55g reef build

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Thanks for the suggestions, it is a 4' and just to reiterate I am not doing just the seahorse tank anytime soon. My 55 has a long way to go yet and that's priority. I only ask cause if it's a bad idea or ridiculously hard to keep them I am gonna get rid of my 29g if it's feasible then I'll hold onto it.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, it is a 4' and just to reiterate I am not doing just the seahorse tank anytime soon. My 55 has a long way to go yet and that's priority. I only ask cause if it's a bad idea or ridiculously hard to keep them I am gonna get rid of my 29g if it's feasible then I'll hold onto it.

IMO, Seahorses aren't too hard to keep if they are eating and you keep up on water changes. ;)
 
Well plans kinda went screwy for the better today, the other tank I made a deal for electrical work changed to a tank swap. I got the 27g reef for a 45g long freshwater setup. I actually made the swap today it basically took all day to clean transport breakdown/setup transport and clean but man that reef tank looks good now. He had red aquarium gravel mixed into the cc sand which we sifted and removed. He had the system in all sorts of disarray caused by using tap water and improper maintenance. The algae was horrible so we scrubbed the LR and cleaned the sand bed along with a water change using rodi and cleaned up the filtration. After all is said and done it looks awesome. There is some nice coral in there along with many inverts. I snagged some snails to help keep my tank clean while it cycles provided they survive. So in the tank there is- devils hand, brain coral, green fuzzy mushrooms, a few anemones I don't know what they are, a few different corals I don't know, flame scallop(this thing is awesome) a couple large feather dusters(brown and yellow) fox coral, a spotted damsel, striped damsel, yellow tail damsel, oscilleris clown, blenny, dotty back,, emerald crab, light foot crab, some hermits. The father in law is in love I think lol, he is very happy with the tank and it just fuels my desire to add to mine. Include are a couple pics, the dude giving the thumbs up is the after and the other is the before. We are headin to the city next weekend so I can grab the rest of my LR and my sand. The FIL is going to join me and I'll make him drool at the reef shop lol. He wants to pick up salt, like that's all he will buy. Going back to the stock in his tank, all the damsels seem to be doing ok as there is no singled put fish, they all have thier territory and the aggression is spread out. Would they be ok to remain or should we look at rehoming?
 
Where is a good place to get an ATO and rodi units? I really need to get both and don't want to break the bank so please share.
 
So got home from work and grabbed a water sample and took it to a buddies to test (test kit hasn't arrived yet) and all levels are good, I had hoped as much having purchased rock straight from a display tank. Tomorrow I was heading to the city to get my sand and am now going to add my CUC, well part of my cleanup crew. I'm just gonna get a handful of snails and an emerald crab or two and maybe toss in a hermit. I'll post some updated pics after everything is in. I'm excited to start making this tank look like something. On another note the 27g I setup for the father in law has shown progress, cleaner shrimp has molted and all critters are settled and either opened up or roaming around. The best part is his clown fish has taken up residence in one of his nems. He has three oddball looking nems, two of which are side by side and that's where the clown chose so he actually hosts two.
 
Well got rock and sand in the tank, the sand made a huge cloudy mess so I have to wait to get pics. I also picked up a CUC, got a red stripe hermit, 2 nassarius snails, a few normal snails, a couple star snails and I got a couple small cheap frags- 5 head candy cane, a couple small colonies of polyps not sure what kind but they looked nice and were dirt cheap.
 
kdpuffer said:
Well plans kinda went screwy for the better today, the other tank I made a deal for electrical work changed to a tank swap. I got the 27g reef for a 45g long freshwater setup. I actually made the swap today it basically took all day to clean transport breakdown/setup transport and clean but man that reef tank looks good now. He had red aquarium gravel mixed into the cc sand which we sifted and removed. He had the system in all sorts of disarray caused by using tap water and improper maintenance. The algae was horrible so we scrubbed the LR and cleaned the sand bed along with a water change using rodi and cleaned up the filtration. After all is said and done it looks awesome. There is some nice coral in there along with many inverts. I snagged some snails to help keep my tank clean while it cycles provided they survive. So in the tank there is- devils hand, brain coral, green fuzzy mushrooms, a few anemones I don't know what they are, a few different corals I don't know, flame scallop(this thing is awesome) a couple large feather dusters(brown and yellow) fox coral, a spotted damsel, striped damsel, yellow tail damsel, oscilleris clown, blenny, dotty back,, emerald crab, light foot crab, some hermits. The father in law is in love I think lol, he is very happy with the tank and it just fuels my desire to add to mine. Include are a couple pics, the dude giving the thumbs up is the after and the other is the before. We are headin to the city next weekend so I can grab the rest of my LR and my sand. The FIL is going to join me and I'll make him drool at the reef shop lol. He wants to pick up salt, like that's all he will buy. Going back to the stock in his tank, all the damsels seem to be doing ok as there is no singled put fish, they all have thier territory and the aggression is spread out. Would they be ok to remain or should we look at rehoming?

