125 Sps Reef

[Michael Mota]

I have finished the 125 custom reef build which can be seen here if anyone is interested in viewing it:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=938462
Be fore warned it is a lengthy thread with many many pictures of the build. But if you have not seen it you may enjoy the thread if you like these types of threads.

Now that the 125 Reef is completed I thought it would be nice to start a thread to show the corals and animals. Plus to document the growth and to show how this 125 reef will mature in the months to come which hopefully will become years.

I am going to start the thread with the specs on the system and water parameters. I believe in the keep it simple approach so all I do is monitor (test) my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium once a week. Once a month I monitor (test) phosphate and Ph. On a daily basis I check the Temperature of the tank and take the time to check the equipment to make sure everything is working properly plus observe the animals to see if there are any signs of distress which I have learned to do over the years. The tank lights are operated on digital timers. I also automated the top off system and partially automated the water change system with diy controllers that have some back up built in features, thats about as tecno as I get on this tank.

System Specs:
Reef Tank: 125 gallon glass Diy tank bought used
Refugium tank: 12 gal glass diy
Frag tank: 12 gal glass diy
Sump tank: 30 gal AGA long
Cabinet/stand: Custom diy
Calcium reactor: CRA brand using the bubble method for co2
Skimmer: CRA brand with needle wheel mod
Power heads (2): Tunze 6045
Return pump: Mag 1200
Closed loop: Dart pump with OM-4way with two 1" revolutions nozzles and two diy nozzles plus two 1/2" pvc nozzles
Heaters (2): Via aqua 150watt
Phosban reactor for carbon and phosphate remover
Denitrator: Coil diy
Chiller: Diy unit
Return to tank: Sea Swirl 1”
Main tank lighting: Three 250watt SE Mh with vho actinics for dusk/dawn affect operated on digital timers. Halides on for 7.5 hours a day, actinics on two hours before and after halides
Temp controller: Ranco to control heaters and chiller
Automatic top off system: Diy controller with floats
Water change system: Diy controller with floats
Refugium lighting: 18watt pc on for 9 hours on reverse cycle
Frag tank ligthing: 150 watt DE Mh on for 10 hours a day
6 stage Ro/Di unit for water

Water specs:
Calcium: 400-480
Alkalinity: 4-5 meg/l
Magnesium: 1300-1400
Ph: 8.0-8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Temperature: 76 (low heat on)-80 (high chiller on) controller set to 77-78

I dose Strontium once a week because it seems to help my clams grow faster. I make it according to the directions and add only 30ml of the made stuff to the tank once a week. I also dose lugols iodine once a week by adding three drops to the tank. I do not dose anything else at this time and I have no need or desire to dose anything else. I feel that my calcium reactor along with monthly 10% water changes does a good job of suppling the needed stuff for all the corals in the system. I do make my own food which is blended and the tank gets a small amount of this three time a week to help feed the corals.

Thats about it for the tank specs and how it is being run. At this time I am fish less because when the fish were transfered over to this tank they became ill and all eventually died. They were fine for years in the old tank but I think the transfer was to much for them and stressed them to the point that some type of disease got a foot hold and just started to systematically wipe out my fish. I will wait about three months before adding any more fish to the system.

If you folks have any questions or comments about my 125 reef system please feel free to post or pm me. I am always glad to share info or answer questions. Now onto the Pics!!
Michael Mota

[Michael Mota]

This is a full view of the tank and cabinetry. I also want to mention that the tank has approx. 125 lbs of rock (diy and dry fuji rock) and a 2" sand bed.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/IMG_0692.jpg

The tank has been up and running for about three months now and the corals were transfered over about 1.5 months ago. I dipped every coral before going into this tank, something I felt would be a good measure even though the corals were in my previous tank with no major issues. For this reason and of course the transfer itself cause the corals to brown out quite a bit. But now their colors are starting to come back. I also had tried to keep the colonies in tact as best as I could but when moving them I broke quite a few and some where small to begin with. This is why I ended up with so many frags at one time, :) In a way it was a good thing cause by selling the frags it allowed me to get better equipment while deferring the cost a bit.

The first pics are of my clams which in this tank I decide to place onto the rock work. The scary part was removing them from the old tank rock work cause they were well attached and I actually had to cut the foot of the clam to remove them. After placing them on the rock work at about half way up in the 125 it took about a week for them to attach themselves and they have been happy ever since.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/T-1.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/T.jpg

[Michael Mota]

These pics are of the LPS that are residing in the tank. The reddish candy cane was in great shape but it became damaged when moved. I am hoping it will make a recovery.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Caulestreafurcata.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Caulastreasps.jpg

This brain coral seems to be ready to drop a few babies.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/1.jpg

[chase33]

To be honest, you don't have to put anything else in that tank and it will still look awesome. I'm in ae everytime I look at the furniture.

