Bignose's 95G reef

[Lance]

Originally Posted by bignose

Well I've been doing some quick research for the fish I'm interested in.
This is very hard because there are alot to choose from and picking suitable fish is confusing.

Here are the fish I want to choose from:

Yellow Tang
Kole Tang
Purple Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Regal Tang
Racoon Butterfly
Coral Banded Butterfly
2xPurple Firefish (and/or) 2xOrange Firefish
Yellowhead Jawfish or Bluespot Jawfish
Pygmy Flameback Angel
4xchromis
2 Perc. clowns

- This list seems long to me. I'm trying to find the inch/gallon ratio but I'm finding mixed answers. Can all these fish survive with the inch/gallon ratio?
- Will all these fish get along together relatively?

That's a lot of tangs for a 95 gal. There will probably be a lot of aggression. Also Powder Blues are difficult to keep. I would let the tank mature quite a bit before introducing the Butterflies. The remainder of your list seems fine. Good Luck.

[bignose]

Here is a update on my tank.

Water test results:
Amonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5-7ppm
Sal - 1.026

A pictures as of today. Jan 24, 2009

This light is totally wrong

[Skimmerking]

[Here are the fish I want to choose from:

Yellow Tang
Kole Tang
2xPurple Firefish (and/or) 2xOrange Firefish jumpers
Yellowhead Jawfish or Bluespot Jawfish jumpers
flame angel, BI color for color
3 x chromis
3 anthias
star fish assorted colors
leopard wrasses x 2

that is what i would put in there

[bignose]

Today I went out and bought the rest of the CUC. I got 12 snails and 5 more hermit crabs, 6 empty snail shells and a fire shrimp. I also wanted to get a cleaner shrimp but they didn't have any. I forgot to mention that I added 8 hermit crabs on week two.

I bought everything from Aquarium Illusions. They had some very nice fish in stock. I especially liked the fairy wrasses and purple tangs.

[bignose]

Thought I would update my tank. It's been established a month today.

Here are the results of my water tests. I'm still making sense of some of this so if there is something out of whack please inform me.

NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 10-15 Doing my first water change tommorrow. Currently mixing water.
pH - 8.2
Ca - got to 600 and stopped. what the heck? old test kit?
PO4 - 0.25
KH - 80
Sal - 1.024

I'm using a API Master test kit. I don't trust these results myself. What brand would some people recommend?

[Trabby]

And............ your tank is going to be great!

Originally Posted by bignose

This is kinda off topic but I popped the big question today. I'm getting married woo!!

[bignose]

I finally bought the light for my tank locally from a fellow canreefer. It's a Tek-5 54Wx6 4" fixture.

The way everything is now is exactly what my goal was in the beginning of this build, a basic but complete system for a beginner. I've decided to post the approximate cost of my system. The components are ~50/50 new/used. This will not include the cost of salt and the LR from my nano.


What I found at canreef and kijiji locally.
95G Tank - $200
30G sump - free
Tek-5 T5HO - $280
RS-135 - $180
LR ~40pnds - free
LR ~40pnds - $200
Refractometer - $60

I also found some of my receipts and here is what I found.
2 Koralia 4's - $100
250W jager heater - $35
Quietone 5000 - $169
100 pnds sand - $93
plumbing and wood and stand - $280
bulkheads - $28

Grand total ~$1625

Overall I'm happy with the cost of this system and the equipment I found. I never calculated the cost of a completely new system but I'm sure it would be alot more.

Six months of ad surfing and research, and little bit of saving paid off in the end. Now for the livestock! What am I thinking? it never ends

[bignose]

Here is a picture of the tank.

FTS

Sorry about the picture quality. I have never been able to take clear pictures.

[bignose]

I addressed the power bar issue and moved the Skimmer to the other side of my sump. Not only did it make it safer but it also made it easier to remove the collection cup.


I was barely able to get the skimmer into the other side. Took some time and effort but I got it in.

[bignose]

I got bored so I took pictures of some of my coral. Some of you may recognize these coral.


Candy cane and some kind of Leather


Pipe organ


Elephant ear - gone through hell and on its way back


zoos - nice purple blue color


zooos - bright orange in person


zoooos