180 Gallon Someday Reef

[Letsdiscus]

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NewFishGuy]

Well, filled the tank today to check for leaks, test my drains, etc. Promptly drained my tank. Need to address a couple minor leaks at the bulkheads, and possibly find a 1.5" gate valve for my full syphon line. I've got a ball valve on there, as I couldn't source a gate valve locally. I just can't get fine enough adjustment to tune my Herbie setup.. It's either a smidge too far open, or a smidge too far closed... Ugh! Oh well, it'll work til I can source a gate. Stoked to finally have seen water in the tank! Tomorrow I'll address the leaks, then get sand/rock/saltwater in it, and hang the 3rd mars aqua fixture, picked up today from Dr Zoos. I'm hoping this will help with some of the shadowing I'm getting from the braces.

 

[Dr. Zoos]

Which way are you going to run the three light set up? In a row like you have the pair or turn the 3 all 90*?

 

[NewFishGuy]

I'm not 100% sure yet which configuration I'll be using, I'll be playing around with the set up tonight and tomorrow, to see which works better over the tank.

 

[NewFishGuy]

Well, addressed the leaks. In doing my research for plumbing I read that using Teflon tape on pvc thread was a bad idea, and I should use a product called pipette stik, from LA-CO. It's supposed to be a pipe joint compound, for use on threaded joints. I applied it liberally to the male thread, as per the directions, and still got leaks. I talked to a couple local reefers, who assured me that using Teflon tape would not be an issue, and was the better way to go. Lo and behold, no more leaks!

So I arranged my rock again, added my sand, and filled it up. I went with carrib sea ocean direct sand, and used the water clarifier. Figure within the next week or so it should clear up, I hope!

As a side note, does anyone know, locally, where I can source an inch and a half gate valve? I really need more precise adjustment of my main drain..

 

[NewFishGuy]

Well, I'm thinking I might need to look into two new lights, or maybe an sbreef retro kit. I'm really not liking the pink my two end fixtures are giving off. I was told when I bought them, that they were mars aqua LEDs, clearly this isn't the case. Completely different design, from case to LED configuration. I like the color from the actual mars aqua fixture I got from Dr Zoos, a lot more than the two no name boxes on either side.

 

[Shooter000]

Ya the Mars Aqua are really awesome you get awesome colour pop from your corals and they grow sps very well with excellent colour too, setup looks good , keep it up

 

[NewFishGuy]

Got around to making a trip to living aquarium today to visit Steve and the gang. While I was there I picked up a loc line set up. I got the 3/4", y adapter, et al. I need some input from you knowledgeable folk here. My drain is at the left side wall of the tank, and my return is on the far right, at the back. Not sure the best way to configure my returns now that it's not pointing at the sanded and blowing all the sand out from. Behind my rock work.. Currently all I have in there for flow is the return, and a jebao sw-8.i plan on picking up at least one - but more likely likely 2 or 3 - more jebao pumps in the near future, if that makes any difference?

Disregard the rockwork, it needs a rescape, I really don't like the way it looks right now.

 

[NewFishGuy]

Not much of an update, still going through the cycle process, going to do some water testing tonight. I picked up the nutrafin master test kit - the one in the blue case. I have a bit of a hard time reading the test results, and would like to eventually get the salifert kits, or something digital.

I re did my rock work, as I wasn't happy with how it turned out after having removed it, added sand, and re stacked. I'm liking this scape a lot more so far, lots of arches for fish and spots to put corals. I might make a few small changes but overall I like it a lot more. I'll probably end up adjusting the bridge structure on the far right, to try and get a more natural look, and pick up some epoxy to secure all the bridge pieces.

 

[Dima]

Looks great man did u end up using egg crate?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Poseidon]

as long as you dont have any dead spots in your tank the rock work really is personal preference,
it may take a little for you to adjust the powerheads etc to get the flow spread evenly but thats not much to worry about.

the tank looks great! take it nice and slow with cycling and letting it mature and within no time you'll have a beautiful reef

 

[NewFishGuy]

It's been a while since I updated this.. The tank is coming along well. There's life in there now! I picked up 6 frags at fragfest, then went to sealife central and picked up a school of blue green chromis, and a scopas tang. Beautiful fish, and a great price! I've also added a six line wrasse, and two clowns. That's it for fish for a good while. I've still got a wish list of fish to add in the future, but I don't want to overload the system, being fairly young yet.

Sorry for the awful photos, especially the full tank shot.. I've nothing but a cell phone for pictures at the moment. Also, I still have to replace the two outer lights with some actual mars aquas, to get rid of the pink hue.

Scopas munching some nori, clowns chromis and candy cane coral

Hammer coral from Living Aquarium

Can't seem to get a good pic of this mushroom (I think that's what it is)

One of 3 emerald crabs in the tank

Cabbage leather and toadstool I picked up from the TFT donor tank

Torch coral from Bigshow

 

[Letsdiscus]

It's been a while since I updated this.. The tank is coming along well. There's life in there now! I picked up 6 frags at fragfest, then went to sealife central and picked up a school of blue green chromis, and a scopas tang. Beautiful fish, and a great price! I've also added a six line wrasse, and two clowns. That's it for fish for a good while. I've still got a wish list of fish to add in the future, but I don't want to overload the system, being fairly young yet.

Sorry for the awful photos, especially the full tank shot.. I've nothing but a cell phone for pictures at the moment. Also, I still have to replace the two outer lights with some actual mars aquas, to get rid of the pink hue.

Scopas munching some nori, clowns chromis and candy cane coral

Hammer coral from Living Aquarium

Can't seem to get a good pic of this mushroom (I think that's what it is)

One of 3 emerald crabs in the tank

Cabbage leather and toadstool I picked up from the TFT donor tank

Torch coral from Bigshow

Sh*t pic of the 6 line wrasse and Monti frag - just added the Monti to the tank, excuse the lack of color

Careful with your six line wrasse as he could become nasty with other smaller fishes when added later.. looking awesome so far....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BonnieC]

Great tank! Planning my 180 too. Hoping to have one soon.

 

[NewFishGuy]

Seems I'm having another diatom outbreak in my tank, but noting to worry about I guess. I'm also having a bit of an aggression issue with the two clowns I bought from @yveterinarian. They are gorgeous fish, but they seem to be stressing my scopas tang pretty bad. He hasn't come out of hiding in almost a week, except to eat. Doesn't look physically harmed, but they are following him everywhere he goes.

Other than the issue with my tang, and the diatom bloom, the tank is doing quite well! Picked up some new frags, a few of which I'm unsure of the id's on.

Does anyone have advice on how to tune a protein skimmer? I've never set one up before. Picked up the RLSS R8-i skimmer, with waveline DC 6000 pump. Any advice is welcome!

Zoa colony I picked up, can't remember the name of it

Red eye Favia (I think?)

This one almost looks like a dragon soul, but unsure

Devils hand I picked up from @yveterinarian

Mushrooms from @yveterinarian

Metallic green cabbage from @yveterinarian

"nuclear green" palys. Don't look very nuclear to me lol

Candy cane coral

Torch. Still one of my favorite corals in the tank

I also picked up a frag of pocillopora, and a Duncan frag, but I put the pocillopora in a spot that makes it hard to photograph, and the Duncan hasn't come out yet.

 

[yveterinarian]

The corals look great! Sorry the clowns are stressing your tang They have been used to being on their own since I bought them a few years ago. I hope they settle in soon and your tang feels better.