OP
OP
Yep no guarantees with them.
This is it. My last build thread
- Thread starter exnisstech
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Not sure what it is that makes them happy but my pectinia are loving life in the reefer 300 with the sticks. I'm wondering if it's the AFR? The frags have really started to take off since I started it so maybe. They struggled in the other two tanks.
Rainbow
Space invader is really happy
Peekaboo with the tang.
Rainbow
Space invader is really happy
Peekaboo with the tang.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Update 7/30/24
Not a lot going on. The tank is plugging away nice and steady. Tests Sunday NO3 10.5, PO4 0.25, alk 8.6. I'm dosing 20ml of 2part daily. I'm rolling with the PO4 level since everything is looking great. I'm using esv 2 part since it's what I'm most familiar with and it just works. Kalk alone was great in the 180 but I haven't put together a method to keep everything in the basement since I don't want a brute in the living room. I'm really happy with results I'm seeing with AFR in my reefer 300 but think I'll just stick with 2 part for now in this tank. The 300 is mostly sticks. I dose manually every morning so it's easy.
I'm still adding 3ml bacto balance daily along with 30ml MB7 and 12 drops of zeobac bi weekly. So far the tank has remained free of any amount of nuisance algae so I'm happy. I think the scrubber is helping but have no science to back it up. Plenty of anecdotal evidence tho. The naso loves this stuff.
I added a surf 2 to the nasty reefer 170 to see if it will help with the gha infestation going on there.
I could never grow zoas before and since softies are thriving in here I decided to give them a try again. I scored some $10 frags from tidal gardens flash sale and trying a little zoa garden rock
I picked up a Derasa to replace the one I lost a while back from a broken hinge. It looked like it hatheome PMD so I freshwater dipped it and atheoping for the best. Its hard to capture but it has really nice color with a bright blue all the way around the mantle. I have it in the 300 for now until I'm sure it's healthy. I don't want to risk anything getting to my maxima that is doing very well in the 330. The little crocea didn'yayke it but I won't bore you with details of that fiasco.
I added the little leather (?) I forget what it's called. They get huge and can be invasive but I'm going for larger softies for some movement in this tank so I'll deal with it. The 300 that is mostly sticks and while they are growing good and coloring up it just feels strange not having any movement unless I get close enough the see the polyps. I'm constantly checking the powerheads to make sure they are running. I probably won't do another tank with sticks. I just had to try it tho and stuff is growing and I haven't woke up to white skeleton lately so I'll take that as a win.
A few pics.
This girl is getting thick
I'm almost ready to bring this guy up and see if I can get a pair of CBB. I got the idea from a helpful thread that @OrionN posted about how to determine their sex. He is eating well but I'd like to see him a little more aggressive going after food. I supposed feeding him 5 or 6 times a day isn't going to help that lol. He has learned to recognize me and comes for food so I'm optimistic.
I just need to get my nerve up. I always get nervous taking a fish that is doing well and moving them to a new tank.
Oh I almost forgot I traded in my first batch of frags for store credit at salty critter last week. I took in 10 nice garf bonzai frags. They came from a colony grown from a freebee frag from a fellow reefer here a few years back so it's all profit yay
Thanks for stopping by
EDIT: I apologize for the repeat of the two images at the end. I've edited and removed them 3 times and even moved to PC and they're still here so I give up GRRRR Rev really should give us an anger emoji
One last try to remove those two images and add a current video. All the floaties are food. Sorry for the long video. It's so I can see how things were when my memory goes kaput. Well the images are here to stay. I delete they come back but now in a different spot
Not a lot going on. The tank is plugging away nice and steady. Tests Sunday NO3 10.5, PO4 0.25, alk 8.6. I'm dosing 20ml of 2part daily. I'm rolling with the PO4 level since everything is looking great. I'm using esv 2 part since it's what I'm most familiar with and it just works. Kalk alone was great in the 180 but I haven't put together a method to keep everything in the basement since I don't want a brute in the living room. I'm really happy with results I'm seeing with AFR in my reefer 300 but think I'll just stick with 2 part for now in this tank. The 300 is mostly sticks. I dose manually every morning so it's easy.
