Head First Into The Salt

[wildechild_01]

Okay, here we go.

This journal may be a little slow moving for the first little while here while final decisions are made and equipment arrives and gets set up. But figured it was time to start the journal.

The plan here is a 90g Display tank with sump to house skimmer, heater and a small refugium.. i am hoping i can use this to increase copeapods in the system as eventually i definitely want to put a mandarin in this tank.. note i say eventually.. as in a good 8-12 months down the road if i think they tank is suitable at that point. Originally the plan was for a FOWLR tank, but it quickly became apparent while browsing forums and LFS's that the real draw to salt water for me is not the Fish so much as the Corals, so i have been doing a lot of reading on corals and will be keeping mostly Soft and LPS corals.

i did a lot of looking at tanks and finally settled on a 90g at 48x18x24. (LxWxH) i realize that this tank is a little tall for the coral keeping as i plan on running T5's rather than Halides but figure with proper aqua scaping it will be relatively easy to keep some of the more light hungry corals up a little higher, but some of this may be a bit of a learning experience.

I am building the stand for the Tank myself, using 2x4's for framing and 5/8" MDF for sheeting. A lot of people freak out with MDF around water but with proper preparation and treatment it is perfectly fine, I will be priming and Sealing the MDF before paint to provide protection from anything other than a catastrophic tank failure in which case stand stability will be least of my worries. The tank i am getting is drilled with an overflow in the back left corner, so i will need to aquire the tank and drill the stand before finishing it.

Ok so here is Equipment list so far.

90g Drilled Tank (picking up this week)

Stand (is built but not finnished will post some pics)

20L/29g Sump (looking for a used one locally but if not will purchase one new) will be adding baffles myself.

i am also looking into a diy top off... really its just picking a container for water cause float switch and pump is easy

Reef Octopus NW-110 Skimmer

VorTech MP40 Propeller Pump This is kinda pricey but after discussion with my partner we are getting this and if there are dead spots (which i know there will be) we will get another smaller one to help with flow. I will admit this is a pretty cool piece of equipment though with lots of settings

Refractometer - i haven't decided on which one yet.. any recomendations?

Reefmaster Test Kit - picking up at LFS any other water tests not in the Reefmaster kit i will just buy from LFS's

Potential Stocking
A lot of these i have 1-2 cause i would like pairs if possible but don't want aggression issues

2 - Tank Bred Clowns (seriously i couldn't go salt and not have clowns)
1/2 - Fire fish.. i would love 2 but reading suggests they may not get along.. any input here?
1-2 Gobies - haven't decided on specific here.. again though not sure if aggression will be an issue
1-2 Bicolor Dottyback
1 Kaudern's Cardinal
I had really wanted a tang of some kind for a larger center piece fish but since i ended up under 100g and with a 4 foot tank (6 foot just wouldn't fit) i've decided that in fairness to the Fish this may not be the best choice for me.. so looking into dwarf Angel fish maybe, or foxface??

at this point thats really all i am looking at for fish... and possibly not even all of that, depends on how things go.

and as for Corals... oh my i dont really know... I like Zoas.. and some of the softies.. but am hoping to get a "longer" LPS that my Clowns will decide to host.

Okay, i think thats about all for now. Any input would be greatly appreciated.. also any questions... things maybe i haven't thought about.. I want to make sure i do this up right.

 

[GGtank]

Welcome to the salt!

Sounds like you've a lot of everything planned out pretty well!

I think it'd be a great idea to get another smaller (£25) power head as lots of corals like random flow as opposed to linear flow.

I hope you post loads of pics of all the DIY parts , I think it'd be super interesting to see how this comes along from the start!

 

[wildechild_01]

Okay, pic heavy post here... its the DIY progression on my stand as asked for.. i will make sure i take pics when i do the sump as well.

