Sparty's 120 Mixed Reef Build

[iemsparticus]

Got THE email today... my DT shipped out from Glass Cages today! Things are about to get real very soon!

Until then, here are some shots of my Clowns in the QT today. They are done with Paraguard, and are being treated with Cupramine and PraziPro this week and next. No negative signs... Diver's Den certainly has my vote of confidence so far!

 

[iemsparticus]

So I got this juicy bit of tech today...

I figure I'll use the Tunze Osmolator I HAD purchased for my QT, or something. Maybe I'll just have to make a Nano Reef with it at some point...

Oh, plus...

Dun dun dunnnnnnn! It came!

Things are beginning for real!!

And I had to have my two older kids pose inside of course...

 

[iemsparticus]

Got a picture of the T5/LED hybrid I will be using:

Then it was time for some aquascaping:

Final product:

Tomorrow it will all about plumbing, screen topping, and finishing up the canopy and stand. Unfortunately, I had to order out for a couple of plumbing pieces I forgot, grrrrr... so water won't be going in the tank tomorrow. Bummer.

 

[iemsparticus]

Ok, so latest update.

Plumbing (except for emergency drain... this is a BeanAnimal staple overflow) is shown here.

Putting sand and water in... I am really trying to make the reef a whole family affair... my kids have never been to the ocean, and it's exciting for them to experience it in our living room.

Plus, I want to teach them about this eco system, and give them a passion for keeping it thriving.

Everything is working well! All loose unions/bulk heads that leaked are right now, Apex is up and running, skimmer and Zeo reactor are working well, etc... Salinity is a little high still, at 1.028, but I'm off to work, so I'll have to fix that tomorrow. Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll get the ZeoVit Cycle started, and then in 10 days, we add the Clownfish!

 

[Maritimer]

Terrific 'scape, awesome sump ... and your kids are adorable!

~Bruce

 

[iemsparticus]

Terrific 'scape, awesome sump ... and your kids are adorable!

~Bruce

Thanks Bruce! It's been great fun so far!

 

[Clayton Jessup]

This tank looks like it to a great start , I love the DIY T5/LED lighting system can't wait to see it progress forward

 

[iemsparticus]

This tank looks like it to a great start , I love the DIY T5/LED lighting system can't wait to see it progress forward

Thanks, Clayton! I love how the lighting turned out. This mixture gives me excellent diffuse lighting, and well as the nice shimmer... and, fwiw, I think Kessil's deliver the best shimmer out there.

I also have the Apex Luner module in the hood... the 4 LED string.

I still have to mess with the PAR output to make sure it's what I need, and I plan to program it on my Apex to use seasonal tables/storms/etc.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

That's awesome, with all the lighting aspect that you have brought into this build , can't wait to see it progress some more

 

[iemsparticus]

So my DT is actually displaying fish now... yay!

Here is a shot with the moonlights... also with this shot and on I have figured out how to use Lightroom on my iPhone, and white filter the pictures... haha

And here is a shot from today with he Clowns and a couple Banded Trochus snails visible.

And my new QT friends!

This is Calla

And this is Sylvanus.

Once they eat a couple days in a row, they will begin their PraziPro treatment, and then it's Cupramine time!

Happy reefing all!

 

[Wesus]

Nice tank!
Your return nozzles seems to be really deep . Did you check sump water level with return pump turned off?

 

[iemsparticus]

Nice tank!
Your return nozzles seems to be really deep . Did you check sump water level with return pump turned off?

Absolutely. The return pump gets turned off for every feeding. Sump has plenty of room.

 

[iemsparticus]

Latest on the tank. Diatoms are going away, and I have tiny spots of green algae, that my snails snack on. Clowns are doing well, and the Peppermint Shrimp are becoming a little more confident... they come out for food when I broadcast feed the tank.

Parameters so far:
Alk: 6.5
Calc: 475
Mag: 1400
Phos: 0.02 ppm
Nitrate: 0
SG: 1.026

My plan moving forward is to get my Alk, Calc, and Mag where I want them, and then add a few corals is.

The Royal Gramma and Neon Goby in the QT are also doing great... no signs of desease yet. Couple more days and they will begin their Copper therapy.

 

[iemsparticus]

I ordered the first corals for my tank from WWC, they should be in Tuesday!

I'll ge pictures up as soon as I can. I got two Frag Packs, as well as another WYSIWYG coral for a total of 12 frags. This thing is going to officially be a reef soon!

 

[iemsparticus]

Corals! Got some frags from World Wide Corals today.

The larger of my peppermint shrimp (who is a snail assassin) instantly went for my hammer coral. He didn't get much, and the coral is just fine, but as soon as I can catch him he is going in the sump until I have somewhere else for him to go.

Edit: please ignore the water streaked tank glass... I was still working in the tank, and didn't bother cleaning it yet!

 

[iemsparticus]

My little coral frags are doing well, and the crabs are working down the hair algae. Not much of it. Coralline is appearing in spots all over the rocks, and I had to up the dosing today... my tank is getting hungry!

My QT has 3 Pajama Cardinals and a black fin McCosker's Flasher Wrasse, and they are doing very well.

Also, on Tuesday, I have a certain grab bag of 8 corals coming from Battle Corals... more to come!

 

[iemsparticus]

Efflo 2.0 and Reverse Sky Parade from Battle Corals (Shades of Fall, also from BC, is in the top right hand corner as well). My McCosker's Flasher Wrasse has begun to me one of my favorite fish in the tank so far... I think I may be getting the "wrasse bug..."

More Battle Corals! Goldilocks, Dales Purple Unknown (showing really nice purples at the tips, and it's growing a 4th prong!), and the Reverse Rainbow Monti.

Several corals here (and a Pajama Cardinal Fish photobomb)... From BC: two Reef Ready Grape Juice frags, a June Ruby frag, and the Reverse Superman Monti; from WWC: Mint Green Stylo (which has grown half an inch, and has three new prongs beginning on it), and my Duncan, which is growing a 4th head.

And here's a FTS for you!

I have the bottom open to help with cooling... I have noticed my T5s put out some serious heat. Living in Texas, heat seems to be barely manageable unless I blast the AC constantly. For this reason alone, I am considering moving to LED only lighting... when the LEDs are on the temp doesn't go up, but as soon as the T5s turn on we spike. I have two fans on either side of the hood, but they are super loud, and don't do the greatest of jobs of cooling the tank. The best thing for the job is sticking frozen water bottles in the sump. I don't know... any other ideas out there? Am I sacrificing too much getting rid of the T5s? A chiller isn't an option for me... no good way of venting it.

There are still new tank uglies going on. A small Cyano outbreak is there as well, which seems like a common side effect of the ZEOVit system... it seems to be slowly going away, however, so I'm not terribly concerned.

I have 2 Zebra Barred Dartfish, 1 Scissortail Dartfish, and a Magnificant Foxface in the QT... They seem to be doing well, although the Foxface is very skittish... he devours his seaweed, however.

All in all, I'm pretty happy about the progress so far.

 

[iemsparticus]

I got this guy from NYAquatics... I figured I'd better get one while I can!

 

[Amoo]

Try running your fans in push/pull. Also what kind of fans are you using?

 

[iemsparticus]

IceCap fans, one on either end of the canopy... they are both pointed in however... if I turn one around it may help.

They are very annoyingly loud. :/