I'm still adding 3ml bacto balance daily along with 30ml MB7 and 12 drops of zeobac bi weekly. So far the tank has remained free of any amount of nuisance algae so I'm happy. I think the scrubber is helping but have no science to back it up. Plenty of anecdotal evidence tho. The naso loves this stuff.
I added a surf 2 to the nasty reefer 170 to see if it will help with the gha infestation going on there.
I could never grow zoas before and since softies are thriving in here I decided to give them a try again. I scored some $10 frags from tidal gardens flash sale and trying a little zoa garden rock
I picked up a Derasa to replace the one I lost a while back from a broken hinge. It looked like it hatheome PMD so I freshwater dipped it and atheoping for the best. Its hard to capture but it has really nice color with a bright blue all the way around the mantle. I have it in the 300 for now until I'm sure it's healthy. I don't want to risk anything getting to my maxima that is doing very well in the 330. The little crocea didn'yayke it but I won't bore you with details of that fiasco.
I added the little leather (?) I forget what it's called. They get huge and can be invasive but I'm going for larger softies for some movement in this tank so I'll deal with it. The 300 that is mostly sticks and while they are growing good and coloring up it just feels strange not having any movement unless I get close enough the see the polyps. I'm constantly checking the powerheads to make sure they are running. I probably won't do another tank with sticks. I just had to try it tho and stuff is growing and I haven't woke up to white skeleton lately so I'll take that as a win.
A few pics.
This girl is getting thick
I'm almost ready to bring this guy up and see if I can get a pair of CBB. I got the idea from a helpful thread that @OrionN posted about how to determine their sex. He is eating well but I'd like to see him a little more aggressive going after food. I supposed feeding him 5 or 6 times a day isn't going to help that lol. He has learned to recognize me and comes for food so I'm optimistic.
I just need to get my nerve up. I always get nervous taking a fish that is doing well and moving them to a new tank.
Oh I almost forgot I traded in my first batch of frags for store credit at salty critter last week. I took in 10 nice garf bonzai frags. They came from a colony grown from a freebee frag from a fellow reefer here a few years back so it's all profit yay
Thanks for stopping by
EDIT: I apologize for the repeat of the two images at the end. I've edited and removed them 3 times and even moved to PC and they're still here so I give up GRRRR Rev really should give us an anger emoji
One last try to remove those two images and add a current video. All the floaties are food. Sorry for the long video. It's so I can see how things were when my memory goes kaput. Well the images are here to stay. I delete they come back but now in a different spot
Last edited:
Outlaw Corals
Well-Known Member
Us old guy’s have to stick together, that is so awesome how you got that monster of a tank in with that tractor and everything you have done so far, I’m just starting a new and also my last new tank as well but nothing like you have going on there, I’m just upgrading my 30 gallon into a new 70 gallon Nyos G2 300 slim line, getting old os a real bummer so i figured it’s now or never to do this and BRS had the Nyos on sale for $1425 so i felt like that was a sign to do this, it took me about 25 minutes to do the plumbing, they make that so easy to do these days compared to days of the past, it brought back a lot of memories of old builds and how it was much more difficult in the past, anyway, today is the day I’m going to get some water in it and see how it holds up, looking forward to watching your build to see how it comes along i think that would be awesome if you got another eel, happy reefing everyone
Attachments
OP
OP
Thanks for stopping by and congrats on the new tank.
I love coral but am a fish guy at heart so I had to go big, or at least as big as I could fit for the extra swim room.
XtraKargo
Active Member
Loving this build. I just binged the whole thing. One quick question if I may. I noticed you used the pink foam for the wooden stand. Did you happen to use that on the aluminum stand? I am building out a 180 system, and wanted to know the benefit of the foam and if you'd use it again. Thanks!
OP
OP
Thanks for stopping by. The new tank came from WB with a leveling mat pre-installed on the bottom of the tank. I just used that since it's what they recommend and it's their stand as well. I would use the pink again or at least something similar. The 180 was on the wood stand with that foam for 8+ years and I could see places that had compressed more from imperfections when I removed the tank.
I would probably use a thinner black foam on a aluminum stand vs the thicker insulation panel.