2x4 after a meeting with the Band Saw i think its flipping me off

this is how the front and side pieces connect to the legs

From the top

Joints are all Glued and Screwed

Center brace

Top/Bottom and Sides attached with Air Nail Gun.. Wheeeee Air actuated tools

Keeping things square... well squarish in this pic but we fixed it

Front Framing In... i know it looks like it should house a Fire Place espescially with the lovely paint job the previous owner did on the floor. The opening is just shy of 36" and after a few designs and consultation with 3 different Engineers i know, there is no center brace here leaving amazing access to the sump area

Bracing inside of frame

Brackets to help hold bottom on since there is a lot less nailing area than on the top... there are also 3inch screws into the 2x4's from underneath... screws are all counter sunk (they sit lower than surface of wood)

Filling nail holes and sanding to prep for Sealing and Painting... doors will probably be built next weekend. Yes the red thing with the wheel in the back IS a popcorn maker.

And thats my DIY stand... Nothing flashy, but definitely cheaper and stronger than anything i could have picked up at LFS.

oh, and i just picked up my tank so i will be drilling the stand tonight and then on to paint.

 

[seffieuk]

What a great start and a lovely read after a long day at work and what a lucky devil, you have a vortech

The only things that spring to mind are a RO unit and phosphate reactor?

Seffie x

 

[wildechild_01]

yeah i've been looking into RO units trying to find one that will provide enough production for water change purposes but not sure how much im going to want.. and need to look into where i am going to be able to hook it up... hrmmmm...

 

[Yuma]

Good looking stand. Nicely constructed.

 

[wildechild_01]

Good looking stand. Nicely constructed.

Thanks i haven't gotten as much done on it as i would have liked to during the week.. work kept on getting in the way but hopefully will get it all painted and get the doors built and on this weekend. Then start getting the sump put together.. still waiting on equipment, but i guess thats okay as my partner has asked that we wait till JAN to fill the tank we are going to mexico for a week and dont want the lady feeding our fish to be worried about a salt tank, and figures we should maybe be around for the first bit with it running.. in case there are any issues... but we'll see, i obviously want it full of water and cycling ASAP

 

[simonas]

great start, I love the stand its one of the best home made I;ve seen!!!

The tank sounds interesting looking forward to seeing it set up, why not get a lawnmower blenny as well best fish you can get in my opinion ha

 

[dannywrc]

nice stand, looks very solid & like you put a lot of effort into it.

 

[wildechild_01]

nice stand, looks very solid & like you put a lot of effort into it.

Thanks !

took 5 days of filling nail holes and sanding till i decided it was good enough, and i've just this afternoon started priming it.. but Have a long weekend here so should have the stand done buy the end of it

 

[wildechild_01]

Okay,

so even though at this point i still have to wait to fill my tank i am trying to get as much research done as possible so that when the time finally comes i can move forward with Confidence.

Todays question is about CUC. I know that it will ultimately depend on conditions in my tank but i am just wondering how large of a CUC i am going to end up having in a 90 USG tank. I definitely know that i want reef safe star(s) of some sort.. thinking brittle stars are going to be the way to go for this, and My partner is pretty excited for Hermit Crabs. So i guess the question is how many am i going to want. I have also noticed that everyone recommends/has Snails... This doesn't excite me and i'll explain why.

We had snails in our Freshwater setups and well, lets just say they reproduced at a ridiculously fast rate and we eventually ended up pulling all the larger ones we could find and purchasing assassin snails to deal with the rest. I definitely don't want a Tank covered in snails again

That said i realize that Marine snails may be very different than FW. I figure other than me physically cleaning the glass the snails are the best bet for keeping the glass clean.. so i guess im wondering what types of snails are out there that people would recommend and also wondering if people have problems with large fast growing unwanted snail populations.

As always any info would be greatly appreciated.. also i should have some Pics of the Finished stand up later this weekend.

 

[Yuma]

Many different opinions on how many of what type of CUC to add....I've seen everything up to 1 per gallon on snails and hermits.

Here's the key in my opinion....and I'm sure there will be other that chime in as well.

The general answer is that you need enough clean-up crew to clean up what you have to clean up. I know, I know, terribly specific. To be a little more specific, each member of the clean-up crew eats something different and has a little different task in the tank so you want enough numbers and diversity to control the things in your tank that these guys eat.

