Finally, Damped 45 shallow reef build

[Grizz]

"I have a question to ask you guys. If I were to put all the rock from my current tank into this one, will there be a huge ammonia spike in my current tank because I removed all the rock? Should I keep a few pieces of LR in there? Thanks!"

Yes you will as you'll be removing most of the filtration Put a hob on the old tank fill it with poly fill let it run for at least a week to seed it then move the rock over. test the water so you can catch any spikes.

PS you moved it i think it looks better there than in the corner where it was

 

[Massimo]

Yes I prefer where it is now. That's where I planned to put it anyway. But I had to run through the plan with my mother. She hasn't been to fond of the project LOL. I told her it was this or a dog. It's biting her in the butt now! Ahaha.

I didn't have time to fill the tank up last night. I wake up every morning at 5 to go to auto mechanics school so I need my sleep. I have it filled half way with a powerhead moving the water around for now. There's about 20-15 gallons left to add. Then I'll start moving some rock over. I might move my 2 clowns to this tank. They are easy to catch, as for the blenny... That's another story.

Here's a pic from yesterday.

Do you think my light is strong enough to sustain low light corals at the border of my tank? The light doesn't really get the corners that well so I decided I was going to put mushrooms there. Then more to the middle I'm going to add tons of zoas of all different colours. Then a month or 2 down the light I'll be purchasing my first montipora frag! Should I let my GSP grow on the glass?

 

[bluzepher1]

Installed the lighting bracket on my current system, looks pretty good!

where did you get your lighting bracket? I really don't want to put any holes in my ceiling. like the your bracket. also love your tank stand. getting ready to build mine.

 

[Massimo]

where did you get your lighting bracket? I really don't want to put any holes in my ceiling. like the your bracket. also love your tank stand. getting ready to build mine.

I got it from aquastyleonline.com it's a company that sells DIY led fixtures, but they also have some other things for sale like the bracket. It cost if I remember correctly $42. I paid $30 in shipping because I'm from Montreal Canada. So $72 in total. They are situated in Hong Kong.

 

[bluzepher1]

Eventually yes coraline will grow on the bottom. It's pretty difficult to remove once a lot of coraline has formed.

what is coraline? I thought that was a movie?

 

[Massimo]

It's a very nice looking algae. It comes in a variety of colours. Usually it's pink and green. But there's also other variations of red and maroon. It encrusts over rock, glass and equipment in the tank.

 

[bluzepher1]

So I went ahead and filled the tank up. The chip is extremely small. The size of a spec of dust. I just got worried lol. I get the overthinking part of me from my mom.

Anyways, here's the tank so far. The rocks you see have been in RO/DI water for 4 days. Every day I changed the water with new rodi water. So it's clean of phsphates. And if there is any phosphates I armed myself with ROWAphos!

The other rock is still in my current setup up.

I have a question to ask you guys. If I were to put all the rock from my current tank into this one, will there be a huge ammonia spike in my current tank because I removed all the rock? Should I keep a few pieces of LR in there? Thanks!

BTW what light do you have?

I'm working on gathering up the supplies I need for a reef tank, my 1st one. lots of learning to do.

 

[Massimo]

BTW what light do you have? I'm working on gathering up the supplies I need for a reef tank, my 1st one. lots of learning to do.

120 watt led light. It's from Hong Kong, doesn't have a brand name. Look on eBay that's where I got mine.

 

[Grizz]

The tank looks pretty well lit shrooms and zoas are gonna be just fine GSP looks cool growing on the back wall of the tanks it adds a lot of movement to any display.

Bluze here's a link to a good cheap LED New Dimmable 120W Aquarium Coral Reef Fish Tank White Blue LED Light Black US | eBay

 

[Massimo]

Here it is! I transferred most of the liverock from my other tank, 2 clowns, and all the corals. The corals are already opening back up! It's still cloudy, and my skimmer is producing a ton of micro bubbles.

 

[Grizz]

That thing is gonna look good once it fills out. I like the way you have your rock plenty of places for coral

 

[Massimo]

This mornings test results, seems like I haven't gotten an ammonia spike! Not sure on my test results. Anyone have any input on my readings? Thank you!

 

[bluzepher1]

This mornings test results, seems like I haven't gotten an ammonia spike! Not sure on my test results. Anyone have any input on my readings? Thank you!

looks good

 

[Massimo]

I added the ROWAphos and liverock rubble in a hob filter. The corals are looking good. I have a feeling my Xenia is going to grow very fast! It loves the high flow.

 

[bluzepher1]

I added the ROWAphos and liverock rubble in a hob filter. The corals are looking good. I have a feeling my Xenia is going to grow very fast! It loves the high flow.

love it

 

[Massimo]

love it

glad you like it! Towards mid October I'm going to start filling it with corals. Mostly zoas and montiporas

 

[bluzepher1]

if you have a BB tank do you still need a protein skimmer?
will a BB tank help with the phosphates?

 

[Massimo]

if you have a BB tank do you still need a protein skimmer? will a BB tank help with the phosphates?

yes in my opinion. But you don't "need" one. Going bare bottom prevents phosphates and other stuff from being trapped.

 

[Grizz]

You most likely wont get a spike if you moved all of the live rock over most of the BB will be in them. That xenia will haunt you lol i'm still trying to get it out of my tank.

Bluzepher if you go with a bare bottom and a small bio load you can get away from a skimmer A bare bottom tank is a lot easier to keep clean and free of any detritus

 

[Massimo]

Hey Grizz. Do you know of any aggressive fish I can put with my maroon clown? I'm probably going to get a pink dottyback. Going to buy egg crate to cover the tank also. The 2 clowns in the tank now will be removed and replaced with the maroon, dottyback and maybe 2 other fish.