Finally, Damped 45 shallow reef build

[Grizz]

Yes you can break it up or just hide it in the sump As long as it's in the system it will seed the rest of it You can even start seeding by placing the new rock in the old tank while your waiting for the new one

[Massimo]

I'm going sumpless, I'm gonna put a reef octopus bh1000 skimmer, and by November I'm gonna have a hob refugium. Light bio load is what's gonna make my tank successful since I'll be doing sps.

[Grizz]

Good kuck i started out that way then started seeing fish that would look sooo cool in my tank lol

[Massimo]

Do you think if I keep the liverock in the tank for like 2-3 months, then I take it out, the base rock will have turned into liverock?

[Grizz]

Yes it will, The bacti will grow on the base rock in days it grows very fast. 4-6 weeks is plenty of time for it to become "live"
Watch for any spikes when removing the old rock as you'll be removing some of the Biological filter. The Bacti base will grow back to the needed levels in hours.

[Massimo]

Alright thank you! I placed a small piece of dry rock in my current tank so it'll grow a bit of bacteria lol

[Grizz]

I would put as much as i could in there this way it will all be seeded so when you set the other tank up there will be little to no cycle.

[Massimo]

I'm afraid it will leach phosphates and GHA is gonna start growing

[Grizz]

Soak it in RO water for a few days then test for phosphates I always pre-soak my base rock in order to leach any phos. or trates that may be in it.

[Massimo]

Already in my tank, lol. Do you think that bacteria would have grown on it by Friday? I'm getting the tank this week.

[Grizz]

Yeah the bacti spread pretty fast any new surface will get covered in a few days When stocking the new tank go slow the bacti will need time to catch up to the new bio load.

[Massimo]

I'll be putting only 1 fish in there, I'm having trouble with stocking, I want a maroon clownfish for sure. So I gotta stock my other fish around him because he aggressive.. What aggressive reef safe fish do you suggest? I was thinking a dottyback or a basslet (royal gramma). What else?

[Massimo]

Lighting bracket came in! Well not really... I gotta go pick it up at the nearest Canada Post.

[Grizz]

I would add the clown last as for the other fish royal gramma's hide a lot any of the dotty backs are a good match for the clown just keep in mind they do like shrimp This one gives the color of a RG but can be a mean little fish
Purple Stripe Dottyback

[Massimo]

I'm falling in love with the kole tang... He wouldn't work in my tank right? I'd get the maroon clown, the orchid dotty back and the kole tang. That's it. The rest of my tank is going to be coral and an anemone

[Grizz]

Sadly no a tang wont work, that one will need a 75 gl min.

[Massimo]

Aww that sucks. Guess I'll need to look for another fish.

[Massimo]

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

[Grizz]

That brackets a lot higher than it looks in the first pic looks like a nice solid mount

[Massimo]

Yeah it's taller than I expected. I get better coverage. I might get another taotronic unit, or I'll buy 2 par 38s and hang them on each side just to add some colour. It is only a 12 inch tall tank. Par38s are strong enough for montis at that height