david p.
Well-Known Member
Hi,
A little bit about me first.
I'm an Engineer, so you will see that in terms of planning and organization, i also have the Engineer syndrome
Also have a 9yo boy and a 7yo daughter, and of course my wife tolerate my 'hobbies'.
I started my tank in May 2016, i'm pretty happy that i have waited that long to start a saltwater tank given the expenses related to the hobby, i can now aquire the equipement and live stock that i want.
Initially the project was suppose to be a 72''x24''x24'' freshwater biotope for discuss, i was missing a few inch to get the tank in the basement, so a revisited the options and went 'Why not a reef'.
Set-up and equipment:
85 gal Blau Aquarium
2x Xr30w Pro
2x MP40wQD
Reeflink
Apex controler with AFS & ALD module
40breeder DIY sump
IceCap K-160 skimmer
Evergrow Nova S2 90w LED for the fuge
2xphosban reactor for GFO and carbon.
Kamoer dosing pump (Ca / Alk / Mg);
ATO - Tunze 8555
2x 300w Cobalt aquatic heater
Return pump Jebao 7000 (oversized to feed manifold)
Coralife Turbo twist 18wattts
50GPD RODI
Changed the skimmer for Icecap K-160 since that picture.
The tank/stand/sump
I wanted to build an automatic water change and to have a mixing station behind the wall on the back of the tank, that's under my stairs going in the basement. After setting the tank up with RODI system with my RODI water tank, i realized that i don't have the space needed. So the build is pretty much on hold regarding closing the stand / mixing station / water change.
That's what i have in mind now, frag tank on the left. QT on the right near a sink. No more auto water change, but proximity will make it easy. to get the sink there i need to brake the concrete to get a drain there .. that's a pain in the neck... but so much easier to clean everything
My basement would look like that:
The rocks:
i was planning to start with dry rock and do the long and painfull process of cycling, waiting, patience... BUT i was lucky, some Reef guru around here had too much rocks from his shallow reef, rocks that he bleached, cured for his SPS dominant tank. i jumped on 90 pounds of live rocks from him and dumped that in my tank. At that time, i only had sand and water in the tank, i already started cycling with sand only. All parameter dropped to zero Nitrate/Nitrites and amonia within days. Phosphate was at 0, so nothing seemed to leach from the rocks,i'm also running GFO.
i had a bloom of diatom and some brown hair algae, got my Cleaning crew, couple of trochus snail, nerite (for the sand bed) and hermites, i added a sandsifting starfish since then.
i assumed from there that my tank was cycled and got my first fishes. I know that is really fast, the tank was less than 1 month old, but i wanted to maintain the bacteria population so i needed to feed them with fish poop. At that time i was basically testing daily or every other day to make sure i was in control.
The way i saw things for my rocks, it's like someone upgrading his system and transfering his rocks to a new system, he does not restart from scratch.
I would not have done the same thing with rock from a 15yo tank, or from a tank i could see aptasia, algae or an unbalanced system. I really believe i was lucky on the quality of the rocks i got.
The livestock:
I got 5 fish that were on the same system at the LFS. 2x flame back angel ,2 midnight ocelaris, 1 watchman goby + pistol shrimp. No QT for those since there were in the same system.
Parameters remained at zero.
Soon after i got my first corals, mostly LPS and softies and a couple of SPS i got for cheap. i did not expect anything from the SPS (montipora digitata / undata, birdnest / JF sour twist frag).
I bleached 2 of the birdnest after a newbie mistake, i forgot my Radion at 100% intensity.... the got back their color now and crazy growth
I introduced a Kole tang and a fire fish after a 3wks QT.
i was still testing frequently to ***** the impact of the quick changes i was doing on the tank.
At that moment the tank was 2 months old.
Fast foward a couple weeks, in july a guys was closing his system, i could grab many nice colonies (some RR-wolverine, apple jack, oregon blue torth and other 'random' RR frags).
I KNOW IT'S CRAZY FAST TO GET SPS, but for the price and the growth i could see on my 'lower grade' SPS, i said why not, deals like this do not come often and my parameters were all on target.
Aslo, i think that my system is well built and my nutriment export is robust.
Here's a video at time 3 months:
i started an album for my corals:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...073741830.100001656549253&type=1&l=f9f72b6a55
I know i am well ahead of my initial planning and most reefer would think i will crash my tank or that i don't know what i'm doing. But all decision were made based on the observation of my system, how my fishes and corals are doing/looking, the signs of growth i could see, the testing i was doing and my past experience on maintaining balance in an ecosystem.
I am still testing frequently, i religiously do 10% waterchange weekly, make sure my sand remains clean, i do not overfeed. I also target feed coral to make sure they get what they need (reefroids).
as mentionned previously, i saw my tank start-up as an upagrade someone would do with their rocks from their previous system.
the thing i am most worried about would be the pest i could have introduced while stocking my tank that fast. so far so good. only hitchhiker are a couple of stomella, a flashy orange clam (less than 1cm in size). I dip all coral, i try to remove the plugs/rocks when possible.
For now, nothing else will get in my tank for a long while, i will watch my coral grow. i started selling my 'lower' grade SPS / LPS / softies.
The only fish i will had somewhere around December would be a couple of Chalk bass, that will complete my fish stocking.
here's a bad FTS:
A little bit about me first.