If you tank has a plastic frame then you can also use foam rubber seal material. I use 1” x 3/8” thick on framed tanks to deal with any imperfections in the stand. A full sheet of foam is important for frameless tanks where the whole bottom sits on the stand
XtraKargo
Active Member
Good info, and thank you for the feedback.
That makes sense. I will be building two stands. One for my setup and one for a friend looking to get his 150 going for freshwater this winter.
Thank you both!
Solo McReefer
Valuable Member
OP
OP
Now that you mention it I haven't seen them throw out sweepers since I moved them in with the sps. They have grown and inflate more than they ever have. I wonder if the absence of other LPS has them more relaxed and focused on growth instead of attacking everything
OP
OP
Second CBB is in yay!
I kept what I believed to be the male in the basement and fattened him up for a month and a half. I brought him up last night just before lights out. The female immediately went over and they started swimming around each other but showed no signs of aggresion. I left a night light on and went to bed. When I got up this morning they are swimming all over the tank together. I'm not even sure the tangs know I added another fish. I haven't fed yet but I'm optimistic. In the tote the male was always waiting for food whenever he saw me. He eats frozen very well and loves his black worms and earthworms too. My female eats nothing but frozen also so I'm fine with that. Hopefully this goes well long term. Now I need to find a little female flame angel.
I kept what I believed to be the male in the basement and fattened him up for a month and a half. I brought him up last night just before lights out. The female immediately went over and they started swimming around each other but showed no signs of aggresion. I left a night light on and went to bed. When I got up this morning they are swimming all over the tank together. I'm not even sure the tangs know I added another fish. I haven't fed yet but I'm optimistic. In the tote the male was always waiting for food whenever he saw me. He eats frozen very well and loves his black worms and earthworms too. My female eats nothing but frozen also so I'm fine with that. Hopefully this goes well long term. Now I need to find a little female flame angel.
OP
OP
Failures get reported with success in a build thread. The pairing of the CBBs did not go well. They were great for about 24hrs then what I think is female started attaching the new arrival which I thought was male. Maybe they are male and female and she just didn't like him I dunno. Maybe they would have sorted it out but I don't have the stomach to watch a fish trapped in the top corner being attacked over and over so I pulled the new guy back out. I thought about putting the resident in an acclimation box for a few week or so but she is doing so well with alll of the tangs I didn't want to risk upsetting her so I'll just keep one fat and healthy CBB. There is a guy that works at my LFS that has not been able to get a CBB eating so maybe I'll see if he wants this one since he's eating very well. Either way I now have new quite place in the basement where I can sit and watch my new observation tank.
The new CBB is there now. He is still eating so that is good. Fins are a little chewed up but should heal.
One of my lfs had a malanurus wrasse when I went in so it's in observation now. Hopefully it will help out with the darn pumpkin flatworms that are bothering my orange shrooms and sinularia. The sixline isn't keeping up. I'm hesitant to use flatworm exit on a tank this size. I know there are a lot of the worms in there and I don't want to risk poisoning the tank with a mass killing of them because I doubt I would be able to vacuum them out quickly. I try to use chemical additives as a last resort.
He is eating well so I'll just keep him here for a few weeks and watch for any issues.
The new CBB is there now. He is still eating so that is good. Fins are a little chewed up but should heal.
One of my lfs had a malanurus wrasse when I went in so it's in observation now. Hopefully it will help out with the darn pumpkin flatworms that are bothering my orange shrooms and sinularia. The sixline isn't keeping up. I'm hesitant to use flatworm exit on a tank this size. I know there are a lot of the worms in there and I don't want to risk poisoning the tank with a mass killing of them because I doubt I would be able to vacuum them out quickly. I try to use chemical additives as a last resort.
He is eating well so I'll just keep him here for a few weeks and watch for any issues.
OP
OP
It really is a nice feeling when things finaly start coming together. This is the reefer 300 18 months in. Corals have stopped dying and started growing.
I'm thankful to have more than one tank. If the reefer 170 was my only tank I'd be pretty depressed. This is after cleaning 
I'm thankful to have more than one tank. If the reefer 170 was my only tank I'd be pretty depressed. This is after cleaning 
OP
OP
Shameless update trying to win a light
These tangs have got to be the best members of my CUC. I have one tank with a bunch of algae and it's the only one too small for a tang. Don't think I'll make that mistake again. Everyone of these guys are grazing the glass and rocks.
