shookONES 40b Reef

[shookONES]

What's up guys? My name is Mike and I've been a diehard freshwater guy for as long as I can remember. I've always had a soft spot for reef tanks, but was put off for a number of reasons. A few weeks ago, I said **** it and jumped in with both feet...

Here's the tank on day one.

I've been doing TONS of research but I'm still clueless. Here goes nothing! Some details on my setup:

Tank: AGA 40g breeder tank 36x18x16"
Sump: AGA 20g long 30x12x12"
Return Pump: Eheim 2000+
Lighting: Tek 6 bulb T5
Skimmer: SRO XP1000sss
Flow: Koralia 1050
Substrate: 40lbs Carib Sea Fiji Pink
Structure: ~35lbs Carib Sea 'South Seas' reef rock (+LR)

I haven't built the sump as of today, so the water line is below the overflow for now. The tank has been running with base rock and a few pieces of LR for about 2 weeks now. I've been dosing Brightwell's Microbacter7 daily to speed up the cycle, and it seems to be working as my nitrites are starting to come down already. I've got a single Clarkii clown in there right now to fuel the cycle. I'll be ordering my cleaners as soon as nitrites hit zero..

Wish me luck!

 

[strgazr27]

Mike,

Welcome to MR. Love the 40B's. Doing one myself right now. I would look into 1 or 2 MP10's instead. A 40 will blow your sand around like a hurricane even on it's lowest setting. Pure overkill for that tank. As far as cycling goes you could have accomplished it a lot faster with 1 or 2 frozen shrimp instead of subjecting that poor clown to a cycle. Lots of undue stress on him. If he has made it this far you should be OK but rough on the poor guy....

You'll find most people here a huge help. And if I can give any advice follow my sig.....

 

[shookONES]

Good call on the MP10s. I'll keep that in mind when my pockets allow for it! I'm putting the sump together tomorrow so the tank will be 95% operational, less the skimmer. Pics to follow!

PS how do I get my pics to show up full size, not thumbnail size?

 

[shookONES]

Also, my first post may have been misleading. The Clarkii clown was a recent addition I added once the ammonia dropped to zero. I used a piece of tilapia filet to seed the tank. I regret adding the clown though. I'm planning on a pair of ORA Picassos so I'm going to have to net the Clarkii out soon

 

[Tonyscoots84]

your better off using photobucket and just copying the img url and pasting it here instead of using the site to upload pics. i think its alot easier. goodluck with the tank if you need any help just ask.

 

[cubanheat1]

In the 40's club as well, good luck with the build. Have had mine running for a few months now and have it down to a science if you have any questions. Most important thing to know in this hobby is patience. All will come in due time and the slower the better. I would start with the softies and work up to the SPS once the tank matures if you want to go that route.

 

[shookONES]

I finally got my sump done this afternoon. I'll be running a 4" Eshopps filter sock and SWC120. The middle will be my refugium and the rightmost section will house my return. I'm going to leak test on Sunday then get everything filled and plumbed. I can't wait!

 

[shookONES]

I made some moves today and picked up my Tek legs and an SWC120 skimmer. Here are some quick shot under the T5s.

Daylight

All 6 bulbs fired up

I've been taking it super slow with this tank. I added a cleaner package from Reefs2go (awesome to deal with!) about a week ago. They've been doing a nice job keeping algae at bay. I've been having some issues with my hermits eating my smaller snails. I'm not sure what to do, so I'll probably throw in a few more turbo snails as they are left alone.

My glass is covered in copepods...a good sign considering I want to get a Mandarin in the near future. Coraline algae is starting to pop up on my base rock as well. I'm looking forward to some purple rocks. The cycle has ran its course and I'm finally ready for my first round of corals. I'll try my hand at some softies for now, eventually building my way up to SPS.

I'm going to fill up the tank 100%, get my skimmer dialed in, refugium up and running, and return pumping within the next few days. I'm looking forward to meeting you guys at the swap and picking up some corals while I'm at it!

 

[JonnyJ]

Oh! that tanks looking sweet & that sump looks top notch.

I just got my swc120 today as well (second hand) and its getting its vinegar bath as we speak. They are a great quite skimmer.

Any plans for stocking?

If you do plan on going softie then Sps please do research corals before adding. especially those that are known to take over!

Ie Xenia, anthelia, blue cloves sympodium, etc. - they are pretty and sway with the flow but take over fast!

Remember I'm a text away if yah got any q's

Ill see you at the swap!

