Canadian 90 Gallon mixed reef tank build (lots of pics)

[Tigweldpro]

Hello, I just joined here and am starting a new thread to document the progress with my new 90 gallon tank build. I also have a tank journal going on a Canadian reefing site but it lacks activity.

SPECS
DT 48"w 18"d 21"h 3/4" bean animal overflow & diy glass overflow box
Sump 30 gallon breeder
Lights 2x 165w black box leds & sunblaster 48" T5HO supplement lighting
Sicce 3.0 return pump
2x Jebao SW-8 powerheads
Coral box ATO
Eheim 300w heater
4" 200 micron filtersock
Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer
Aqua medic 18w helix coil UV sterilizer(plumbed but not currently running still need to size a pump)

In the beginning.... Oct 20 2017

30 gallon breeder sump

Back of tank plumbing

The RO line is drizzling......

Full of saltwater and scaped. (nasty free rock was bleached and cured for 3months outside)
"Special grade seaflor" sand

Been cycling for 3 weeks, ammonia test says 0 now. Added 2 blue leg hermits and a green paly to test the waters. There's tons of copepods and I'm lightly dosing phyto every few days.

 

[Tigweldpro]

For the lighting on this tank I plan on using 2x 165w china black box led's. And I just got a great deal on a 48" sunblaster T5HO fixture that came with a broken 6400k bulb(not a reef bulb anyway).

So what would be the BEST choice for a bulb to add some pop and coral growth to the tank? I feel that the black box led's keep coral healthy & alive but growing quite slow.

With all the different brands and each one having many flavors I really don't have a clue what would be best. I can only pick 1

From reading online I'm leaning towards ATI Coral Plus, but I would like to hear from some long term T5HO users.

 

[MapleReef]

Awesome !! Another Canadian!!!

Looks like your off to a good start!

 

[alexiowa]

For the lighting on this tank I plan on using 2x 165w china black box led's. And I just got a great deal on a 48" sunblaster T5HO fixture that came with a broken 6400k bulb(not a reef bulb anyway).

So what would be the BEST choice for a bulb to add some pop and coral growth to the tank? I feel that the black box led's keep coral healthy & alive but growing quite slow.

With all the different brands and each one having many flavors I really don't have a clue what would be best. I can only pick 1

From reading online I'm leaning towards ATI Coral Plus, but I would like to hear from some long term T5HO users.

I just added a t5 retrofit to my chinese boxes and am using a coral plus and a blue plus. The coral plus is whiter than you think it will be. I am using the boxes only for the blues and have the t5 on my whites channel.

 

[Tigweldpro]

I just added a t5 retrofit to my chinese boxes and am using a coral plus and a blue plus. The coral plus is whiter than you think it will be. I am using the boxes only for the blues and have the t5 on my whites channel.

Yes I think it will be quite white but would probably only run it for 3-4hrs in mid day for coral growth. I may end up getting a second sunblaster and running a ATI true actinic to get that color pop that the black box leds lack.

 

[MapleReef]

Liking the Tonga! Where did you get these branches ?

 

[Tigweldpro]

Liking the Tonga! Where did you get these branches ?

Oh kijiji stuff, Guy was shutting down a huge FOWLR tank and I bought all the rock cheap it was nasty rock. Sold half of it for more that I paid for all of it after it was bleached and cured. Score!

 

[MapleReef]

Nice. Ya been snooping around kijiji for substrate and Tonga or dead coral. I like the natural reef look as opposed to just rock and sand.

 

[Tigweldpro]

Awesome !! Another Canadian!!!

Looks like your off to a good start!

I have a 38 gallon tank also been running about 8 months. not sure if I should start another tank journal as I will be moving everything into my new 90 and selling the complete 38 setup.....

 

[Tigweldpro]

Going through crazy diatom outbreak in the sump!

 

[Tigweldpro]

So I'm going to start moving fish over to this tank soon. I have a huge tiger pistol shrimp and a grey "yellow" watchman goby. I would like to get another yellow watchman goby to have a pair. What would be the best way to introduce the 3 of them into the new tank?

Maybe adding the new goby to the tank first then the pistol shrimp so they pair up then the original goby.....?

 

[Tigweldpro]

I'm not sure if I should be asking questions in my tank journal or if I should just stick to documenting and sharing here...

Having a hard time trapping the pistol shrimp any ideas on what the best bait would be, so far only tried mysis and ive caught the female mandarin 3 times.....

The two I'm after are.....

If I have to go in and take out rock to catch the shrimp I may be acclimating him to a pot of butter instead! he has doubled in size since I got him and is now over 2" long. His shots sound like glass cracking ;Nailbiting. But I got another YWG today and will add him to the new tank first for observation before adding other fish.

Any ideas on how to catch the pistol slinging invert would be helpful.

 

[Payson]

Wha

Oh kijiji stuff, Guy was shutting down a huge FOWLR tank and I bought all the rock cheap it was nasty rock. Sold half of it for more that I paid for all of it after it was bleached and cured. Score!

What is your method for cleanin the rock? I have some rock from a recent tear down of mine that has some nasty algae and crap on it. Your stuff came out really nice

 

[Tigweldpro]

What is your method for cleanin the rock? I have some rock from a recent tear down of mine that has some nasty algae and crap on it. Your stuff came out really nice

I took my sweet time over about 3 months. First in a garbage bin with a whole 5L bottle of bleach for 2 weeks. then I removed the rock and went through it smashing and picking off as much crap and vermitd snails as possible. then it was a series of freshwater baths for about a month. then soak in freshwater and prime for a few weeks. Then 1 by 1 dunk them in a 5 gallon of RODI then into freshly mixed saltwater with heater and powerhead for another month in the basement. Finally into the tank with new saltwater. I am still noticing phosphate around 1ppm after cycle, even after all the cleaning. The rock was absolutely gross when I got it so I can believe there is still some organics in there.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

So I'm going to start moving fish over to this tank soon. I have a huge tiger pistol shrimp and a grey "yellow" watchman goby. I would like to get another yellow watchman goby to have a pair. What would be the best way to introduce the 3 of them into the new tank?

Maybe adding the new goby to the tank first then the pistol shrimp so they pair up then the original goby.....?

Love the look of this guy! Is he a watchman?

 

[Zoaeasy]

Looking good. Where did you get your 90 g ? What's your best place for buying corals in Calgary?
Following along.

 

[Tigweldpro]

Looking good. Where did you get your 90 g ? What's your best place for buying corals in Calgary?
Following along.

The tank came from kijiji cheap. Resealed, swapped top & bottom brace, drilled + overflow box, polished with cerium oxide.

I think the best place to buy coral is from other hobbyists. For fish I go to Wai's

 

[Tigweldpro]

So I'm going to start moving fish over to this tank soon. I have a huge tiger pistol shrimp and a grey "yellow" watchman goby. I would like to get another yellow watchman goby to have a pair. What would be the best way to introduce the 3 of them into the new tank?

Maybe adding the new goby to the tank first then the pistol shrimp so they pair up then the original goby.....?

Love the look of this guy! Is he a watchman?

A grey, yellow watchman yep I assume female

 

[Tigweldpro]

New trap design.... We will see what happens. Its good to see my mandarins freely going in and out of my original trap and eating a ton of PE mysis. They made a fool out of the bottle trap forsure.

 

[Tigweldpro]

Trap worked caught the shrimp & goby, They are now living in the 90 with the new YWG. The shrimp started digging as soon as he hit the sand lol.