First Tank, trying to not over think things (and failing...)

[mythesis]

Week 1 update (fish installed 7/21).​

​

Doors finally installed, which makes things look a lot more complete. Going to get a black background to hide cords in next order from BRS.

Chemistry​

Chemistry looks pretty stable. Nitrates not dropping as fast as hoped, but patience. Salinity still holding at 1.024, replacing evaporation with salt water to raise it to 1.025. About 7 cups / day of water is my estimate of water loss.

Fish Behavior​

Shrimp #1 molted. Both are out and about in the tank for the first time today. They've been coming out for feeding, but otherwise chilling in their respective "caves". Fun to see them actually in the tank today:

Smaller clown keeps swimming in the very corner. Larger one is a little more adventurous, but not much. They are both eating well during feedings, so I guess clowns are just weirdos...

Wavemakers​

Wavemakers (MP40) are up to 40% of their max....I honestly don't know if I can get them to 100% in this tank...feels like it's a lot already. Does anyone know if I can cut off the "break in" period earlier than 100% without harming them? (https://support.ecotechmarine.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020863294-VorTech-Wetside-Break-in-Procedure)

I did move them both to top to create a solid disturbance in the surface for gas exchange (thanks @Lavey29 )

Next Steps​

LFS is encouraging us to put in some Snails & Hermits to start a clean up crew. May do that this week.

 

[Lavey29]

Week 1 update (fish installed 7/21).​

​

Doors finally installed, which makes things look a lot more complete. Going to get a black background to hide cords in next order from BRS.

Chemistry​

Chemistry looks pretty stable. Nitrates not dropping as fast as hoped, but patience. Salinity still holding at 1.024, replacing evaporation with salt water to raise it to 1.025. About 7 cups / day of water is my estimate of water loss.

Fish Behavior​

Shrimp #1 molted. Both are out and about in the tank for the first time today. They've been coming out for feeding, but otherwise chilling in their respective "caves". Fun to see them actually in the tank today:

Smaller clown keeps swimming in the very corner. Larger one is a little more adventurous, but not much. They are both eating well during feedings, so I guess clowns are just weirdos...

Wavemakers​

Wavemakers (MP40) are up to 40% of their max....I honestly don't know if I can get them to 100% in this tank...feels like it's a lot already. Does anyone know if I can cut off the "break in" period earlier than 100% without harming them? (https://support.ecotechmarine.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020863294-VorTech-Wetside-Break-in-Procedure)

I did move them both to top to create a solid disturbance in the surface for gas exchange (thanks @Lavey29 )

Next Steps​

LFS is encouraging us to put in some Snails & Hermits to start a clean up crew. May do that this week.

I never broke my MP40s in, never cleaned them once and they work fine 3.5 years later. You will want to be 40 to 50% intensity anti sync in that size tank on reef crest mode.

 

[bossman818]

Patience is key. Let your tank do it’s thing.

 

[mythesis]

Week 2 Update!​

Aka: It's (becoming) Alive!

Parameters​

• Nitrates are starting to creep down, but still higher than I'd like
• Finally got to 1.025 Salinity. Added peristaltic pump for RODI ATO
• Started testing Calcium after taking water to LFS.2 and them suggesting I would need to raise Calcium & Alkalinity.

I currently use the Instant Ocean Salt (purple box), LFS.2 suggested I would need to use another salt or add a supplement (both LFS I use suggested a supplement actually).

Current Status​

The two clowns continue to stay in the same little area on the back wall. They seem to be getting along well and eating.

One day they both had white-stringy-poop, which I saw on these forums suggested a need for more diversity in diet. Picked up some frozen shrimp to augment their pellet diet, and all seems to be well.

The second shrimp molted this week (first one molted last week), so seems like they're both pretty happy. Both of them are much more active than they were that first week or so --- very fun to watch them climbing all over the rock work.

