My 90g + 20g sump mixed reef

[mikerobart]

Please disregard my messy bedroom 

[mikerobart]

Alright looks like I am getting some die off.. as to be expected as some of this rock was covered in macro etc.. some of which will probably not make it. 

Ammonia ~0.3 ppm (Salifert)
Nitrate ~ 30 ppm (Salifert)

Some very nice dry foam coming from the skimmer now  .  May add a little sand from my 29g to seed the new sandbed. Might add a little of the rock from that tank as well.. but probably best to hold off with trates so high  and wait it out I think.

[Vincenzo.]

within a few days that skimmer will annihilate all your problems. if i was you i would not bother w/ seeding and rock transfer.

[mikerobart]

In skimmer we trust  . Vince, since I was planning on breaking down the other tank and transferring (at minimum) the rock and livestock, when do you think an appropriate time to move a bit of rock would be ?

I suppose the sand may not be necessary, but I figure a cup or two wouldn't hurt to kick start a good bacteria population ? The sand I purchased doesn't have an existing bacteria population, although I don't really buy the claims of manufacturers who sell "live" sand anyways. If it's been sitting on a shelf in a LFS for 2 months in an airtight bag, yeah right it's live  !

[mikerobart]

Just emptied the collection cup. MMmmmmmhhmm the sweet sweet smell of H2S  (Hydrogen Sulfide). I only ever had a crappy biocube skimmer on my 29g, so this was a new and exciting experience for me.

[Rybren]

The only local place I found with GFCI embedded extention cords was Rona.  The Crappy Tires and HDs that I searched didn't have any.

BTW, the tank is looking good.

[mikerobart]

Thanks for the compliment, and for saving me a wasted trip to CT Rybren. Rona it is!

[Vincenzo.]

within days you could transfer rock, its really just up to you.

[salvini55]

I also wanted an external GFI and could not find one at CT or home depo so i caved and hardwired one, no big deal pretty easy.

[mikerobart]

Plan to get some chaeto and clean up crew today or tomorrow. Ammonia is way down, undetectable by my eye anyways. Nitrates are still not 0 but are falling rapidly. I think the fact that so much of the rock is already cured is really helping.. not to mention the brute skimming power I am applying  .

[mikerobart]

I got the chaeto last night, and there is some caulerpa mixed in. I know some people have concerns about caulerpa spores spreading to the display etc but with a tang to eat what grows I think I will not have a problem.

Also got a few trochus and an emerald crab... they seem to be doing great, in addition to the red leg hermits that were already transferred from my 29g.

I also transferred most of the rock from the smaller tank... as well as a single blue chromis. Everything seems to be doing well.  There was an interesting situation where my six-line wrasse accidentally was moved over with NO acclimation... he hid in a piece of LR and was plopped from one tank right into the other. He seems to be as happy as ever cruising the rock in his new home.

The clowns will be moving in soon as long as parameters are good and the other fish are still happy. I have my eye on an RBTA for them but need to do some more reading / give it more though make sure it will be compatible with the other plans I have for the tank.

[Hookup]

Cool... but your photos didn't show up... 

[mikerobart]

No photos in my most recent post... will have to wait until this evening! 

[Hookup]

Yeah, i know.. which was kind of my point... WERE ARE THE FOTOS MANG!

LOL

[mikerobart]

ok ok I will put a rush on it! Updates this evening. My 'scaping is not what it should be... and needs work, but I will update anyways! 

[mikerobart]

As promised. They are nothing special.. just a crappy point and shoot cam! Wait till I save up for a nikon D90 and get some more interesting stuff in here and I'll be shooting HD macro vids all day long...  . Ok.. maybe go cheaper with the camera and spend the difference on coral ?

[Vincenzo.]

ya spend it on coral instead.

nice that skimmer is bad ass. gotta love that frothy smell in the mornin'. and fyi im feeling the rock setup. looking good

[Hookup]

Nice... I agree, I do like the rock work...   I like the island look also, which you might try (or have already tried), i.e. break your "reef" into two parts, a left side and a right side with sand in between... 2/3rd's of the rock on one side and 1/3rd on the other to make it look pleasing... but that's me...

[mikerobart]

Thanks guys. Skimmer could be set drier I think... which I may try. I want to see this black oil I have seen pictures of! So far I am just running the stock pinwheel which apparently pulls about 30-32 scfm of air. It came with a meshwheel as welll.. which has been known to have pump-start issues but I will try after a few weeks once I have a good reference point with the pinwheel. A good mesh job with this pump can apparently pull 40-50 scfm. I don't pretend to be a skimmer expert but that seems like a substantial improvement so worth trying at a later date.

I think buying a good portion of rock cured and having rock in my other tank that was more mature has basically eliminated much of a cycle. I had an ammonia spike that only lasted about 3 days. Nitrates are still not zero but going down and it's not like I am loaded with sps... fish and current coral does not seem to mind.

Yeah, my current rock work is growing on me.. but the islands is what I was originally going for, that or sort of a slope like I originally had. I may try to do something similiar to what you have suggested hookup.

I have revised my stocking plans. I do not plan on any anthias, nor two tangs... but am putting a lot of thought into the most reef-safe of the trigger family... the blue throat! What a cool looking fish.. and they seem very peaceful.

From what I have read, it may or may not harass crabs from time to time, but decent sized shrimp are not an issue. At the worst it could sample a coral, but will not actually try to eat them.  I guess the blue-throat generally is not interested in the bottom of the tank being a planktivore, and is very easy to feed - it naturally is looking for food floating in the water column.  So ... share your thoughts:

1. Mated pair ocellaris clownfish (current)
2. six-line wrasse (current)
3. one blue chromis (current) = boring 
4. cleaner shrimp (current)
5. Yellow tang!
6. blue throat trigger 
7. Goby / shrimp combo

Other fish I am considering are a bangai cardinal, and eventually... hopefully a dragonet, either the green spotted or the mandarin.

If you see any problems / have ideas let me know.

[mikerobart]

Picked up a phoenix 14k 250w de from ray. I am going to see if I prefer it to the hamilton 14k I have now. I have seen some people with phoenix and love the colour, I think it has more blue and "actinic pop" than the hamilton. Also just about to head out to pick up something else... maybe update later?