Floydie83's 72g Bowfront

[floydie83]

I just wanted to show my 72 gallon reef tank as time progresses. It has been setup running with 70 lbs of Marco rock and 20 lbs of live rock from a local reefer. There is about 40 lbs of sand on the bottom. I gotta give it to marco rocks, its pretty good stuff. I also have a good amount of flow in the tank 2-Korallia 1400s.

I placed a shrimp in the tank to generate some ammonia to get the nitrogen cycle going.

I am running RO/DI water and my current parameters:
SG: 1.025
PH: 8.4
NH3: 0.25 ppm
NO2: 0 ppm
NO3: 0 ppm

The ammonia has been holding steady for the last few days at 0.25. I have not seen it rise. Should I pull what's left of the shrimp out. If I do should I feed some pellets?

The temp hovers right around 80F. Sometimes 78F when its cool, thats when the heaters kick in and 82-83F on hot days.

I don't have it aquascaped quite how I like it yet but I will work on that as time progresses. I have seen an abundance of life on the rocks (pods, worms, sea squirt, brittle stars) including some this that aren't so great (aiptasia and hydroids). I have been working on killing these guys off pretty successfully. Just being on top of them and looking for new growth all the time.

Here is a picture of the tank as it is right now.



Below is the 29 gal sump with the AquaC EV-180, DIY ATO, and refugium. I am thinking of running carbon/GFO in an old HOB filter until I get a reactor in the future. Soon I want to add cheato in the refugium which is just holding a few rocks right now.



Here is a picture of the diatom growth. It has spread pretty well. Taking to all of the sand and rocks.



Just a couple other photos I took.

A comparison between the marco rock and the live rock.



What's left of the shrimp is in the middle of this picture.

[James404]

lookin good so far!

[fish77]

Nice

[Sisterlimonpot]

Good start, As for removing the dead shrimp it all depends on the amount of fish you are starting with, if you are going to add lots of fish at once then you will want to keep cultivating the bacteria so you have a robust colony, if you are planning on adding a few fish here and there then you can remove the shrimp and allow the cycle to finish.

Keep up the good work.

[floydie83]

I plan on taking the long and slow route. So I will take it out. Will I need to keep feeding the tank as time goes on before I add CUC or Fish?

[zmattie]

Your off to a good start! you should need to keep feeding it. Once the cycle has completed everything should be stable.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I plan on taking the long and slow route. So I will take it out. Will I need to keep feeding the tank as time goes on before I add CUC or Fish?

When do you plan on stocking the tank? If you're going to do it right after the cycle then there's not much concern for feeding the tank. However I do agree with zmattie that it would be best to keep it up just so you don't starve the bacteria.

[floydie83]

So...I keep finding aiptasia...its getting annoying. Im tired of it, I feel like I will never get rid of it. I pulled the pulled the live rock from my tank. I just dont want it to spread to my new rocks below where its hard to get to.

Am I overreacting? I was thinking I would go to the LFS where I trust their rock more and start again. Only 1 week lost, but I want to start right.

Thanks for your help.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I don't think you're going to have much luck with getting live rock from the LFS that doesn't have aiptasia. You can get some peppermint shrimp to help control it. Or just keep plugging along with injecting them when they pop up.

[floydie83]

Sister thanks for the reassurance. Sometimes I feel like I got it figured out and then something fun pops up.

As for stocking the CUC I am thinking:

3 peppermints
10 blue leg hermits
15 snails (split up between turbo, nassarius, cerith)

Is that too much, too little to start? I don't want to overload and not have the food.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'd replace the turbos with astrea's. turbo's are too big and clumsy they rock over your aquascaping.15 sounds like a good start. as for the hermits I have nothing good to say about them so I'll leave it at that.

[floydie83]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

I'd replace the turbos with astrea's. turbo's are too big and clumsy they rock over your aquascaping.15 sounds like a good start. as for the hermits I have nothing good to say about them so I'll leave it at that.

fair enough...I will start with just the snail per your recommendation. once things stabilize out in the next few weeks. I will look into them.

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you like the hermits by all means get them, do more research, my opinion is the minority when it comes to hermits.

Any way once your ammonia is at 0 then you can start adding CUC. I always like to start off light and if the algae is persistent then add more. I find that the astreas and ceriths tend to clean the rock and glass while the nassarius keep the sand clean.

[floydie83]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

If you like the hermits by all means get them, do more research, my opinion is the minority when it comes to hermits.

Any way once your ammonia is at 0 then you can start adding CUC. I always like to start off light and if the algae is persistent then add more. I find that the astreas and ceriths tend to clean the rock and glass while the nassarius keep the sand clean.

Alright, well I got some time. I will think about it.

I will update so you know how it goes. Thanks for your help.

[floydie83]

Any idea what this is? I can't find it anywhere in the hitchhiker lists. It gets scared when I turn the light usually. He's smaller than a dime right now, I am thinking its some anemone.

[j-dizzle]

i have those in my tank too. ust another type of aptasia just a better looking breed but will spread just as fast

[floydie83]

alright...i will take care of him soon. thanks!

[floydie83]

Well I think I've completed my cycle and have gotten the aiptasia under control.

My parameters are:
SG: 1.026
pH: 8.6
NH3/NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0-5 ppm

Right now I am looking at some hair algae and cyano. It sounds like this is normal. To reduce this I am starting weekly water changes and reducing lighting to 6 hours a day or so. I have also added some cheato to my fuge. I'm thinking about adding a few peppermint shrimp, some hermits, and snails in the next couple weeks. Just taking my time.

Will post some updated pictures soon.

[carnold]

your tank is looking good, what size overflow and pump are you using?