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9934422#post9934422 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chase33
To be honest, you don't have to put anything else in that tank and it will still look awesome. I'm in ae everytime I look at the furniture.
Thank you Chase33,
I must say for someone like me who has very minimal skills when it come to cabinetry I even impressed myself with this build. Seriously I never thought it would have turned out this impressive.
Again thanks for the comments.
Michael Mota

[Michael Mota]

I forgot to mention that the refugium has a deep sand bed of 4" and it houses various types of macro algae. I also forgot to post that the tank's salinity is at 1.024 plus or minus .001
I have a fairly new camera and have not had the time to learn how to use its features to maximize the quality of the pics so I apologize in advance if some pics are off a bit.

Next I will showcase my Zoos that are in the tank. At one time these were great colonies almost 6" around but I sold them and kept a frag of each. At the time I was not sure if I was going to incorporate these into the new reef tank. In the end what I decided to do is place them on the sand bed separate from the main rock work so as to control their growth and keep them from spreading onto the Acro corals.


http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/EagleEyeZoos.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Dragoneyezoos.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Peachzoos.jpg

[Michael Mota]

This post is of the Montipora coral I have in the 125 reef. For some reason I really like these corals especially plating types. All montis have shown some serious growth, even though it has been only 1.5 months (I think) that they have been in the new reef.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Montiporacap.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/OrangeMontiporaDigitata.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Montiporacapricornus.jpg

[Hopeful Reefer]

As always Mike your stuff looks great...any pics of the larger colonies that broke apart?

Can't wait to really see this setup pop with vibrant colors as well as cool fish... :)

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9935206#post9935206 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hopeful Reefer
As always Mike your stuff looks great...any pics of the larger colonies that broke apart?

Can't wait to really see this setup pop with vibrant colors as well as cool fish... :)
No, I did not take pics of the 90 reef before I broke it down and now I wish I had. I also hope that in a year or so this reef will be popping with color and growth. I ordered four really nice coral frags from a reefer and they should arrive here on Wed.
Can't wait for them to arrive.

[pjpeels]

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Also can you keep us up to date with your maintenence? Interested in seeing all your plans go as planned.

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9936822#post9936822 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pjpeels
I look forward to seeing your progress.

Also can you keep us up to date with your maintenence? Interested in seeing all your plans go as planned.

Will do

[dhnguyen]

Any chance of a photo of how you set up your lighting? I am considering what to use and where for my 125g as well. Does the center brace on yours cast a shadow into the tank as I've seen with others?


D.

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9940093#post9940093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dhnguyen
Any chance of a photo of how you set up your lighting? I am considering what to use and where for my 125g as well. Does the center brace on yours cast a shadow into the tank as I've seen with others?


D.
Go here to my build thread about half way down is the beginning of the light system build and it continues on the next page:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=938462&perpage=25&pagenumber=28
I do not have any shadows in the tank because the center brace is a 12" glass pane siliconed in place. So it allows all of the light through. I think if I were to do it over again I would want two 6" braces off center cause it does take some maintenance to keep the glass clean to allow for light to penetrate well.

[SDguy]

Holy moly! That's one crazy aquarium cabinet :D

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9941307#post9941307 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDguy
Holy moly! That's one crazy aquarium cabinet :D

Yes, yes it is:cool: But My days of cramping everything into one small space is over! I am older now and being older I need space and easy access to get to things in the tank:D
Over all I think it went well and everything is easily accessibly.
Plus this cabinet is more like a wall unit the only difference is I am able to take it all apart if need be.
Thanks for the comment I think:)

[Michael Mota]

I had some time to put together some pics of the Sps these past few days so I can post them here. Keep in mind as with all my pictures I do not photo shop the pics so what you is is representative of what is in the tank. Most corals are still browned out but slowly the colors are coming back and you can even see this in some of the pictures. I will not attempt to name any of the corals cause it is just to hard to name them and actually get it correct. I for one am not an expert in coral naming:) If I see a coral I like I will buy it, no matter what a person has named it or who is selling it. I think we get to caught up on coral names or whether or not they are rare. I enjoy them all some more than others.

