Thanks for having me. Old timer back for a reef tank

[mike werner]

Welcom aboard

 

[Reefer Deez]

Hello and welcome to R2R
It's a pleasure to have you here with us

 

[NY_Caveman]

Welcome! Thanks for joining!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

!!! Welcome to R2R !!!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R, very nice tank

 

[Aaronhome27]

Hi Aaron,

I really like the tank you picked out, and that spot for it looks perfect! Very sleek look with the clean light and cord that you ran down the wall corner, well done.

From what I can tell you're going through the "ugly stages" with the white dead rock. The bubbles do seem like it could be dino, but it's not the same brown color with long strings of it, so you should be fine. Do the bubbles go away over night and come back after the lights have been on? Smart move getting a large piece of established LR to seed the new rock, that's why you had such a short cycle. Aquascape looks good, but I always like the look of a U shape in a tank that size. It's like you're looking into a protected cove in the rock with caves that open to the sides.

As for your question about the algae around the duncan, it's probably diatoms that are going to run their course over the next few months. Are you using a RODI filter for your water changes and top off?

Welcome back to the hobby, I just returned back in Jan after 8 years away so I know the feeling. Enjoy the tank and try not to do too much too quick, the tank is still very new and you dont want to overload it.

Thanks Eagle!

The bubbles do go away and return once lights are on. Actually glad to see that it may be diatom. Funny how a certain type of algae is a relief.

I do use RODI. I purchased a new RODI 4 stage unit when I bought the tank. It tested perfect after I ran a few gallons through it. It's not an expensive one, but it seems to work great. I had a kenmore 250gpd and new filters were going to be around $200. For half that price I bought a liquidgen 50 gpd unit. Makes clean water and it's new. My kenmore was 20 years old.

I had thought about the U shape I see a lot of people do. Once I had it put together it made the tank look narrow. And my coraline planting options very as many. So I went with this to give me some out set areas for a decent amount of coral should I decide to go that route one day. But I set each rock while setting flow. I get nearly 100% flow the way I set them. My biggest fear was dead spots. I'm hoping I don't regret it as I do see a lot of Nanos with the U shape. I'll try to get some pics later on but I have caves underneath where I can fit my hand in if I do get things like aiptasia. That, and I also really like watching the fish constantly swimming through the rock structure at all different levels.

New, but Im good with the coral I have for now. Gives me some color till I can do something later.

View attachment 20180918_200337.jpg

 

[Aaronhome27]

I haven't been on forums in a long time. Lol. Thanks for the worm welcome everyone.