90 Gallon Mixed Reef Tank Newbie

[Tigweldpro]

Holy crap this aquascape is going to take some serious work! pretty good mix of different rock I just have no clue where to go...... this scape may take longer than the cycle.

[Tigweldpro]

well many hrs later and this is what I came up with...... All the piece that touch the glass are cut flat. There are 5pcs glued with JB waterwweld and cyano superglue. and a few island rocks just placed on bottom.
The water is very cloudy still and the crappy freshwater LED isint helping any.
Any advice before sand? too much rock..... looks good.....I dunno

[DKoKoMan]

Looks neat! Aquascaping is that of personal touch. As last by as you have good flow throughout it shouldn’t be an issue. IME all the ledges you have as well the flat rock will make perfect places for coral additions.

[Tigweldpro]

I was really unsure about how the scape looked but after I added the sand and the water cleared I really like it.2 Jebao SW-8 powerheads added today, These things are pretty powerfull for there new smaller size.
Currently lit with 2x 48" t8 5600k shop lights lol.

[Tigweldpro]

My tank is still cycling and I added some copepods a few days ago just to see how they would handle the ammonia. There are now loads of them all over the glass and rockwork. I'm having a hard time finding some info on pod blooms, what causes them how long do they last, what are they eating(only dosed phyto after I noticed the bloom), will they disappear?
I wonder if I keep dosing phyto every day or two, can keep the population...

[lyall12]

Originally Posted by Tigweldpro

My tank is still cycling and I added some copepods a few days ago just to see how they would handle the ammonia. There are now loads of them all over the glass and rockwork. I'm having a hard time finding some info on pod blooms, what causes them how long do they last, what are they eating(only dosed phyto after I noticed the bloom), will they disappear?
I wonder if I keep dosing phyto every day or two, can keep the population...

Awesome, you have quite a few there.

From what I've read, they'll go as long as food lasts. Adding food every few days will certainly help. At some point the population will balance to the amount of food they have available to eat.

They'll eat loads of stuff, phyto, food scraps, etc.

[Livebyocean]

Originally Posted by Tigweldpro

My tank is still cycling and I added some copepods a few days ago just to see how they would handle the ammonia. There are now loads of them all over the glass and rockwork. I'm having a hard time finding some info on pod blooms, what causes them how long do they last, what are they eating(only dosed phyto after I noticed the bloom), will they disappear?
I wonder if I keep dosing phyto every day or two, can keep the population...

I should lend you my hungry green mandarin to take care of your pods...lol

Best luck dude! and keep us updated

[Tigweldpro]

For the lighting on this tank I plan on using 2x 165w china black box led's. And I just got a great deal on a 48" sunblaster T5HO fixture that came with a broken 6400k bulb(not a reef bulb anyway).

So what would be the BEST choice for a bulb to add some pop and coral growth to the tank? I feel that the black box led's keep coral healthy & alive but growing quite slow.

With all the different brands and each one having many flavors I really don't have a clue what would be best. I can only pick 1

From reading online I'm leaning towards ATI Coral Plus, but I would like to hear from some long term T5HO users.

Thanks

[Tigweldpro]

Been a while since I updated

This is what the tank looks like today. 1 48" ATI Coral Plus & 1 china black box on sps side. Will add my other one after I empty my 38g tank.





Current fish list
4 percula clowns
1 yellow corris wrasse
2 bangaii cardinal
1 yellow watchman goby
1 tiger pistol shrimp
2 green spotted mandarin
2 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 lawnmower blenny

Planning to add 6 line wrasse, leopard wrasse, blue tang

[kien]

Coming along nicely. Enjoy the grow out phase.