 

[shookONES]

I was gonna order the SWC new, but found a sweet deal on one in the classifieds. I've got it going in a bucket with vinegar/water as well. How much vinegar do you add? I've got a 5g bucket filled with 6-7" water and I added maybe 1/3 cup of white vinegar. I'm going to run it over night and see how it looks.

As far as stocking, fish wise, I'm going to ditch the Clarkii clown as soon as I can catch him and replace it with a pair of ORA Picasso/Snowflakes (whichever catches my eye at the Elos store that day). Those are the only fish I want 100%. I'm considering a Royal Gramma, Kole Tang, maybe some sort of pistol/goby combo, who knows.

As far as coral goes, I'm def looking to avoid the invasive species. I'm going to grab a nice hammer and some zoos to start. I really like those sponges and Gorgonians in your tank, so I'll look into those as well.

See you there man. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to make sure I've got some money in my pocket.

 

[JonnyJ]

My skimmer was filthy so I filled the bucket to around 8" with water and around another 3" with vinegar. Probably like 2 gallons of water and half a gallon vinegar lol.. Probably overdid it but I don't mind. I want to break up all the gunk inside and clean it up really well.

Sponges are pretty easy but tend to be hard to find and expensive around here. Some are tidal but most are not so they must stay submerged in water. They will die from any air exposure because it blocks there feeding. which means if you get them from store you risk introducing ick and other things. I tend to bring them home, dilute in water change water and then add them lol. So far I have a nice yellow (which grew from nothing to around the size of a qtr) a large blue one, a red, and an orange. I love them and hunt from them on the regular but usually have to spend$$

The Gorgonias I have are eh. They are all non photosynthetic besides one and need to be fed daily. I feed every other day. Spot feeding and just feeding the tank with filter food and plankton and I'm afraid it's only keeping them alive - not thriving or growing. Pretty cruel. I personally would look for photosynthetic ones and aim for them.

As far as your fish list the kole is an eh choice, they are voracious algae eaters and I wouldn't introduce unless your tank is established. For the size, they would be your best bet ( most will say not too)

Arrive to swap early so you can score some of the nice stuff'

 

[shookONES]

Thanks for all the help. My skimmer is pretty nasty too so I'll assess the situation in the morning as far as my ratio goes. I'll heed your advice on the gorgonians too. I guess I'll get some cheaper zoos locally and see how they do. I'd like to focus on the nicer stuff in this tank, so maybe I can score some higher end softies at the swap.

Ill see you there first thing man!

 

[shookONES]

I stopped at the Elos Aquastudio in Short Hills yesterday and picked up this Bicolor Pseudo and Frogspawn. My parameters have been stable for over a week, so I figure its time to go ahead and add some corals. I can't wait for the swap!

Pardon the less-than-stellar pics...my iPhone isn't fond of the blue

 

[shookONES]

I finally got my sump plumbed and cleaned up the display a little bit.

I still need to clean my skimmer and throw it in there, get some macro for the refugium, and figure out what I'm doing for a filter sock. I am having an issue with the heater. This Eheim Jager is HUGE. Anyone recommend a smaller one that would fit in my sump?

 

[shookONES]

Well, I survived my first swap! I had a blast, and my tank saw its first round of corals as a result. I picked up a few zoa/palys, a nice acan, wall hammer, and a few 'starter' SPS to see how everything holds up. So far, everything seems to be settled in nicely. My SPS are showing nice PE, z/p all open, and acans nice and fat. I'll probably ride out like this for another few weeks until I shift more towards SPS exclusively.

One thing is clear...I need to ditch the Koralia and get my hands on a Vortech MP10. The sand dunes are starting to drive me nuts!

 

[xxxAngeloxxx]

Nicely well done Mike everything is looking awesome

 

[shookONES]

Nicely well done Mike everything is looking awesome

Thanks man, I appreciate it! This is my first reef tank so every day is a new learning experience.

 

[shookONES]

I finally got around to finishing up my sump last night after turkey. Big thanks to Anthony (thirty5) for the chaeto. I've got pods crawling all over my refugium already.

Now the question is...filter sock or no filter sock? My skimmer has been pulling out all sorts of nasty since I plugged it in and there is little to no particulate matter floating around in the display.

 

[OOtzie]

Pros - Its an additional layer of mech. filtration , cuts the noise down.

Cons -Another thing to clean / Replace

 

[shookONES]

I went ahead and bought a few 4" filter socks. I'm going to swap them out every few days.

I've got a stupid question now. I feed flakes daily and I've been doing 5g water changes every week. Do I need to "do" anything for the corals? I've got mostly zoa/palys, 3 SPS, an acan, frogspawn, and hammer.