​

Additions to the Tank!​

Clean Up Crew!​

With the start of the diatoms(?) in the first pic, LFS suggested it was time for a clean up crew. We added:

• 6x Nassarius Snails
• 6x Astrea Snails
• 24x Hermit Crabs

They've been really fun to watch. They also set to work immediately cleaning up the mess!

Corals​

We also couldn't resist picking up an "easy" coral, so meet Donut:


I was a little worried about the flow at first (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/first-coral-flow-check-for-a-duncan.1065957/#post-12728206) but it seems to continue to be extended and "puffy" so leaving it for now.

We also grabbed a tiny frag of GSP and put it on a piece of rubble leaned against the back glass. Hopefully it will grow into one of those beautiful flowing mats of GSP I see sometimes against the back wall!

Next Steps:​

This week hoping to build a more stable "mixing station".

Waiting for our Nitrates to really come down before adding another fish.

Did a 10% water change today, so will test Calcium/KH again tomorrow and then consider adding a supplement to the water.


Very new, so always appreciate feedback & thoughts!

 

[aztoza]

Following! I like your style and cracking up about an “overthinkers” build—I’m right there with ya! Nice cleanup crew and first corals, aquascape looks great too! You’ve got a lot of stocking options with a 90 gal, and the one thing I’ve learned so far is don’t overlook fish that can do a job for you =) some make great CUC or eat coral pests etc.

 

[thedon986]

That Kh sounds low for IO salt but the calcium sounds right. You don’t need to correct anything right now but you may want to find a salt that has levels closer to what you want for stability sake eventually. IO Kh should be 9-10 with calcium near 400.

If you choose to supplement and don’t want those levels you have to correct every water batch you mix up on top of eventually dosing the system itself regularly.

 

[mythesis]

That Kh sounds low for IO salt but the calcium sounds right. You don’t need to correct anything right now but you may want to find a salt that has levels closer to what you want for stability sake eventually. IO Kh should be 9-10 with calcium near 400.

If you choose to supplement and don’t want those levels you have to correct every water batch you mix up on top of eventually dosing the system itself regularly.

Any idea why KH would be lower than expected?

 

[thedon986]

Not sure I haven't used the salt before. You did say your salinity was at 1.025? Maybe try bumping it up 1.026 and you may end up closer to 9 alk.

 

[Linlox]

Your build looks great! Seems like we have similar builds going at the about the same timelines. Will definitely follow along. Every tank we have setup since 2009 seems to take its own path to equilibrium and are just along for the ride.....

 

[mythesis]

Your build looks great! Seems like we have similar builds going at the about the same timelines. Will definitely follow along. Every tank we have setup since 2009 seems to take its own path to equilibrium and are just along for the ride.....

nice, thanks for sharing, I'll add a watch to your tank thread so I can follow along as well!

Edit: lol, I am watching already Responded too quickly!

 

[mythesis]

Week 3 Update:​

Or the cost of refactoring isn't 0

Thanks to @Joeganja and This thread bout photography, I can finally take a picture of my tank without the normal blues overwhelming the photo! (for me, set up a scene in Mobius that makes it more photo-friendly)

Parameters​

Params seem to be pretty stable. The salt I use (Purple Box Instant Ocean) seems to be lower on the Ca & KH, so may consider switching when that runs out in ... like 14 weeks lol. But salinity is staying stable at 1.025, which is my target.

Nitrates stubbornly won't drop. The API test seems to be getting lighter, but I also have Salifert (since everyone suggested API wasn't reliable) and it's not budging.

Mixing Station​

Big progress this week on mixing station....or in which I learned that unlike writing code, refactoring PVC is a non-trivial task.

I still have the very tiniest periodic drop leaking out from where I screwed the connector into the bulkhead, despite Teflon tape and extra tightening. May have to go get some of the plastic dope or whatever it's called. Been a learning experience on that one for sure.

I still need to figure out a more practical way of getting 10 gallons into the tank, which is about 100ft from the mixing station, every week. Jugs splash, hose is awkward (and the hose connector to the PVC leaks horribly)...not sure what to try next.

