Time to go all in with a large upgrade.

[fowler279]

Got the plumbing done and the tank leak tested. Everything is good. Worked on filling over the weekend and its just about there. Another few gallons and it will be up and running tonight.

 

[fowler279]

Rock scape is in. Added some more sand over the weekend so waiting for things to clear up. This pic is from before I added the additional sand. Now just a waiting game at this point. Lights are mounted in the canopy so need to get that moved over and put in place.

 

[fowler279]

So now that the tank is cycling guess its time to start thinking about stocking it. Not that I havent already been thinking about it, but time to get a little more serious. Here is what im thinking thus far.

2 Clowns (Frostbite and Divinci) will be moving over from my 20 Cube
Cleaner Shrimp - Also moving from my 20 cube

3-5 Banggi or PJ Cardinals
1 Spot Foxface
Diamond Watchman Gobie
Tomini Tang
Yellow Tang (if I can find one Captive Bred)
Blue Hippo Tang - Still a little unsure on this one
Melanurus Wrasse
Carpenters Flasher Wrasse


Any suggestions on this list? Any stocking order I need to be aware of?

 

[fowler279]

Got the lights mounted in the canopy and the canopy installed over the tank. Cycle is started and seems to be going super quick.

 

[fowler279]

Bought some PVC board and mounted to the back wall of the stand. Was hoping to be able to mount all the equipment to it but its a little on the flimsy side for me. Expected the PVC to be a little more rigid. So on to the next plan. Purchased some wood and and working on a slide out controller board. Trying to maximize what little space I have for organization.

 

[fowler279]

Got the new controller board built and installed over the weekend. Works pretty well for the most part. Takes up a little more room that I anticipated. But overall im pretty pleased with it. Have room for another EB832 if I ever need one.

 

[fowler279]

Been battling Cyano/Spirulina for the last 2 months. Spent that time trying everything not to dose Chemiclean. Glad I did as its finally receding and almost completely gone. Thinking with the rate of regression it should be totally gone in the next 1-2 weeks.

Not sure if any of what I did actually helped but I started raising nutrients since they were kinda low NO3 - 5ish and PO4 - .03. Raised them up to NO3 - 15 and PO4 1.0 and kept them in that range for a few weeks. Also added and order from IPSF on the 3rd of this month to add some biodiversity. It was starting to recede before the IPSF order but has possibly sped up since then. So again not sure if this really helped or not but its going away and im happy.

Have added a few fish since then as well. Added a Red Firefish, 2 Banggai Cardinals, and a Lubbocks Fairy Wrasse. So far everyone is getting along pretty well. Nice to have some more movement in the tank.

Once the Cyano is gone will be moving over some coral from the frag tank to the display. Things are moving along.

 

[fowler279]

Cyano is gone. Everything is clear now and tank looking good. Just about time to start adding some coral from the QT tank.

Got my wife a new chair for Christmas and now have a comfy place to sit and watch the tank.

 

[fowler279]

Tank has been doing well for the most part. Struggling to keep nutrients up. So been dosing nitrates and phosphates for the last few days to keep them elevated. Waiting on next batch of fish which I should be picking up next week. Hopefully that helps a little. 1 more batch of fish to go after that.

Started adding some coral from the QT tank last week. Have had the RFA's and the Toadstool in there for a while but added the following
Mystic Sunset Monti
Grafted Monti
Alveopora
Rasta Hammer
Pink Tip Torch
Turbinaria
Some shrooms
Favia

 

[aquatic_dad]

Tank has been doing well for the most part. Struggling to keep nutrients up. So been dosing nitrates and phosphates for the last few days to keep them elevated. Waiting on next batch of fish which I should be picking up next week. Hopefully that helps a little. 1 more batch of fish to go after that.

Started adding some coral from the QT tank last week. Have had the RFA's and the Toadstool in there for a while but added the following
Mystic Sunset Monti
Grafted Monti
Alveopora
Rasta Hammer
Pink Tip Torch
Turbinaria
Some shrooms
Favia

Got the new controller board built and installed over the weekend. Works pretty well for the most part. Takes up a little more room that I anticipated. But overall im pretty pleased with it. Have room for another EB832 if I ever need one.

