Pretty new reefer with a pretty big tank

[FishSkedee]

I am very interested in your pvc scaping. Nice find on your tank. Love the picture behind the tank.

Thanks! PVC is working good so far, can’t wait for critters to start populating all of the tubes. I appreciate it, that GW looks kinda real when your up close to the glass lol, maybe I’m just blind

 

[Jason boles]

Following!!!

 

[FishSkedee]

Following!!!

Glad to have ya aboard, guess that calls for an update!

 

[FishSkedee]

A few days ago I added another big piece of LR and started dosing 2 types of phyto. @WWC live sale yielded ab a dozen frags so I’m pretty pumped for those to arrive. They will go in my current reef while this one ages a bit more. Also ordered a cleanup crew, pods, and some macro from Reefcleaners, that will give me 3 types of macro for the Refugium, we will see what works best. The fish are settling in now, dwarf lion is king of the 120g sump, and blotched anthias appreciates his new ledges to hang out under

 

[FishSkedee]

Today was pretty exciting, I’ve been manually toping off for 2 years.. finally set up my first ATO! RODI goes straight into it with a float so I don’t flood. It’s hooked up to the HYDROS controller and works spot on. Here’s a some more fish to add color in this thread, patiently waiting for coral

Last night my wife asked what that dead looking unicorn fish was, AEFF lol

 

[FishSkedee]

First round of clean up crew is in, @reefcleaners always delivers quality specimens at a great price

 

[FishTruck]

I like your holy pvc pillars!

 

[FishSkedee]

I like your holy pvc pillars!

Thanks! Literally 2 days of drilling, I’m thinking it might help with randomizing the flow on the bottom, and give smaller critters some hidey holes/ladders.

 

[FishSkedee]

Allllmost finished with wire management, starboard board is ab complete. Consolidated and wrapped cords w/white chaffing & mounted under the stand, labeled all of the plugs, and got the hydros app tuned in. I tossed some LED bars up top with a 5” piece of GSP, just to make sure the water is safe. All of this paint, pvc, cement, and foam made me seek a bit of reassurance. Well so far so good, it’s opened up for the last 3 days, will add a few more frags to the sump frag rack soon

 

[John Bolden]

So on the topic of water, RODI +booster pump is all hooked up & tucked away in a cabinet.. around the same time I also was up north for work and got a blue hippo tang tattoo and a flew home with a dwarf lionfish

Guys we got him! He cant leave now that he has a tattoo of a tang!

 

[FishSkedee]

Guys we got him! He cant leave now that he has a tattoo of a tang!

hahaha yep, I'm stuck! I told her to make sure there isn't white dots all over it either!

 

[FishSkedee]

Finally picked up a fish that has always caught my eye! The good news is he’s eating mysis, tomorrow I plan on getting live black worms, blood worms, and more clam on the 1/2 shell to fatten him up. Also snagged a 2” #lamarcks angel, and a harlequin.. all of these asterinas won’t be making the upgrade!

 

[FishSkedee]

Ended up with 14 corals during the livestream by WWC, that was pretty fun! Got the zoas/gonis in the new tank, SPS is going in my 75g until the light rack is finished.. which reminds me need to get back on that, almost finished with the skeleton

 

[FishSkedee]

Added a bit more to the tank! Very excited for the white tail and yellow tang, they went straight to work pecking at the rock work. Up to 8 fish now, will give it another couple weeks before dropping in the rest of the crew.

 

[FishSkedee]

Little update, tank is still churning along.. Every few days I put an old return pump in and storm the nasty off of all of the rocks, I’ve been using the marineland water polisher after this and it’s been working out really well.. check out the sediment filter after only 2 days, I rinse in bleach and it’s back to new, you can also add carbon to the middle for extra polishing, love this thing! Soon I’ll rig up an air pump for more micro polishing, I believe if you keep the rocks, water, & coral clean everything will stay happy

 

[FishSkedee]

Moved little puff into the big tank, he's like a caterpillar on this salad.. Also, another pic of the back wall; 100g saltwater storage, Molly/Goupy breeding tank, and fish/coral QT tank

 

[FishSkedee]

