The have I got myself into build
 

Hello everyone,

I'm new here but I've been keeping FW fish and planted tanks for nigh on 20 years now. Yet I've never ventured into SW or reef keeping. Until Covid at least. I decided to convert my 22g long tank over to a mixed reef tank kinda of on a whim. I suppose a bad bout of duckweed was part of that decision, as well as just tired of trimming plants for so many years.

The 22g build has gone fantastic. I had quite a bit of help from a fellow SFBAAPS member with mentoring and beginner coral frags. I'm at the point where a beginner Monti and and some easy SPS sticks are growing well in there at about the 4 month mark. One month in i began planning the conversion of my 68g UNS90U rimless planted tank over to a reef. (I had a budget somewhere...)

This build thread isn't really about the 22g. It's all about the 68g. Mid May I filled it with salt, created a scape, and started the cycle with my old 17g tank as the sump. Ordered up a custom sized Lifereef build to fit the stand and away I've went to what we in the planted tank hobby call "The dark side". Don't worry SFBAAPS I still love ya'll and have an 11.5g planted cube to keep things somewhat green vs blue!

I'll start off with a few pics of this same tank (2.5 yrs old) in FW planted iterations and then hit the blue pics I think you'd rather see :-)

The last pic is where things stand after today's plumbing job. Had to reroute the drains for the skimmer cup to fit and DIY a hanging solution for the refugium light. Transferred a bit of macro algae from the 22g's fuge to get that started while I wait 3 more months for the BRS/WWC cycle to complete. I think I'm going to learn a lot of patience this go around.

Going to add some chaeto and pods, feed the tank with some frozen shrimp, wait some more, then a month and a half from now I'll add a pair of clowns. While I wait I'll be looking for coraline scrapings to hopefully start seeing that before I add the first corals at the 4 month mark. I'll also create a cord management power board to tidy up the electrical mess.

Quick equipment rundown -

Aquatic Life 36" hybrid fixture. I'll add 3 Orphek bars in a few months to provide SPS light levels.

Lifereef CL1 Custom sized sump & refugium to maximize use of the stand space. 20"'x20"14" & 9.5"x20"x18"

Lifereef VS3-24, 22 1/2" tall venturi driven skimmer

2x Icecap 2k gyre's

2x DC-2100 pumps. Skimmer & return.

Magdrive 9.5 for the media reactors

250W Eheim heater with heater controller

AI Prime FW refugium light

Milwaukee PH controller hooked up for the future Calcium reactor


Please comment and critique. I'm in my infancy as a reefer but it's exciting and I've learned quite a bit so far. Looking forward to continue expanding my knowledge and creating something special.

Apologies for the weirdly large pictures, Imgur is not resizing them properly.


https://i.imgur.com/Bj0QUoK.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/KpuoF1h.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/GAmJ8ed.jpg?1

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https://i.imgur.com/NdfmmXz.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/41vw9k7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/S990YLv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3JPnKCo.jpg

well look at you go well done my friend

Looks like you are on a path to success! Really nice planted tank, by the way.

I have a kind of similar story. I have a 180 that started out as a reef tank. I never did as well as I had hoped. Eventually, I broke it down and converted it to a fresh water planted tank. Armed with reef-capable lighting and CO2, I had a gorgeous planted tank. Then I got the idea to combine what I learned from BOTH sides of the hobby. Now I have a pretty cool marine planted tank with seagrasses and macro algae.

Good luck with your setup and welcome to RC!

Thank you very much! It's been both fun and a bit frustrating here and there with a good sized learning curve. Home to have some more pics and such up soon.

Thank you Michael! You flip flopper you!:-P Over the years I've been pretty dead set against doing SW until I could get a better situation where heat wasn't a huge issue. It still is to a degree but is now manageable so I jumped in with both feet.

I'd like to eventually get some macro algae incorporated into my display tanks too. Growing out some red dragon in the fuge. If it does well it's a start!

Excited to have finished my lighting setup. Installation was a breeze and it's honestly like the 2 fixtures were made with each other in mind. The AP9X protrudes about 3mm below the hybrid but vanishes from any distance. Such a clean look.


https://i.imgur.com/KJX2OFT.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/FnRY7a3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/S4dzau9.jpg

Started stocking fish this week now that I've hit the 8 week mark in the BRS/WWC cycle. It's nice to have some color and movement in the tank after seeing it empty for so long. Any ideas for future fish? I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

Yellow Eyed Kole Tang
Lawnmower Blenny
Barnacle Blenny
Yellow Wrasse
Eightline Flasher Wrasse
5x Banded Trochus
8x Cerith (2 in Fuge)
3 Turbo snails (3 in fuge for now)

........................

Great rock work. Tanks is looking good so far!

If you dont mind sand being moved pistol x goby pairs have a great relationship. You'll hear the pistol shooting at night too :)

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" I had quite a bit of help from a fellow SFBAAPS member with mentoring and beginner coral frags.""


I am the aforementioned SFBAAPS member that helped this guy with countless hours of mentoring and going with him to local fish stores and answering all his questions about saltwater since early this year.. I also gave him several hundred dollars worth of corals. We mutually agreed to abide by the Old School Reefer's code of Banking corals, we were supposed to pool together a variety of corals and since he was just starting out, I supplied with him a ton of corals to get started so he wouldn't have to pay top dollar for the same corals at the LFS. In return, he was supposed to use the money he saved to buy different corals that I had not owned in order to expand our coral stock. Well guess what happened after I gave him all the corals? He stiffed me and ghosted me. Blocked my phone number and various other forms of communication.

You want to know what the worst part of it is? He knew I had been out of a job since the pandemic. He knew I was selling corals to pay the bills and make ends meet. He knew I could have sold those corals to help get me through this difficult time to support my family. He knew all of this and still cheated me anyway. Tell me, what kind of a lowlife does this to a fellow reefer?

So, you took this guy's corals and advice, stiffed him them ghosted him. That's a new low.

UNSUBSCRIBING.