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turbotone

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welcome to the hobby!!! where the lows and stress are the worst but the great points are the most gratifying..lol
my 2 cents get this book called "the reef aquarium" and also take your time! don't rush to put in corals or fish right away, take your time with this build.. plan out your plumbing for anything you will possibly need in the future (gfo reactor, carbon reactor, bio pellet reactor, skimmer etc) make sure whatever fish you choose have a purpose besides just looking good.. make sure whatever fish you get are reef safe meaning they don't eat corals snails or even other fish.. there are exceptions to these rules just find out how people go about it if you really want to give a try.. learn about your corals and what they like: what kind of light they need? high, medium, low intensity...what kind of water movement? high current low current water movement, do they need to be fed? are they photo synthetic? all this plays a role in placement in your tank.. most problems occur from bad husbandry skills so always check your habits first.. there are many ways to handle problems naturally before you go the chemical route just do your research.. know no problem gets remedied over night, it can take weeks to see improvements even months.. if theres a problem know 80% its usually a build up over time.. set up a quarantine tank for fish and corals.. never put anything straight in your tank! some have been fortunate to not get any hitch hikers on a nice frag the bought and others tanks have been tore down because the got a nudi branch that eats polyps or corals ( me being one of them) etc.. same goes with fish because some may get sick due to stress and catch ick which can spread in your tank and infect your other fish.. also know this hobby will be unique to you and at the end of the day what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. your tank will have its own personality and its up to you to find it and learn it.. take lots of pictures bc its going to be one hell of a journey! if i think of anything else ill give you a shout
 
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StillBronx

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Update: More equipment has arrived including my Tank, canopy and sump.

Mixed saltwater last night with the guys from Max, added my sand bed, and 200 pounds of Rock. Water is still pretty cloudy and settling. I have some pics to post, ll before the sand and rock, I'll add those once the water clears.









More coming soon......
 

StillBronx

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Going to dive into some aquascaping tonight and tomorrow. Been watching youtube videos for some ideas. Any pro tips? Should live rock be place all the way to the back glass? Or do I leave room?
Any favorite sources of info?


Update: Spent a couple hours playing with rocks last night. It wasn't as successful as I'd have liked, but I got a good feel for what I was doing, and what I want to change.

First off, I did everything wet, in a full tank. I don't thnk that was the best idea, maybe taking out 50 gallons or so at least might have made some of the harder spots easier to reach? Also I had the canopy on, didn't have anyone to help me lift it off so I worked with it on. Beyond these things and after watching some more video and doing a bit of reading, I think I might just start from square one, and dry the rock all out and work with that. I've seen people cutting, drilling, and pre assembling their islands with acrylic tube and epoxy while its out and dry; this seems like the best method to me. (from my understanding this will kill off all the bacteria that makes the rock 'live', but once its back in the tank having it touching pieces that are "alive" will revive the rock. Is this true?)
That being said, it wasn't a total disaster. I got some cool looking scape and even a bridge. I will post pictures.
 
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StillBronx

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Here are pics from before, when we mixed water we added the sand bed and rock just pretty much in a pile.






After (also playing with light cycles, things are very red here lol):




My experimenting with epoxy while underwater, wassnt too bad, but I had stability issues:




Decided to remove a couple of pieces and play around, made a little pillar I'm gonna set aside and dry out:

 
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sun1914

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great start. it's gonna look great.
I've seen a few videos and tanks where dudes use pvc and other tubing to creat pillar effects.
My advise; do what you like and whatever looks good to you. you paid the $$ and you're the one that has to live with it. play around with it until ur happy.
Enjoy ur tank :party:
 

StillBronx

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Thanks guys.

Yea sun thats what I'm thinking. I actually watched a video where the guy use clear acrylic rods to frame his islands. I liked the look he got so I ordered a few. I took some rock from the tank to dry out and I will play around a bit when the rods get here. Having fun getting my hands dirty, er wet, at very least. I will keep posting pics as things change.
 

StillBronx

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So my water has been cycling about a month now. I went thru a brown algae phase, that cleared up, and no I have green algae. So life is blooming, it's a start lol.
I re-scaped the joint, looks a lot better, i'll get pics soon. I am still working on an independent "island" for the scape using clear acrylic rods and epoxy. This island will be added later.
So I think my next step is to heat the water, I have 2 heaters Im going to add tonight(any advice on placement/ideal temperature?). After that I need to add the phosban and phosphate reactors. And when I have time I have a complete Apex controller to install.
I think next week I'm going to go with some live stock and buy a clean up crew to deal with the algae.
Stay tuned....
 

dherrera83

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An idea: do two little islands, one on each side of the overflow. That way you can have two islands. That might be cool. Maybe make on side sps and the other lps.

Good luck it looks like its coming along nice.
 

StillBronx

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Some updates:
Water has cycled, I've even done my first water change (about 40 gallons). I have introduced a little bit of livestock. Some hearty Green Chromis, 3 scarlet shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp, a few Emerald Crabs of various sizes, 2 Porcelain Crabs, a bunch of hermit crabs, couple turbo snails and sea slugs and 2 brittle stars. Water is heated, Skimmer is running. I have the apex mounted up but I haven't started running it yet. Thinks are moving right along, heres some pics:

Lettuce Sea Slug:

Turbo Snails and a hermit:

Emerald Crab:

Turbo Snail on the glass:


Video of a radian storm:
 

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