Here are some of the Acros/sps in the tank

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/2.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acroporamillepora.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acroporastaghorn.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Cyphastreasps.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Cyphastreadecadia.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acroporaanthrocercis.jpg

[Michael Mota]

Acros/sps

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/3.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/4.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/1-1.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Seriatoporacaliendrum.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/AcroporaTenious.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/YellowAcroporamillepora.jpg

[Michael Mota]

Acros/sps

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acroporasamoensis.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/AcroporaTortuosa.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Seriatoporahystrix.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/BlueAcroporamillepora.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acropora.jpg

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9941553#post9941553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Michael Mota
Yes, yes it is:cool: But My days of cramping everything into one small space is over! I am older now and being older I need space and easy access to get to things in the tank:D
Over all I think it went well and everything is easily accessibly.
Plus this cabinet is more like a wall unit the only difference is I am able to take it all apart if need be.
Thanks for the comment I think:)

No, it is very impressive! :D

I too will have at least one full length side cabinet on my next setup...

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9941935#post9941935 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDguy
No, it is very impressive! :D

I too will have at least one full length side cabinet on my next setup...
I tell ya having cabinets and plenty of space for everything is the best thing on a reef tank. No more bunched up wires all over the place and tight fitting equipment plus alot of room for extra stuff like test kits etc.:)

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9942025#post9942025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Michael Mota
I tell ya having cabinets and plenty of space for everything is the best thing on a reef tank. No more bunched up wires all over the place and tight fitting equipment plus alot of room for extra stuff like test kits etc.:)

Tell me about it...you're talking to a guy with a 115g of reef sitting on a 60g footprint stand :rollface:

[Michael Mota]

Lately I have been seeing what must be thousands of copepods in my 125 reef. I mean they are all over the tank literally and in the fuge and frag tank. So I figured what a good way to test my Cannon S2 camera to see what the macro mode is capable of and I must say I am impressed!
Check out these pics:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0716.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0707.jpg

Tell me is this cool or what? I think I am almost ready for a mandarin:)

[Michael Mota]

Here are a few more Acros/sps pics:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/5.jpg

This is not looking to good but I have faith that it will make it, I hope.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/PurpleAcroporaformosa.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Acroporaloisette.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/TriColorsecale.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/PalettaBlueAcro.jpg

[Amphiprion]

Looks good so far. BTW, those are Munnid isopods, not copepods--but mandarins still eat those, as well.

[Michael Mota]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9946353#post9946353 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amphiprion
Looks good so far. BTW, those are Munnid isopods, not copepods--but mandarins still eat those, as well.
Not sure what they are but sounds good to me. I got this from here: http://melevsreef.com/id/copepod.html

[Amphiprion]

I think that link is just for 'pods in general. Here is a RK article that discusses them a bit:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/rs/index.php

[Michael Mota]

Yes I agree on that link I posted. I did some research today on my own and even though I could not locate the exact pods I have I believe they are not copepod but Some type of pod. Which one exactly is the tricky part. I found out that their are close to about 49,000 pods in the oceans of the world.
Thank you for the link I find it very helpful. I find that even though the information is out there, at times is it very hard to find.
Again Thanks
Mike

[Michael Mota]

The rest of the Acros/sps in the tank:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0741.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0737.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0722.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0736.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0732.jpg

[Michael Mota]

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0723.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0724.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0728.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/IMG_0725.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/zzzzz.jpg

[Michael Mota]

Thats all of the critters in my 125 reef as of now. I did receive The corals that I ordered from a fellow reefer today and i must say they are so small that I can't get a good pic of them. They are like 1/2" or smaller. They are healthy but being so small only time will tell if they make it. I was really surprised to see the size of these frags when I opened the box.
Below is a pic of the entire tank as it is today. The pic is made up of 3 pics sewn together so it may look a bit off.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/tttt111.jpg

Now its a waiting game and in 6 months I will update this thread with new growth shots. Thanks to all for the kind comments and help along the way. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer them as I sit here waiting for my corals to grow.:lol:

[Michael Mota]

I picked up two new corals! They browned out a bit and one is really without color cause of being fragged and dipped.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/Montipokerrainbow.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/michaelmota/Reef%20animals/tank006.jpg

While I was at the LFS today I decided I would try a product called Elos Aminoacids Monodose. I am skeptical that this stuff will do anything but I have heard that it may help corals with color and polyp extension. So I am going to start a thread Just for this purpose. I will track the use, write about any effects it may have and take before and after pics. Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1123176