Ingy's new 110 gal Reef

[Ingy]

Well, its finally happened. The wife has agreed to an upgrade of my 30 gal FOWLR to a 110 tall reef tank.
The tank is currently set up as a FOWLR (100lbs+LR) but has all the fixings for a reef, and that's what I plan on doing with it. He lives an hour away, and during the move, I will spend 2 days tweeking the stand and painting it. He doesn't have that many fish, so I will either thown them in the 30 during the move or set up the 40 as a temp home.

My fish now;
Clarkii (I am going to exchange him at LFS for cred)
2 x YT Damsels (LFS has agreed to take them for free)
BS Watchman goby

His fish
2 x Spotted Cardinalfish
3 x Kaudern Cardinalfish
Firefish

I want to get ride of the overly agressive Clarkii and Damsels and aquire more peaceful fish. Should I be worried about the cardinalfish?
Once I get the tank at the end of the month I'll post some pics.

 

[Ingy]

One thing this setup comes with is a reactor. I have never used one, and I have no issue with phosphates. What reccommendations do people have for media to be used? I do have an unopened bottle of purigen. Can that be used? Or carbon? Or should I run phosban ? Or perhaps there is something else people use. Any ideas would be welcomed and I will research them.
Thanks

 

[Mrc8858]

The cardinals are pretty peaceful. There may be some nipping amongst them selves to establish a pecking order but nothing to be concerned about. As for the reactor I would run some type of phosphate remover to keep levels as low as possible. I mix mine with some carbon also but every system is different so you will just have to wait and see what will best suit your tank.

 

[Beengirl]

The cardinals are peaceful, there were a couple instances of chasing the other for VERY brief periods when I first introduced the 2nd one, but that was over quickly. And if his are already together, the pecking order is already set. They only do the chasing amongst themselves, not with other fish.

 

[Ingy]

Well, there's been a bit of a delay getting the tank. The current owner has gone on a 2 week hunting trip up north. That actually works out great for me as I have decided to build a custom built-in cabinet stand for the alcove where it will all go. That way I can build a matching cabinet on the opposite side of the fireplace later. This week I'll be building and moving my cable outlet to the other side as well. next week I'll finish the cabinet install and then go pick-up the used tank. Hopefully everything will survive the move and there will be no cycle (ammonia dose to confirm).
My oldest boy is chomping at the bit to get the 30gal in his room for a planted freshwater aquarium. I've never done that before, so that should be fun to learn as well.
Well, more to follow.

 

[Ingy]

Day 1 of install. Tear out.

I'm not sure what to do with the cable outlet. The current position is right behind the sumps spot. I can move it to the left about 1' and it will be behind the ATO reservoir. Or move it to the other side of the fireplace.

 

[Ingy]

Cable is moving to other side. The cabinets are installed and I am now building the face plates and top and then staining. Doors have been ordered. I'll get the tank next week so I can do the cutouts for the drains and return. Till then I guess I have to rerun my cable.

 

[Ingy]

Got the tank today. LR is in a 27 gal with the fish until new tank is ready. Also 2 coolers with LR and water and a heater. Sand has all been rinsed and is curing until ready for it. Egg crate has been cut to size and is in position.
Tomorrow I put the cabinet trim and top on and cut the holes for the tank (which i was waiting for.) and then the reinstall tanks place. Electrical is ready to go and sump has been cleaned.

 

[Ingy]

Finally got the top in place and holes drilled for drain, return and electrical. Top was a bit tacky still so I'll let it dry today, sand it and touch up stain tomorrow morning and hopefully by the afternoon I'll be ready to place the tank.

New fire fish finally came out of hiding after lunch which is nice. I guess I should put some food in for the 2 conchs as the holding tank has no algae.

 

[Ingy]

It's finally coming together. The top is on again after restaining it and it's dry. Put the tank in place and started the fun stuff. First thing was running all the plumbing and electrical connections. Once the leak check was done I started adding some water and the bottom skim of sand to cover the egg crate. The bottom layer of rocks then the rest of the sand. I added more water, and that's where things went south. It got too cloudy to see what I was doing. I added a few more rocks by Braille mostly and then gave up. I put some more on the right side for tomorrows scaping and called it quits.

But the sump it ready for the lights and cheato ball. Doors are on order and should be here in a coupe weeks.

 

[Mrc8858]

Why didn't you just fab your own doors?

 

[Ingy]

I don't have the tools for that kind of finishing cabinetry

 

[Ingy]

Well its pretty much done. I'm going to tweak the top level a bit, but this rock slide effect is the way I like it. 2 snails and a hermit stowed away into the tank and I hope they make it. They're all hiding again. Now I just wait and see if there is going to be a cycle now that I have about 130# of LR in there.

 

[melosu58]

Looks like a pretty good start. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ingy]

Well, I found a new hitchhiker in my tank. A small pinkish crab on the body and main claw and hairy back legs. His claw tips are black and rather pointy. I can only see 1/2 of him and he's about the size of a thumbnail. Any ideas?

In the pic he looks bluish, but he's actually pinkish.

 

[h8z2luze]

Nice tank! Unique rockwork.

 

[Ingy]

When I bought this setup the previous owner had it for only 6 months and it was undergoing its diatom cycle. No bigee. I set it up and within 1 week the diatoms appeared again as the silicates have been stirred up during the move. Here's a cool pic of my 2 conchs working together.

 

[Ingy]

Well the tank has been running for a few months now. I have just added 2 more corals; a green/violet frogspawn and a green torch coral. Both opened up right away, although the torch isn't quite fully opened. If it doesn't like it where it is I'll raise it a few inches higher for more light. My 1 month old trumpet coral has been splitting a few heads so I think I may make its location permanent. The montipora looks good, but I'm still thinking about moving it onto a new rock and placing that where it is now. That will raise it a couple more inches higher.
Everyone else seems happy. The cleaner shrimp has taken up residence at the BSWatchman Goby's lair. Not really paired up, but they hang out sometimes.
Went on vacation for 9 days. Had the neighbor girl look after the tank. She did a great job and everything was at perfect levels. Nice to see.

 

[Ingy]

Oops. I meant tooth coral, not torch coral.

 

[Ingy]

Tanks nice and stable now, but I'm still searching for just the right placement for the galaxy coral. A lady is selling her 40 gal reef cube and is willing to sell her corals. She has a few LPS I'm going to look at tomorrow. She also has a spotted Mandarin I will probably take if he's healthy.