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Round 1 of aquascaping! REALLY like how the left structure looks, hence why it's labeled. The right is still up for debate. Thinking of busting up one of the pieces on the right to make some rubble and seeing how that goes? Highest part is the far left around12-13inches. Water height is probably about going to be around 20.

Opinions, constructive criticism welcome!

Eggcrate will not be covering the entire bottom. Current plan is to prop small pieces of it as a base under the rocks on pvc columns so I can zip-tie the bottom rocks down securely, and the nooks and crannies at the bottom aren't completely hidden by the sand bed

I think the structure on the right would be good if you just take off the top rock. :) Fwiw, I wouldn't use eggcrate at all. Fish/flow will expose it, and you'll be hating it.

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Pray for no phosphates! It's man made rock so I have no idea what it will do

Would like opinions on my stocking list for my 90G (48lx18dx24t). It's my first reef tank. Wanting a mixed reef with mostly LPS and lots of fish which I know will be a large bioload. Currently have a Bubble Magnus 5 skimmer which I plan to upgrade as my bioload increases.

I put stars by the fish I'm least willing to give up on having (the anthias have stars because I know I want some, just not 100% sure which/how many). I've separated into chunks of additions I think will work best. PLEASE correct me if anything seems 'iffy'!

CUC will go first (obv)

*Yellow watchman goby
*Yellow clown goby
Purple Firefish

First corals, softies and lps.

*Clownfish (typical ocellaris)
*Banggai Cardinal (more than one?)

Bicolour Benny
*Chromis (want more than one but apparently that's not the best idea)

Yellowtail damsel
*Coral beauty dwarf angel

*Yellow tang

*Bartlett anthias x2
*Sunburst anthias

TIA!!

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Water test went well! My silicone job in the sump isn't 100% watertight but I was expecting that. Defiantly going to buy one next time. It's not worth the hassle lol. Herbie is more or less dialed in.

Just tap water for now to test/ flush out any crud from the build stage. Letting this go overnight then it's time for RO. So far so good!

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Tank went salty on Feb 4th! Temp was set around 79 and SG was around 1.025. I dosed some tank safe ammonia to about 1.0ppm and added "StartSmart complete" for saltwater that "instantly cycles aquariums" (add fish at recommended population and tank will be cycled in 24h). Yea at 24h I still had 1.0ppm of ammonia and ZERO nitrite. I knew it wouldn't really be 24h but I was at least looking for a dent...

Went out and got some LR the next day. Fed some coral food to make sure the bacteria has something to munch on. So far I have found a few snails and one feather duster on my LR and odd bits of stuff that's alive but I sure can't start to identify. I know 'nothing good happens fast' but I REALLY want to get the cycle going so I can start intentionally adding critters!


Dry rock was more or less 'scaped but then I just plunked the LR on top for now. I know I should get more LR and I plan to do so and add it to the sump. Should I get my sand (dry and live) in sooner rather than later? It's not in yet because I wanted to at least sort of finalize the rock structure before adding substrate.

Bubbler was added just to ensure the tank has enough O2 to not stall the cycle since I don't have my skimmer going yet.

Decided to add sand to the tank. Not the greatest of ideas to do after its full of water... http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...fe065c774c.jpg

Still leftover dust on the power heads, scuz at the top of the tank and sump. Got some cleaning to do (ugh)

After adding sand (mix of live and dry) my ammonia and nitrite both showed zero so I decided to go ahead and grab a few scarlet hermits and some nassarius snails. Fed them later that night- WAY too much- and was worried what the water parameters would be, but when I tested about 10h later there was still no ammonia or nitrite. Nitrates are between 5-10. Will continue to feed (smaller amounts) every few days and hopefully pick up the first fish to get into QT soon!

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^current inhabitants. Also one apastia and some other questionable nems/ polyps. Those will be going away soon