqua Illumination PRIME16HD x2

- Power Head: Hydor Koralia Reef Kit 3G 5000

- Auto top off: Blau Aquaristic Level Control System Single

- Seachem Pristine e Sicce HyperBakto

To start cycling the tank I’ve put a shrimp that I’ll let marinating in the sump for three days.

(Sump water level is temporarily too high so I’ve put a dish under the skimmer to higher it up. Wires and rockscaping still need to be fixed)

Thoughts? Advices? Ideas?

 

[DC Reefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing the progress on your build.

 

[MrBubble47]

Welcome to R2R!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing the progress on your build.

Thank you!

Do you have any thoughts about the equipment that I’ve used and about the rockscaping?

On the right side i want to create something higher... something like an arch. What do you think?
Here’s an example

 

[DC Reefer]

Thank you!

Do you have any thoughts about the equipment that I’ve used and about the rockscaping?

On the right side i want to create something higher... something like an arch. What do you think?
Here’s an example

For the scaping an arch would be cool. May need a bit more rock. If using dry rock I would recommend doing it as soon as you can so it can all go through the same cycle and get the uglies out of the way all at once

I am not familiar with your ATO system, I run the Tunze ATO in three of my tanks and have been very happy with them. I am trying the reef breeders prism ATO in my coral QT and have been happy with it so far (2 months into it). It is a lot more reasonable than the Tunze ($60 vs $200).

For the heater, 400 watt is probably a bit of overkill, I like to use two smaller heaters in my tanks for redundancy. I will have 1 set to turn on .5 degrees cooler than the other.

 

[MrBubble47]

For the scaping an arch would be cool. May need a bit more rock. If using dry rock I would recommend doing it as soon as you can so it can all go through the same cycle and get the uglies out of the way all at once

I am not familiar with your ATO system, I run the Tunze ATO in three of my tanks and have been very happy with them. I am trying the reef breeders prism ATO in my coral QT and have been happy with it so far (2 months into it). It is a lot more reasonable than the Tunze ($60 vs $200).

For the heater, 400 watt is probably a bit of overkill, I like to use two smaller heaters in my tanks for redundancy. I will have 1 set to turn on .5 degrees cooler than the other.

Thank you.

I agree, I’ve ordered 3 more kilograms of rocks to try to make that arch.

Tunze is always a great choice, i know. There’s also this
Auto Aqua Smart Ato Duo... it may be a good product too.

That sounds like a great idea! I think I better have 2 smaller heaters just like you do.

 

[MrBubble47]

Hey! I’m back. AI PRIME 16 purchased, mounted and scheduled. I think they look great

What do you think about the rockscape?
I’ve created an arch on the left part where I want to grow corals that require a lot of light. Do you think it looks good there?

 

[sgarron]

X

 

[MrBubble47]

Hello everybody!
A little update long overdue.
I’ve had many problems due to something harmful that came out of the cement that I used to create that arch which I removed later on. Then i did some water changes siphoning the rockscape which was covered in a yellowish sort of mat and things eventually got better.

I created a refugium in the sump which is doing fine, the algae is growing a little and copepods are dwelling inside of it.

I still need to put some more fishes in the tank and now there’s a little bit of mess cause I’m doing big changed in my other tank and I put all the corals

 

[MrBubble47]

New update:
Added: 1 Labroides dimidiatus 15
Added: 6 Tectus fenestratus 4,00€ each
Added: 1 Red sponge from the Carribean, unfortunately today I’ve noticed that it looks like it’s losing tissue. I hope it’ll survive. 60,00€
Added: 1 Tridacna crocea 70,00€
Added: Duncanospammia axifuga 25,00€

Latest water parameters check:

KH: 8,4
Ca: 455
Mg: 1380
NO3: 1,5
PO4: non detectable

 

[MrBubble47]

1 year anniversary

New update:
Added: Pavona cactus 15,00€
Added: Micromussa lordhowensis 30,00€

Unfortunately, some sps perished, imo because of a NO3 spike probably due to a problem in the refugium light. (I should have done a water change).
Victims: Seriatopora caliendrum, Pocillopora KZ, Stylophora milka, 1 unknown Acropora

Montipora "Forest Fire", Montipora foliosa and Acropora tricolor lost color but are still alive. Calaustrea has lost lots of tissue and is looking very bad atm.

Acropora "Loisette", Montipora stellata, Acropora gemmifera and Anacropora forbesi don't seem to care at all.

All soft corals and all LPS (except for Calaustrea) are doing good, Briareum is growing like crazy.

Some nuisance algae started growing on dead corals and on the rocks.

Active carbon added.

Lighting program changed: 10% less white, Blues 20% more, some red and green added to. Acclimation 70% in 30 days set.

New objective: achieve least possible change in water parameters.

Latest water parameters check:

KH: 8,7
Ca: 460
Mg: 1410
NO3: 0,5
PO4: non detectable

 

[MrBubble47]

Here's the new lighting program and the NO3 spike that occurred.

 

[MrBubble47]

New Update.

Added: unidentified sponge: 5,00€
Added: purple Gorgonia: 20,00€

KH: 8,4
Ca: 435
Mg: 1360
NO3: 2
PO4: non detectable

 

[Mr_Knightley]

New Update.

Added: unidentified sponge: 5,00€
Added: purple Gorgonia: 20,00€

KH: 8,4
Ca: 435
Mg: 1360
NO3: 2
PO4: non detectable

The sponge looks like Clathria prolifera, which can be found all over the Atlantic ocean from the caribbean to the north Atlantic. I hope it does well for you!

 

[MrBubble47]

The sponge looks like Clathria prolifera, which can be found all over the Atlantic ocean from the caribbean to the north Atlantic. I hope it does well for you!

Thank you so much! We’ll se if it’ll like it in its new tank, hopefully it will

 

[MrBubble47]

New update

KH: 7.3
Ca: 475
Mg: 1500
NO3: 50
PO4: 0.5