Let's start with snails. Nassarius snails are voracious little scavengers and eat things like detritus and forage for left over food, etc. in the sandbed. They do a great job of keeping the upper layers of the sandbed clean and "turned over". Cerith snails sort of do the same thing, but also eat algae as well. A combination of these is good as they add some interest to your tank. My ceriths spend a good deal of time on the glass eating algae off the glass(in my latest fts I think you can see 5 or 6 on the glass). They also eat some in the sand as well. The nassarius burrow in the sand with their trunks waving in the current and come out at feeding time. Turbo snails are snails that eat a LOT...primarily algae eaters, the clean up the algae on your live rock and glass.

There are other types of snails that have similar functions to these, but the thing I like about these 3 is that if they fall off a rock or the glass and end up on their back they are able right themselves. Trochus snails are also good. With some of the other species you have to keep an eye out and flip them over if they happen to get stuck upside down. As to the massive reproduction of snails that mention, my snails have deposited eggs on the glass almost constantly since I put them in there. They are usually eaten either by the Turbo or my clown before they hatch. They do require quite a bit of small food to develop and grow into adults so I would say it would take some very specific conditions in your tank for them to even make it to maturity, much less overrun your tank.

Hermit crabs and emerald crabs are also good additions and they love algae, especially hair algae and cyanobacteria. My emerald never stops eating it seems. An important note about hermits....you have to have extra shells for them to move into as they outgrow their current shells or they will attack your snails for their shells. This is the main reason I personally don't have any hermits in my tank, but I'm most certainly in the minority.

Another thing you might look at is the fighting conch. A good sand sifter with a good appetite, and something a little more interesting.

Starfish. Brittle stars are nice little creatures, and they are omnivores that eat the same things your omnivorous fish will eat. They are sensitive to changes in PH, SG and Oxygen, so important to have good stable water parameters. Sand sifting stars are available, but I've read several places that they are not good tank inhabitants, as they don't do well in the home aquarium. Don't remember all of the details exactly, but know that I have read they have relatively short life spans in captivity.

Here's the key to it all. If you put in more CUC than there is food, you will have to feed your CUC.....something we try to avoid. Got some advice on this board to start with a small CUC and then add the items necessary to combat the things you need cleaned up(thanks Steph). So for example, you have a hair algae breakout, maybe a few more hermits are necessary....can't keep the algae off the glass, maybe another Turbo or some Cerith. Each tank is different and will just require you keeping an eye on it as it matures and adding specific CUC as necessary.

Just as an example, with my 60 USG I started with a couple Turbo, 10 Cerith, 10 nassarius, and 2 emerald crabs. Added about 15-20 more nassarius a couple weeks ago. I did lose a Turbo and I think an emerald, but my tank stays relatively clean(it's only 6 weeks old). I do have some algae growth on the glass, but it's nothing that is too terrible. Good water flow can also help with algae growth as well.

Well, I've rambled long enough...that's my 2 cents worth.

Yuma

 

[Yuma]

Hey there.....just wanted to see how the stand painting went.

Yuma

 

[wildechild_01]

Hey there.....just wanted to see how the stand painting went.

Yuma

Hey is going all right.. the black takes 4hrs to dry enough to re-coat so i am putting last coat of paint on today then will probably attach the doors either tonight or tomorrow after work. I am going to let the paint sit and Cure for a few days before i place the tank on the stand. But i am picking up the Sump tank today and i have ordered glass baffles that should be ready in a day or 2 so i can get the sump built this week.

 

[wildechild_01]

Ok quick update here,

things are slowly progressing here, work hasnt been co-operative with getting this done but whatever.

The stand is painted and the doors are attached, and the tank is sitting on the stand. I am still waiting on the Glass i ordered for the sump baffles.. after looking into it i realized that getting glass baffles cut was only 10 more than making my own would have worked out too, so when i get those i will Build the sump (silicone baffles into 29G tank). So slowly but surely things are starting to come together. Once i have the sump built i will be able to figure out exactly what i need plumbing wise.. then i can order the rest of the eqiupment and have everything ready to go for January, realistically thats when i can fill and start stocking, as i am going away for christmas and new years.
Will try to get a pic of the Stand with tank up soon.