Not My First Tank but My First Build Thread

[esquare]

I was skeptical that 1 MP40 would be enough but I guess the open rock work allows it to provide good flow through out the tank. That may change as I start to get corals but I plan on being mostly LPS anyway and can add another MP40 if needed

 

[esquare]

I came up with a fish list, my LFS has recommended an order and grouping for adding. The A's go in first then B's, etc.

Fish	Order
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse	A
Marine Beta	A
Longnose Hawk	B
B&W Clown Pair	B
Blue Throat Fairy Wrasse	C
Green Mandarin	C
(Female) Bellus Angel	C
Six Line Wrasse	D
Royal Gramma Basslet	D
Kole Yellow Eye Tang	E

 

[Tcook]

Nice build! Get rid of the six line. It will become a terror, especially for the other wrasses. There are other nicer wrasses for pests like the chrysus.

 

[esquare]

I put a D-D Jumpguard Pro DIY Aquarium Cover on.

Nice build! Get rid of the six line. It will become a terror, especially for the other wrasses. There are other nicer wrasses for pests like the chrysus.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it.

 

[esquare]

I added a D-D Jumpguard Pro DIY Aquarium Cover to the tank. I need to add something to block the gaps between the light mounts and the overflow but otherwise it came pretty nice. Man do I hate doing the mesh, the cutouts in the back made it harder to get the mesh relatively straight.

 

[Tcook]

I put a D-D Jumpguard Pro DIY Aquarium Cover on.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it.

The yellow one.

 

[esquare]

Nice lloking fish. What kind of clown is that? I was planning on a pair of Black and Whites but recently saw a Onyx Picasso at my LFS and really liked it.

 

[silent1mezzo]

Wow exquisite build

 

[Tcook]

They are gladiators.

 

[esquare]

I got a shelving unit from Menards
https://www.menards.com/main/storag...lving-unit/a29003/p-1466525575633-c-12652.htm
to put some quarentine tanks on. I didn't want to put the tanks directly on the wire mesh shelves as I want to spread the load so I got some 3/4"X11-1/4"X36" Laminated shelves at Menards for $1.50 each. I bought 1 extra and cut it into 3 3 1/2" strips that I attached to the Laminated shelves to make them wide enough for the wire shelves.

I used a hole saw on my drill to cutout for the shelf vertical posts

 

[esquare]

Wow exquisite build

Thank you sir! I'm going very slow on this one as I have always rushed in the past and was not happy with the results. I am ready for the first 2 fish now and just waiting on the LFS to find the right McCosker's Flasher Wrasse and Marine Beta.

 

[esquare]

They are gladiators.

Darn! now I have to decide between the B&W, Onyx Picasso, and Gladiators. That is a cool looking fish.

 

[Tcook]

I got a shelving unit from Menards
https://www.menards.com/main/storag...lving-unit/a29003/p-1466525575633-c-12652.htm
to put some quarentine tanks on. I didn't want to put the tanks directly on the wire mesh shelves as I want to spread the load so I got some 3/4"X11-1/4"X36" Laminated shelves at Menards for $1.50 each. I bought 1 extra and cut it into 3 3 1/2" strips that I attached to the Laminated shelves to make them wide enough for the wire shelves.

I used a hole saw on my drill to cutout for the shelf vertical posts

Nice job on the shelves. Easy to clean/sterilize. Get a safety strap mounted to the studs at the top. Don’t want to have to catch that!

 

[esquare]

Nice job on the shelves. Easy to clean/sterilize. Get a safety strap mounted to the studs at the top. Don’t want to have to catch that!

Thanks, that was my next step to attach to the wall. Just need to decide how I want to do it.

 

[esquare]

I haven't posted in a while because I've been going through an issue with a fish disease. I had gotten my fish population up to 11 fish in the DT and one still in quarantine

• McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
• Captive-Bred Mocha Gladiator Pair from ORA
• Royal Gramma
• Falco Hawk Fish
• 3x SW - Ruby Longfin Fairy Wrasse, Male - Medium
• 3x CF - Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse (Africa) - Large

And a Captive Bred Marine Betta from Biota that I still had in quarantine.

I have never really proactively dipped or medicated any fish in the past and these all just went through a short qt, 1 to 2 weeks for observation. The 6 Wrasses were the last additions then, one day I started losing fish with no obvious signs of pests or disease. I tried to remove the fish to qt and treat but all I had was a net and could not catch the little buggers so I ordered a fish trap. Unfortunately, by the time the trap arrived, only one fish was left (I'm not sure if it is one of the Ruby Longfins or the Carpenters). The trap worked great so I put the Wrasses back in qt with the Betta (not a good move but I wasn't thinking at the time. Since I realized I had probably infected the Betta with whatever was in the DT I treated it and the Wrasse with Ruby Rally Pro, API General Cure then Copper. They both came through good so I put them in a fresh QT tank and began waiting the 76 days of keeping the DT fallow. After a while of this I went ahead and ordered a replacement pair of Mocha Gladiator Clowns and put them through a treatment Blue Life Safety Stop - Rapid Fish Quarantine Bath which is 2 separate baths of Formalin and Methylene Blue then copper and Ruby ally Pro then into the same qt tank with the Betta and Wrasse. This treatment went well and was relatively easy especially the Blue Life Safety Stop - Rapid Fish Quarantine Bath since it is 2 pre-measured packets of the Formalin and Methylene Blue. I think this will be my process moving forward.

While the fish are in QT waiting out the DT's Fallow period I went ahead and added an ORA Duncan and Ultra Red Blasto to the DT. I realized this would restart the clock on the 76 days but I wanted to get something in there. I dipped both in Beyer and Coral RX. Moving forward, I plan on dipping new corals in this way then keep them in a qt tank for 76 days just to be safe.

 

[esquare]

Here are some pics of the ORA Duncan and Blasto

 

[esquare]

I'm very happy with both these corals and am surpirsed how well they are doing. I took a bunch of PAR readings and will post the information later for those with Radions to see PAR levels. Right now the Duncan is at about 60 PAr and the Blasto is less than that. I didn't take any readings on the sand so I'm not sure exactly what the Blasto is at plus I tried putting him under an overhang to get even lower PAR.

 

[esquare]

Here are some pics of the 4 fish

I'm assuming that's a Carpenters Wrasse and not the Ruby Longfin

 

[esquare]

Here are my PAR readings

Position	AB+ @30%	AB+ @40%	AB+ @50%	AB+ @60%	AB+ @70%	AB+ @80%	AB+ @90%	AB+ @100%
1	100	115	165	193	220	249	271	291
2	80	85	150	159	184	188	204	234
3	90	100	150	172	193	214	237	259
4	60	75	110	117	123	143	161	175
5	65	65	110	119	135	141	150	171
6	70	75	115	131	146	160	171	183
7	78	80	125	145	153	168	185	201
8	65	75	110	115	133	144	162	174
9	70	72	115	124	131	147	162	174
10	60	68	110	117	124	142	160	161
11	70	73	110	120	134	147	164	165
12	75	80	120	132	147	160	184	194
13	70	78	115	129	136	162	176	197
14	69	74	110	124	135	152	170	181
15	89	96	140	147	164	176	214	222
16	70	78	110	122	131	145	155	165
17	73	76	110	124	141	145	161	172
18	57	62	95	94	110	124	135	145
19	61	66	103	104	125	131	145	151
20	60	68	100	105	117	134	146	154
21	58	64	95	104	113	120	136	149

 

[esquare]

Here is my Basement Fish Room