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

[mythesis]

Week...8? Update​

This week had the LFS come out and do a PAR mapping at two separate light intensities:

70%:

And then he suggested I'd need to raise to 85% to support SPS someday:

Was fascinating to me to see how much the light just plummets in intensity lower in the tank. Glad I did it, was a fun learning experience.

Sad News:​

The Copperband did not end up surviving. I appreciate everyone's help and you can relive the saga here. Unfortunately, after eating frozen shrimp in QT, and then live shrimp a few times in DT, it ended up passing. We were pretty torn up about it, but will maybe try again someday it seemed like an amazing fish.

Pods!​

The good news is we can definitely see Pods on the glass at night now (we dosed the *heck* out of some pods to try and keep that Copperband alive...). Hopefully that will have long-term benefits for the tank. We put in some from both Algae Barn & Reef By Steele over the last few weeks, so this thing should be plenty seeded.

Fuge!​

Talking with the Tech yesterday he did confirm that removing the sock & putting in a 'fuge in that first spot would be a good idea. (Discussion with this forum here. I'm out of town this weekend, but may take that on next week.

New Fishies!​

Ordered a Royal Gramma, Link's Goby, and Court Jester Goby from Biota to arrive next week. QT has been running empty for a few weeks with the biomedia in the sump. Will do a big water change just before fish arrive and try to stay on top of ammonia/nitrates.

Final Thoughts:​

The LFS rep was very pleased with the tank. Obviously still early in life cycle, but he was very reassuring that we're on the right path. Nice to hear that my impression of how things are going was accurate.

 

[mythesis]

2 Months!​

Man, this hobby feels like interminable waiting mixed with feeling like we're rushing.

The "Ugly Stage" has fully settled in. There's a brown film everywhere and the water is something close to "Murky" (not really, but definitely not nice and clear). From what I can tell, this is "normal" and the best course of action is "do nothing".

I did do a 10 gal (10%) water change this morning and did some light vacuum of the sand bed, but trying to let things take their course otherwise.

New Friends!​

As mentioned in This Thread, we've set up a QT and got some new friends from Biota. I was a little concerned about the Court Jester at first, but everyone seems to be adjusting well a week in.

In a month or so, hopefully this Link's Goby, Court Jester, and Royal Gramma will be scooting around the main tank!

Idea...​

As I mentioned in This Thread I'm contemplating replacing the Sock with a Refugium. The tech who mapped our PAR suggested it as well, his point being unless we aggressively change them out, it's still just breaking down with no helpful critters in there.

I'm a little concerned about removing too many nutrients via some Chaeto and giving a chance for Cyano to take hold. So, for now, I've just removed the sock and let the tank get a little more stable. A grow light is on its way for later though.


As always, love to hear feedback and ideas. It's a lot going through this the first time.

 

[mythesis]

Update!​

The ugly stage...she progresses. Very concerned we're on track for dinos/cyano as posted here. Nutrients just went to 0, which I understand is not great.

Update pic:

Nutrient Concerns:​

As noted in that thread, Nitrates/Phosphates were not detectable this morning. I turned off the protein skimmer and fed a ton extra to try and keep some nutrients flowing.

Quarantine:​

Quarantine of the 3 fish is going swimmingly. Did a 50% water change on them today as Ammonia was detectable. But all three are eating and swimming around nicely. Hopefully they can join the big show in 2 weeks.

Clean Up Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up!​

I've wanted a Conch for a while, and it seemed like there was plenty of junk in the sane for it to eat, so welcome aboard!

We also saw our first Vermatid snail on a stalk of Hammer. We crushed the shell, but also decided to unleash the dogs bees of war!

(As noted early on, we're beekeepers as well, so it's nice to have an excuse to get Bumblebee Snails... I guess!)


Everything else seems to be healthy. Duncan coral grew a new head. Torch seems to be getting bigger / looking like it's going to split. Leathers are all extended and happy.

Let's just hope we're not on the way to really ugly imbalances.....

