Miami Reef’s Build Thread

[i cant think]

Sad story.

My tank broke out in ich. I’m in the process of turning my reef tank into a FOWLR. Corals take too much of my time and are too expensive to maintain. I also cannot risk my fish dying from parasites.

As of right now I’m planning on moving the corals into the QT and sell them as quick as I can. I will probably start ramping the copper in the DT once I get all the corals and inverts out.

I don’t think my tank was ever built to be a reef tank. Especially with my beloved moorish idol who likes to eat corals. You can see in my pictures that corals were never my passion. It’s always been the fish.

If my moorish idol dies I’d be devastated. It’s currently the most infested Moorish idol and tangs>corals.

We’ll see. I thought I’d keep this thread updated on this. I don’t think anyone knows of my plan yet, so there’s that.

I’m going to sleep on this tonight. We’ll see where my mind is tomorrow. I have a headache.

I’m so sorry that happened, I wish there was something I could do to help but I can’t think of what happened. You planned this whole tank around a moorish idol so I highly doubt it was a fallow gone wrong because you went fallow for what? Six months was it? No parasite/disease that uses fish to thrive would be alive past that and if it was I’m sure it would have decided to show sooner (The instant the moorish touched water it probably would have started to combat). Copper for 14 days and a transfer seems long enough to kill off ich/velvet so I highly doubt it was that. If anything it may have been coral but even then I highly doubt that. I agree though, if it ever became the decision of Coral vs fish, fish would come first. The moorish began chewing on coral which you clearly forgive him for so maybe your tank wasn’t designed to be a reef, I hope the moorish and tangs make it through this outbreak. I recommend making the whole display tank into a QT if you don’t plan on any CUC, it’ll remove stress from the fish being transferred to another tank however, Calcium sand and any rocks will absorb copper at an unknown rate and if it’s released then it can kill off any inverts. If you do this then I recommend always measuring the copper levels in the DT.

 

[Miami Reef]

Things are doing well in my new FOWLR. Seeing this build thread is making me feel like a failure because I stopped doing corals and I failed at disease control…Do you think it would be ok if I had this thread deleted and started a new one?

 

[i cant think]

Things are doing well in my new FOWLR. Seeing this build thread is making me feel like a failure because I stopped doing corals and I failed at disease control…Do you think it would be ok if I had this thread deleted and started a new one?

I wouldn’t mind but to me, you didn’t fail! You succeeded but in a way you never expected. I find this hobby is all about trial and error, it’s always better with first hand experience instead of looking up a fish’s behaviour or is it compatible with this fish. You should always try it after a bit of research for basic care since not all fish are the exact same (Seen with my jade wrasse and other 4 wrasses for 2 years, recently it hasn’t been quite the same).

 

[Miami Reef]

I wouldn’t mind but to me, you didn’t fail! You succeeded but in a way you never expected. I find this hobby is all about trial and error, it’s always better with first hand experience instead of looking up a fish’s behaviour or is it compatible with this fish. You should always try it after a bit of research for basic care since not all fish are the exact same (Seen with my jade wrasse and other 4 wrasses for 2 years, recently it hasn’t been quite the same).

That’s really nice of you! Wow. I’m so shocked.

Please PM me your address. I want to send you a gift.

 

[i cant think]

trust me, you don’t need to, I’m just helping a fellow hobbyist!!

That’s really nice of you! Wow. I’m so shocked.

Please PM me your address. I want to send you a gift.

 

[Miami Reef]

trust me, you don’t need to, I’m just helping a fellow hobbyist!!

I insist!

But if you don’t want to I can’t force you. But regardless, thank you so much!

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m keeping this thread. It’s only fair to be honest to people. What’s the point of a story if it has pages missing?

This is the reason I went to a FOWLR, well, there are a few reasons.

1. I had a disease outbreak in my tank despite fallow and QT. I don’t know where the mistake happened, but I have a few suspicions.

2. Moorish idol eating many corals.

3. Cannot remove fish from tank to go fallow again. Too much bioload for QT.

It made the most sense to copper the main system, but at the expense of losing the reef status.

So…I sold off all the corals and whatever invert I could catch to the LFS.

There were many fish I’ve wanted but weren’t reef safe.

The inspiration of my tank is of a reef but without the corals. That means colorful and small fish - not giant messy predator fish like puffers, eels, etc.

 

[Miami Reef]

My latest additions (in QT).

