First saltwater tank, 40b reef build.

[GHsaltie]

Hello everyone! I've been a member for a little bit but haven't posted, so I figured I should start with my build thread. I'm doing a 40b lps/softie reef with a 20g sump. I haven't been in the hobby very long, only started learning and researching about a year ago. October of last year I made the decision to start my first ever saltwater tank. Since then I have been mostly collecting equipment and started work on my build in February. I just finished getting everything put together last week and have got the tank filled up. Still have a few minor adjustments to the sump and am going to skin the stand, but otherwise it's coming together a lot nicer than I expected. Once I have tested my plumbing for leaks or hiccups of any kind then I'll start slowly mixing in my salt. I'm going to use all live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and will order it once I know my salinity is stable.

 

[twilliard]

Looking good and thank you for sharing!

 

[GHsaltie]

A little bit more information: I decided to put a tarp under my sump to protect the board underneath, I'm going to add 2x4s on the inside of the stand and fold the tarp over it to create a "basin". This is with the hopes that it will help minimize any water damage caused by spills from the sump. I'm also going to add filter socks to my drains and makeshift a small stand for my protein skimmer to lift it up a bit. Oh and of course some general equipment info:
Reef Octopus 110 space saver
Kessil a360 w-e with controller
Jebao rw-8 wave maker (thinking on supplementing with a small powerhead)
Rio 2500 return pump
Herbie overflow with 1" emergency and main drain, 3/4" return

 

[Averill]

After starting up my tank about how long should it be before I have an ammonia spike or will I never have 1?

 

[GHsaltie]

After starting up my tank about how long should it be before I have an ammonia spike or will I never have 1?

You would probably be better off starting your own thread regarding your question with information on your tank, or reading various build threads to see what other people have experienced. Even then there is no definite answer as every tank is different and there are so many variables that could shorten or lengthen the cycling process.

 

[Salty1962]

Looks very good. Keep us posted.

 

[ScottMyers123]

Looks like your off to a good start. Welcome to R2R!

 

[GHsaltie]

Everything has been running smoothly for several days now, salinity is just where I need it, temp is perfect and aside from a slight hum from the return pump and Jebao the whole tank is uber quiet. I've got my live rock scheduled for pick up Tuesday morning, I'm super excited right now! I'm also pleasantly surprised that my cats have shown absolutely no interest in jumping into my tank. Minus my shevil (she devil), she has given me a scare or two so far by deciding that it's so much fun to climb on the pipes and peer down into the tank. And of course a pic because no thread is complete without pictures!

(She also likes to "help" me game.)
So all in all everything is coming along slowly but surely. My sand won't arrive until Thursday at the earliest (different company), but I can't wait to get my hands on that live rock!

 

[GHsaltie]

My rock is here! I am so excited right now I can't believe this tank is finally coming together! I've included some (awful) pictures of some hitchhikers that I need identified. I also have what I believe to be a small pistol shrimp, it was less than a half inch and whitish clear in color. I saw it hiding in the rock and clicking, it was so cool. I tried to get some halfway decent pics but my phone is kinda crappy and the water is cloudy right now. Also if anyone has input on settings for my kessil that would be great, I'm still messing around with the lighting.

 

[GHsaltie]

The last picture I think is a sponge but not positive, the white blobish thing.

 

[GHsaltie]

And lastly a couple pics of the rock work. I'll probably change it some down the road. I want to get some nice decorative pieces of dry rock to add to it, but for now this is what I've got, and I'm really liking it.

 

[GHsaltie]

A couple more critters that I need some input on. The first I know is a fleshy limpet, but I've read conflicting things on them as to whether they are reef safe or not. The second I think is a predatory whelk but would like another opinion on that.

 

[Baby Ray]

Second is definitely a welk. It will eat other snails

 

[GHsaltie]

Thanks Baby Ray, I ended up tossing him out, felt kind of bad about it but now my snails are safer. Here's some updated pictures now that I've gotten my sand.

 

[GHsaltie]

Some more pictures of critters I've found. The nudibranch I spotted yesterday crawling around in the front, he was really cool but I made sure to get him out very promptly. The black speck in the fourth picture I'm fairly certain is a baby urchin. I have found two hermit crabs so far, the one pictured and another in a pink shell (my sisters have dubbed them Pinky and the Brain). Although I can't figure out why the one hermit crab spends all its time out in the sand, I even put him on a rock at one point and he just moved back onto the sand and buried himself again, weirdo.

 

[Baby Ray]

Good thing you got that nudi our. Keep an eye out for other ones
Everything looks awesome!!!!

 

[GHsaltie]

So my sister found another nudibranch while I was at work and took it out for me. Despite insisting that I'm a horrible critter killer she was willing to step up and extract it in my absence . I also have my first fish in quarantine right now and I am both super stoked and really nervous at the same time. It's a McCoskers wrasse from divers den. So far he's doing pretty good, the salinity of the shipping water was a lot higher than I expected at 1.029, so acclimation was longer than I originally planned. He hasn't moved much, he's stayed on the bottom pretty much the whole time but he's very alert watching me and he's already eaten some flakes. Hopefully he'll settle in quickly and get more comfortable.

 

[GHsaltie]

Day 3 and mr wrasse is still doing pretty good so I'm being tentatively hopefully that acclimation was okay and he'll be perfectly fine. So far he seems to like flakes and mysis shrimp but doesn't care much for pellets. First tank transfer is going to be tomorrow so I'm nervous he'll get stressed out from it, but I'm probably being overly paranoid. I also just spotted this guy lurking ominously in the rocks after the lights went out, he's easily an inch and a half across (legs included). Time to bring out the crab traps!

 

[GHsaltie]

I don't have much to update on, the tank is coming along, slowly but surely becoming more stable. I've been struggling with very high nitrates for a few weeks, which is very frustrating because my tank didn't even have that big of a cycle so I can't figure out where all the nitrates are coming from. Of course I don't think it helps any that I haven't been able to adjust my skimmer like it's supposed to be so it's basically sitting in the sump useless at this point. If anybody knows how to adjust a reef octopus 110 SS skimmer I would love to hear your input! My wrasse, newly dubbed Nessian the 3rd aka Nessy, is still in QT but doing well. He's had a couple ups and downs but he's been through TTM and prazi successfully, lastly I'm going to treat him with metroplex then a week or two of observation before going into the DT. Now in other news I have decided that I am going to start diving classes! I'm super duper excited about this and I can't wait! The class starts in July so that gives me time enough to do an online course before going to the dive center. Then if all goes well I will be going to Florida either in late July or August to take the certification dives. I have three choices for the dives: West palm beach, Panama city, or a place called Ginnie springs. I think I've already ruled out west palm beach, but I can't decide between Panama city or Ginnie springs. I would love to hear of others experiences with these two places, or anywhere for that matter!

 

[GHsaltie]

Just got back from a trip to Charleston and I think I scored pretty good.

They are acclimating currently to the QT tank. I visited both Tideline Aquatics and Joe Knows Reefs, and although Tideline had a lot more varied stock the quality of Joes was beyond expectations (all three fish came from him). Both stores had some really nice frags and I was very tempted to pick up a sweet brain at Joes, but in the end I decided to pass for now. I did however receive some gorgeous palys and a zoa from BSA Corals yesterday, I can't get a good pic through the algae on the glass right now . Oh and Nessy has been happily swimming around and exploring the DT for about two weeks now!