new 140ish gal reef with fish tank

[armt350]

after a couple years of being out of the saltwater aquarium hobby i'm getting back into it. My wife bought me a custom made tank for my birthday and i decided to get back into it. Here is the tank and stand, both custom made. this picture was pre plumbing so its obviously missing the drains and return pipes.

So far for the hardware i've got:

D-D aquarium solution E200 powerroll filter
Reef octopus xp2000 protein skimmer
Maxspect mazarra p series 3 module led lighting system (enroute)
Electroniclly controlled pump
Ro/Di unit

Also i've got about 50lbs of baked uncured rock from a previous tank i had about 3 years ago and i'll be supplimenting that with additional live rock from my lfs.
Also enroute is arag alive fiji pink substrate.

The things i'm still undecided on is which power head system to get, I was thinking a tunze setup and also my lfs is recommending a uv sterilizer but when i originally planned the sump I was going to use miricle mud with a 24hr t5 and caulerpa. What are your thoughts on it, especially the uv and miracle mud parts.

 

[armt350]

The tank is now going together nicely, the filter system is in, the plumbing is mostly done, the extra live rock has been curing in the garage. All that's left is to disassemble the old tank, transfer the corals to the holding tank, and then cycle this one and transfer the skimmer and power heads over.

 

[bigbanker]

Very cool ! I like the pup too!

What will you be transferring into the tank?

 

[armt350]

Currently fish wise I have a powder tang and a pair do maroon clowns, as for corals I have assorted mushrooms and zoanthus polyps, and a leather coral. I have felt fairly limited on the corals as I was using fluorescent lighting and I just didn't have the wattage for more. Now that I'm moving to stronger LED lighting I feel I can start maybe moving up to some more serious corals in time.

 

[mr_X]

Miracle mud is a waste of money. I saw a thread on it a few years ago where someone got it analyzed. The conclusion was there was nothing in it to suggest it came from the ocean. I had pieces of red brick and man-made shiny things in mine. IMO it's from someone's back yard.
The UV sterilizer isn't necessary. It will kill whatever goes through it, so it's really not ideal for a reef setting. You are going to want planktonic creatures and pods to survive in your system.

 

[armt350]

Mr_x, great to hear. I had not purchased either yet so the money I would have wasted on that can go to more live rock

 

[armt350]

Just a brief update, the tank is filled and running mid cycle. Ammonia is <.2ppm, nitrites are dropping and nitrate is around 10ppm. Diatoms are blooming as well. Hopefully in a week or 2 I can call it cycle complete and start introducing the first fish.

 

[armt350]

The tank has been done cycling for close to 2 weeks now so I decided to make the first livestock purchases. All 3 are adolescent so I hope to have them for a very long time and watch them grow.

 

[Phranque]

Very nice looking tank, but............... with the measurements you provided above, that figures up to about 115 gallons, so it's probably a 110 with interior dimensions, but it's only 4' long. Much too short of a tank for the yellow tang. Since you just got him, can you take him back & trade him for something else??

The recommended min for a yellow tang is 100 gallons, which you meet, but that's in a 6' (182cm) long type tank. They are very active swimmers that need a lot of room......

 

[armt350]

The next Tank has already been planned. When we renovate the house over the winter my wife wants to integrate a tank into a wall and make the storage closet behind it the sump room. It should be around 9 feet long at that point.