These tangs have got to be the best members of my CUC. I have one tank with a bunch of algae and it's the only one too small for a tang. Don't think I'll make that mistake again. Everyone of these guys are grazing the glass and rocks.
Last edited:
My 300g tank arrives this week and I have 7 tangs fully Quarantined and living together waiting to make the new tank their home. My goal is to never let algae get a foothold and having the tangs ready to go was part of the planning process. I have always had tanks too small for tangs and it has always been a struggle to figure out how to solve the algae issues that a tang would have taken care of.Shameless update trying to win a light
These tangs have got to be the best members of my CUC. I have one tank with a bunch of algae and it's the only one too small for a tang. Don't think I'll make that mistake again. Everyone of these guys are grazing the glass and rocks.
OP
OP
Thats been my experience. No amount of snails crabs or urchins can clean a tank like tangs.
OP
OP
These guys are bums. They follow me anytime I walk by the tank. Of course it earns them treats. Treats are an awesome motivator I learned training my dogs. I didn't realize it would carry over to fish . Maybe this winter I'll try to train them to do some tricks
NO3 and. PO4 have been pretty consistent. N was 11.7 and PO4 0.33 today. Still no algae in the DT that needs my attention. I think tangs and an ATS are a good combo to help keep nuisance algae at bay. The ATS is still doing very well. Pretty much just cleaning glass every few days and testing once a week at this point. Still dosing the BB daily and MB7 + zeobak twice a week. I can't really say it's helping but it sure isn't hurting. I may stop when my bottles are empty and just watch things. I'm using ESV 2 part and it's keeping alk pretty stable. I'm only dosing 15ml a day because I don't have a lot of stoney corals.
I've only done 5 water changes since starting the tank in February. 28g is what I normally do when I do one. I'm not going to stop water changes but instead do one when I feel like it
I think I'm finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel on my algae infested reefer 170 so that's cool.
This clarkii is probably one of the most boring fish I've ever had. I'm thinking about adding a male and see if that brings her out more. Her and an electric blue damsel are the only fish in the tank now
I had a coral beauty in there but ended up moving it to the the 330. I have a Flame angel in already but surprisingly they get on just fine. I can't help but wonder how much tank size and rock work has to do with curbing aggression. There are so many posts about fish aggresion here but I just don't see a lot in my tanks. Maybe I'm just lucky
That is for now. One more update one more chance at winning a light lol. Thanks for stopping by
NO3 and. PO4 have been pretty consistent. N was 11.7 and PO4 0.33 today. Still no algae in the DT that needs my attention. I think tangs and an ATS are a good combo to help keep nuisance algae at bay. The ATS is still doing very well. Pretty much just cleaning glass every few days and testing once a week at this point. Still dosing the BB daily and MB7 + zeobak twice a week. I can't really say it's helping but it sure isn't hurting. I may stop when my bottles are empty and just watch things. I'm using ESV 2 part and it's keeping alk pretty stable. I'm only dosing 15ml a day because I don't have a lot of stoney corals.
I've only done 5 water changes since starting the tank in February. 28g is what I normally do when I do one. I'm not going to stop water changes but instead do one when I feel like it
I think I'm finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel on my algae infested reefer 170 so that's cool.
This clarkii is probably one of the most boring fish I've ever had. I'm thinking about adding a male and see if that brings her out more. Her and an electric blue damsel are the only fish in the tank now
I had a coral beauty in there but ended up moving it to the the 330. I have a Flame angel in already but surprisingly they get on just fine. I can't help but wonder how much tank size and rock work has to do with curbing aggression. There are so many posts about fish aggresion here but I just don't see a lot in my tanks. Maybe I'm just lucky
That is for now. One more update one more chance at winning a light lol. Thanks for stopping by
Last edited:
OP
OP
Oops forgot the melanurus in observation took to a pot of sand the first night. Plan is to bring the pot and fish up together a little before sunset since that is his bed time.
Sand dive at about 0:30
Sand dive at about 0:30
Similar threads
