First Salt - 72 Bow Front

[BrAin]

The wife has really been wanting a salt tank and I figured I owed her after all the hard work and care she has been doing around the house. I think half of that decision came while I was recovering from the wisdom teeth extractions.
So.... We picked up this 72 Bow Front from a boxer and have been working on it.

72 Bow Front with a DIY 29 Gal Sump/ Fuge (18W light)
Quiet One 3000
300W Heater
Dual Head 3200 GPH Powerhead
Only 2x T5's but planning on making it 4
50lbs Macro Rock, 30lbs Live from a Boxer, and some extra with great coraline from another boxer
Also got a small Kenya tree and a piece of Xenia when I got the coraline
About 8 blue leg hermits and 13 misc snails

1Sump.jpg 1_Salt.jpg 1Salt.jpg

[nano reef heaven]

Nice start

*Sent from my little corner of the reef.*

[mnemenoi]

Looks very nice, now to see its progression and where it goes from here. Are you wanting to do a reef setup?

[BrAin]

Yep, wanting to go reef. Hope to start with the photosynthetics and progress from there. Havent really figured out what fish we want to get yet. Eventually want to get a Dragonet.

[Ballinxalex]

Nice start r u gonna be covering the front of the stand ?

[BrAin]

OH, my wife made a nice curtain for the front and I added another support on the front lip. I had a full pic but I figured the tank was more important than a black curtain.

[BrAin]

Thought I would update a little info. We have several different corals now and a couple damsels.
Added:
2x Three stripe Damsels, 1x Domino Damsel
Another bunch of snails and red leg hermits.
A few Asterina Starfish - which have now gone missing.
More pieces of Xenia, a piece of frogspawn, 3 heads of Duncan, couple pieces of Ricordea, a rock with some Green Star Polyp, and a rock with some mushroom corals.

Found out that one rock had a RBTA hitch hiking on it. Its just now getting big enough to identify. The other rock had a micro brittle star hiding in it.

Added a DIY auto top off with a 5 gal water jug and a Aqua Lifter pump. Also, changed the light over the sump to a 6500K bulb but I'm not certain if its working. The chaeto in the sump seems soft now.
I got some info from http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html for the light and the ATO.

Spoke with some one about a month ago about the brown algae growing on the rocks and they suggested using Purple Up once a week to help get the coraline going a little faster. It really seems to be helping and the algae is slowly going away.

I think its been 4 weeks now but I have been taking photos the last three. You can see the progression on this one rock really well. The hermits and snails also have lots of coraline too.
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[Stickboy97]

Nice start. be sure the "RBTA hitch hiking on it" isn't aiptasia or manjano!

[BrAin]

Does aiptasia split into two and move around the rock? It was growing and then it split into two smaller ones and started moving around the rock. I think its been trying to find a good spot for about a week now.

Thanks

[BrAin]

Update - It was aiptasia. It grew about the size of a quarter and split. I left them alone for a while but they took up a spot next to two large mushrooms and it didnt work out. I was able to "chip" the rock of at the foot and chunk it. We will see if it comes back. The damsels have become a huge disappointment. They look cool but THEN they dig like a cichlid and push all the substrate against the front glass. They also think they own the tank and dont want me putting my hand farther than 2 inches into the water.

Upside is we got a real RBTA and its awesome. Also, we have seen lots of pods crawling on the rocks and in the substrate. Even noticed several micro brittle stars yesterday. Today, I saw one of those tiny starfish so I guess there is still a few in there hiding. The algae has stopped growing on the rocks but I still get a little on the glass. If I had the money I would change the 200 to salt b/c we love this tank.

[BrAin]

anemone.jpg Duncan.jpg

The duncans are also growing nicely.

[Stickboy97]

Nice RBTA! If the aptasia comes back buy a peppermint shrimp; they take care of it quite well (especially if caught early).

[Stickboy97]

Also, if the damsels are annoying you now, get rid of them. They tend to dominate a tank & tough buggers to get out later on. They are great starter fish, but once they are in the tank they can become mean towards new fish. Don't want a $5 damsel killing a $50 fish later on.

You can always find someone starting a tank that wants them.

[BrAin]

Update. So the brace pulled apart from the back glass again. This time Im going to build a new stand to give better support under the front lip. I dont think the 1x6 was enough to support the whole front edge. Also, had to get a new pump for the skimmer and some new bulbs. We just ordered a whole new fixture off ebay instead of just buying the bulbs this round.

I have noticed a ton of micro-brittle stars moving around when we feed and the copepods are getting pretty big. Newest additions are a scooter blenny, emerald crab, and peppermint shrimp. Thought the shrimp wasnt moving because it is always hiding under the same rock, but then after a week or better if finally got the aiptasia.
Most of the rock is now covered in Purple coraline due to the Purple Up I have been using once a week.
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[BrAin]

Another Update. Built a new stand for the tank and repaired the brace. Thinking that other stand wasnt giving the support the tank really needed. We will see if the brace holds longer this time. Plus tearing down the tank for the transfer gave us a chance to catch those mean damsels. Then we added a couple of true perc clowns, some chromis, and some blue damsels. Also, went by FJW and bought a toadstool and a nice group of ?? (I forget). Heres some pics of the new coral, the new stand, and just a couple shots of how every thing else is looking.
On another note - that new skimmer pump was a waste because I built the stand with different internal dimensions and didnt calculate for the height of the hang on skimmer. Got a recirculating skimmer from another boxer to fix that issue. I double checked all measurements except the skimmer.

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