Jahmic's JBJ 28, first reef build

[jahmic]

Equipment list:

-Lighting-
-150w phoenix 14k halide
-(2) 18w actinic pc-r bulbs

-Filtration and Circulation-
-Vortech MP10
-JNS VS-1 skimmer (more commonly seen as the Aquamaxx HOB1)
-Two Little Fishes 150 reactor running gfo
-In-Tank media basket (floss, carbon, purigen)

-Misc-
-Marine magic dual dosing pump
-JBJ 1/15hp chiller





Gotta start somewhere, so here's the empty tank shot.

I'm going to take my time starting this up and deciding on livestock. As of now I'm leaning towards running the tank with a fuge in the back. It's the CF model, and I'll be sticking with zoas and softies to ease the learning curve as I make the transition from planted FW tanks.

 

[ShelbyJK500]

This is your enabler here...excited to see it progress!! Don't be shy asking for help or anything. Great group of people on here that'll keep you on track and headed toward success. Following along...

 

[jahmic]

Well, the setup is coming along. Earlier this week, Tripple T hooked me up with an excessive amount of live sand, and a few pieces of live rock to get started. Staging area:

The sand is a mix of sugar and medium aragonite, I'm definitely liking the look...although I quickly learned how easily the water can cloud up when you disturb the sand bed. Found a couple hitch-hikers on the live rock...a zebra turbo snail and a cerith. I guess those 2 are my first livestock for the tank. They seem to be grazing actively so far...I've been keeping an eye on the parameters and the ammonia has stayed at 0.5 and I think I saw the first trace of nitrite today...I'm thinking they're hardy enough to survive a small cycle.

On day 2 I stopped by the lfs and picked up an additional 10lb of live rock and a dry base rock. They called it Tonga...not sure I can really confirm that, but it's limestone based and extremely porous. After soaking and rinsing the rock, I could here water gurgling inside the rock...which eventually trickled out...so I'm thinking it'll make for a great bacteria colony.

 

[jahmic]

Sandstorm #2 came when I pulled the live rock I tossed in on day 1 to make way for the base rock. It was immediately impossible to see in the tank, and so I decided to just place the base rock and call it for the night.

The base rock was shaped like a square-top mountain; it was placed in the tank "upside down" to give myself more of a shelf to work with, and limit the dead spots in the sand bed.

The rest of the live rock was tossed in the tank...and my decision to wait a day to finish the scape after the sandstorm was overcome by my curiosity and impatience.

I decided to see if I could place the rocks by "feel" since I'd likely be stirring up sand throughout the process anyway. The goal was to get a couple nice shelves and a few caves to keep the fish happy.

Here's what things looked like once the dust settled.

 

[jahmic]

Here's the tank today, on day 5.

FTS

Left

I surprised myself with how well those 2 rocks ended up fitting together. I suppose there's something to be said about arranging rocks blindly and just going for balance

Right

I'm just running polyfil in the top and bottom chambers of the media basket with carbon in the middle. So far it's done a decent job of cleaning the water of particles...but I can definitely see the limitations of the stock basket as the spill from the overflow seems to be too much for the basket to handle, and a lot if the crud seems to bypass the media.

I hate to already be considering upgrades, but I may replace the media basket to run a fuge. A protein skimmer is also being considered, merely for the fact that I can't think of any reason to not invest in something that will be an immediate benefit to the system. Comparatively...a chiller and mp10 are on the wish list for months down the line if they become necessary.

 

[tlsrcs]

looking pretty good! hopefully you will cycle quickly and you can start getting some more live stock. Oh are you going to keep the CF bulbs?

 

[jahmic]

As far as stocking plans go, for corals I'm thinking mostly zoas, paly, and rics with a mix of lps like frogspawn, hammer...maybe some xenia.

For fish I'm leaning towards:

[Strike] orchid [/strike] Purple pseudochromis
Diamond goby
Black clown
(insert suggestions here)

I'm not entirely sure on the goby and clown sp that I'd like to go with, and I'm completely undecided on the final fish. I really wanted a coral beauty until I learned that they aren't too reef safe...so that spot's up in the air.

CUC is still undecided.

 

[Bajamike]

Looking good so far!

 

[KhensuRa]

Great job on the rock work. Just FYI I had a killer cave like you have for some time and I ended up redoing the rock. My clowns just hid in the cave and did the nasty all day long and I never saw them so I ended up selling them. Plus no matter what I did for flow all the poop and junk would pile up in the cave and it was hard to clean. Don't mean to discourage you as it looks great.

 

[jahmic]

looking pretty good! hopefully you will cycle quickly and you can start getting some more live stock. Oh are you going to keep the CF bulbs?

Yea, the current plans are to stick with the CF fixture. A friend of mine let me borrow a true-lumen led strip to play with on my tanks; I was curious to see if the single strip would add a shimmer with the CF lights on...which it did (this was with an 8k spectrum strip). Purely for aesthetics, I may try adding a strip of blue or royal blue LEDs to supplement the CF fixture in hopes of getting that shimmer in the tank and shifting the color towards more blue.

I haven't really looked into it though...just an idea. I'm guessing the 'stunner strips' that I see people adding are for that purpose?

I know I'd have more coral options if I went with halides, but I'd like to keep the hood, and would hesitate to put that fixture under the hood due to the summer temps in my house. As for an LED build...I considered one for my planted tank, and did plenty of research on a DIY build. My conclusion was that I'd wait a few more years for them to "figure out" the technology...I just hear too much varied info and inconsistent results to invest the time and money...I'm one of the skeptics after playing with a PAR meter under several fixtures.

 

[jahmic]

Great job on the rock work. Just FYI I had a killer cave like you have for some time and I ended up redoing the rock. My clowns just hid in the cave and did the nasty all day long and I never saw them so I ended up selling them. Plus no matter what I did for flow all the poop and junk would pile up in the cave and it was hard to clean. Don't mean to discourage you as it looks great.

Thanks for the heads up on the cave issues. I figured flow and detritus build-up would be an issue...so I definitely plan to keep an eye on that. That's actually part of the reason I was considering a sand-sifter like the diamond goby. As for the 'shy' fish issue...I've had German blue rams do that to me in a freshwater tank, its disappointing at times, but honestly as long as the fish are happy, I can usually deal with it. As long as a fish isn't being bullied into hiding, cave-laden fish are cool with me.

Any suggestions on workarounds for the potential flow issue? I left wide openings on all sides to encourage the flow to move through the cave, but obviously that may not be enough. Would an mp10 oscillate the water enough to be any benefit? I also considered tucking a koralia behind the rock work, but would like to avoid adding more laminar flow to the tank...the stock returns provide plenty already.

 

[ShelbyJK500]

Looking great! Glad to see you moving along so fast! I learned quickly that there were a few things that could move fast...but then immediately things would slow down. Just enjoy the ride! I like the rock work...I have an overhang type of cave. Then I have a powerhead blasting through it basically from the top down. Different ways you can get flow into these places, especially if you're fond of the look.

I actually have a Coral Beauty in my 28g Nano. She hasn't taken anything out (that I can prove)...with the only possible victim being a pair of darth mauls. However, they have been nicknamed darth melts...so they may have just melted. Anyhow, it just depends on the fish. I have almost every type of coral in the tank and a full frag rack and sand bed...everything fine. She is fed well, which helps I'm sure.

Save up for Reefstock in a couple weeks!! You would definitely be able to hook up a CUC there, might be good timing with your cycle. Any of our sponsors would be great including Blue Diamond Aquatics, Trish always has great CUC at these functions.

Any suggestions on workarounds for the potential flow issue? I left wide openings on all sides to encourage the flow to move through the cave, but obviously that may not be enough. Would an mp10 oscillate the water enough to be any benefit? I also considered tucking a koralia behind the rock work, but would like to avoid adding more laminar flow to the tank...the stock returns provide plenty already.

Oh, just fyi I have two Koralia nano's and my two stock returns using the wavemaker. Seems to be plenty of flow for a nano!

 

[jahmic]

So, if I'm understanding this, you have the stock returns on the wavemaker and the koralias running constantly? I'm thinking I could try to hide one in the rockwork, which would probably deflect the flow enough to keep corals happy...and maybe have another koralia near the top of the tank and direct it so that it moves across the flow of the stock returns.

I may end up trying a coral beauty, as I've now been informed by a few people that they should be ok if kept well fed. And, the only reason I thought they weren't a good idea is because some sites had them listed as reed safe with caution. Seems like they lean more toward safe. I have a FW gourami that will eat new growth in my planted tank unless I feed algae wafers weekly. Does the coral beauty need seaweed chips or something similar to keep it away from coral?

Reefstock sounds like a plan...I will try to make it and get a CUC together there.

 

[ShelbyJK500]

I have the two returns on the wavemaker, and one of the nanos on 24/7. The other nano shuts off at night, for a calmer reef. The one that turns on during the day blows straight between my two large shelf pieces and into the cave area. Gives flow to both the cave and the corals on the shelves. Especially the one SPS I have.