1. rock angel
2. Bellus angel
3. Sand sifting goby
4. Stripped blenny
5. Red fin wrasse
6. Raccoon butterfly

(all the fish are not in the same QT tank). I have a 15 gallon where the rest of the fish reside. I plan to do 30-45 day copper (undecided) with prazi and metro.

 

[i cant think]

My latest additions (in QT).

1. rock angel
2. Bellus angel
3. Sand sifting goby
4. Stripped blenny
5. Red fin wrasse
6. Raccoon butterfly

Oh my god, the rock beauty… I would LOVE a larger tank for one of these guys since they are one of my favourite Angels. The bellus Angel is my third favourite of the genicanthus angels for the blue on black colouration for sure! Your tank looks like a reef even without coral and it shocks me, usually when I think FOWLR it’s a jumble of large fish and almost no filler fish but yours goes against that completely!! I’m excited to see how the rock beauty goes for sure!

 

[Miami Reef]

Oh my god, the rock beauty… I would LOVE a larger tank for one of these guys since they are one of my favourite Angels. The bellus Angel is my third favourite of the genicanthus angels for the blue on black colouration for sure! Your tank looks like a reef even without coral and it shocks me, usually when I think FOWLR it’s a jumble of large fish and almost no filler fish. I’m excited to see how the rock beauty goes for sure!

I agree. That’s why I don’t like usual FOWLRs. I feel everything needs to be done with taste. Not too much fish to where it looks like a chlicid tank, not too little to where it looks like empty and naked.

Also size of fish matters A LOT! You can’t put giant angels, puffers, triggers, eels and expect it to look like something natural. I’m inspired by reefs and the natural world. Everything should have a balance.

 

[i cant think]

I agree. That’s why I don’t like usual FOWLRs. I feel everything needs to be done with taste. Not too much fish to where it looks like a chlicid tank, not too little to where it looks like empty and naked.

Also size of fish matters A LOT! You can’t put giant angels, puffers, triggers, eels and expect it to look like something natural. I’m inspired by reefs and the natural world. Everything should have a balance.

I agree with you, I mean your tank looks like a reef edge where few to no coral grows! Even with tangs that can get to 1’ you still have the way to balance the looks of a reef out with chromis, dwarf angels, blennies ect.. Yeah, everything should have balance (Mine doesn’t have the full balance since I have like 2 or 3 fish that can reach around 9” at max size and another 7 that stick to around 4” at max size all in a 4’ tank). I find triggers, puffers, eels ect.. all to be nice but they’re only nice when you have the fish they don’t like to nip at but when they’re with fish that are already huge at max size it just ruins it (I find when there’s a dwarf lion and a larger fish they do tend to look nicer but not too nice).

 

[Miami Reef]

Fish are doing well. I’m happy with the new rocks in my DT.

 

[Miami Reef]

Small update

 

[i cant think]

Small update

You have some VERY nice angels! Love the King and the Queen in the same tank,

 

[Zionas]

How high is your rockwork by the way? My tank’s going to be 24 inches tall (standard height) and I’m going for 10-14” rockwork. How about yours?

 

[PeterC99]

Small update

You are seriously temping me to setup a FOWLR!

The diversity of your fish is spectacular!!!

 

[Miami Reef]

You are seriously temping me to setup a FOWLR!

The diversity of your fish is spectacular!!!

Thank you.

 

[Miami Reef]

Good news. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it’s very possible I might get a new build these next few months!!

 

[i cant think]

Good news. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it’s very possible I might get a new build these next few months!!

That’ll be interesting if you can get one!! Come on, give us a hint on the plan!

 

[Miami Reef]

That’ll be interesting if you can get one!! Come on, give us a hint on the plan!

Alright here’s the deal: my current tank is over a decade old and was built REALLY REALLY crappy. The plumbing system…the overflows, the sock is getting its water from laundry machine pipes…and it’s only hand pressure that’s holding it in place. The acrylic brace even broke last week…because they literally used silicone, and the silicone is also peeling from the inside of the tank.

I was aware of a few of these problems, but I really wanted to fix things BEFORE I got a tank crash. I believe being proactive can prevent most of the failures. So I’m working on getting a new tank (same sized) built in the same place as this tank. We will do the switcheroo when the time comes. Luckily, my tank is not in critical condition yet, so it’s a perfect time to do this.

I found a good company and they seem very reasonable. I will discuss my plans, based off my experiences and troubles with my current tank. I’m also going to make a thread so I can get a good system and NOT getting scammed like my grandfather did when he first build this house & tank.