Lubeck’s 265gal SPS Peninsula build

[lubeck]

Upgrade time! Pulled the trigger on a Cade 1800 S2. Super pumped. We got it leveled and in place. Plan on doing the plumbing tomorrow. Waiting for Black Friday to pull the trigger on all the equipment.

 

[lubeck]

My thoughts for this tank. I would like to see water in it by next weekend.

1. Sps dominate with a few softies and maybe a clam. Any zoa will have their own rock not touching anything else. All softies will be at the front
2. Fuge - I will use half of the sump for my existing 40lbs live rock from my 32 gal Biocube. I will use my existing kessil 150 to grow a few corals and cheato
3. Fish - carrying over from my two small tanks. Paired black clowns, paired storm clowns , cardinal, neon goby, gumdrop goby , damsel .
4. As far as new fish. Don’t have it nailed down but want 2-3 tang’s, a few wrasses, copper-band butterfly - mandarin goby, Swiss basset, school of anthias or chromis, open to other ideas?
5. Inverts I will order a large package from reefcleaners. I will carry over all the existing inverts. Probably a few dozen crab and various snails. I will get more peppermint shrimp. Sand sifting conch
6. Aquascape - I want a minimalist look. I’ve already measured 8” in from the glass in all directions so it gives room for corals to grow. I’m thinking 2-3 structures that may or may not be connected.

Equipment list.

1. Live rock - 150 lbs from the gulf I want to do a minimalist look but still as much room for corals and plenty of hiding spots for fish.
2. Sand - 80 lbs of special grade and 10 lbs crushed coral.
3. Return pump - royal exclusive red dragon 5
4. Skimmer - ultra reef ukd 250
5. Flow - 4 each mp60
6. Heater - 2 600 watt titanium
7. Lighting - 4 ea radion xr30 G6 blue and 60” quad strip reefbrite hybrid
8. Reactor - bashsea 4-18. For occasional activated carbon
9. ATO - Apex ATO
10. All my apex stuff. DOS, Par, and a bunch of other modules from my other build

These are my ideas for scaping.

 

[lubeck]

Quick update.

1. Plumbing is done but haven’t tested yet.
2. Also installed lighting for the stand.
3. Purchased 150 lbs of live rock from gulf live rock
4. Should be getting a good amount of my equipment by Monday.
5. Got confirmation that my return pump and skimmer should arrive by Wednesday. My plan would be to at least water test next weekend. .

 

[Cool tangs]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it filled

 

[Gumbies R Us]

This is going to be an amazing tank to follow! Can't wait to see it complete!

 

[lubeck]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it filled

Thank you. Glad you are following along! Can’t wait to see your 2100 setup!

 

[lubeck]

This is going to be an amazing tank to follow! Can't wait to see it complete!

Appreciate you following along! I can’t wait till it’s setup either! Hopefully by next weekend.

 

[lubeck]

Got some goodies today. Also got my 60” quad reefbrite add on plus the four G6 xr30 blue.

Also did my leak test. Everything was good with the plumbing and tank

 

[lubeck]

I installed the G5 to G6 blue upgrade. The spectrum is definitely blue when set to AB+. More purple hue. The corals pop a lot more. My concern is that since I got the quad reefbrites that it may wash out all the fish and coral.

I’ve sent a note to see if I can switch to the pro. If I didn’t have the reefbrites I would say they are perfect!!!

I put on my cube so I could see the difference. Clearly these pictures won’t help you all but I like pics so.

 

[lubeck]

I got my skimmer, mp60’s, heaters, sand, glue, eb8 and diffusers for the radions

Live rock comes tomorrow! Can’t wait. I’ve begun to make water for the start up! I’m missing the return pump which should be in by Wednesday. By Friday I should be filled

The ultra reef 250 skimmer is a beast!!!
Pop can for scale

 

[lubeck]

I received my live rock and return pump today!!!! I can officially fire up the tank on Friday or Saturday

Lighting update
Somewhat of a disappointment, my radion over my cube where I installed the g5 to g6 upgrade showed a circuit error and the light went dark. I ended up putting the g5 back on. I’ve decided I’m not going to be happy with the g6 blues when I add the reefbrite on top of that. It will be too blue. I don’t want any regrets so I’m going to switch to the pros. I’m trying to do even swap out but they want to charge 15% restocking fee. Going to call them tomorrow and try to work something out.

As for the live rock. It is AMAZING! Dan over live gulf rock picked some great pieces to build my scape! Tons of life. I did see at least a dozen crabs ( need to ID a couple) and so far one mantis which I have isolated for now. Great assortment of pieces. There will be some die off but overall very happy with it. It’s going to ensure I start the new tank off with the necessary biodiversity a reef needs to thrive. Going to run it for a couple days in the garage doing 50% water changes each day.

 

[lubeck]

Coral update

Im super excited about getting corals from @therman! I’ve been waiting patiently ( not really) to have an opportunity to add his corals. With this upgrade I finally can. Plan on getting two 10 packs and placed my first order the other day.

Here’s the frags I’m thinking about. Should get my first batch before the holidays

 

[bakbay]

Cool build - following along.

That’s a lot of flow - cool! I run 4xMP60s at 50% on my 450g and that’s already too strong.

Curious - what’s your plan re: dosing? Don’t need it yet but eventually need to consider 2-part, AFR, or CaRx?

 

[lubeck]

Cool build - following along.

That’s a lot of flow - cool! I run 4xMP60s at 50% on my 450g and that’s already too strong.

Curious - what’s your plan re: dosing? Don’t need it yet but eventually need to consider 2-part, AFR, or CaRx?

Thanks for the feedback I will be sure to dial down the mp60’s. I wanted to make sure that when the tank fills out I have enough horsepower to ramp it up.

I have a bunch of apex gear so I will set up 3 part dosing from the beginning. Just very low amounts. Also will dose kalk and have a trident for ramping up and down.


I’ve been following your build! Need an update

 

[bakbay]

Nice - you should be fine with flow, that’s for sure. When acros grow out, it will be more economical to go CaRx so something to budget for later.

Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been just adding corals and a few fish literally got added this week. It’s been more than 2 months! Fingers crossed.

 

[wickedxreef]

Bummer about the light having issues. I'm kind of curious why they would charge a restock fee if one of them are broken? Did you order from saltwateraquarium? I know BRS is much better about returns. If you don't want on the blue side, Pro is for sure the way to go. I like my tanks on the bluer side, but I know I'm giving up some of the benefits of the whiter lights.