Food!​

Thanks to This Thread on tank health, I realized that the bucket of Red Wiggler worms I have in the basement might make excellent fish food! Sure enough, we put a chopped up worm in there and the shrimp went *nuts* for it. The fish seemed to like it ok, but not as wild. Will work those into the rotation a couple times a week with pellets and frozen mysis shrimp on other days.

Patience Patience Patience....​

Our plan is to pick up an Anthias, Watchman Goby, and Pistol Shrimp in another week. Hopefully that's not rushing it too much.

We're still not seeing a lot of algae / ugly stuff show up. Small brown spots appeared but quickly got devoured by clean up crew.


Feedback is always welcome, glad to be part of this community!

 

[Joeganja]

Week 3 Update:​

Or the cost of refactoring isn't 0

Thanks to @Joeganja and This thread bout photography, I can finally take a picture of my tank without the normal blues overwhelming the photo! (for me, set up a scene in Mobius that makes it more photo-friendly)

Parameters​

Params seem to be pretty stable. The salt I use (Purple Box Instant Ocean) seems to be lower on the Ca & KH, so may consider switching when that runs out in ... like 14 weeks lol. But salinity is staying stable at 1.025, which is my target.

Nitrates stubbornly won't drop. The API test seems to be getting lighter, but I also have Salifert (since everyone suggested API wasn't reliable) and it's not budging.

Mixing Station​

Big progress this week on mixing station....or in which I learned that unlike writing code, refactoring PVC is a non-trivial task.

I still have the very tiniest periodic drop leaking out from where I screwed the connector into the bulkhead, despite Teflon tape and extra tightening. May have to go get some of the plastic dope or whatever it's called. Been a learning experience on that one for sure.

I still need to figure out a more practical way of getting 10 gallons into the tank, which is about 100ft from the mixing station, every week. Jugs splash, hose is awkward (and the hose connector to the PVC leaks horribly)...not sure what to try next.

Food!​

Thanks to This Thread on tank health, I realized that the bucket of Red Wiggler worms I have in the basement might make excellent fish food! Sure enough, we put a chopped up worm in there and the shrimp went *nuts* for it. The fish seemed to like it ok, but not as wild. Will work those into the rotation a couple times a week with pellets and frozen mysis shrimp on other days.

Patience Patience Patience....​

Our plan is to pick up an Anthias, Watchman Goby, and Pistol Shrimp in another week. Hopefully that's not rushing it too much.

We're still not seeing a lot of algae / ugly stuff show up. Small brown spots appeared but quickly got devoured by clean up crew.


Feedback is always welcome, glad to be part of this community!

Glad to hear you were able to figure it out. Instant ocean has been one of the most used salts of all time and I myself have been using reef crystals for years now after Seachem reef stopped and made a new mix and changed it. And before that that I used Kent Marine. I will eventually give Red Sea Blue Bag a try to see if I can get better mixing but I’d definitely recommend Reef Crystals.

About the fish I would maybe be careful with adding any type of Anthias with a lot of research prior due to eating habits and some people having short or long term success may vary depending on species types and amount you plan on adding along with multiple times of feeding a day. I wanted to add Anthias but after thinking I’m going to hold off because if the success is determined based off multiple feedings a day I want to not go that route.

I’d look into getting a smaller tang and or reef safe angel if you want to add some color or size.

 

[mythesis]

Glad to hear you were able to figure it out. Instant ocean has been one of the most used salts of all time and I myself have been using reef crystals for years now after Seachem reef stopped and made a new mix and changed it. And before that that I used Kent Marine. I will eventually give Red Sea Blue Bag a try to see if I can get better mixing but I’d definitely recommend Reef Crystals.

About the fish I would maybe be careful with adding any type of Anthias with a lot of research prior due to eating habits and some people having short or long term success may vary depending on species types and amount you plan on adding along with multiple times of feeding a day. I wanted to add Anthias but after thinking I’m going to hold off because if the success is determined based off multiple feedings a day I want to not go that route.

I’d look into getting a smaller tang and or reef safe angel if you want to add some color or size.