I'm an Engineer, so you will see that in terms of planning and organization, i also have the Engineer syndrome
Also have a 9yo boy and a 7yo daughter, and of course my wife tolerate my 'hobbies'.I started my tank in May 2016, i'm pretty happy that i have waited that long to start a saltwater tank given the expenses related to the hobby, i can now aquire the equipement and live stock that i want.
Initially the project was suppose to be a 72''x24''x24'' freshwater biotope for discuss, i was missing a few inch to get the tank in the basement, so a revisited the options and went 'Why not a reef'.
Set-up and equipment:
85 gal Blau Aquarium
2x Xr30w Pro
2x MP40wQD
Reeflink
Apex controler with AFS & ALD module
40breeder DIY sump
IceCap K-160 skimmer
Evergrow Nova S2 90w LED for the fuge
2xphosban reactor for GFO and carbon.
Kamoer dosing pump (Ca / Alk / Mg);
ATO - Tunze 8555
2x 300w Cobalt aquatic heater
Return pump Jebao 7000 (oversized to feed manifold)
Coralife Turbo twist 18wattts
50GPD RODI
Changed the skimmer for Icecap K-160 since that picture.
The tank/stand/sump
I wanted to build an automatic water change and to have a mixing station behind the wall on the back of the tank, that's under my stairs going in the basement. After setting the tank up with RODI system with my RODI water tank, i realized that i don't have the space needed. So the build is pretty much on hold regarding closing the stand / mixing station / water change.
That's what i have in mind now, frag tank on the left. QT on the right near a sink. No more auto water change, but proximity will make it easy. to get the sink there i need to brake the concrete to get a drain there .. that's a pain in the neck... but so much easier to clean everything
My basement would look like that:
The rocks:
i was planning to start with dry rock and do the long and painfull process of cycling, waiting, patience... BUT i was lucky, some Reef guru around here had too much rocks from his shallow reef, rocks that he bleached, cured for his SPS dominant tank. i jumped on 90 pounds of live rocks from him and dumped that in my tank. At that time, i only had sand and water in the tank, i already started cycling with sand only. All parameter dropped to zero Nitrate/Nitrites and amonia within days. Phosphate was at 0, so nothing seemed to leach from the rocks,i'm also running GFO.
i had a bloom of diatom and some brown hair algae, got my Cleaning crew, couple of trochus snail, nerite (for the sand bed) and hermites, i added a sandsifting starfish since then.
i assumed from there that my tank was cycled and got my first fishes. I know that is really fast, the tank was less than 1 month old, but i wanted to maintain the bacteria population so i needed to feed them with fish poop. At that time i was basically testing daily or every other day to make sure i was in control.
The way i saw things for my rocks, it's like someone upgrading his system and transfering his rocks to a new system, he does not restart from scratch.
I would not have done the same thing with rock from a 15yo tank, or from a tank i could see aptasia, algae or an unbalanced system. I really believe i was lucky on the quality of the rocks i got.
The livestock:
I got 5 fish that were on the same system at the LFS. 2x flame back angel ,2 midnight ocelaris, 1 watchman goby + pistol shrimp. No QT for those since there were in the same system.
Parameters remained at zero.
Soon after i got my first corals, mostly LPS and softies and a couple of SPS i got for cheap. i did not expect anything from the SPS (montipora digitata / undata, birdnest / JF sour twist frag).
I bleached 2 of the birdnest after a newbie mistake, i forgot my Radion at 100% intensity.... the got back their color now and crazy growth
I introduced a Kole tang and a fire fish after a 3wks QT.
i was still testing frequently to ***** the impact of the quick changes i was doing on the tank.
At that moment the tank was 2 months old.
Fast foward a couple weeks, in july a guys was closing his system, i could grab many nice colonies (some RR-wolverine, apple jack, oregon blue torth and other 'random' RR frags).
I KNOW IT'S CRAZY FAST TO GET SPS, but for the price and the growth i could see on my 'lower grade' SPS, i said why not, deals like this do not come often and my parameters were all on target.
Aslo, i think that my system is well built and my nutriment export is robust.
Here's a video at time 3 months:
i started an album for my corals:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...073741830.100001656549253&type=1&l=f9f72b6a55
I know i am well ahead of my initial planning and most reefer would think i will crash my tank or that i don't know what i'm doing. But all decision were made based on the observation of my system, how my fishes and corals are doing/looking, the signs of growth i could see, the testing i was doing and my past experience on maintaining balance in an ecosystem.
I am still testing frequently, i religiously do 10% waterchange weekly, make sure my sand remains clean, i do not overfeed. I also target feed coral to make sure they get what they need (reefroids).
as mentionned previously, i saw my tank start-up as an upagrade someone would do with their rocks from their previous system.
the thing i am most worried about would be the pest i could have introduced while stocking my tank that fast. so far so good. only hitchhiker are a couple of stomella, a flashy orange clam (less than 1cm in size). I dip all coral, i try to remove the plugs/rocks when possible.
For now, nothing else will get in my tank for a long while, i will watch my coral grow. i started selling my 'lower' grade SPS / LPS / softies.
The only fish i will had somewhere around December would be a couple of Chalk bass, that will complete my fish stocking.
here's a bad FTS:
Last edited:
