Brad aka rattyE36's 90 Gallon Reef Build!

[ColaAddict]

don't put any equipment where there's alot of microbubble, especially sensors as the salt creep will cause them to fail.

 

[EricTheRed]

Guess I'll just have to put up with constant flow until free Vortech day at MCF!

That's funny!!

 

[rattyE36]

Wanted to replace all the bulbs in my TEK fixture before I start putting corals and fish in there so I just ordered 3 ATI Blue+, 2 ATI Purple+, and 1 ATI Blue Special! I'm really excited to get the bulbs in there and see what it looks like because right now I think there's like 3 whites and 3 blues and it looks like crap with everything on. It should look really great in the tank once I wipe down all the reflectors and get the bulbs all in the perfect order.

Probably on Wednesday I will begin to move things from the 12 gallon to the 90 gallon as well as pick up my massive cleaner crew at MFC and also place a special order for the new inhabitant for my 12 gallon tank!

More updates as well as pictures to come as things progress!

 

[MMreef]

You will be happy with ATI bulbs,but with two purple bulbs on your 6 bulb fixture it will look very purple.Also from my experience the ATI aquablue washes out color,I prefer GE 6500K instead.But again it is a matter of personal taste.Can't wait to see your 90 when everything is moved there.

 

[rattyE36]

You will be happy with ATI bulbs,but with two purple bulbs on your 6 bulb fixture it will look very purple.Also from my experience the ATI aquablue washes out color,I prefer GE 6500K instead.But again it is a matter of personal taste.Can't wait to see your 90 when everything is moved there.

I wonder if I should call the company and change my order before it ships out? Swap the AB special for a GE 65K and one of the Purple + for either a Blue + or maybe a straight up actinic?

 

[FishBeard]

Blue+ will give you all your actinic plus extra. If you run Blue+ bulbs you have no need for straight actinic bulbs.

For 6 bulbs, personally I would run (front to back):

Aquablue
Blue+
GE 6500k
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+

With 2 Blue+ and Purple+ on your dawn/dusk channel, and the GE, Aquablue and 1 Blue+ on your daylight channel

 

[MMreef]

I would go for blue+ or I really liked KZ New Generation bulb.Don't do actinic,IMO it is not necessary.

 

[rattyE36]

So I could probably get the right look by just swapping out one of the purple + bulbs for a GE 65K....maybe I'll just order the GE 65K and save the purple + for when I change my bulbs in like 6 months or so.

 

[rattyE36]

In need of a BIG update! Hopefully later today!

 

[rattyE36]

SO.....Since my last update I've added some livestock to the tank. A lot came over from my nano cube which now houses a frogfish and some small corals. My livestock in the 90 now is as follows:

Big assorted cleaner crew
Pair of clowns
Blue tang
Pajama cardinal
Firefish
Brittle star
Fire shrimp
Pair of cleaner shrimp
small orange spot goby
Big toadstool leather
Rock of GSP
Paly rock
Paly for grow out contest
Pocillipora colony
Green birdsnest frag
Neon green bubble coral
Feather duster
Duncan frag

Trying to continue to add corals weekly! It's so hard looking at the tank so empty. I'm tanking it day by day and trying to find deals to fill the tank! Planning on picking up a couple mini SPS colony's at the MCF christmas party. Fish plans are to add a small blonde naso tang and a small sailfin tang as soon as I can find them. Also hoping to add a neon RBTA for the clowns to host in.

On a technical note I have a couple questions. The water appears to be almost like cloudy. When I look at my absolutely crystal clear nano cube and then look at the 90 it seems like the water is ever so slightly milky. Wondering what this is and why. I read that it can just be from bacteria and is a result of a new tank and will clear up over time. I also read that I can take care of it by changing my carbon out several times in a week in addition to doing a water change. Any thoughts or reconditions are welcome.

Also wondering what I can do about Algae? I have that gross brownish/green dusting of algae on my sand rocks and glass daily. What can I do besides scraping the glass to get rid of this? Is it just a new tank thing or can I prevent this? I do I need to change or add things to solve this problem? Will the addition of Chaeto Algae to my fuge help with this?

Please feel free to comment or post advice or tips on what I can do to get my tank looking crystal clear and perfect!

Here's some phone pics of the tank more recently.

Acclimating my clown and firefish

Sand sifting star

New clown that I picked up at MCF

Cardinal fish

Bubble coral

Toadstool leather

Cleaner Crew acclimating

crappy whole tank shot

sweet blenny from MCF that jumped after a couple days

Blue tank Acclimating

I think thats all for now! I'll try to update when I get more quality pics!

 

[EricTheRed]

As you thought, carbon is usually best for water clarity. Also, the brown/green coating may be diatoms, especially if its a newer tank with new sand/substrate. The diatoms will feed off the silicates in the sand and then basically burn themselves out (and shouldn't return). Microalgae, on the otherhand, will usually stick around and leave a film on your glass. I don't know of anyone who never needs to wipe their glass down every so often. You can combat it by keeping the nitrates and (especially) phosphates low. Chaeto will help by pulling some of your excess nutrients out.

