Terrance's 46g Mixed Reef Build

[Terrance]

I have not been able to find a Ceylon puffer for my 46g, so I decided to do a mixed reef coral only tank. No fish, so no sump/refugium. I might add a HOB protein skimmer if I can find a cheap one on Craigslist. I'll do weekly ~10g water changes.

This is what I have now:
46g with stand
2 Koralia Evo powerhead (750gph)
100lbs of live rocks (already cycled and adding few drops of ammonia every other day)
25lbs of sand
200w Aqueon Pro heater
BRS RO/DI unit
P, NO3, Alk, Mag, C test kit
Reef Crystal salt mix, powerhead, 2 trashbin, extra heater, and flex tubing for water changes



I still need to buy:
DIY LED dimmable lighting
mag float
coral feeder and food

My club has a PAR meter for member use and all corals will be from local hobbyists. DIY LED lighting will be completed. I'm hoping to complete the build before the end of the year and start adding coral by early 2013.

[defool89]

Truly respect your efforts. I want to do a plant only tank and make a garden.

[Terrance]

I just got my light off of Reefbreeder website (value fixture). It has manual dimmable on 2 channels. Here is more details about the light: http://reefbreeders.com/bridgelux_value.html
I just need to get rid of my center brace since its blocking out some of my light and replace it with acrylic or something..
Under moderate-high settings, this unit can grow SPS and clams

I also got myself a Hydor smartwave to create random flow for my two 750 Koralia Evolutions: http://www.marinedepot.com/Hydor_Korali ... EW-vi.html

I will not have fish in my tank until my corals start growing really well. For now, I will add a little bit of life to the tank by temporarily adding macroalgae or live rocks from another hobbyists' tank. Then let the display tank be a safe haven for copepods and amphipods that hops off the macroalgae or live rock. Hopefully the corals can eat some of the zooplankton in the tank. I do plan to target feed 1-2 times weekly and do weekly 5-10g water changes without fish. Once I get fish (probably late 2013), I will add a HOB skimmer and refugium or algae turf scrubber. I probably need a cleaner shrimp for the time being.

This 46g will be LPS/anemone only. First corals will be frag of torch, hammer, and anemone.


The picture shows me holding the fixture over the tank, its not permanent yet unless I stand there 24/7 lol. I need to clean my glass..



The items of my wishlist for now:
1. JBJ auto top off and aqualifter pump
2. Surge protector (I'm really late on this one)
3. Coral food with coral feeder baster
4. RODI sediment, carbon, and resin replacements supply
5. More salt mix

[Tim]

I am jealous of the clear water .

I dumped in a little bag of live sand yesterday and the new tank went cloudy green. The skimmer has been doing a good job skimming a lot of it out, but man it smells .

Protection electricity-wise is definitely something to look into. Below is how I have it set up (yay for wire clutter). Sadly enough the right most power cord is busted, but at least I bought 2 spares.



For topoff I would recommend the Tunze Osmolator 3155, it comes with 2 water level sensors for in the sump/tank.

[Terrance]

Its taking me a while to buy all the stuff i need. Im on a $100 budget per month for my tanks. Next purchase will be the surge protector definately. I want to save enough money for a skimmer and refugium and fish though. All expensive.

I have only heard bad stuff about live sand. Besides the smell from the dead stuff, are you seeing any life from your sand yet?

[Tim]

Its taking me a while to buy all the stuff i need. Im on a $100 budget per month for my tanks. Next purchase will be the surge protector definately. I want to save enough money for a skimmer and refugium and fish though. All expensive.

What I have for protection I think in the US is called a "GFCI breaker". I bought them for $10 a piece. I have no recommendations for a HOB skimmer. I did have an Aquamedic Turboflotor Blue 500, and it worked great, but it's an in-tank skimmer.

I have only heard bad stuff about live sand. Besides the smell from the dead stuff, are you seeing any life from your sand yet?