Well, made my first noob mistake on this reef! Yesterday I was driving home from a long hunting trip and decided to stop in at a store on my way. I found an " African sailfin blenny" that was really cool looking, he'd been in copper for several weeks, and was snacking on mysis/algae in the shops tank. He was active, had clear eyes, and everything just seemed right, so I bagged him up and finished the last leg home.. After a quick acclimation I tossed him in and then jumped back into the routine with my son/wife. Well, it wasn't until this morning that I decided you know what, this might not be some "rare/one off" patterned algae blenny like the LFS mentioned, maybe I should research what the heck is in my tank! It didn't take long to figure out what I have is a #leapord #blenny #exalliasbrevis SOB, my first thought is oh no there has to be a reason I have never heard of this fish, its way too awesome to have flown under my radar for so long. Then I see it.. #obligatecorallivore I knew right then this is bad bad news.. So what comes next when you have an SPS eating blenny in a 400 reef with pipes all over it for easy hiding? Thats where I am now, I rigged an old lifeguard reactor into a fish trap and tossed in some rubble, nori, and handful of SPS frags. Luckily, I work from home so I can sit here and wait for him to make a move, I emailed the store and requested credit upon return, updates to follow!

 

[FishSkedee]

Well my journey with the leopard Blenny is nearly at an end, after watching the SPS baited trap all day with no luck I figured catching him asleep was my next best option. I sat in front of the tank for 30 mins pitch dark and just kept an eye on him, then BINGO, I saw him enter one of the 2” pvc pipes towards the top of the aquascape. This “tunnel” had 3 exits so I needed to act fast, I covered 2 ends with nets then ripped the section out and cupped the bottom, into a 5G bucket he went!
Next I checked my email and saw the LFS messaged back approving store credit, I do feel bad for the fella so I gave him 2 sps frags to munch on in his pail tonight. I wish you good luck in the future little Blenny, because a coral eating fish is going to be a tough sale for this hobby!

 

[FishSkedee]

The worst thing happened..

Last week when I returned the leopard Blenny I was offered store credit, and ended up bringing home a really nice Fiji yellow mimic tang. He had been in copper for 3 weeks, was very active and despite the treatment, still had great color. So here’s when it all starts going downhill.. My thought is to add him to the Refugium, fatten him up with fresh live clams, nori, algae, salmon, mysis, etc.. and it worked, for 4 days he was eating everything I put it with muchu gusto! Then @ the 5 day mark I tossed in some food and he just swam by it, SOB I knew again this is bad. So next I tried mysis/selcon and a bit of mastic hung over the side, he noped right by it and would only stay in rapid flow. I pulled him and did a freshwater RO/temp matched dip, he did the tang play dead scenario but I kept him upright with an air stone close by for 4.5 minutes, then off to a fresh dark QT tank. 8 hours later I tried to feed again, no luck and he was starting to waste away, the next morning same thing, wouldn’t eat and is getting that super thin scary look, so I pulled him again. This time it was a 30 minute 78d saltwater/hydrogen peroxide bath, I did 40mg of 3% H202 to 2 gallons of saltwater. So not to drive off the H202 I aerated the water all the way up to dropping in the peroxide then I killed the air stone. Next he’s moved into a new fresh QT tank and his old place is bleached and set in front of a fan.
So then what happens, I look at the display and every single fish has white spots all over them. They are scratching, swimming into the powerheads and just overall confused with what’s going on it’s a mess and there’s no way I’m doing the ich management route when I still have a hippo tang across the house waiting for her upgrade. This time I set 2 traps in the tank, fead super heavy
,lowered salinity, fired up the UV, and went to work.. Planning to come home & take action!

 

[FishSkedee]

He has risen!
I got home from work with a plan..
Step 1- feed everyone another big nutritious meal, lay down a tarp, and remove everything from my 400g tank.
Step 2- catch all of the fish and give them a 150ppm 30 minute peroxide bath
Step 3- transfer everyone to two separate 27g tubs, because doing it all together wouldn’t by true monster tank fashion, we gotta make things even more difficult lol.
Now the plan is to leave the fish in each tub for no more than 72 hours, from there they are transferred to new saltwater and the heater, pvc, and tub are all bleached and placed in front of a fan. This process will repeat for at-least 2 weeks, with H202 baths every 6 days. So far all of the fish, even the lion and puffer have done great with the peroxide bath, and the mimic tang started eating! I couldn’t believe my eyes but the mysis/selcon did the trick!
So what’s next, I’m not going to stare at an empty monster tank for 60 days, I can’t add fish, & I don’t want to break the cycle.. this is where it gets fun!
PS- I’m weird ab putting fish in anything without beneficial bacteria, so I grabbed a piece of rubble from my other healthy display tank, this along with a splash of turbo start should keep ammonia at ease. The only catch is you have to toss the rubble after the 3 days because well it’s going to be an ich rock hehe