Oh man, glad you said something. This is our very first tank, so rather not get ourselves in trouble early.

We do plan to do a yellow tang at the end of our stocking.

I think we had concerns about angels with corals/inverts/aggression. May revisit that.

 

[Joeganja]

Oh man, glad you said something. This is our very first tank, so rather not get ourselves in trouble early.

We do plan to do a yellow tang at the end of our stocking.

I think we had concerns about angels with corals/inverts/aggression. May revisit that.

Oh man, glad you said something. This is our very first tank, so rather not get ourselves in trouble early.

We do plan to do a yellow tang at the end of our stocking.

I think we had concerns about angels with corals/inverts/aggression. May revisit that.

No problem. When I first started I overlooked phosphate levels as well as they contribute to coral growth and algae growth. I would definitely check your phosphate levels especially if you plan to diversify your food and the amount of fish you plan to have. I’ve had 3 lyretail anthias that were females in a 90 I had back in 2012 and over the course of a year or two they slowly died off one by one and I would feed them throughout the day so that’s me experience from it.

 

[mythesis]

Week 4 (A whole month!)​

Woo....a whole month in. (Full whites only on for picture purposes, normally running the AB+ profile from Mobius)

No Touching!​

Went on our first vacation and left the tank in the hands of my wife's parents from Wed-Sun. Was a little concerned that I didn't have the Peristaltic Pump rate 100% dialed in for the auto top-off, so I erred on too much rather than too little. When I came back, I removed about 2L of extra water from the pump, which figured out to be about 0.25 ml/min by back-of-napkin math, so not so bad.

On a high note, there does seem to be a light brown growth happening on the glass / rocks / bed. Cleaned right up with the algae scraper, but I assume that's progress as the reef "comes alive".

Parameters are ... stable? ish?​

Looks like things are staying pretty level. Nitrates finally starting to drop. KH dropped quite a bit while I was gone, could have been a bad reading or in need of water change (which I'll do 10 gal tomorrow).

​

Time to upset the balance​

We're going to go try and get some new fish friends this week, and hopefully some more coral frags (torches / hammers? Something that seems hardy enough to weather a new tank).

Also likely to buy some fish from Biota and put them in QT for 3 weeks to add to the display in a month.



Light update this time, but nice to know we could go out of town for 4 days and come back to everything still humming along.

 

[monfilsi]

You are doing great... keep it up.

One thing I wish I did differently when setting things up years ago is quarantining coral to avoid introducing vermetids and aiptasia. Might not be a big deal for you, but where I live I can't get predators that keep those in check. So I wish I had setup a quarantine or grow tank right from the beginning.

Second, is invest in good lighting up front before you introduce coral. You'll lose coral due to poor lighting and switching lights can lead to losing corals as well if not done carefully.

Good luck!

 

[mythesis]

You are doing great... keep it up.

One thing I wish I did differently when setting things up years ago is quarantining coral to avoid introducing vermetids and aiptasia. Might not be a big deal for you, but where I live I can't get predators that keep those in check. So I wish I had setup a quarantine or grow tank right from the beginning.

Second, is invest in good lighting up front before you introduce coral. You'll lose coral due to poor lighting and switching lights can lead to losing corals as well if not done carefully.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reminders!

We are definitely dipping all our corals before installing them. I suppose we should also put them in a tank on the side for a couple days as well.

I was able to find lights on FB marketplace for much cheaper, so I think my lighting plan is ready to go (I had been waiting to find them before going forward on corals for exactly the reason you'd pointed out).

So far the lone Duncan & 2 GSP frags seem to be surviving and growing, so figure it's time to press forward.

 

[mythesis]

I did have one question:

When people say "tight fitting lid" is this sufficient?

The mesh is from here: Mesh Kit from BRS

 

[mythesis]

It's Coming Alive in Week 5!​

Current Pic:

Growth:​

Rocks / Sand starting to accumulate some green / brown algae. Also seeing some darker red/brown spots on some of the rock (was installed as wet live rock shipped from Indonesia). Note the dark red spots near the Coral base.

