A 25 Gallon reward for success

[JBKReef]

is this stand going to be able to hold the tank up?? LOL _ This is solid construction at its best!!! Great work !

I think my 93 gallon could sit on this thing without issue. The FIL really took it overboard but its great to look at. I had a lot of fun working on it as my first project. Any stand moving forward however will be a bit more streamlined haha.

 

[Dj City]

Im positive your 93 gallon could shoot on that stand with no problem.

The thing I meant to tell you earlier but forgot to say...

Nice rockscape.

 

[JBKReef]

So here we go, as for that golden time in tank builds, daily updates. I got a package in the mail today, it contained my Marinepure "gems" the smaller cousin of the spheres and cubes.

Not going to lie, even with the descriptions on BRS I was surprised how small these guys are. They claim to be good for up to 70 gallons, so that should be more than enough for my system at only around 20 gallons of total water, but for my plan of having these take up an entire chamber in the tank might be a little aggressive.

While I had some down time at this lovely work from home gig I also mounted up my lights. I'm not completely happy with the mounting arms right now, my OCD is kicking in because they are not level completely. and are not evenly spaced with the rear chambers. I'm trying to think long term and what I would require for space available with a skimmer to be easy to pull out and clean. I'm quickly running out of space within the back chambers so here's hoping not too many more things pop up that I must need to fit back there.

For the Kessil A80's I'm mounting them 6.5 inches off the water surface and only a couple inches apart. This will give me the best PAR in the center of the tank while still reaching the whole area. The "hot spot" created between the two lights should more than cover my par requirements for the softie/zoa tank I have envisioned. Regardless I will call this my first FTS and excited to see where things lead from here.

What am I forgetting? Anything else you guys want to see?

Happy Reefing everyone!

 

[vetteguy53081]

So here we go, as for that golden time in tank builds, daily updates. I got a package in the mail today, it contained my Marinepure "gems" the smaller cousin of the spheres and cubes.

Not going to lie, even with the descriptions on BRS I was surprised how small these guys are. They claim to be good for up to 70 gallons, so that should be more than enough for my system at only around 20 gallons of total water, but for my plan of having these take up an entire chamber in the tank might be a little aggressive.

While I had some down time at this lovely work from home gig I also mounted up my lights. I'm not completely happy with the mounting arms right now, my OCD is kicking in because they are not level completely. and are not evenly spaced with the rear chambers. I'm trying to think long term and what I would require for space available with a skimmer to be easy to pull out and clean. I'm quickly running out of space within the back chambers so here's hoping not too many more things pop up that I must need to fit back there.

For the Kessil A80's I'm mounting them 6.5 inches off the water surface and only a couple inches apart. This will give me the best PAR in the center of the tank while still reaching the whole area. The "hot spot" created between the two lights should more than cover my par requirements for the softie/zoa tank I have envisioned. Regardless I will call this my first FTS and excited to see where things lead from here.

What am I forgetting? Anything else you guys want to see?

Happy Reefing everyone!

+
Everything looking real nice !

 

[JBKReef]

+
Everything looking real nice !

Thanks! The last of the equipment (media tower/basket) should be in later this week then we're off to the races. I have some fish for my 93 in QT right now that are due out on the second week of October if all goes well. With having my rock cooking in a brute with bio spira and dosing ammonia, then now adding more bio spira and the gems I would think timing wise early November would line up pretty well with getting a first fish (or two) through QT at the same time.

So crazy to think I have to plan out 75 days for the first bits of life to go in. I would contemplate moving some clean up crew I have in an invert QT up earlier than that if the cycle goes quickly.

 

[JBKReef]

Update time! I received some goodies in the mail. The remaining pieces of my intank media has arrived. That makes it an intank media rack, floss holder, and fuge basket. I know these things are overpriced for 3D printed plastic but I love the design, having it fit perfectly for my tank, and the plethora of options and customizable media I can use. For that reason I decided to support the company. Also, compared to the intank website and Amazon Marine Depot has them on sale for a couple extra dollars off.

For now, the floss holder and media basket are empty, I don’t want the bacteria population settling into filter floss that will be removed. I did however utilize my fuge basket. Putting the marinepure gems into a media bag in the fuge keep them all together and easy to pick out and clean the sump baffle.

I also dosed the Dr Tims Ammonia Chloride up to 1 PPM so I will check tomorrow to see if the weeks/months spent in a brute trashcan with biospira helped. I am not needing to rush the cycle but it would be good to know I didn’t waste my time and electricity on curing rock that did no good.

I have some cleanup crew (nerite snails, trochus snails, and a baby tuxedo urchin) in my invert/coral QT waiting to be moved up. In my fish QT I have two Bangaii cardinals and a yellow corris wrasse waiting to move into my 93 DT, they finish up copper on October 4. At that point I’ll give them 2 days to clean up off copper, dose prazipro again, give them 24 hours then move them into my 93. Moving an algae eating blenny into QT at that time will have them exiting QT (if all goes well) in the second week of November. Which I would think giving 8 weeks to cycle from today would be plenty. What kind of blenny do you guys suggest for a 25 gallon?

