My First Build!

[xbrentx]

Hello everyone!  I am new to the scene.  After a lot of hard work, determination, and stress, I have completed my first build!  I had a lot of guidance from the community, either online at from the LFS.  I appreciate any feedback anyone has given.  Here are some pics!









I think I want a yellow tang next!

[Medym]

Looks awesome!  What are the specs?

[xbrentx]

-  125G tank with a custom glass sump, around 40 ish gallons flowing through it.
-  2x 36inch Marineland reef LED's to cover the entire length of the tank.
-  I bought a Coralife Super Skimmer rated for 220g however I received some feedback that it wasn't very good.  So I will use it for a year or so, see how it goes, once my bio load starts reaching capacity I will upgrade to a nice reef octopus.
-  Powerheads came with the tank, I bought it used.  2x Koralia 1400's and 2x Koralia 1050's.  It is more flow than needed so I have 1 of each pointing up towards the surface to get some good surface skimming going.
-  I picked up a 50GPD RO/DI unit and use reef salt.

I want to get reactors for GFO and carbon, maybe in a few weeks.

I really want to get the tank as self-sufficient as possible.

What are people's opinions on refugiums?  I run the sump behind the stand so I could add an external refugium under the stand.

[xbrentx]

CUC;

1 sand star
1 emerald crab
1 cleaner shrimp
25 turbo snails
45 hermits

[Aquaticfinatic]

Nice!!! Just a heads up your a little to soon for a sand sifter star. It will most probably waste away 

[Greatwhite]

Agreed. Sand sifters live off micro algae and stuff that won't be in a sand bed for a while. I don't know of any way to supplement feeding them while the sand bed matures.

[Greatwhite]

Oh, you will also want to consider adding another cleaner shrimp at some point. When they are alone, they don't seem to do very well and are more shy. A second one will help boost its confidence and they will set up a cleaning shop under some rock.

Also, I am not sure a yellow tang will get alone with your blue. You might be ok in a 125, but there is a good chance they will fight and one will likely die.

[Hookup]

Please consider returning the sand star before it starves.  They require very mature sand bed.  LFS might have forgotten to ask the age of your system before selling it to you.

Nice start though.  Big system.

[Greatwhite]

Please consider returning the sand star before it starves.  They require very mature sand bed.  LFS might have forgotten to ask the age of your system before selling it to you.

Nice start though.  Big system.

^^ That...  With salt tanks, as I'm sure you've heard, bigger is better... It's expensive because there's so much space to fill, but big tanks are a lot more stable than smaller.

In regards to the star fish...  It may appear fine for a while, and then chunks just suddenly start falling off and dissolving when they starve.   You will probably lose some snails, but that's normal...

I was going back through your past posts, trying to see just how long your tank has been running, and all I could find was questions about plumbing in mid January.  I assume that you filled the tank beginning of Feb.  Adding a cleaning crew and a couple of fish after a couple weeks is OK, assuming you've been doing tests and whatnot to make sure that the initial cycle has completed.

Generally tangs need an established tank because they like to graze, but if you're feeding seaweed strips, you should be OK.

This is an exciting time for you, starting a big salt tank.  It's very easy to get a little ahead of yourself, and get into trouble...  Now is a good time to be patient and let the tank balance out and get established before adding any more fish though.  To pass the time, invest in a little LED flashlight and watch the rocks for signs of life at night.  There's HOURS of entertainment there.

Build up a fish list, thinking about compatibility in your dream system.  If you have any questions about peoples' past experiences with certain fish, this is a great place to ask.

[jo.jacques]

Very nice! I dont know much about saltwater but yours seems like you put quite some time on it!

Sent from my S3

[xbrentx]

In regards to the blue tang - I had purchased the tank, stand, sump, and LR from a guy selling his setup, the blue tang was hiding in the LR in the rubbermaids.  So I didn't really have a choice but to try and keep him alive as best as possible, and add him once the cycle was complete.

He is doing VERY well.  Lights on he just swims at the front like a champion and lights off he goes into his rock and sleeps.

I did mention to the LFS that the tank was around 4 weeks old, I used caribsea live sand (if that helps?) in speeding up the maturity process?  I'm assuming that there isn't anything I can do to target feed a sand star.

I'm not worried about wasting money, but I hate to see living things suffer.

[Greatwhite]

4 weeks is usually a good time to start adding fish...  The tang was hiding in the LR in a bin?  WOW - that is one tough little guy!   nice hitch hiker! hehe

I'm sure he'll be fine.  Just be sure to grab some seaweed and a clip to stick it to the side of the tank.  A full tang is a happy tang.   I like the Two Little Fishes "Sea Veggies", personally.

[xbrentx]

Yup, I went to a good LFS and got two little fishes seaweed, and some pellets and frozen food.  She seems very content now that she is settled into a good home.

[F. Scott]

^^ That...  With salt tanks, as I'm sure you've heard, bigger is better... It's expensive because there's so much space to fill, but big tanks are a lot more stable than smaller.

In regards to the star fish...  It may appear fine for a while, and then chunks just suddenly start falling off and dissolving when they starve.   You will probably lose some snails, but that's normal...

I was going back through your past posts, trying to see just how long your tank has been running, and all I could find was questions about plumbing in mid January.  I assume that you filled the tank beginning of Feb.  Adding a cleaning crew and a couple of fish after a couple weeks is OK, assuming you've been doing tests and whatnot to make sure that the initial cycle has completed.

Generally tangs need an established tank because they like to graze, but if you're feeding seaweed strips, you should be OK.

This is an exciting time for you, starting a big salt tank.  It's very easy to get a little ahead of yourself, and get into trouble...  Now is a good time to be patient and let the tank balance out and get established before adding any more fish though.  To pass the time, invest in a little LED flashlight and watch the rocks for signs of life at night.  There's HOURS of entertainment there.

Build up a fish list, thinking about compatibility in your dream system.  If you have any questions about peoples' past experiences with certain fish, this is a great place to ask.

I am liked glued with these kind of post and i really love to  know how to do so..

[robt18]

-  Powerheads came with the tank, I bought it used.  2x Koralia 1400's and 2x Koralia 1050's.  It is more flow than needed so I have 1 of each pointing up towards the surface to get some good surface skimming going.

Be careful with that, you can never have too much flow. And if you start adding more things/rock into this tank, you'll need more. Is this going to be a fish only or a reef tank?