150 Miracles Tank (200 gal total)

[TreyC2010]

So I finally have my first fish in the tank! The Dracula Goby pair with shrimp and the Phantom Clownfish pair are getting me rolling. The goby/shrimp aren’t used to home just yet. I’m hoping they get better in the next few days.

 

[TreyC2010]

I went ahead and got two Kessil A360x lights and I forgot that I needed the brackets for the T5 fixture. I had an extra arm to temporarily put up the Kessil so that I can have a little light in the tank. It’s coming along!

I made a post about the overflow being noisy all the sudden. I had one of my gobies get drawn into the overflow, between the acrylic insert and the back of the tank. Needless to say, he didn’t make it. After that happened, it’s like the overflow was shooting water through the weir and making so much noise. I had to raise the overflow level up and it made it much better. It also raised the water level in the tank. I’m just hoping there’s not another problem that I’ve missed.

 

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You can see the old level from the dirty stain. I’ve probably got a little more water than I’d like going down this drain, but it’s nothing that’s hurting anything, I think.

 

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Not much has changed lately. I did lose one of the Dracula Gobies and their shrimp. He was so small that I never really know when he was gone. I had added a melanurus and a royal gramma, but the gramma hasn’t shown itself in a week. I’m not sure what to say about it.

I did think I lost my other goby, but 3 days later he was found under my marine pure blocks in my sump. I still have to build a canopy and a facade for the display. I also have to finish up the awc station in the sump room. Other than that, all is well!

 

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I ended up losing the Dracula goby that I found. He went the same path, but found a way to jump. I’ve since added a flame hawkfish and a Midas Blenny. They both eat like monsters, but they can’t handle the Melanurus. It’s a FAT fish. I wanted to add a fish or two before I got my White Tail Bristletooth/Yellow Tang, but I can’t decide on a good fit.

 

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Not a big update, but just a few of the inhabitants of the tank. I’ve enjoyed watching everything grow and be added in. Can’t wait for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales!

 

[TreyC2010]

Nothing much to report. I had an outbreak of something that took my two clowns and my White Tail Bristletooth. It was heart breaking, but we just keep on and try to figure it out. I’ve been dosing Brightwell aminos for a couple weeks now and I’m seeing color from some of my frags that I haven’t seen. I’m also seeing some serious algae from that, I believe.

 

[TreyC2010]

Haven't updated myself in a while. The tank is doing well. I've had an algae issue that's plagued me constantly. It's like some type of bacteria film/mucus. Reef Flux worked for some of it. Vibrant really kicked it's butt, too. It just seemed to grow and grow. I'm at the point now, where I'll scrub the rocks once a month when I change water. It's manageable, but aggravating.

I also may fore shadow myself here and say that these vermitid snails are in check, right now, but may get out of hand one day. I'm not sure if melanurus wrasse pick at them, but I know mine has a taste for anything.

My current livestock is:
2 Orange Clowns
1 Melanurus Wrasse
1 Flame Hawkfish
1 Yellow Tang
1 Square Tail Bristletooth Tang
1 Midas Blenny
1 Royal Gramma
1 Sand Sifting Goby

Frogspawn
Pink Monti Cap
Zoa Rock
Purple Fuzzy Acro
Blue Green Acro
Yellow Hammer
Green Hammer
Green w/Purple Tip Frogspawn
Orange Mushrooms
Small Ricordea
Orange Cyphastrea
Blue/Orange Chalice

Large Hermit
Small Hermit
10" Bristle Star
Black Longspine Urchin
Bumblebee Snails
Turbo Snail
Margarita Snails (reproducing)
Trochus Snails
Stomatella Snails
Conch

Everything is doing well, for the most part. It's not been my easiest tank, but it's definitely been enjoyable. Of everything I have in the tank, people tend to love the red algae the most. Lol

 

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A little photo dump.

 

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I’m slowly seeing color. It’s not much to some, but I’m excited about it!

 

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After taking out a portion of rocks, I had a big cyano outbreak. I’m sure they were related. I did a large water change and siphoned all that I could. I did have a large acro turn white, but it was happening before the big change. I’m guessing this just pushed it over the edge.

 

[TreyC2010]

So I may have found out what caused the acros to turn white. Before the big water change, I added GFO to the system for the first time. I’m thinking I just stripped the water of all of the phosphate. If I could go back, I would’ve used 1/2 of the recommended dose. I wanted to fight it hard, but didn’t consider how effective it was going to be.

 

[TreyC2010]

I’ve got a small monti colony that’s turning white, but not losing its flesh. I’m hoping it stays healthy. Did a full test on the tank today. Alk is raised and phosphate is at .1. I did my water change and am hoping it helps both of those. I guess we’ll see.

 

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I got lucky and won 750 credit at sbb corals! They come in Wednesday, so I’ll post pictures of them when they come.

 

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I’ve had a trident since I started this tank, but never put it up. Today I finally did that.

My dilemma was placement. I didn’t want to rush, so I took my time (year and a half) to figure it out. Plus, drilling into my tile shouldn’t be wasted.

For the process, use a bit like the one I have. It’s advised to be similar to glass, low and slow, but I haven’t taken that approach on my tile. I like high speed, lightly press, and keep the bit wet. I keep a cup of water to dip the bit in. I don’t advise you to drink the water.

The bracket came from an online dealer that also hooked me up with some other trident parts and mushroom cages. I’m excited to use the cages for my incoming SBB package.

Thanks for looking!

 

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I feel like I’m getting somewhere… now to just get them growing out!

 

[TreyC2010]

After a looooong wait, I decided to try to finish up some work in my sump room. I used the Rubbermaid FastTrack system from Lowes. I’m super happy with how it turned out. I also ran some RO tubing so I didn’t have to keep taking the tube from one spot to the next. Now I can divert it to my mixing station, ATO, or to fill up a jug for my wife or son’s tank. I’m happy with the progress!

 

[TreyC2010]