Craig's Tank Journal

[craigwmiller]

Hey All! (Long-time aquarist, first time poster

I've started up a 68 gallon reef and here will be my journal/discussion.

Equipment:

Custom tank from Marine Aquaria (36" x 18" x 24")
25 gallon sump (26" x 14" x 16")

2x AI Vega Color w/ new controller
2x Eheim Jager 100W
Mag-Drive 7
Vertex IN-180 Skimmer
VorTech MP40w
Tunze 6025 Powerhead
Tunze 5017 ATO
TLF KW300 Reactor with Kalk, attached to ATO
ZEOvit 3L Reactor
BRS 1.1ML/min dosing pump, for ZEOStart
ReefKeeper V2


Photos and more details and updates to come!

Cheers,
Craig

[craigwmiller]

Here are some images after the setup:

[cuz]

nice work!! Very clean looking setup!!

[magikof7]

Beautiful tank and very clean set up!
looking forward to seeing it grow.

[waynemah]

Tagging along!

[craigwmiller]

Okay so I did the ZEOvit 14-day cycle process, and am very impressed. Today is Day 18 (the system was started Dec 16th).

The tank went through a massive diatom bloom from day 6 through 13, with the snails added on days 11 & 14 cleaning up the loose/lingering growth by yesterday (day 17).

The middle shelf-like rock and the small one (front-right) in the sand were the only 'live' rocks (total 8 lbs). All the rest was dry white marco rock.


I started adding livestock at day 10 (as per the instructions), with one small clown. Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate have always been nearly unmeasurable (small ammonia spike to around 0.50 on day 5-7, which all but went away on day 8+. Livestock additions will continue, slowly, just to be safe & humane (or the aquatic equivalent term)... But what I have added is doing great, and the corals I've transferred from one of my other tanks are showing better extensions and more brilliant color (Vega's, fair enough) than their previous established homes.

[rhody605]

Very slick setup. I would like to implement some of your ideas into my upgrade.

Thanks for sharing.
Keep up the great work.

[craigwmiller]

Thanks all! It sure has been fun up till now, and the rewarding part is just beginning (though the build is sure very enjoyable).

I have some more tech aspects of the setup to write about, and then will start on the livestock/etc...

...but if anyone has any specific questions/etc please let me know.

Cheers!

[Madreefer]

Nice build. Ill be following along. I've heard but haven't seen anybody start a tank with the Zeo system right from the get go. I'm really interested in seeing how your tank progresses. Do you plan on running Zeo for a long term or are you planning on slowly dosing back until you no longer use it? I've always wondered if it is possible to do that.

[craigwmiller]

Thanks!

I am planning to keep with ZEO. The cost analysis shows it pretty reasonable to continue and there is no refugium nor extra rocks in the sump nor a dsb or otherwise (all which would have required me to run a larger sump anyways) -- just the ZEO reactor and skimmer - which has less maintenance, and more display/growth to enjoy (at least that's my thoughts at this point)


Progression is going well, will add livestock pics tomorrow - but currently the list is:

- 2 clowns (one tiny ~1 inch, and the other mature at over 2"),
- 3 chromis (medium size, say 1.5")
- 1 barnacle blenny (1.5") -- almost forgot this guy
- 1 porcelain crab
- 1 blue tuxedo urchin (1")
- 1 purple linckia (3" from longest tip-to-tip)
- 8 turbo snails
- 5 narcissus snails
- 8 hermit crabs
- candy cane (3 clusters, 14 heads)
- frogspawn (1 cluster, ~6 heads, 5-6" across)
- torch (1 cluster, 2 heads, 2" across not extended)
- suncoral (1 cluster, ~30 heads)


Added the most recent bits of that 3 days ago, going to add some more tomorrow (water quality is unchanged and ammonia/nitrite/nitrate was unmeasurably affected by the addition)... my last nano tank will then be nearly empty after tomorrow's transitions, leaving just the bubble tip and it's buddy (another 1.5" clown) for maybe Tuesday-ish.