I had to trade my damsels in they got aggressive towards everybody...the bigger they get the more aggressive they get. Practically tore the whole tank down to catch the little buggers!!

Good luck!
 
kdpuffer said:
Where is a good place to get an ATO and rodi units? I really need to get both and don't want to break the bank so please share.

A lot of people get the ro units from bulk reef supply I am hoping to get one some day ...they have a group buy and you can get it for around 180 when they have that.
 
kelly0707 said:
A lot of people get the ro units from bulk reef supply I am hoping to get one some day ...they have a group buy and you can get it for around 180 when they have that.

Next group buy starts Monday so contact Carey ASAP If you want in people :)
 
Mrc8858 said:
Next group buy starts Monday so contact Carey ASAP If you want in people :)

I was going to order my rodi from aquasafecanada.com, I will deffinately look into the brs group order though thanks for the heads up.
 
So I have been checking on this through the evening and after a few hours absence my tank is virtually crystal clear I was unsure of sandbed depth so I got 60lbs of sand and holy bleep did it end up deep. Nothing wrong with a dsb, I like it. I got 40lbs of reef sand and 20 lbs of live sand which contain massive amounts of pods. I am so happy my tank actually looks like something now. Now the process of adding the new stock and throwing the clowns back in. My scape is no professional job but I would appreciate any input on it.
 
And on a side note- we picked up some new bulbs for the father in laws tank ( 1 10,000k and 1 actinic 22" t5ho) and man what a difference. He picked up some nice corals today aswell. He got a nice branching hammer and candy cane aswell as a nice pulsing Xenia. I do have some unknown items in his tank I would appreciate input on. The second photo is an anemone I I am lost as to what kind but his clown likes it and has taken up host. The others are misc corals that came with the tank and I am lost so any help would be awesome.
 
Well just got back from the city and got more stuff. I picked up a couple koralia 1050's so I have over 2000 gph flow plus my skimmer and canister. I also added to my CUC with a few emerald crabs, a cleaner shrimp and a bunch of asteria snails. I also got rid of the last of my freshwater fish and got a 4 head green with purple tip branching frogspawn. I'll add some pics once they acclimate a while longer. The tank is really starting to come together. I'll be ordering my rodi this week aswell as my ato.
 
So here are some pics, we got the emerald "lumber jack" crab workin away in the forest of algae. The gsp I thought I had buried when I put my sand in, found it in the forest of algae. Then is my new frogspawn under full light followed by actinic only. Last is my cleaner shrimp. I can't wait to get my rodi and start getting rid of the algae.
 
Thanks Carey, I wanted a torch but they didn't have what I was looking for so I opted for the frogspawn. I'm very particular about what I want for my torch as its going to be my centerpiece coral, I'm looking for a very bright green or very bright green and purple. Yes rodi is way better I'm just waiting for my PayPal fund transfer to complete so I can order it and my ato.
 
So got home from yet another week away and my tank is ravaged with algae, only on one rock and the back glass/over flow boxes. Any recommendations on how to get rid of it? My rodi won't be in till Tuesday and I won't be home till Friday and wanted to avoid a water change but I think it's time, tap water is my only option. I was also planning to physically remove as much as I can and hopefully my snails can get on it. I also turned my lights down by 2 hours, actinics from 10-8 and daylight from 8-6. I have been reading online and fear the algae species. I don't recall the name but I read it can be a nightmare to control. I may pick up an AC 110 to throw on as make shift fuge till I build one, that's right planning a DIY. Honestly should have done that with my lights being an electrician and all, face palm now lol. Other than the algae everything looks good, frogspawn is fully open and happy, GSP seems to have grown by about 1/2 inch and zoas seem to be growing. My mushrooms are growing and spreading like mad, also didn't realize they can actually move. One of the big shrooms has moved itself about an inch to get better light and the largest has grown by 1/4-1/2 inch in diameter since Sunday.
 
I'd get as much of the algae out that you can, even go in and pull some if need be. And a water change is in your future, not sure if it should be alarge one or not as you are using tap water right now. :-( Have you tried running some GFO to suck up some of the phosphates that are coming in with the tap water? It can make a huge difference....
 
No haven't tried gfo, I actually picked up some water from the supermarket so I'm going to get it mixing and do the change tomorrow. Ten gallons is all I got for now, once I get it mixing I'll likely go get ten more so I can do a good size change.
 
Don't be afraid of doing too much of a water change. If I have issues i"m not above doing a 50% change. :) I used to do 10g a week on my 55g and it worked pretty well. Now I do like 40g changes on my 125g only cause it's such a pain to do. lol

Water changes will be key in getting that algae under control. The gfo that you might find is called rowaphos, most lfs's sell it. Just put it in a filter bag and make sure it gets flow through it. It can go in a sump or a canister or even a hangon back filter. Great stuff ... :)
 
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