New 60g

[Brighteyes_13]

today! the salt is mixed, the liverock is in, the sand is down, the water is flowing and i am smiling thanks to local reefers in the calgary area.



Mid october i bought the following setup from Willito:
60g tank (48x24x14"W) w/overflow on rear left corner
25g sump
Mag18 pump with return pipe on locklines
Euroreef CS6-2+ (sedra5000)
Current USA 48" Extreme Orbit light system (4x130W power compact)
250W Ebo heater

Nov 4 i bought 38lbs of liverock from Accord823, and began to fill the tank with water. Nov 6 (today) i added another 88lbs of beautiful liverock bought from Jim Barry. topped up the water level and turned the whole thing on!

My boyfreinds response was "wow!" i think he finally realizes just how much this has meant to me. within 30 mins we began to notice star polyps extending, and several baby brittlestars (less than half an inch) climbing on the glass. within an hour i found a much larger brittlestar (maybe 2 inches) and snails all over the place.

due to all the liverock being from mature tanks i feel my cycle will be quick, possibly unnoticeable, but i am still planning on waiting a few weeks before adding any inhabitants

Future inhabitants ive planned on down the road are:
2 percula clownfish
1 coral beauty
1 powder brown tang
1 bicolor blenny
1 goby (again havent decided much)
2 cleaner shrimp
various hermits and snails for cleanup

ive toyed with the idea of having a group of 5 schooling fish, but i dont want to overload the tank. im open to suggestions or comments about some of the choices ive made, or am trying to make. the list is by no means finalized or heart set (except the clowns and the coralbeauty).

tomorrow (or whenever i get batteries for the camera) i'll post a pic of current setup.

[Murminator]

Nope to the powder brown
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...pcatid=367&N=0


go with a nice school of chromis instead, everything else should be ok ....good luck and happy reefing

[04scoobysti]

Originally Posted by Murminator

Nope to the powder brown

saw that coming...

[findingnemo1]

I have to agree on the powder brown. It will quickly outgrow a 60 even if you bought it at 3 inches or so. And probably get very stressed out and get sick and our die. They need alot of length to zip through. We had one in a 125 and even then i think it was to small and he was only 5 inches.

Everything else is good. Tangs are just not a great choice for a 60.

[Brighteyes_13]

good point... i chose a powder because i had one in my last tank, and loved his personality, but im always open to advice

im still interested in a tang (or another possible algae lovin fish) could you reccomend a tang or something more suitable for a 60g or is it just out of the picture for that size of tank?

[Brighteyes_13]

i had no noticeable cycle, and began to add lil inhabitants to my tank. had a bit of an algae bloom once i started feeding the tank. excess nutrients in the water (from uneaten food) plus direct sunlight from the front room window, and possibly needing a few new bulbs in my lighting setup i believe all contributed.

As my new babies began to devour food put before them i cut back feedings to a more sensible level. The algae began to subside (xcept for a small spot of cyano right in the front of the tank grr...) With the exception of a few heads of hydroids and aptasia everything seemed to be going grandly! The fish were happy and eating well, even following me at the front of the glass whenever i came by.

the problem with fishtanks is some of us are in so much of a hurry we forget to do the sensible things which make our lives easier. for example water testing new tanks. Tanks can get jostled in transportation, even in cleaning out sand from an old tank, silicone can get nicked. and little leaks happen.

So the tank has a small leak in the bottom left front corner... ive noticed the wood on the stand has water marks on the bottom and along the inside, and saltcreep is apearing along the edge of the glass on the front and bottom.

rather than temporarily moving my fish to another tank i decided that i would buy another tank and begin upgrading the system (its an addiction, i swear!)

i bought a 90g with metal stand and wooden surround from another calgary reefer. it is currently in my basement doing a water test (like i shoulda done with my original one)

the plan is to transfer all equipment, and livestock to the 90g. take the 60g and repair the silicone, remove the overflow box, plug the bulkhead, baffle it and make a sump/refugeum. install the new sump, and turn the 25g sump into a hospital/quarantine tank (another one of those things those of us in a hurry often overlook.)

along the way i also have plans to modify my return lines from locklines to manifold along top of the tank ( i love the way it looks, and seeing so many projects has inspired me).
the springtime project includes making a hood with metal halide/ PC combo setup, and designing a new surround/stand.

here are a few pics of the current setup as promised in my first post... my camera isnt that great tho, so bare with me

before the feedings began the algae bloom


Algae bloom in progress plus micro bubble issue and my sweet clowns


taken today...


almost forgot to add a pic of new tank...


so as it stands, current inhabitants include:
pair of occelaris clowns
coral beauty
bicolor blenny
2 cleaner shrimp
various snails and crabs
star polyps galore