Terrance's 46g Mixed Reef Build

[Terrance]

all my corals are frags, and all the next one i get will still be frags. my torch was 3 head. I feed reef chili and coral frenzy. i will get some mysis shrimp soon.

i hear vortechs make a lot of noise at 50% or more power. i am hoping to use a stronger pump, set the power to low, and avoid the noise issue. i might buy both mp 60 & mp40 to see if its works well for a 120g and return one of them after a trial run

[Tim]

all my corals are frags, and all the next one i get will still be frags. my torch was 3 head. I feed reef chili and coral frenzy. i will get some mysis shrimp soon.

i hear vortechs make a lot of noise at 50% or more power. i am hoping to use a stronger pump, set the power to low, and avoid the noise issue. i might buy both mp 60 & mp40 to see if its works well for a 120g and return one of them after a trial run

My MP40 at full power makes about the amount of noise as my PC idle . Though it took a few days for it to settle in nice and comfy. I have my aquarium in my office/workarea though so the noise is irrelevant to a point. I would note that the MP40 & MP60 are the same size. I doubt the MP60 is quieter at lower speeds, but it might. No idea how much more expensive the MP60 is. I bought my MP40 for £400 (hurray for swedish tax ). The MP10s are £200 here. I haven't seen the price of the MP60 but if the difference between MP10 <-> MP40 is anything to go by .

All MPs are noisy though in comparison to in-tank pumps.

[Pufferpunk]

You're probably just polluting the tank with the powdered foods. Stick with spot-feeding those LPS the mysis (I soak in vita-chem & Selcon), with the flow off.

[Terrance]

I've been spot feeding the corals. The reviews for both is really good, even with a Google search on reef forums. I will cut back on the Reef Chili and Coral Frenzy if algae starts showing up, and go with mainly mysis. My diatoms is starting up.

Before the MP, I'll get a calcium reactor and fix my plumbing to get rid of microbubbles on the 120g.

[Pufferpunk]

Is your calcium low?

[Terrance]

My numbers are Ca 400, Alk 10.4, Mag 1250 with the Red Sea kit. I would like the Ca to be at least 420 though.

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't bother buying/setting up a calcium reactor for 20 points. I just toss in Pedlow's pellets into the sump (easily found this time of year), every week.

[Terrance]

the calcium reactor will be for the 120g upgrade and all other equipment going forward will be for the 120g.

i use kalkwasser in the ato, calcium & alk always stay the same as long as magnesium is above 1200.

[Terrance]

You're probably just polluting the tank with the powdered foods. Stick with spot-feeding those LPS the mysis (I soak in vita-chem & Selcon), with the flow off.

Have you ever heard or tried feeding chopped up raw shrimp instead of mysis?

[Pufferpunk]

Sure! Again, I soak in vitamins & Selcon.

[Terrance]

Its been a while since I've updated.

2 weeks ago, I got a rose anemone for cheap. Rose is still moving around the tank, looking around for a good spot to sit and settle. People say wait at least 6 months, but I'd rather not skip the good deal. My tank is not the traditional fish + coral tank. I think the subtraction of fishes really improves my odds of this cloned anemone thriving in my tank.

A few weeks before the anemone purchase, I got my first zoa. Pics to come soon.

I went to a coral swap today and got a few new corals for free through a raffle. I got 3 mystery zoas and a 10 headed branching hammer. Unfortunately, the hammer was smashed into pieces after some stranger knocked the bag off a table. I will never let go of a prized coral.. lesson learned. I recovered whatever I could, but still very disappointed. That hammer was the only coral I wanted from the swap.

Anyways, the zoas that I picked up was closed when I bagged them, so I do not know the color variation. I'm excited about that part. Zoas are the only soft coral I will get. Everything else will be LPS (with motion ie moving tentacles).

Pics to come soon.

[Terrance]

Rose Anemone:


The broken pieces of hammers:




New and newest zoa, the middle one is the oldest, and the two on the left/right sides are the new additions:



All the new mystery zoas look the same. Pictures don't really show their true colors. I could have gotten more frag zoas, but I panicked after the hammer broke into pieces.

[Pufferpunk]

Zoas look like fire & Ice. Glue those stems into crevices of your rocks.

[Terrance]

Update: I sold all of my trumpets, all zoas, and hammers. The longer I'm reefing, the narrower my interests become. I'm liking motion corals - euphyllias like hammers, torch, and frogspawn. I sold the hammer coral because its the branching type. I'm looking at wall hammers. I also have a strong interest in bubble tip anemones. I tried to like SPS, but they do not seem lively IMO. My 120g is almost done with the plumbing - I will run a carbon reactor and an algae turf scrubber. I have dedicated a large area in the sump for a skimmer, which I will buy one after I sell the Reef Octopus BH2000 HOB skimmer. The 120g will be a bare bottom coral only tank. I will post a build thread once I'm done plumbing.

I am finally able to take pics with my camera, enjoy the pictures of 2 out of 3 corals (last is an rose anemone, and not technically a coral).