This an amazing build and aquascape. Congrats! I am planning a very similar build. Do you mind sharing the interior foot print of the stand length x width x heights? Can you also share more pics of the equipment placement side by side with the sump and other equipment
thank you and good luck!

 

[fowler279]

This an amazing build and aquascape. Congrats! I am planning a very similar build. Do you mind sharing the interior foot print of the stand length x width x heights? Can you also share more pics of the equipment placement side by side with the sump and other equipment
thank you and good luck!

Thanks for the comments. Ill try to grab some more pics and measurements tonight. I can tell you its a little tight under the stand. After adding the 10G ATO container it doesnt leave much room for anything else. Been looking at possibly getting an external cabinet to move all the controller gear into instead of what I built. But we will see.

 

[fowler279]

This an amazing build and aquascape. Congrats! I am planning a very similar build. Do you mind sharing the interior foot print of the stand length x width x heights? Can you also share more pics of the equipment placement side by side with the sump and other equipment
thank you and good luck!

Sorry its taken me a while to get to this. Interior is roughly 59x22x30. As i said it can get a little cramped in there. i built my control board to sit front to back to try to maximize the space a little more and figured it would allow for more room but after installing it, really didnt give me what i wanted but its functional.

Here is a pic of the sump area which is a bit of a mess right now. If it wasnt for the 10G ATO i would have a little more room.

Above you can see the control board. It slides out but limited on how far to left it could go since the hinges are in the way.

If you have any other questions just let me know.

 

[aquatic_dad]

Sorry its taken me a while to get to this. Interior is roughly 59x22x30. As i said it can get a little cramped in there. i built my control board to sit front to back to try to maximize the space a little more and figured it would allow for more room but after installing it, really didnt give me what i wanted but its functional.

Here is a pic of the sump area which is a bit of a mess right now. If it wasnt for the 10G ATO i would have a little more room.

Above you can see the control board. It slides out but limited on how far to left it could go since the hinges are in the way.

If you have any other questions just let me know.

This is very helpful thanks. I was planning a 23” wide sump. I am glad I checked with you first.

best of luck!

 

[fowler279]

Added some more residents to the tank last week. 4x Blue/Green Chromis and 1x Carpenter Flasher Wrasse. Purchased from Dr Reefs. Fish are all healthy and eating well. Chromis are all pigglets and its fun to watch them eat.

Next fish to add will be a Flame Hawk and an Exquisite Wrasse.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Super sweet build!

 

[JachPot]

You can always upgrade football programs by just switching to crimson...


Nice build! Always nice to see other members from the Sooner state.

 

[SPSDomination]

following

 

[fowler279]

You can always upgrade football programs by just switching to crimson...


Nice build! Always nice to see other members from the Sooner state.

Ha. Cant do it. Cowboy for life. My boss is an OU fan and we have some nice office Banter during FB season.

Thanks. It is nice to see others from here.

 

[JachPot]

Ha. Cant do it. Cowboy for life. My boss is an OU fan and we have some nice office Banter during FB season.

Thanks. It is nice to see others from here.

I moved out to Colorado, but was born and raised in Oklahoma. Haven't met any cowboys out here to heckle unfortunately.

I love the sump setup and the overall color scheme. Looks very slick. I always just jammed white PVC together lol. Gotta love barely having the budget to put a tank up.

 

[fowler279]

I moved out to Colorado, but was born and raised in Oklahoma. Haven't met any cowboys out here to heckle unfortunately.

I love the sump setup and the overall color scheme. Looks very slick. I always just jammed white PVC together lol. Gotta love barely having the budget to put a tank up.

A buddy of mine moved out to Colorado a few years ago. He really likes it there.

Thanks. Not really the color I initially planned for but I liked the sump design and its pretty solid so decided to match the color with the PVC. Wasnt too bad but yea I coulda went with white and saved some money.