Tbred's Frist Attempt at a Reef

[tbred]

So the tank divider arrived this week.  The guys at Bad Fish Reef Systems do a good job.  I was able to install and get the tank wet.  So far so good, no leaks and it appears the AIO setup is working correctly.  I need to go out and get a little stand to put the tank on.  I should have it up and cycling this week.




Dry Fit test


Leak/function test


AIO area

[Mussin]

Nice divider system!

[tbred]

Thanks!  The only thing I wish I could change about it is how much space there is between the divider and the wall.  I have big hands and its hard for me to get them in the fuge and work.  But so far so good.  It appears to be working correctly.  I will post some pictures of it later this week.

[chromiumlux]

Love that divider! Makes a nice addition for a nano.

[tbred]

Thanks for the commits on the divider.  It will make a nice little quarantine tank.  So far it appears to be cycling quickly.  I plan to get an LED for it sometime, but its not in the budget currently.  Maybe I will get one from Santa!

Next week or so I would like to add another fish.  Was debating between a fire fish and a yellow watchman goby.  It might just depend on what the LFS has available.

On a side note...  I have been having cyano and green algae bloom on my sand.  Been having this problem since after the original cycle.  Is there a trick to getting rid of it?

My blue leg hermits were characters today so I was able to snap a few pictures.


This one was hiding in the hair algae.


This guy was trying to climb my candy cane but kept falling off.


FTS of 5.5 AIO


FTS of 29 gal Display


Artistic FTS of Display

[tbred]

Got some new corals.  Frogspawn and a neon pink/red mushroom.  Having some problems with the mushroom attaching.  Currently its on a piece of rubble wrapped with mesh.  I also rearranged the scape.


New aquascape!


Neon Pink/Red mushroom


Frogspawn

[tbred]

My display tank turned three months old this week!  It has been a very exciting journey into the SW hobby.  So far I have been lucky enough to avoid any major disasters.  I am currently having a battle with hair algae.  I am thinking of adding a sump and a skimmer to help. 

On a side note, I am looking for red/yellow/orange/pink/purple zoas, mushrooms, or rics.  If anyone has frags for sale I might be interested, but I will be out of town until after x-mas.

I also upgraded the light on the 5.5 AIO quarantine.  I bought a PAR30 LED and clamp stand from BoostLED.  I just attached it to the tank today.  Hopefully it will be able to grow mushrooms and zoas.  I plan to turn the AIO into a pico-reef after I have added a few more creatures to my display.

One last question for everybody.  Since I have added the yellow watchman goby and firefish, they have rarely been out an about.  Are firefish typically shy creatures.  When I was doing the research, the firefish was supposed to be an open swimmer. 

[tbred]

My tank has been up and running for a few days over 6 months!  I have learned quite a bit in that amount of time.  First I should listen to the "more experienced" people.  Should have bought a skimmer right at the beginning.  It would have saved me from trying different equipment set-ups before settling on a skimmer.  I also learned that to battle GHA you need to attack the source of the growth, not just the algae itself.  And the final thing I have learned in these 6 months is that I already want a bigger tank with a sump.  I am tired of seeing all my equipment in my display.

I have changed/added quite a bit since my last post.  I have added some frags, lost a fish, added a fish (he is still in quarantine currently), added some more CUC members, and got crabs at the Frag swap.

So after running out of stuff to say, here are some pretty pictures to look at...



During my GHA battle



Current FTS after GHA war



A picture of my candy cane growth over the 5 months I have had it.



Magician Frag I picked up at the Frag Swap.



One of the two porcelain crabs I picked up at the swap.  These fellas are camera shy!



My new long-nosed hawkfish who is in the quarantine tank.  I love his personality!



Acan Lord frag, probably my favorite coral I have gotten so far.

[lazylivin]

Nice job on the cleanup it looks much better.

[tbred]

Thanks.  I used peroxide to kill the GHA.  I removed each of the rocks and dripped straight peroxide onto the algae and then scrubbed them before rinsing and putting them back in the tank.  I only did a quarter of the rocks a week.  After adding a GFO reactor and the skimmer, I haven't had a problem with the algae returning yet.

[Phoenix7506]

Nice job! I like the setup. What's next? More flow and some sps perhaps?

[Travis8896]

If u want some frags I have some for sale if ur interested I'll give u alist

[tbred]

Thanks!  It has been really fun getting into reefing.

My current plans are to let some things grow out right now.  My lease runs out in 4 months so I am planning a move and an upgrade.  I recently bought a 40 breeder setup.  My current fish tank fund are going into equipment for the 40 breeder.  I need a return pump for sure, maybe upgrade my skimmer and powerheads.  I am gonna hold off on upgrading my lights.  I want to get some LEDs in the future. 

Stocking wise once I upgrade, I want to get another fish, but I have no idea what I want to get.  I am open to suggestions for any colorful open water swimmer that is safe with my current livestock. (long nosed hawkfish, 2x snowflake clowns, yellow watchman goby, and misc inverts).  I am also planning on getting a cleaner shrimp.  I like the look of the blood red, but head they hid so I am leaning towards a skunk cleaner.

As far as coral goes, I am not a big fan of SPS.  I might try a frag or two when I upgrade to the 40 breeder.  I would like to get a few more acans and a torch as some point.  I know anemones are not coral, but I forgot about them until now.  I want to get a bubble tip for the clowns at some point in the future.  Kinda leaning towards a rose.

If u want some frags I have some for sale if ur interested I'll give u alist

I might be interested.  Let me know what you have.

Also I will get some updated pictures on here later this week.