Parameters:​

Parameters seem to be holding pretty constant. Nitrates still stubbornly hanging steady. API test looks like they're 5-10, but Salifert still reads 25+. I assume the green growth will start picking up those nutrients and driving them down.

New Livestock!​

With everything holding steady, went back to LFS to try and get something that would hang out in the water column. Suggestion was some reef-safe Wrasses (Linespot & Solon/Solar Fairy). My wife asked about the Copperband and LFS said it would be fine...He fed it mysis in the store.

All 3 fish hung out for a few days in a 20 gal tall setup I put together with some PVC "toys" to hide in. All 3 were eating well (including the Copperband), and since I don't have anything but clowns in DT currently, we moved them over after 3 days since I was more worried about ammonia in the small tank than infecting the clowns.

We also picked up a Hammer frag that's been beautiful:

CopperBand Questions:​

After moving it over, I noticed two tiny white dots on the copperband's tail. Other threads seem to indicate this is a common issue for them and will resolve itself as long as it's eating well and has good water. Feel free to weigh in....

Also, it ate extremely well in the QT. In the DT, it's only eating about 1/2 the time I feed. It also picks at rocks sometimes (I did put in Copepods a few weeks ago and intend to do that again this weekend).

Wondering if I need to get one of those Copperband feeders I see advertised or if it's getting enough?

What's Next?​

Heading to last of the LFS tomorrow and hoping to pick up some more frags of something like Toadstool or Frogspawn (which my understanding is are "easy").

Also may get a Conch or more hermits for the cleanup crew.

Will put in an order from @Biota_Marine this week and put them in QT for 3-4 weeks to be installed next month. Thinking a Royal Gramma, Filefish, and maybe a Court Jester Goby or Watchman Goby. The Lemonpeel Angelfish is tempting, but we would want a Coral Beauty eventually so may wait and get those together for compatibility.

Some blennies and then a Yellow or Hakari Tang and eventually a Mandarin, and I think that's our Fish stocking plan.


As always, happy to hear your thoughts and feedback. Am brand new and would rather get advice up front than learn by accidentally killing/wasting tons of money!

 

[mythesis]

Week 6, we're learning new Tricks:​

Current Photo:

The copperband in the upper left has been a ... Challenge. It seems like we're on a good path (albeit only with live shrimp currently), but at least eating and not stressed behavior anymore.

Otherwise, the leather corals (bottom left & middle) don't seem to love their current spots. Will give them another week to acclimate and see if they perk up a bit.

Video of flow here:

Parameters:​

Testing less frequently, but seeing a lot of consistency. We fed a lot of various shrimps, which I'm guessing caused a little rise in Calcium (and or just testing error):

Really wish Nitrates would come down a little bit, but we're definitely over feeding right now to get the Copperband to eat so not surprising it's holding high.

New Additions:​

The solar wrasse & linespot wrasse seem to be right at home.

Copperband is eating live shrimp and seems to be ok

We picked up 2 leathers (a toadstool & cookies and cream devil's hand?) which seem to be about 75% happy, but not fully extended.

Same with the torch (far right side). Will give them another week to acclimate before moving again.

Next Steps:​

Went with a "nicer" AIO 26 gal cube for a quarantine tank that has room for a skimmer & bio media (and, you know, might just make a nice seahorse tank someday way down the line....just sayin....). Going to set that up, and put the bio media containers in the sump of the main for a few weeks.

I was just always stressed about the HOB's flow and keeping up with Ammonia. I was going to have a tough time leaving fish in there for 4-6 weeks and always wanting to rush putting them in. This gives me a little more comfort.

Uglies?​

There's a few reddish spots on the rocks that "glow" under the evening blue light. I assume that's cyano, but it's not getting out of control and been there a few weeks. Otherwise the algae growth is well within what I would expect for a new tank getting established.

I put in 3rd round of copepods (trying to get Copperband some food!), so maybe those guys are helping keeping things in check.


As always, would love to hear thoughts & ideas!