80 gallon shallow lagoon mixed reef - upgrade time!

I got is from a friend, yes 48x24x16 and I pretty sure Glass Cages built it. And thanks on the scape it took almost 2 weeks or playing with it
 
A few quick photos of the fish scavenging tonight :)
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New fish day! Picked up an exquisite fairy wrasse from my LFS today, can’t wait to watch him transition! Anyone know how to tell where a juvenile/female is from, so I have a better idea of what coloration to expect? Here’s a quick video of him still the acclimation box.

 
Had to get the good camera out to take some photos of our new Exquisite Fairy wrasse; the little guy swims around so much my phone couldn't get a clear shot! One bonus shot of our melanurus thrown in as well :)

A little chasing going on from the melarurus, bristletooth tang, and flame angel, but nothing too bad. Can't wait to watch him transition!

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Picked up another 13 pounds of rock from a local reefer for the DT. It’s soaking in DI water in a bucket now, will switch out to heated saltwater in a few days.

Also, my dad finished making the front doors for my stand for me! He’s an incredibly talented cabinet maker, so this little project was nothing for him, but I absolutely love how it turned out. We wanted to go with a bit of a natural driftwood-type feel, which is why we left the weathered ends unfinished. I still need to apply a finish to the wood; I’m planning on doing something very light and transparent so the grain and wood coloration shows through. The “tang jail” sign is a his reference to the sump, after I explained that exiling the tang temporarily to the sump was the last resort in cases of aggression toward new additions.
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Added some new corals! I got a huge purple gorgonian and a beautiful neon green hammer colony over the last couple days, and absolutely love both of them. The hammer colony was from a local reefer who was taking down his tank, and the gorgonian was from Gulf Coast Ecosystems. Here’s a couple quick cell phone pics of each. Better pics my my camera in the next couple days :)
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Turned on the skimmer for the first time today. Planning on running it wide open for 2 weeks to break it in. If anyone has any tips for how to tune my first skimmer after that break in period, lay them on me!
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GORGEOUS fish! I'm in love with that tang :)
 
Thank you so much for all of the kind words here and on your thread! I absolutely love my tang also. What size tank do you have again?
Welcome! I have a 32.5 gal Fluval Flex. (All I realistically have room for currently, but when we eventually move and have more space I fully intend to upgrade to a 55 or 75 gal). I really, really want a yellow eye kole tang or an Indian gold ring (squaretail) tang eventually - as in not until I have a bigger tank). My dad had yellow tangs in the past and I loved watching them. I still like yellows, but honestly would rather get a flash of yellow in my tank from a lemon peel angelfish, as I've only recently found out about the other types of tangs, lol! I was into freshwater for 30+ years so... my last knowledge of tangs was that I thought there were just yellow, blue, and purple! (In my defense I was in middle school at the time... hahahah).
 
Welcome! I have a 32.5 gal Fluval Flex. (All I realistically have room for currently, but when we eventually move and have more space I fully intend to upgrade to a 55 or 75 gal). I really, really want a yellow eye kole tang or an Indian gold ring (squaretail) tang eventually - as in not until I have a bigger tank). My dad had yellow tangs in the past and I loved watching them. I still like yellows, but honestly would rather get a flash of yellow in my tank from a lemon peel angelfish, as I've only recently found out about the other types of tangs, lol! I was into freshwater for 30+ years so... my last knowledge of tangs was that I thought there were just yellow, blue, and purple! (In my defense I was in middle school at the time... hahahah).

Nice! That's a great first tank. I would definitely recommend going with a 75g when you have room for the upgrade, it's so nice to have a little bit extra width to work with compared with the 55g.

Also, I just found your build thread by digging through your profile, and am gonna go take a look at it now, but you should follow the instructions here to get a build thread badge...makes it way easier for everyone to find!

 
Nice! That's a great first tank. I would definitely recommend going with a 75g when you have room for the upgrade, it's so nice to have a little bit extra width to work with compared with the 55g.

Also, I just found your build thread by digging through your profile, and am gonna go take a look at it now, but you should follow the instructions here to get a build thread badge...makes it way easier for everyone to find!

Thanks! I purposely bought a 75g stand actually, with that in mind. :) It fits perfectly on the wall I had planned for it and matches our living room, so will be perfect for a future larger tank. I just centered the current tank on the stand and I think it looks ok since it's more long than tall (32.5" long on a 50" stand). It's a super solid stand too, loving it.

I haven't updated my build thread in a while and really need to! I changed some things from my original plans already, including my stocking plans. Also am starting to take pics of the tank for before and after setup and then as I add things. Heck I even take pics of certain things I order, so I can post those as recommendations/reviews if anyone would be interested. AlgaeBarn for example - ordered some PNS algae from them and NitroCycle, came shipped amazingly well and also they emailed me to let me know the batch of NitroCycle I got was found to have less ammonia than it was supposed to to properly cycle a tank, so they would either send me a new one right away, send free Eco pods, or give me store credit. Great customer service. :)
 
Nice! That's a great first tank. I would definitely recommend going with a 75g when you have room for the upgrade, it's so nice to have a little bit extra width to work with compared with the 55g.

Also, I just found your build thread by digging through your profile, and am gonna go take a look at it now, but you should follow the instructions here to get a build thread badge...makes it way easier for everyone to find!

I'll definitely need to get a build badge, thanks for the link!
 
@adittam great looking build. Seems like some of your recent photos aren’t showing up…at least on my iPad.
Thanks! I wonder if it's your internet connection? They all seem to be showing up for me... ?
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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