Coral Beauty's are hit and miss, but many have had good success in reefs. Most all of the dwarf angels are listed as "reef caution" but some, like the flame angel, lean way toward coral appetites. I don't leave a clip in for my angel. I have no idea if she'd even be interested. We'll have to catch up at reefstock. Maybe by then you'll be ready to throw a starter coral in there, and I can hook you up with a kenya or a pulsing xenia for that task.

 

[jahmic]

I keep going back and forth on attempting a coral beauty...it'll likely depend on whether or not another candidate catches my eye before I add what would likely be the last fish in the tank. Thanks for offering up some coral to get started! I'm definitely going to try to make reefstock; I'll probably be there in the afternoon and the timing should work well for a CUC and some coral.

 

[jahmic]

Salinity was at 1.023 a week ago, and I wanted to get it to 1.025 as that is my planned "target salinity. So a few days ago I grabbed some salt mix and did a water change.I also siphoned out some sand and got the sandbed down to about 1.5 inches up front and maybe 2 in the back. I overshot the target of a 2" bed when I buried the live rock and displaced some sand.

Parameters have been stable after the short, small cycle last week. The most I got was an ammonia reading that peaked at 0.5 and nitrite that was readable as a "trace" on api's scale a few days after setup. Getting sand and live rock out of an established tank was a huge help.

Parameters the last 4 days:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 8.2
dkH - 9

 

[jahmic]

After watching the parameters remain stable for a few days after stirring up the sand, I decided to go ahead and introduce a diamond goby.

I had received some varying advice from a couple lfs, but figured he would do well since the sand came from an established tank and he likely had plenty food to sift out of the sand bed. The guys at Elite agreed with that reasoning...actually they suggested the goby go first when I explained my stocking plans, which was my original plan until another lfs told me I shouldn't do that. Then the same store told me a pseudo would go well as a first fish...so I went with the solid advice from Elite.

To make sure he gets enough grub, I've been "injecting" frozen mysis under the sand with a syringe outside his burrow...and he's been venturing out of his cave to eat the strategically placed food.

Here he is moments after adding him to the tank. Poor guy was missing the sand I think...the lfs had him in a BB tank, and he got to work as soon as he was acclimated.

 

[jahmic]

Thanks to everyone that helped out by bringing a few corals to the meeting...the tank is definitely starting to come together. The timing worked out well...my aquamaxx HOB skimmer showed up on Saturday.

I added a frag of hammer coral, a couple ricordea yuma, a mushroom, and a large stone covered with a colony of nuclear holocaust palys.

The hammer coral took about a day to fully open, but is looking happy in it's corner. Actually, I initially placed it in the center of the tank in front of the live rock, and it didn't open at all after several hours. There seemed to be little flow there, so I moved it to it's present corner. It started to open literally a few minutes after moving it, so hopefully it stays healthy in that spot.

The palys started opening almost right away...which I was happy to see. I had spotted bristle worms and a few unknown hitchhikers living in that rock, so I decided to dip it in CoralRx before adding it to the tank. Followed the instructions, acquired a slew of dead bugs, and things appear to be doing well.

Both of the rics and the mushroom are being kept in tupperware containers with bridal veil lids. I placed some rock rubble and sand in each as they're both unattached. I'd like to get a couple small colonies going on small rocks in the sand, and plan on keeping them off the main rockwork. The mushroom, of all things, is not looking great. Unless its supposed to be swollen puffy like a balloon...but it has at least tripled in volume since I brought it home. I do think I know why though.

I was told I could try to gently shove the mushroom into a hole in a piece of liverock to get it to hold. So, I attempted that. The mushroom didn't like the idea much and squirt...it was the perfect facial money shot.

I laughed. My girlfriend didn't...it almost got her in the mouth from across the room. In all fairness, I did make sure she was ok before I laughed, and she laughed too...eventually. Hey, it was her idea that I start a reef anyway!


Pics:

The palys toward the top of that colony have more brown and much less green than the ones toward the bottom, the polyps sticking out to the side have the most coloration. Could that mean the ones near the top got too much light in the previous tank? They seem to have colored up some in only a day...so if that continues I'll probably stop worrying, but I'm curious to know if there's an explanation for that appearance.

FTS:

 

[jahmic]

My computer is currently out of commission (posting from work...shhhh), so I haven't been taking many photos with my D80. Luckily, my girl's camera phone takes much better photos than mine.

Here are a couple shots she grabbed of the Nuclear Holocaust palys on Sunday:

Can you spot the injured hitchhiker? (hint - he only has 3 out of 5 appendages left)

 

[Walter White]

Asterina bottom right quadrant of the last photo