Moving right along, happy reefing everyone!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Looking great...

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Your tank looks great!! I love the stand and your rock work.

 

[JBKReef]

Update for now, second one later today with some cycling data… but first.. aquascape issues. First off enjoy some full tank shots.


My issue comes from right here, in between my main rock structure and the large flat front rock on the right. The flow through this area is strong, and no sand will stay put; I cover it back up and within 48 hours its down to the glass again.

I think I have the proper amount of flow going through the tank, and do not wish to adjust flow patter. What solutions do you guys have? I’m thinking about buying a small bag of larger grain sand that I can layer into this area and keep it from being blown around, the Fiji pink is so fine it doesn’t stand a chance. I’m open to any suggestions!

Happy reefing and to be continued for the day…

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Probably you will need to lower the flow or move the gyre a little more higher. I had the same problem with mine and moving up a little solved the sand moving issue.

 

[JBKReef]

I wish I had more to share but patience is key when cycling. We’re 21 days into our cycle. I’ve done a couple of 5 gallon water changes and every handful of days I’m dumping in some ammonia chloride to help the bacteria population. I should test more but I know there is nothing happening right now and don’t want to get my hopes too far up. I will say I love to use the ammonia badges during the cycle process. I dose ammonia, and then gradually see how long it takes to normalize. Initially it was about 36 hours to chew through 2 PPM ammonia. The last two doses however its taken less than 24 hours. So the ammonia is being processed into nitrate quickly but my guess is the nitrite to nitrate is still lagging behind and needing to develop.



While being patient I don’t expect the cycle to take longer than two months… which means we’ve got some fish in our QT right now that timing wise should be ready to move into this guy. Right now in QT we have a tiny tiny aberrant bristletooth tang which will be going into my 93 (see other build thread) and a pair of (mostly) naked clowns. I have seen these guys floating around on a couple different boards and my LFS got a batch of nearly naked in so I was happy to jump on them. These two clowns, an algae grazing blenny, a sand sifting goby, and one other fish will bring this tank up to fully stocked. I'm thinking maybe a firefish, royal gramma, or something free swimming but chill.


Something thats giving me an internal struggle is what powerhead to go with. I have the IceCap 1K gyre, and an MP10. I was all gungho about the 1K gyre but found a great deal in this MP10 and couldnt pass it up. The 1k Gyre is SO strong. I have it on random flow mode from 10-30% and I was getting large sections of bare bottom because its blowing around the sand. Right now I have the gyre turned off and testing out the MP10 to see how I like it better. Visually, and to help with a mesh lid the MP10 would be must easier to make work, but the flow generated by a gyre would work wonders on the simple shroom and zoa tank I have envisioned here. I guess I could just drop all plans, suck out all the sand and turn the bad boy into a SPS nano and crank both of the powerheads up.


I guess the next thing I could do which would not have any effect on the tank but the aesthetics is do some wire management. I right now just have this jumble.

Wanted to share an update and hope everyone’s seeing some growth in their own system, happy reefing!

 

[JBKReef]

Anyone following along on this build have suggestions for chord management? The birds nest sitting behind me is just annoying to look at and I tripped into my Kessil spectral controller and thought I hulk smashed it thankfully no damage but I need to get on this management.

 

[JBKReef]

Some gorgeous frags from the WWC live sale waiting to go into the tank... in a coral QT now waiting for the lagoon to mature some more.


Pieces I’m most excited about are my Florida ricordia mushrooms I have an orange, green and “chilly willy” which is mostly blue. Also the AOI and purple monster zoa’s.

Not all these frags are going into this system. The hammer, acropora, blasto, favia, and acan are all heading to the 93 display. The office tank is just gonna be mushrooms and zoas. Easy peasy.

 

[JBKReef]

Have not had any updates for awhile so I thought I would drop some photos and provide a “state of the tank”

Things have been progressing well in the 25. The cycle was finished but I tried to let the tank mature some more before adding anything other than a couple drops of food and the occasional squirt of ammonia. On 12/5 I did a 75% water change and added the first fish. These two guys were sold as Naked clowns but are closer to an extreme misbar or naked with spots? I like them for their helmets basically and back spot. Fun attitude on them.


I went back on forth on this decision for a while but I removed the IceCap 1K and added the MP10. This was for no other reason than variable flow. The IceCap I could only ramp from 10-30% and it was kicking up a storm in the lagoon. The MP10 with its different flow modes can add a lot a variety to the tank and have many more speeds and flow along the way than just 10, 20 and 30%.


