Shaun's 120G Build

[Shaun_in_Cali]

G'day All.

This will be my ongoing build thread detailing the trials and tribulations of my 120G tank. Aiming for a SPS heavy, mixed reef.

Tank Details
120G 48x24x24
40G Sump with Aquamaxx EM300 Skimmer
Jeboa DP-4 Dosing 2 Part, Phosphate, homemade no-pox.
10G reservoir for Duetto ATO
Lighting 3x Kessil A360WE, 1x36" T5 supplement
Flow: 1x Jeboa CF-120, 2x OW-25, 1x RW.
Cobalt 200W heater, with Inkbird Temp controller

Stocking
1x Yellow tang
1x Blue tang
2x Sapphire Damsel
2x Bangai Cardinal
2x Lyretail Anthias
2x Ocellaris Clownfish
1x 8-Line Flasher wrasse
1x Firefish
1x Yellow Watchman Goby
1x Diamond Goby
1x Red Tuxedo Urchin
1x Randalli Pistol Shrimp
1x Cleaner Shrimp
1x Coral Banded Shrimp
CUC

Current Photo (March 20)

July 19

 

[Dsnakes]

That’s a great looking start. What height are your lights at?

 

[Reefer1978]

I like the rock-work Shaun.

 

[SPR1968]

Looks very nice Shaun and welcome to R2R as well!

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

That’s a great looking start. What height are your lights at?

G'day Dsnakes - my lights are at about 4 inches at present. I'm intending to raise that height with intent to mount between 6.5-8 inches. Unfortunately with the canopy design I am unable to do so right now.

Here is a question that someone may know the answer to:
Kessil Spectral Controller for the A360WE - is there any functional difference between the original Kessil Spectral Controller or the new Spectral Controller X which I understand is backwards compatible? is there any extra functionality. New controllers cost the same amount....

 

[Dsnakes]

G'day Dsnakes - my lights are at about 4 inches at present. I'm intending to raise that height with intent to mount between 6.5-8 inches. Unfortunately with the canopy design I am unable to do so right now.

Here is a question that someone may know the answer to:
Kessil Spectral Controller for the A360WE - is there any functional difference between the original Kessil Spectral Controller or the new Spectral Controller X which I understand is backwards compatible? is there any extra functionality. New controllers cost the same amount....

Ah ok! I was just curious as the spread for those lights seemed as they were right on the surface.

I’m not much help for light controllers as I use Kessil AP700s and control via the WiFi app.

I would recommend creating a thread with your question in the lighting forum though to get some more eyes on it

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Thanks all for the kind words above. I appreciate it.

A bit more background on the tank and what I have done.

The tank has now been up for a little over two months, a month cycle, and has had fish for about 6 weeks. I got the tank second hand - which I guess is good and bad (more on that later). It had been torn down for a few years and got everything - the tank, stand, lights (old fluorescent compact tubes), rock, skimmer, 2x return pump, 2x UV filters (bulb not working) and a bunch of plumbing for $300 - stoked. Before I got the tank up and running I got a second hand 40G for a sump and had glass cut, installed the baffle/weirs (skimmer section, refugium, return section) as well as drilling the return hole.

I didn't really like the plumping arrangement for the tank as a whole but essentially I was stuck with it being 2nd hand; for example it only had a single Durso drain pipe (yep, aware of the risks with no emergency ). In addition the old design previously had 2x return pumps, and had plumping for two UV filters. I have simplified this and it is now a single with the return at about 500-550Gph based on how quick it drained the sump, so perhaps a little under 5x turnover. The previous plumping must have been either a) a nightmare or b) incredibly intricate to fit all of this under the stand.

I have also now substituted the Kessil for the compact lights, built an overflow lid, and added a Duetto ATO and a further 10G standard tank for my ATO reserve.

Next jobs are to sort out getting the lights raised - I think I have a relatively simple plan to do this and am looking to pull this off before the end of the weekend. I think I can raise them relatively easily to another 2", maybe 2.5 which will get them around 6" over the water.

After first water

Full for the first time

Overflow lid

After the clean up crew did their job - Diatom removal was amazing.

