Pat's 90 gallon reef

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Ok well the tank is up and running. No leaks in the plumbing and after some minor adjustments is pretty quiet. I think i am going to get a piece of fabric to put across the back of the stand which is left open right now. I think this will still allow for air movement in the stand while cutting down on the running water sound through the plumbing a bit. It isn't bad but if I am watching a movie i can hear it and that drives me bonkers. (if you are a person who talks during a movie i hope you get run over by a truck)

I was worried before about the auto top off tank leaking and it doesn't appear to have any problems so far. Unfortunately, the float valve did not work. I guess those valves need more pressure then just the gravity feed in order to work. I have removed it for now and i will have to head to the plumbing store some time to find an alternative way of handling the float valve/auto top off.

I placed and order with marco rocks for some more base rock and got the shipping notification today. I am going on a vacation starting this weekend and won't be back for about 10 days so i think the aquascape is going to have to wait until after i get back.

I found somewhere to buy the rest of my sand. I now have about 7 -8 inches of sand in the 18"x18" remote DSB in the sump. I have about another 110lbs to put in the main display which will give me about 2-3 inches.

I also got the small bio-wheel hang on back filter running in the sump to get the biological filtration primed for when i need to set up my QT tank.
 
I've found that plumbing the PVC like that causes so much noise, not only with the water, but vibration. The vibration runs from the pump down the PVC....ugh! I find using flex tubing resolves this issue.....the vibration goes away and there's no 90 or 45 degree bends for water to be "restricted" and to make noise.
 
Thieving more rock huh... There is enough base rock down there to fill your tank 5 times over. haha.

Updates... lets see. I was on vacation all last week so i have not gotten a whole lot done on the tank. I finished glueing together my canopy last night and i am hoping to be able to get strated on the stain and sealer for that this weekend.

I also ordered the nylon threaded rod for the aquascaping last night since i think it will be really expensive if i buy it from the hardware store. Soon as it gets in i will do my aquascape.

Before i left i got 10lbs of the GARF grunge to seed my DSB and put it in. I have not seen a whole lot of activity down there yet but i will wait a little while longer. Anyone ever used that stuff before? Seems like it got a lot of rave reviews but i'm not overly impressed so far. They packed it wet but not in water. I was expecting there to be pods and worms and things of that nature but i can't see how they would survive shipping with out any water.
 
Never heard of the stuff before this post. I'm curious about the results from it's use as well.

Glad to see you are making progress as I have been at a standstill on my project.
 
So i have come up with a list of fish that would be compatible with my tank and that i like. Not all of these will fit since it is a long list but I am working on narrowing it down to what i acutally want in the tank. I like having groups or pairs of fish in the tank since the interaction is always more interesting.

carberryi anthias (3-4?)
scissortail dartfish
yellowhead jawfish (1 or pair)
barnacle blenny (3-4?)
gold midas blenny
copperband butterfly
two spot hogfish
kole yellow eye / cheveron / purple tang (one of those three)
McCosker's flasher / labouti fairy / lineatus fairy wrasse (one of those three)
Blue neon stripe goby
lemon peel angel

I'm really on the fence about the lemon peel angel. they are such great looking fish and add a lot to the tank but i don't want to have to pull him out if he starts eating coral.

Not sure about having a tang in there yet. I am thinking i would choose either a tang or the butterfly and not try to do both. This will give me more bioload / space for more smaller fish. Would love to have both but it seems I have a lot more wants then i have space.

Has anyone had a purple tang? I have heard they can be aggressive but i don't have any experience with them.

Feel free to chime in on the list. If you have experience good or bad with these fish let me know.
 
The purple tang is going to be too big, if you are going to put a tang it has to be a bristletooth of some sort. Why not one of those Tomini's like Pete bought me? I thought he was an awesome fish. If I had to choose though, I would put in a sweet butterfly before a tang.

I dunno about the several species of blenny either, I assume you have done more research, but both of them, a jawfish and a goby seems you have a lot of similar fish occupying the same space.
 
I dunno about the several species of blenny either, I assume you have done more research, but both of them, a jawfish and a goby seems you have a lot of similar fish occupying the same space.
Click to expand...

yeah i know i won't be able to put all of them in there. Those are just the ones i like. Out of the blennies / jawfish / goby i will probably chose two.
 
I think the Kole and Butterfly would be ok in a 90. The Kole will help clean things up and then feed your coral when he poos. The copperbands are hard to keep alive for awhile..... but possible.
 
Yeah i know the copperbands are difficult fish to keep. I would have to let me tank stabilize a bit if i was going to try one. I am also leaning towards the kole tang if i end up getting a tang. It will fit best in my tank.
 
I don't know why, but I've never been a fan of kole tangs. They just don't look that great. Tomini Tangs are where its at man, I'm telling youuu.
 
There seems to be a lot of variation in to color and quality of the yellow eye kole tangs. I have seen some that are very drab and others that are really nice looking and even had a nice striped pattern. I would probably take a tomini tang as well if i found a nice looking one.
 
here is some secret insider information.
img_1155146_0_437506d383a5019b726ed92da4de76a1.jpg

i had to be quick, security is tight. :p
 
Yes, there are actually quite a few updates due on this thread. Jimbo has been in town and we have been working on the tank quite a bit. I'm at work now but i will try to post some pictures later tonight after i drop him off at the airport. Looks like jimbo has already leaked a picture ;)

also ... wow i did not realize there were so many smily icons :vader:
 
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