New to reef keeping

[celticstarb]

Hey guys, this is my first post here.

In the past, I have kept successful FOWLR tanks and seahorse tanks.

I am planning to start a reef tank and wanted some ideas. For now I have a quad T5HO light with 2-10,000K and 2-actinic blue bulbs. The tank I plan on setting up is a 75 gallon with a 29 gallon sump with refugium. The equipment will be a Reef Octopus NWB 110 skimmer, a Phosban reactor, K1 media chamber, 1500 gph return pump, and drip systems for additives (I am willing to buy a dosing pump if needed.) I plan on starting with dry rock.

Will the T5HO lights be enough for corals? I can switch to a 6 bulb fixture.

What corals, if any, will do well under the T5HO lights? I fell in love with montiporas.

Any advice is welcome. I still have about 6 months to get everything together and cycle the tank.

[alton]

Welcome to MAAST. Stay with your current lighting system, after your tank cycles and gets seasoned you can then upgrade if need be?

[Frogman]

Welcome!!! +1 with Alton.
There are a lot of smart folks here who are always willing to help. You're setup looks good. But you don't want to start dosing immediately. Let your tank grow and mature and add as needed. You might find you don't have to dose Beverly much at all for the first year.


It's in everyone's best interest to take care of those who take care of you. Support a local Veteran!

[Mike]

Welcome to the club. A lot of good people on here with a lot of knowledge and experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions or for help if needed. Although it seems you have some good experience already, not really a newbie.

[Justin]

Welcome to the group. Your current setup is pretty nice right now. Based on what others have said, I would just let the tank cycle and wait for the tell tale signs that you have a thriving fuge by looking for little pods growing on the glass walls near the sand floor.There are tons of folks that swear T5's are the best lighting for growing sticks. One thing you can do is look at what Par you're getting in your tank right now. Some good starting corals you can "wet your whistle" on are Zoas and Palys. Once you can keep your tank parameters stable in terms of Alk, Ca, Mg. Montiporas are great SPS's corals to start off with.

[celticstarb]

Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome!

It sounds like I'm off to a good start then. I love the evolution in reef keeping. I've noticed that more and more reef tanks have more open space and better planned aquascaping. I remember a time when the norm was to pack as much live rock into the tank as possible. Now I see all these beautiful tanks with lots of open space and sand beds. They make stunning displays and look so much more natural. These beautiful tanks are what finally made me take the plunge!

I'll post the build when I start. I still need to drill the tank and build an overflow and a stand. I was recently introduced to the beananimal overflow and love it! I should be starting the build in the middle of next month.

Thanks everyone for the advice so far. I'm sure I'll have hundreds of more questions when I start the build.

[celticstarb]

I have a question about additives. I will be using the BRS two part dosing system for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. What other additives/trace elements should I add?

[Justin]

I would just worry about that for now. As long as you keep up with water changes, you'll automatically replenish trace elements. Its once you go heavy sps, where you'll have to start worrying about the other stuff.

[celticstarb]

Thanks. The only SPS we are planning to add is a monti cap . We plan on sticking to polyp corals and a few LPS until the tank ages a bit.

We decided to use a 55 gallon aquarium as the sump. Since we are building the stand, we can make sure the sump will fit with enough room to remove the skimmer for cleaning. The 55 gallon will have enough room to fit all the equipment in the sump as well as a larger K1 chamber. And since we already have one in storage, it will save us a few bucks.

Here is the hardscape we planned to use. We will be adding a zoa island in the middle slightly to the left

27652

[alton]

Looking good

[new2dis]

Rockscape can be one of the hardest ascetically to get right, but looks like you have a great idea. Welcome!!!

[celticstarb]

Thanks. We look forward to meeting everyone at the next meeting!

[celticstarb]

I have one major setback! I went to get the 75 gallon tank out of storage and noticed that there is a crack on the bottom front panel. Now I'm going to need to add an aquarium to my shopping list.

[Zack]

You may be in luck (sort-of) the dollar per gallon sale is going on at the moment!

Also, the next meeting info is here!

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?84488-Q1-Board-Meeting-amp-Hands-on-Food-Making-Demo!&goto=newpost

[12_Egg_Omelette]

welcome to the site!

[celticstarb]

Thanks guys. We will definitely be at the next meeting.

Unfortunately for us, the dollar per gallon sale stops at 55 gallons. We really want a larger footprint. I've been searching Craigslist with very little luck.

[alton]

These tanks are really sweet?
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?84331-FS-DSA-Neo-Pro-105

[celticstarb]

They are beautiful tanks, but, correct me if I'm wrong, they don't have room for beananimal standpipes?

[alton]

I believe it comes with two overflow pipes that are very similar to a bean animal stand pipe?
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?75448-DSA-105-Gallon-Tank-Build
Louis from Elegant Reef built up the attached tank and setup, maybe you can contact the store and ask for more details 210.308.7333

[celticstarb]

We talked it over and decided to move our bearded dragons and see if the 125 they are in will hold water. If it will, we will use it. It has great dimensions for a reef tank.

[12_Egg_Omelette]

I have a synergy reef sump I'm not using send me a PM

[leliataylor]

David, I see more drilling in your future if it holds water. Crossing my fingers for you. A 125 would make a great size reef tank. Welcome to the addiction, I am a dedicated member of AA, aquariums anonymous.

[celticstarb]

I'm already planning on drilling! I'm glad I had the practice on the 58 first.

Both of us are getting very addicted to corals! We will have to get more dry rock for the 125 tho. The 30 pounds of pukani would have been enough for the 75 we originally planned, but not the 125

[leliataylor]

Post in the "Want To Buy" forum. I have gotten rock from several people here for a lot less than what the LFS charges.

[celticstarb]

Can someone help me identify this coral. The guy at the fish store said it was GSP, bu I could tell it wasn't; the polyps aren't anything like GSP. To be fair, when the polyps are closed, it does resemble GSP as far as being purple and encrusting. The polyps are tiny and feathery, tho.

2767427675

[Frogman]

Can someone help me identify this coral. The guy at the fish store said it was GSP, bu I could tell it wasn't; the polyps aren't anything like GSP. To be fair, when the polyps are closed, it does resemble GSP as far as being purple and encrusting. The polyps are tiny and feathery, tho.

2767427675

Clove polypshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160111/143c7bf9e91948cc9745829b24e5b00e.jpg


It's in everyone's best interest to take care of those who take care of you. Support a local Veteran!

[celticstarb]

I'm not sure about them being clove polyps, though the polyps definitely resemble them. It gave me an idea though. This pic shows them next to a clove polyp frag for size comparison. I wish the cloves were open more, but they didn't like the high flow area that these polyps like. Please excuse the cyano, I'm working on ridding it.

27676

[alton]

Depending when the GSP was fragged it may take a few weeks to recover. Depending on your nutrient load it will do well in your tank. Softies love pollution and make great filters.