Unfortunately it hasn't all been roses; as you can see there are a couple of clowns and an extra bangai. There was some attrition. I think the clowns certainly had some HLLE/internal parasites but they didn't respond to General Cure and Metro and unfortunately died. I'm not adding any further fish for a little while now. I also have a QT tank ready to go for any further additions to ensure the health of the occupants (all seem happy and healthy, eating well; though my Firefish are not really liking the kessils at present and are spending a fair bit of time in their hole). Also have some small patches of Cyanobacteria. I'm keeping a close eye on those to prevent them spreading further and am also working to try and reduce my Nitrates which are sitting at around 50 - much higher than I would like.

Once I get that under control I will consider adding some more livestock - either some clowns (little people love it) or potentially a couple of wrasse or two and begin my road into corals.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

G'day reefers

The long weekend was a busy one with plenty of socialising but also lots of work on the tank. I raised the lights by 2" and also moved them slightly further forward. Most of my rock is around the centre or just behind the centre. Moving them forward by 1" will give me better lighting for corals to the front of the tank. I'm not going to move the rock scape at present; future builds will have the rock further to the rear. I was intending to ensure there was plenty of flow around all sides of the rock though my gut feel now is that I did a little too much.

I was also busy with water changes. I changed about 75-80 Gallons of water at an estimate; perhaps a little over half the tank volume. I measured the tank nitrates tonight and although its hard to tell with the Red Sea test kit I estimate the nitrates to be perhaps about 20-25. I'm going to be busy for the next week with work so the intent will be to not perform any further water changes but to see if they remain at about 20-25 or climb back up. If they show signs of being stable I will start to plan some coral purchases and keep the same course of action. If not I will change some focus on skimming / refugium to improve my nutrient export.

Updated photo showing the lighting; change. It doesn't actually look that different in the photo but there is a big improvement in person. Lots of green tinge as well; the green coralline is loving the lights even though I am running them at a low intensity to acclimate the fish (fire fish are still pretty shy of the Kessils). Please excuse me for cleaning the front glass but not the sides!

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

G’day reefers.

Long time no update. So recently I have been away with family (Seattle, very nice) and for work (Texas) on a couple of occasions.

I’ve been battling a cyano outbreak as documented here ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/id-help.634884/#post-6313695 ) Tank work has largely consisted of a lot of water changes, manual scrubbing and bacteria removal. I’ve also moved a power head as well as installed an extra that I was kindly gifted to try and improve flow. I’ve reduced my feeding and light to try and help control the Cyano as well.

External to that I have changed my light installation, performing some work on the hood, making a cleaner installation that improved airflow and raised the Kessils further.

If I buy a third light there is a predrilled hole waiting.

Aside from that, the Cyano appears to be reducing, certainly in its growth rate. Next plans involve purchase of a Hanna phosphate checker, and then I’m debating either a new skimmer or potentially a gyre to change my flow.

Overall I’m feeling more positive than I was a month ago. Feels like progress. Next livestock acquisition will be balanced between some fish, potentially some corals and maybe an anemone.

Full tank shot.

Cheerio

Shaun

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Gday guys.

So a couple of weeks ago I made the drive down to the LFS in LA. It’s about 90 minutes away so a bit of a hike, but it was a good day. I Took my daughter on the expedition to keep me company, and she had a great time helping me pick some items..

The mission for this trip was to take a first foray into Corals. I ended up getting a bunch as well as a small Blue Tang, about 1 1/2” long. The tang has settled in well; I was slightly concerned after it went into the main tank following a brief quarantine, the next time I saw it it had a small cut/scrape in the side, I suspect from the yellow tang although I have never seen any aggression between the two. Either way they have settled down now and I haven’t seen anything that gives me further concerns.

WWC green slimer and Red Dragon acro

Random Acro and Bubblegum Digitata (although I believe from research this name is incorrect and it isn’t a digitata).

I also picked up a Montipora cap, another acro, a bubble coral and a torch, though I don’t have any great photos of these. I’m pleased to report most seem to be doing well - visible growth and good polyp extension - though there has been some slight colour loss on the red dragon. I had some issues with my rock work whilst mounting and doing some cleaning, ultimately dropped the rock and did some damage to both the red dragon and the bubblegum, though it does seem to be recovering at the moment. The bubblegum broke but I fragged the small part off which has since shown sign of growth. Rocks have been further stabilised!