 

[rattyE36]

As you thought, carbon is usually best for water clarity. Also, the brown/green coating may be diatoms, especially if its a newer tank with new sand/substrate. The diatoms will feed off the silicates in the sand and then basically burn themselves out (and shouldn't return). Microalgae, on the otherhand, will usually stick around and leave a film on your glass. I don't know of anyone who never needs to wipe their glass down every so often. You can combat it by keeping the nitrates and (especially) phosphates low. Chaeto will help by pulling some of your excess nutrients out.

Thanks for the advice! I will swap out my carbon when I get home and I'll keep up with the cleaning of the glass and hopes that the algae burns it's self out soon! I'm also going to talk to MCF about some chaeto algae when I'm there for the holiday party!

Think a water change is a good idea? The tank has been running for about 6 or so weeks and has only been getting topped off, but no actual water change yet...

 

[EricTheRed]

Thanks for the advice! I will swap out my carbon when I get home and I'll keep up with the cleaning of the glass and hopes that the algae burns it's self out soon! I'm also going to talk to MCF about some chaeto algae when I'm there for the holiday party!

Think a water change is a good idea? The tank has been running for about 6 or so weeks and has only been getting topped off, but no actual water change yet...

Most carbon is only good for about 1 month (fyi). Also, it's the diatoms that can burn themselves out, not the algae but man that sure would be nice!

If you're at 6 weeks and your cycle is completely done, you could start doing wc's now.

If I had some chaeto, I'd bring a ball to the party for you. Hint...hint...(other friendly reefers)...hint....hint...

 

[rattyE36]

On a 90G how big of water changes would you do and about how often?

 

[EricTheRed]

On a 90G how big of water changes would you do and about how often?

I'm doing 20G every 3 weeks for my 90g, but don't assume that is right for your tank. It all boils down to your bioload and how effectively your tank can manage it. Another factor is the replacement of trace minerals/elements. As an example, I used to do water changes every 2 weeks (religiously). When I started supplementing the tank with trace elements, I saw that my polyp extension stayed robust for greater than 2 weeks so I started slacking off on wc's and now do them every 3 weeks. (I am not advocating that you do what I'm doing. I'm only using this as an example of how you'll come to understand the needs of your own tank.)

An old "rule of thumb" is to shoot for 50% turnover every month in a reef tank, and I don't see anything wrong with this for a new(er) tank like yours. However, there are certainly many people who have established tanks who do less because they know their tanks. Heck, some folks do more. Some people might advocate smaller weekly changes where others might do larger changes less often, etc.

I'd like to hear what our fellow reefers are doing in regards to water changes for their larger tanks....

 

[rattyE36]

I picked up a huge fox coral today at MCF! I'll hopefully get some pics posted tomorrow of it all opened up!

 

[MMreef]

Tank is looking good.

 

[rattyE36]

Tank is looking good.

Thanks! It will look a heck of a lot better if I pick up that massive monti from you!

 

[rattyE36]

Been a while since I updated with pics....added a little bit of everything. The tank is slowly but surely getting there. It's still in its very early stages.

PICS!

Pocillapora colony from George!

Xenia from Ted!

Hammer from Jamie! Started out as two heads, going on 6 now!

Monti from EricTheRed! Tripled in size since the MCF/ CR holiday party!

Zoas and red flame scallop from MCF!

$2 acro frag from MCF

My sand sifting sea star likes to think he is a normal starfish

My bubble coral from the nano cube that came from MCF and his feather duster friend that is attached to his base! I call it a "BUBBLE DUSTER"!

Tommy the Thompson Tang! Came from Exotic Reef Imports in CA via MCF! I didn't know how rare these fish were until I got mine. I asked MCF to find me one and in a matter of weeks he was paid for and in QT! It's examples like this that prove MCF's awesomeness!

Blue Tang, Thompson Tang, Yellow Corris Wrasse....All came from MCF!

Acro colony from the MCF/ CR holiday party!

$10 Duncan frag from MCF!

Nifty shot!

Fox coral from MCF!

Little frag rack I made quickly!

Another nifty pic!

Blue TANG!

And of course a couple full tank shots!

Hope you guys enjoy! Haven't really posted pics of this build since it was stoked much.

Future additions to the tank on my radar consist of a Blonde Naso Tang, Mandarin, Neon RBTA (for the clowns), More zoas, More SPS!


That's all for now guys...enjoy the pictures!

**sorry for the bad picture quality...most of you know how hard shooting a ref tank is with anything other than a DSLR with a macro lense....all pics were shot with my iphone**

 

[EricTheRed]

Lookin' good , Brad! That's a unique looking bubble coral, aside from the featherduster.
Are those duncans really pink or is it the lighting?