Fraser Reef - 90G Mixed reef Reboot

[chrisfraser05]

Hi guys,

Here is time for my reef tank reboot.

I'll not bore you with too much background, I'll post a link to a thread with that later ;)



Anyway. My tank has had a complete reboot. New sand, new dead rock, new live rock in sump, new lights, new plumbing and a few other things. Basically only the Corals and fish will be coming from the old system (and the bare tank which has been bleached).


So the Spec....


Betta lifespace 90G (340lt) clearseal build.

approx 90lbs of rock

80lbs of crushed coral sand, mix of 3mm, 6mm and 9mm sizes.

BM NAC 3.5 Skimmer

Maxspect Razor 160w 16000k lights

Sicce Voyager 8, 12,000lt powerheads with controller on alternative wave setting

Algae scrubber

Ehiem compact 5000+ return pump

Seachem Purigen in return chamber



Fish and corals (not all back in the tank yet, some are in the temp system in my garage until my Dr Tims arrives).

Scopa's tang
Firefish
Filefish
Damsel
clown
Sand sifting goby
bi colour blenny
6 line wrasse
Long spined urchin
cleaner shrimp
peppermint shrimp
hermit crabs
turbo snails
cerinth snails

Branching monti's
Plating montis
Torch coral
Frogspawn
Riccordea mushrooms
other mushrooms
PSP & GSP
medusa coral


Other stock to come slowly but aiming on keeping the system on the lighter side for fish.

Rock wise I have gone for a very open structure so I can keep the system as free as possible from debris, my sump contains about 35-40% of the rock density as a consequence.


Here's a little taster pic for you all, this was before it got wet again!

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[~firefly~]

Smart looking tank

[chrisfraser05]

Thanks buddy :)

[Cliff]

I'm looking forward to reading up on your journel and watching this set-up come together and develop

Will you be putting a algae scrubber on this tank as well ?

[chrisfraser05]

I am indeed buddy. I wouldn't be without one ;-)

going diy led on the scrubber soon.

[~firefly~]

More photos required!

[GoWild]

Def interested in the scrubber build. I need some good ideas. The tank looks great btw.

[chrisfraser05]

Right.... Minor update time.


All the fish went back in and using the Dr Tim's one and only seems to be keeping the ammo at a minimum.

With ALL my fish back in the ammo peaked at 0.5ppm and dropped to 0.25ppm. It's stayed there for 3 days.
Using Seachems "prime" to detoxify the Ammo and Nitrite while its cycling so no harm to the fish.

Most of the parts of my new Algae scrubber have arrived. I don't think I'll have all the bits intime to make it before I go back out to Korea to work so I'll have to build it in July.


Off to collect some more dry goods and maybe a couple of corals from my old LFS tomorrow. 155 miles each way so taking a friend and making a day of it.
There are a few LFS within 30 miles of where I live but to be truely honest they are all a massive dissapontment.

Visited 2 yesterday and both had white spot on their fish and both had many dead corals in the tanks and both also had Aiptasia in the coral tanks!

[chrisfraser05]

Very quick update, will make a video later and upload it.

The Dr Tims did the trick and my Ammo has dropped right away, no trace remaining. Very slight trace of Nitrite (detoxified with prime again) but Nitrates are up at 30.

Hopefully Nitrates too will start to drop, the Algae Scrubber is showing some really crazy thick growth :)


Went on an all day trip yesterday and came home with 4 nice new additions.

Got a tiny baby clown to pair up with my existing clown. I lost my female last year in a jumping incident so it was time to replace.

Also got a beautiful green candy cane, ultra pom pom and some nice green and red zoa's.


I've had to move a couple of corals around so far for flow etc but so far so good.

Monti's are starting to colour up more, unfortunately my favourite plating monti started strip from the middle out. Seems to have stopped and it might even recover over time but I'm a bit dissapointed.

Also collected my skimmer from a friend yesterday, it is a BM Nac 3.5. He took it all apart to clean the other day and has bent the impellor. it still works bit is making a bit of a noise. He has ordered a new impellor and it is in its way to me. I've got it running and its pulling a fair bit out already.

I've also ordered a spare pump for the skimmer as I've heard mixed reports on them. Some people say they need cleaned quite often, 3-4 weeks, if not they loose efficency and don't create the same amount of bubbles.
As I work abroad I've decided a second pump that my wife can just swap out and soak the old one in a bucket will save her having to strip and clean it when I'm not here.
The No 1 aim here is to reduce maint for her at all costs but still have a lovely mixed reef tank.

Anyway, will get a little vid uploaded onto youtube and linked here asap.

[chrisfraser05]

Very quick update, will make a video later and upload it.

The Dr Tims did the trick and my Ammo has dropped right away, no trace remaining. Very slight trace of Nitrite (detoxified with prime again) but Nitrates are up at 30.

Hopefully Nitrates too will start to drop, the Algae Scrubber is showing some really crazy thick growth :)


Went on an all day trip yesterday and came home with 4 nice new additions.

Got a tiny baby clown to pair up with my existing clown. I lost my female last year in a jumping incident so it was time to replace.

Also got a beautiful green candy cane, ultra pom pom and some nice green and red zoa's.


I've had to move a couple of corals around so far for flow etc but so far so good.

Monti's are starting to colour up more, unfortunately my favourite plating monti started strip from the middle out. Seems to have stopped and it might even recover over time but I'm a bit dissapointed.

Also collected my skimmer from a friend yesterday, it is a BM Nac 3.5. He took it all apart to clean the other day and has bent the impellor. it still works bit is making a bit of a noise. He has ordered a new impellor and it is in its way to me. I've got it running and its pulling a fair bit out already.

I've also ordered a spare pump for the skimmer as I've heard mixed reports on them. Some people say they need cleaned quite often, 3-4 weeks, if not they loose efficency and don't create the same amount of bubbles.
As I work abroad I've decided a second pump that my wife can just swap out and soak the old one in a bucket will save her having to strip and clean it when I'm not here.
The No 1 aim here is to reduce maint for her at all costs but still have a lovely mixed reef tank.

Anyway, will get a little vid uploaded onto youtube and linked here asap.