Lastly I hadn’t checked my nitrates for a about a fortnight as they had been stable for about 2.5 months so I checked them yesterday. They had reduced from about 20 to 1-2ppm. I’m unsure as to whether this is from the coral or potentially from some ceramic media that I added to the sump at the same time, or even just the tank maturing with time. Either way I will continue to test more frequently for a short period until it has been observed to stabilise.

Cheers,

FTS

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Gday all.

So I’m very pleased having witnessed the NO3 reduction in the last week - it’s not my aim to be ultra low nutrients having seen many stunning tanks of the members here with nitrates between 10-30ish range, however a benefit at the moment appears to be that the Cyano issues I had are certainly reducing.

This has only been noticeable today as on Wednesday I was looking at the Cyano growth and planning my weekend 20% water change, sandbed filter and rock scrub however the Cyano growth is noticeably thinner or in many places gone completely.

I’m pretty pleased With the appearance at present, a small amount of diatoms (I think, maybe another sort of algae) particularly on the right side of the tank however the CUC seem to be holding it in check if not starting to get on top of it.

Corals looking good with good polyp extension as well.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

FTS

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Gday R2R.

It’s been almost two months since I last posted but it’s been a somewhat challenging couple of months. And to be honest it’s about half the reason as to why it’s so long for an update.

The nitrate drop discussed above was followed by a phosphate drop. Which meant I had zero nutrients. Which in my, admittedly non expert, opinion, was the cause of the Dino’s that followed.

Man those guys are unpleasant. Almost completely replaced the Cyano with Dinos.

So getting on top of that took some work. The excellent Dinoflagellates thread in the nuisance algae section was my saviour here; after reading this I:

- installed a UV filter
- increase nitrates (reduce skimming and media)
- increase phosphate (dosing)
- changed light settings (reduced colours, more blue spectrum).

Whilst I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch I think I have got on top of the Dino. Cyano is back but to a lesser extent and I feel I may get on top of it shortly.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

One of the key things that has helped was when I got my doser (Jeboa DP4). I quite like it, easy to install and program. I am currently using it to dose Calcium, Alkalinity and Phosphate. The 4th pump is unused. This definitely played a part in the elimination of Dino’s but overall I think the tank has looked as good as it has for several months. For the price a very good piece of kit, I wish I had one sooner.

I have also rearranged some rock work looking to increase spots for corals. I now have some 20-25 pieces throughout the tank and whilst I know that’s beginner steps for a lot of people out there I wanted to increase the places available for some more high end SPs by increasing my surface area in the top third of the tank. The change should be readily evident compared to previous FTS.

Lastly I have added 5 fish over the last few months, which will probably do me for a bit. I picked up a couple of Lyretail anthias (both female), a pair of black ocellaris clownfish, and a regular Leopard Wrasse (female). The anthias and clowns were about 6 weeks ago and the Wrasse was just over a week ago. the wrasse did a short observation quarantine before making it into the DT and hitting the sand; hasn’t been seen since (2 days, not too worried yet!). The addition of the anthias and clowns has greatly added to the movement and colour in the tank.

Lastly, FTS photo update

(apologies for the quality)

All the best

Shaun

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

G'day Reefers,

So at the close of this year when I reflect on my tank I am pretty content. Yep, it isn't as beautiful as many of the tanks on here but I have started from zero knowledge base and built a pretty functioning ecosystem (I think!).

I have lost some fish, mostly in the early days (unsure as to why, but disappointingly including the Leopard Wrasse from 3 weeks ago - the first time that it emerged from the sand in the DT after hiding for 4 days it was clearly disorientated and unable to swim, my last loss) and a couple of pieces of coral. I have also battled Cyano, and Dinos. I think the Cyano and Dinos phase brought the greatest frustration, I would clean the tank regularly and they were belligerent in returning! I was never going to quit however I was getting pretty frustrated. However, at present I really enjoy sitting in front of my tank in the evening watching the reef as the lights wind down.

My objectives initially were to:
Create something living and complex
Share the process with my family (particularly young children)

I think that I have achieved those goals, although the kids were perhaps not as involved as I hoped. To be fair to them they do love adding new stuff, watching some of the interactions, and my eldest son earns part of his allowance filling the ATO container.

