Reef Tank DIY - For Dummies

[Dash]

Spent the whole day Sunday moving everything over from the old tank. Whew! My plan of having one light on each tank so that I could move things over slowly (with possibly some procrastinating) got kiboshed when the husband wired and hung both lights over the new tank (he was watching hockey & obviously wasn't paying attention).

Despite planning ahead, drawing diagrams, etc, it never works out the way you think. Once you take rocks apart, they never stack back the same way no matter what The best laid plans, eh...
For the fish, I thought I'd start with the tailspot blenny as I needed to move his shell-house that was attached to a rock, but he disappeared. Next thing you know, he hitchhiked in another rock & showed up in the new tank with a WTF look on his face. So much for acclimation. I hate to think if he jumped and got stepped on. Yikes! I got pretty frustrated at one point, but finally the rocks just fit, the sand rinsed out nicely, and everything came together.

Great thing is, everyone was accounted for including the CUC. I even found my 2 little ring cowries which I haven't seen for a year. I thought I'd lost the tiny pistol shrimp but while draining the old tank, there he was halfway up the corner silicone. The fish are a bit confused but this morning seemed to be enjoying all the swimming room. They all thanked Neil for risking his life on their behalf by completely ignoring him. He's a great addition btw, very active with awesome colour.

The coral are fine and some seemed to enjoy things being stirred up. The candy cane was brighter than ever and all the zoas looked great this morning. I had taken time to give each rock a look over & quick cleanup, so all the little sponges were exposed to the air, but so far they seem fine.

I still need to tinker with the final rockscape but the basic framework is there. Have to clean up the wires and pretty up the the ceiling plug. But it doesn't look too bad I think.

Now for the clean-up!

A new day begins:

[chizerbunoi]

The tank is looking great. I really like the aquascape. And the lights look so clean. Very good job!

[Dash]

Thanks chizerbunoi I still need to work on the rockscape a bit and re-mount some of the coral. I was lucky that there was a light in that corner that we don't really use much so we converted it to a plug instead.

[DKoKoMan]

Very nice clean setup! I was considering hanging my lights for my new build but was always unsure if it would look clean. Your lights being hung is done very clean and doesn’t take away from the tank at all. Great job!

[Dash]

Thanks DKoKoMan...too bad these lights couldn't do a daisy chain so there are two cords, but I've since tied them up to look a bit neater.

So this past week, I've stolen an hour here and there to tweak the rockwork, and mount up the loose coral. There was some brown diatoms (?) on the sand mid-week but after I stirred the sand, it hasn't come back yet.

The fish are nicely settled in and happy. I recreated the caves that they like and now that the rocks are more spread out, they really enjoy swimming in the higher part of the tank as well. Pistol shrimp has reclaimed his spot under the first mountain. I was worried about the fromia but he seems fine and is as active as ever, so I hope he will stay around a while.

Bad iphone pics coming up...











Here is what the Vertex came up with after 1 week with livestock. I'm not sure if I need to make any adjustments. It's at 50% open right now.

[Skimmer Juice]

very cool starfish you got , cant enjoy those as I have a harlequin shrimp . Scape looks good and congrats on a successful tank swap

[DKoKoMan]

Your AquaScape is very nice! Reminds me of a diving trip in St. Lucia at the Pytons. Large mountains in the ocean

Looking forward to more photos.

[Dash]

Thanks Skimmer Juice,
And I can’t have harlequins cuz I have two puffers who love the shrimp cocktail

DKoKoMan,
Thanks -that is a great compliment. Mountains were my inspiration - the classic Chinese landscape. My dream is to go diving but as I am a poor swimmer I have to live vicariously through my little box of water. I did once snorkel off a very remote island near Bali. Amazing!

[Dash]

So I haven't put in an ATO yet. A bit more evaporation than my other tank but so far I don't find it a huge chore. I would need a fair size container to make it worthwhile but then that would mean the risk of water on the floor. Any thoughts on this?

I thought I'd show the guys that my tanks have been set up for: my green spotted puffers. They are way cool. Smart as anything.
(You can see my modest start at a zoa rock)

[Dash]

Two weeks since tank transfer & everything is going swimmingly

There were a few patches of cyano on rocks in the old tank which I scrubbed off before transferring, and so far nothing has showed up in the new tank. My sand hasn't looked this good in ages. It seems fish are still "stretching their legs" as it were in all the new space but they look happy enough.

I emptied out my skimmer cup for the first time. Couldn't have been easier. No drips, no mess. I wiped off the neck section - it was a thick gelatinous paste. Did I mention I like my skimmer