Big Daddy Reef

[violetjones]

Upgrading the 55 gallon to a old seven foot tank that was used for lobsters at restaurant that we are rehabbing and resealing. Once a place of death will hopefully be a place of….not death.

Livestock
Achilles Tang
Borbonias Anthias
Purple Tang
Copperband Butterfly
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Blue Mandarin Dragonet
Two percula clownfish
Starry Blenny
Royal Gramma Basslet
Four fighting conches
100s of wild stomatella snails (self populating)
Tuxedo urchin

Gear
6 AI Primes lights
180 Reef Octo Skimmer
Fiji Cube diy 29 gallon sump
Two Jebao DP-3 dosing units (6 heads total)
Two maspect 350 gyres
Modular Marine 1200 overflow box
Echotech V2 return pump

Three month update

Previous 55 gallon tank tour with WWC

 

[blaxsun]

Just remember: Every lobster dies. Not every lobster truly gets to be caught, fattened, boiled and served up with tasty butter and all the trimmings!

 

[violetjones]

Just remember: Every lobster dies. Not every lobster truly gets to be caught, fattened, boiled and served up with tasty butter and all the trimmings!

Hahaha

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Love the stand for your tank!!

 

[violetjones]

We got lukcy and bought the tank for $200 from a guy off facebook marketplace. It had some deep scratches so we spent a couple days cleaning and polishing the glass with cerium oxide

 

[jpmazzone]

Looks fantastic!

 

[reef_ranch]

Tank looks great!

So that pectina looks like to put on a growth spurt as Vic predicted!

 

[violetjones]

Tank looks great!

So that pectina looks like to put on a growth spurt as Vic predicted!

Yes indeed! Although we seem to have acquired some type of flatworm that has an appetite for pectinia and trachyphyllia that has eaten nearly have the colony. Just got some blue velvet nudibranchs hoping the put a dent in the population.

 

[reef_ranch]

Crazy! I've never come across those. Hope the blue velvets help. Keep us updated.

The nexus you sold me is a happy boy.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Great deal on the tank!!

 

[violetjones]

Crazy! I've never come across those. Hope the blue velvets help. Keep us updated.

The nexus you sold me is a happy boy.

Happy to hear. Send photos!

 

[violetjones]

We used a razor to remove the old silicone and resealed with api aquarium silicone. Painted the back black and built a stand out of 2x4s. Drilled the tank, installed the Modular Marine 1200 overflow, and plumbed the sump. Got two 29 gallon aqueon tanks, one to make a diy sump using Fiji sump kit, the other we siliconed a piece of acrylic to divide into two compartments for RO and salt water. We lined the back of the stand with black coroplast with a 2 inch clearance on the top and bottom to run cords for cord management.

 

[violetjones]

We built the frame of the canopy out of 2x2s

 

[violetjones]

Added leopard wrasses today and had a good excuse to put up the egg crate divider to separate them from the rest of the gang.

I built the aquascape around being able to put the divider in to separate fish, feed corals etc. Nothing is quite as satisfying as putting a purple tang in egg crate jail.

 

[violetjones]

Welp lost a couple acro colonies because our Hanna ALK checker regent went bad. Was reading 5 sometimes even 4 and we have been dumping alk into the tank. Was not precipitating as our magnesium was 1450. After a month decided to use the alk tester on a fresh batch of saltwater and it read 1.3

Got a new Hanna tester and found out our alk was actually 18…

After several water changes our alk is finally back to 8.5.

 

[violetjones]

Victor and the WWC crew stopped by to check out the tank!

 

[Northern Flicker]

Is this tank still powered only by the Primes?

 

[violetjones]

Is this tank still powered only by the Primes?

Yes it is! Going strong.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Yes it is! Going strong.

Your tank is looking great!