I consider this tank to be my 'practice tank'. I know in less than 2 years from now that it will be dismantled. I feel I have already learnt some good lessons on reef husbandry. 1) Patience is good; but can be taken too far. At times this year I was too passive in fixing issues. 2) Every tank is its own beast. 3) Parameters change, randomly, for new tanks (see point 1).

My objectives for the next year:
1) continue to progress and enjoy the tank.
2) maintain a stable system.

cheers

Shaun

FTS at year end, no fish, they were all asleep.. and yep, I need a proper camera!

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Gday all,

been a long time since a tank update.

I’m planning over the next month to give an update of a whole bunch of stuff that I have changed the tank/setup in the last couple of months.

At present I’m placing my new ‘nem into my tank. It’s a new green tipped Malu, just received. It seems healthy to me, perky not droopy, with a mostly closed mouth (certainly not drooping) and good colouration. I’ve put him directly on the glass under @OrionN advice. Lighting and flow reduced during acclimation. The areas surrounding his foot typically has 2-3” of sand so hoping he will settle soon.

Happy to take thoughts or comments!

 

[OrionN]

Looking good. Hope he settle and will do well. They don't need a lot of flow. Often they stay put and be really nice right there for you.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Looking good. Hope he settle and will do well. They don't need a lot of flow. Often they stay put and be really nice right there for you.

Thanks @OrionN. He (She?) is pretty happy - he did move around a little over the first few days but has settled down now (after being half buried by the diamond goby in a small sand slide) about 2" from where I first put him, and has been busy expanding himself as much as possible. I'm feeding a small amount of Mysis every second day at present, about 5-6 Mysis. The clowns definitely know that he is there but beyond having a close look on a couple of occasions haven't shown any further interest. Fingers crossed as the Malu is obviously not a natural host.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

As to the previous post, I always knew that this tank was going to be temporary. This is my first foray into reefing, and it was a relatively impulsive buy when the tank came up (second hand). But I'm happy to an extent - I call it my practice tank as I know that I will be having to break it down in about 18 months.

Lighting

The first area where I would do things differently is the lighting setup. The tank has two glass braces approximately 12" in from the end. They are quite substantial, as you can see in the photo.

When I bought the kessils I had done a lot of research online regarding lighting solutions. I was significantly handicapped by the canopy design, however was also in somewhat of a rush to get the kessils into the tank. My mistake was in the positioning, and a little in being a noob. I underestimated the amount of light that the brace would reflect/absorb/bend and effect the lighting in the tank, you can see this effect in this (old) photograph.

What I personally would do next time:

1) Avoid getting a tank with a cross brace or
2) got 4x Kessils, I could have then spaced them better to minimise the effect of the brace
3) consider the lighting solution in the design of the canopy (obviously unable this time around, second hand tank)

In the end I have added a T5 light as a supplement, and hope to add another shortly. I'm actually pretty convinced on the T5-LED combo. I do prefer the look with just LED lights, and the flexibility they possess in terms of lighting and intensity, however I definitely believe the T5 contributes well to coral growth.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

Water testing day today:


Phosphate 0.08, stable from 0.06 last week.
Nitrate ~7-10. Hard to tell. Looks slightly lighter than 10.

Alk 8.7 stable (8.4 last week)
Calc 410 stable (400 last week)
Mag 1420, (1320 last week, topped up manually and happy with 1420)

Some Dino’s on the sand bed gaining ground over the last 10-14 days. Only a small patch now, but don’t want it to get it out of hand.

I have Increased phosphate to 5ml/day (from 3ml) and reduced Nopox to 4ml/day (from 6). Small changes, but will see what happens over the next week. If this doesn’t stop it I’ll reconnect the UV light and change my lighting schedule to a more blue spectrum.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

So I’m not counting my chickens yet, but it appears that my female clownfish is taking tentative steps towards being hosted by the new Malu Anemone.

The anemone has been in the tanks for approaching 2 weeks now, and as I was trying to spot feed it a few mysis shrimp one day I noticed the clowns were pretty clued onto the turkey Baster. I then started to essentially entice the clowns by having a small part of mysis showing and holding it close to the ‘Nem.

The female is now hovering very close and occasionally touching her fins or belly, and seems pretty engaged. She hasn’t “dived right in” like some people say about their clown/anemone bonding but I’m cautiously optimistic at this stage

yellow watchman goby (he’s a survivor) and the yellow tang (Elton) watching closely....