I haven't tested any parameters yet other than PO4 which was at 0.1ppm last I checked. I've had fairly good experience with Natures Ocean Live Aragonite in the past, so I bought 2 small bags (1 for the display and 1 for refugium). Most of my sand is from Tropic Eden, something called Aragasnow, I have about 120lbs of that in my tank. The water was clear without even washing that sand prior to adding it to the aquarium. Tropic Eden Aragasnow is not live sand though. I can't see anything alive in it but I dropped it in the back, behind my rockscape.

In the past I've had small snails and such come up from the live sand unto the glass pretty much right after adding it to the tank. The bag only claims bacteria though, so I will monitor my ammonia and nitrite for a couple of days. No live rock until saturday. If it goes down before the live rock, the live sand was "alive" I guess .

edit:

Seems my ammonia test kit is a few months past its expiration date. It still colors the water though. It tells me 0.25ppm. Guess I'll have to get a new one when I pick up the live rock.

[Pufferpunk]

Totally wasted your $$$ on "live" sand. Hope it wasn't too expensive. Fine, sugar-sized Southdown is what most reefers use. Go to Reef Central & check out the local reef clubs.

[Tim]

Totally wasted your $$$ on "live" sand. Hope it wasn't too expensive. Fine, sugar-sized Southdown is what most reefers use. Go to Reef Central & check out the local reef clubs.

Maybe $20 for 2 bags. At the end of they day it's indeed a total waste of money. Maybe I should ask my mother-in-law to let me borrow her microscope to see how "alive" this sand is. The Tropic Eden Aragasnow is also sugar sized, 0.5mm. Sometimes referred to as, what, oolite or something?

[Pufferpunk]

Good enough, I guess. Maybe all that dead bacteria will start the ammonia cycle.

[Terrance]

Just bought my first inhabitant: 1 peppermint shrimp to eat leftover food

Also got the tunze auto top off, kalkwasser, magnesium mix, 7g reservoir that fits perfectly under my stand, Bulkreefsupply Reef Chili, and Kent feeder baster.

I'll get a hammer coral this upcoming weekend after my items ship to my house. I want to keep my calcium, alk, and mg high until I add the kalk to the reservoir.

The list of things to buy added up to another $500 to add skimmer, refugium, Reefkeeper controller, and a few other essential items. Next major purchase will be in March.

[Tim]

Just bought my first inhabitant: 1 peppermint shrimp to eat leftover food

Also got the tunze auto top off, kalkwasser, magnesium mix, 7g reservoir that fits perfectly under my stand, Bulkreefsupply Reef Chili, and Kent feeder baster.

I'll get a hammer coral this upcoming weekend after my items ship to my house. I want to keep my calcium, alk, and mg high until I add the kalk to the reservoir.

The list of things to buy added up to another $500 to add skimmer, refugium, Reefkeeper controller, and a few other essential items. Next major purchase will be in March.

*jealous* I am still curing the live rock . The live rock looks marvellous though. Quite a difference between the live & dead rock.

[Terrance]

I couldn't wait until March.. Bought a Reef Octopus BH 2000 hob skimmer. Great product. Now I'm just slowly adding corals and feeding them everyday.

I'll spend the next several months planning/researching my upgrade tank - 120g with 40g sump. I need to get a calcium reactor, MP60, algae scrubber, used skimmer, and many more.. Can't buy any of that until next fall. School is sucking all the money out of my bank

Here are the corals that I added over the last 2 weeks (the lights do not look as pink in person):





I'll add new corals every ~2 weeks.

[defool89]

I dont own a reef tank but have asked around, if you start off small and take care of them the way you do, youll have mkre corals than you really wanted, just with a little patience youll save a ton in cost. Couple weeks ago I saw a heavily stocked 200g coral only tank, the owner claims that he only started with a few frags and glue. He now has things grrowing everywhere and seems almost like an infestation. At retail value, easily over 10,000$ in corals. Ill try and get a pic.

[Pufferpunk]

LPS love to be fed meaty foods. Every head has a mouth.

[Tim]

I need to get a calcium reactor, MP60, algae scrubber, used skimmer, and many more..

A Vortech MP40 is more than plenty imo. That thing can do 3200G/hr. Or 2 MP10s, 1 on each side.