 

[Fishy Guy]

Following along. Love your tank and aqua scape and seems like you’ve done your research and are thinking through everything.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Having lots of fun watching this progress! Stay patient, with enough CUC the uglies pass. Mine got the worst in month 2-3 but are almost completely gone now at month 4 and I’m growing lots of little corraline spots everywhere.

 

[mythesis]

Having lots of fun watching this progress! Stay patient, with enough CUC the uglies pass. Mine got the worst in month 2-3 but are almost completely gone now at month 4 and I’m growing lots of little corraline spots everywhere.

Appreciate the reminder.

It's hard to be patient but I'm trying!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Appreciate the reminder.

It's hard to be patient but I'm trying!

I really feel you- I am also an impatient over thinker.

Pods, macro, Astraea/cerith/trochus and emerald crab = GHA superstars. The emerald is tons of fun to watch, too.

 

[Fishy Guy]

The uglies are just part of it unfortunately, you just do the best you can. My tank is about 9 months and I’ve gone through several rounds of cyano and bryopsis.

 

[Zeeth]

I like your rock. That Indonesian live rock has some nice shapes to it.

 

[aztoza]

This is going to be such a cool tank the bumblebee snails are so cool!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Awesome build thread! My only advice to you would be that you dont need the newest technology or most expensive equipment for a tank. Also, just bear in mind as you progress that the people working at the LFS are salespeople...in other words, they want to sell as many items as possible...sometimes even when you have no need for them.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Awesome build thread! My only advice to you would be that you dont need the newest technology or most expensive equipment for a tank. Also, just bear in mind as you progress that the people working at the LFS are salespeople...in other words, they want to sell as many items as possible...sometimes even when you have no need for them.

Absolutely true. Especially be careful of livestock. One of my LFS has sold me one thing after another that turn out to be mistakes, and after the fourth recent time I’ve made a fool of myself believing them, I’m never setting foot back in there!

 

[mythesis]

Absolutely true. Especially be careful of livestock. One of my LFS has sold me one thing after another that turn out to be mistakes, and after the fourth recent time I’ve made a fool of myself believing them, I’m never setting foot back in there!

Preach...I'm a little annoyed I got convinced to buy a Copperband < 2 months into this process.

Not that they're ever easy fish...but what a way to start on this journey. Hopefully someday we'll try again, but I wish he would have said "They're incredible fish, but wait a while before trying that one!" instead of actively encouraging us that it would be ok as long as things stayed "balanced"

 

[Monad]

I need to say, the scape in your 90 gallon looks way better than the scape in mine.

 

[mythesis]

I need to say, the scape in your 90 gallon looks way better than the scape in mine.

My wife appreciates this

She worked _very_ hard setting that up. I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

 

[mythesis]

Update! (The Quest for Stability)​

Thankfully, the diatom bloom seems to be rapidly subsiding. The brown murkiness of the last month was getting really old. Under the evening lights, the glowing red patches on the rocks are mostly gone, and we don't see air bubbles forming from the diatoms.

The Duncan seems to have some brown hairy algae growing around it, so I may try to do a targeted peroxide treatment to the frag plug and try to keep that under control.

Parameters:​

Had a bit of a scare when Nitrates/Phosphates dove to 0 as the diatom bloom finished. I had watched enough of the BRS series to know that's typically fast-followed by Dinos, so thanks to the advice of Randy & others, I overfed, added some RedSea AB+, disconnected my protein skimmer, and got nutrients up _fast_.

I only dosed the AB+ twice, but looks like Nitrates are falling back down again and may need to do it again soon.

I need to do some reading about the interactions of Nitrates and Phosphates and how to correctly manage those.

Everything else seems to be chilling --- which makes sense, there's still not much in here to pull calcium out of the water or change the hardness.

At some point I'm going to have to get some auto-data-monitoring on this thing. What's a hobby if not just fancy ways to collect and manipulate data, right??

Reef Swap!​

We went to our first "Reef Swap" last weekend, hosted by The Reef Farm (not sure if they're on this site or not). Was a very cool experience meeting other reefers in person and seeing all the fascinating corals they grow! We bought our first Zoas and some folks kindly donated a "War Coral" and a "Pollicopora" to our new tank.