I also constructed a net top for my tank similar the one over the 93. It went to gether a lot easier the second time around but I might have made it a bit too tight because right now I have a bit of a warp in the lid. I’m weighting it down very scientifically with mason jars hoping it will stretch a bit and settle in.

Finally today, after waiting about as long as I can I added a test coral. I had a duplicate frag of rastas and figured I would give em a shot. So far so good… opened up right away and don’t appear stressed. Only time will tell but I have some choice frags to bring into this tank. Can not wait.


Happy reefing everyone!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have not had any updates for awhile so I thought I would drop some photos and provide a “state of the tank”

Things have been progressing well in the 25. The cycle was finished but I tried to let the tank mature some more before adding anything other than a couple drops of food and the occasional squirt of ammonia. On 12/5 I did a 75% water change and added the first fish. These two guys were sold as Naked clowns but are closer to an extreme misbar or naked with spots? I like them for their helmets basically and back spot. Fun attitude on them.


I went back on forth on this decision for a while but I removed the IceCap 1K and added the MP10. This was for no other reason than variable flow. The IceCap I could only ramp from 10-30% and it was kicking up a storm in the lagoon. The MP10 with its different flow modes can add a lot a variety to the tank and have many more speeds and flow along the way than just 10, 20 and 30%.


I also constructed a net top for my tank similar the one over the 93. It went to gether a lot easier the second time around but I might have made it a bit too tight because right now I have a bit of a warp in the lid. I’m weighting it down very scientifically with mason jars hoping it will stretch a bit and settle in.

Finally today, after waiting about as long as I can I added a test coral. I had a duplicate frag of rastas and figured I would give em a shot. So far so good… opened up right away and don’t appear stressed. Only time will tell but I have some choice frags to bring into this tank. Can not wait.


Happy reefing everyone!

Great start to a piece of the Ocean

 

[JBKReef]

So we have made some progress! I've moved the majority of the zoas and shrooms into the tank. Right now just sitting on the sand bed while I figure out where I want everyone to be and grow out. Still have a handful to come from WWC in my last coral club shipment and Ebay orders but excited for these guys to start to settle in.

Two more fish for the tank should be wrapping up their copper treatment on 1/10, I will be out of the country from 1/12 to 1/19 so When I return we will dose with some prazipro then into the new home they will go.

The pic below was used in another thread to compare shots using the polyplab coral viewer. Works great. Happy Reefing everyone!

 

[JBKReef]

All livestock, excluding some newly acquired clean up crew, have been moved into the lagoon.

We have 2 nearly naked clowns, a tribal blenny, and a purple firefish. Other livestock include a tuxedo urchin, and a smattering of snails.

The tank is going through the ugglies right now. Rock is covered in some slime algae, sand is covered in what I believe is a blue-ish cyano?

The algae explosion happened while the wife and I were on our honeymoon so for all livestock to come through in this tank and only a small nutrient problem that will be fine in the coming weeks i'm happy.

The zoa shroom lagoon is certainly greating up to look great.

Happy Reefing everyone!

 

[JBKReef]

I am in damage control right now, I dont know what happened but about 10 days ago, maybe 2 weeks all the zoas simultaneously closed up. It had to be water conditions, but after several water changes I dont know whats going on.

I was running <1 Nitrate and zero detectable phosphate so possibly that is the reason. I've started to feed heavier because I know zoas like a little dirtier water. I increased flow as well. Adding red sea coral nutrition A and B are seeming bringing the zoas back.

Of the 24-25 zoa frags I had in the tank about 20 of them are looking healthy. I've lost a frag of WWC Blue Watermelons, WWC Sunny D's, and currently not looking good are my Bob Marleys, Purple Monsters, and worst of all my AOI's. The most expensive coral I've ever purchased is barely hanging on I think.

THings were looking so good for a couple months and now I'm not sure whats going on. The ones who are on the road to recover either look dull now or have completely changed colors. A good example is my raising sun zoas, they had a nice red center but now are just all yellow.

Over this week the zoas have started to bounce back from whatever happened. I'm hoping all can pull through.


AOI's are the closest on the frag rack to me.

Loganberry's are still closed up here but some pandoras are opened back up, you can see the oddly colored rising sun in the center of the photo on the back rock.

My Marley's are getting a metallic sheen to them and only open 1/2 the day. Also have noticed a lot of bubble algae on the plugs from WWC.

Clementines closed up, and Funny D's struggling to stay afloat. Skirts sucked in.

If there is one sunny side I guess I can say my ricordia shrooms are happy as can be.

 

[Kyl]

How have you found the smaller gyre in the nano setting?

 

[JBKReef]

How have you found the smaller gyre in the nano setting?

It was entirely too much flow. I had sand storms in the tank for anything over 20%. I used the alternating flow pattern but it did not allow for as much customization so for awhile it was just randomly flow between 10 and 20%.

I switched to an Echotech MP10, while the flow is not as strong surprisingly it allows for more customization and variable flow patterns.