Dav3's 125 reef build

[Dav3]

I'm upgrading my 4' 90 to a 6' 125 gallon tank. Got the 125 super cheap. Tank, stand(3' high. No more bending over to look in tank.), canopy, 100+ #s rock, sand, pumps, etc for $200.

Tank has been running a for 3 weeks with just rock and about 30 gallons of water to maintain bacteria. I will be moving everything from the 90 with a few upgrades(additional led panel, stronger/more powerheads, etc) over the next few months.

Current livestock:
Yellow tang
Tomini tang
2 clowns
Coral beauty
Diamond watchman goby
Purple dottyback
Blue velvet damsel

Planned:
Plan to attempt to add purple tang.
Possibly a mandarin.

Any suggestions on additional reef safe livestock? No chromis, or anything that would compete for food with a mandarin. And no jumpers as I have modified the canopy to be open on top.

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Where are the pics!


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[Dav3]

Been a busy couple of days. Aside from helping my wife with out 3 month old, I started the transfer Sunday. Took all day. Most of the day spent trying to figure out rock scape. Had rock that came with the tank and had to incorporate rock from my 90 as well.

Moved everything including the sandbed with no issue. Didn't have the correct plumbing Sunday night to complete the sump so got that finished last night.

90 a few months ago:

125 progress:

 

[Dav3]

Current setup:
Aprox 300 lbs liverock in tank and sumps.
Aprox 80 lbs live sand.
2x 120 watt dimmable blue/white led panels
2x 1600 gph powerheads
1x 800 gph powerhead
HOB overflow
2x 25 gallon Rubbermaid totes plumbed together for sumps.
Bashsea 6-24 twisted skimmer
Mag 7.5 return.
Phosban 150 reactor with bio pellets.


Future updates:
Add more sand. I have a 15 gal tub of sand that needs heavy rinsing. But I will only add enough to get 1-2" throughout the tank.
Add another led panel.
Upgrade return pump.
Switch to newer jebao rw series powerheads.
Once bio pellets are exhausted I might run carbon or some other media or even remove the reactor completely.

I'll try to get pics of sump setup tonight.

 

[Dav3]

So the timer for whites died in the transfer. Oh well. Replacement is $5-$7.

Still have to rearrange much of the upper layer of rock in the display. It was getting late Sunday so just rushed it and tossed a lot of it in.
Need to rearrange powerheads as well. And modify the tote lids so equipment can fit through and put them on.

Here are pictures of the sump:

Any suggestions on additional livestock? Was thinking but have no experience with anthias, basslets, wrasses.

 

[bribo12]

I'm a big fan of royal gramma basslets even though they're pretty common. Mines always out as well. No experience with anthias though.


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[Dav3]

I was considering a royal gamma. Good coloration.

Considering some combination of:
Royal gamma or couple of chalk bass.
neon goby pair
Midas blenny
Some sort of wrasse though not familiar enough to choose one
Maybe an anthia though not sure which one.


Just a quick note on my canopy. Instead of cutting a hole in the hinged top for the led panels I ended up removing it and just building a sliding/floating rack for the lights. The lights can slide right to left on the rack and the whole rack can slide front to back. Gives me lots of options for lighting and coral placement.

 

[Dav3]

Well the timer for the whites is working again. Unplugged for a minute and plugged it back in.

Sand that came with the tank looks like play sand. Just going to dump it in the yard and buy some new dry aragonite sand. Have a bunch of RBTA's I need to clear out of my nano as they continue to grow and running out of space. So I will sell them to lfs for store credit and then buy sand.

Plans for the weekend:
Finalize rock scape, wire and powerstrip management, add sand, finish sump setup, drink a couple of beers.

 

[Dav3]

Been a while so time for an update.

Since last update:
Rearranged some of the rock and corals.
Added 20lbs more sand.
Some power cable management. Mounted powerstrips in stand.

Galaxea wasn't in a good location (flow and lighting) and developed what looked like brown jelly disease. Lost half of the colony. Has recovered. Most of the middle of the colony is intact. Rest is several single alive polyp surrounded by dead. Not sure why a single polyp would survive when every other one around it didn't.

Lost a Hollywood stunner chalice. Never had luck with these. Difficult finding right combination of low enough light and flow without putting on sand bed(would get covered by sand by diamond goby)

Rest of the corals appear to be doing ok.

My diamond goby isn't looking good. Not eating as much. Think the tomini is bullying it too much so doesn't come to the top to eat like it used to. Considering putting it in my biocube 14 as that sand can use some sifting and there would be plenty to eat for a short period of time. But afraid the small size would be put more stress on the fish. At the current rate of decline I may have no other choice. Any thoughts?

My wife is having second thoughts on the purple tang as a final fish. Reluctant to spend that much on a single fish.

 

[Dav3]

Oh, and... Purchased a BRS 4 stage rodi filter. So nice not driving to lfs to get water.

And some updated screen shots:

 

[Dav3]

Sadly, My wife just informed me the diamond goby didn't make it...

 

[Dav3]

Time for an update.

Added a full spectrum led panel to finish off the lighting.

Clownfish are now spawning. Tried to raise some of the fry with no success. No access to green water or live rotifers locally to start culturing.

Added a purple tang. Such a beautiful fish. Had a little aggression issues with my yellow and tomini tangs. Surprisingly the yellow got along well enough while the tomini was a beast(considered removal). Placed a large mirror against one end of the tank and within a day all aggression ended. Now they swim in a pack more or less.

Recent video:
http://youtu.be/iKPEsk9EEwE