So far everything seems to be alive! We dropped lights down quite a bit and doing another acclimation over a few weeks, so hopefully it continues to go well.

Quarantine Ending!​

It's almost been a month, and our friends from @Biota_Marine are thriving in the QT (Link, Court Jester Goby; Royal Gramma). I think we're going to put them into the Acclimation Box in the big tank sometime next week. Give them a few days to make sure they're comfortable, then open the door and let them join the rest of the crew.

Next up seems to be some Blennies. The Tailspot seems to be a popular choice, and then maybe a Molly Miller from Biota.

As noted here, my wife wants something to "Sit on the Rocks", and a Blenny seems to fit the bill.



So, pretty happy all in all with how things are going. The whole family loves the tank, and my boys come in and sit on my lap and watch it for a while every day as soon as they come home. Very happy we got it

 

[Fishy Guy]

Nice progress! I highly recommend a Tailspot blenny, one of my favorite fish.

 

[mythesis]

Update Time!​

New Friends​

The new friends from Biota joined the rest of the gang. Turned off the lights, put them into an acclimation box with some rock & PVC, but the Link's Goby *hated* it. Opened the door to let it out and it found a home right away.

Let the Court Jester & Royal Gramma hang out in there for another day or two to make sure they ate, then opened the door. Jester came out in about 15 mins. Gramma started coming out after a few hours, but would dart back in and out for a while. Now it's happily found some rock to hide in and comes out quite a bit.

All 3 are eating well and growing, so calling that a success!

Coral Acclimation​

Seems to be going well. Zoas seem happy. We picked up a Frogspawn from a local reefer and it seems happy. The Torch in the upper right got knocked over by a hermit, so it got moved back a little.

I've been doing a lighting acclimation for the new corals (dropped down to 50%, rising back to 85% over 30 days). Interesting to me how the LPS respond to the lower light. The torch is much prettier, while the hammer loses some of its pretty rosette pattern. The Duncan is more spread out as well. It's been a good experience for us to see how they respond to different light levels.

Parameter!​

Things seem pretty stable. Alkalinity is rising a bit, which surprised me, but seems it's normal/ok. Nitrates hovering around 5-10, Phosphates somewhere in that 0.5 range.

Kind of want them to go higher so I have an excuse to start a refugium. I want a safe home for pods to support a Mandarin eventually.

What's Next​

LFS is having a grand opening this weekend. Hopefully they have a Tailspot Blenny we can bring home to QT!

 

[mythesis]

Mid Week Update!​

@revhtree apparently demands multiple updates per week, so who am I to deny someone else's joy...

3 D Printers Are Fun!​

A buddy from college recently got into 3-D Printing and he's made all kinds of fun aquarium tools for me. Sneaky useful is the drip-line holder, to hang tubing over the edge of the sump walls and keep it both stable and an inch or two off the side (ensuring it actually drips, not onto the wall)
This week he sent me shades for my lights --- it's such a relief to be able to sit at my desk and not be blinded by the lights.

He also sent me awesome Green/Red/Blue Factorio chips which is exciting given the release on Monday (and which a vanishingly small subset of people on here would appreciate...).

Blennie!​

We finally got a Tail Spot Blenny. He's chilling in QT for a bit, but seems happy and healthy so far. Unfortunately, the grand opening store didn't have one, so we couldn't support them on their big opening weekend --- but the sister store in the next town over had one so we went there.

Critters!​

It's been an adventurous week of critter discovery. First we had a Barnacle and some Aptasia.


Now it looks like we have a Digitate Hydroid. Fun times.

in Defense of Carbon!​

Cannot believe how much better my office smells now that we put in some Activated Carbon


Thank you all so much for your continued help. It's amazing how much less stressful managing this tank is after a few months due to your feedback and reassurance. Appreciate you all!

 

[Fishy Guy]

I love my tailspot blenny! One of my favorite fishes, so much personality.