55 Gallon RR - My First REEF Build

[Juano908]

Plankton and they are good.

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[redfishbluefish]

They are copepods....and they are good. By the way, great video!

 

[ReeferRick]

It appears the tank has finally cycled. I put the fish in a few days ago and today I did my tests before the 5gal water change and all Nitrates are down to zero. Fish look happy and the hair algae has slowed down. Installed the skimmer today also. Not much of a CUC yet (2 turbo snails) but this will be high on the list. The pods continue to be present and my firefish seems to like them. The clown seems to enjoy the flow from the powerhead and the midas blenny doesn't go far from his hole and will dart in if someone approaches the tank. have a great weekend.

 

[ReeferRick]

Planning some creative plumbing to the sump to run a skimmer off the return pump.




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[ReeferRick]

The jumbo turbo snails that I have were busy in the quarantine tank as their little babies were discovered today. The parents have since been moved to the main display.

 

[Classklown90]

Tank is looking good, I like the scape

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[Jing_xoxo]

I hope the acclimation process went well, keep us updated !

 

[ReeferRick]

Things are good with the corals thanks to everyone who helped out, especially Pete. Now I am officially keeping a reef tank! Dance

The photos attached show some of the corals that were gifted to me. So far I have not lost any but a few zoa polyps due to poor placement in a high flow area that was corrected. Favorites include the large polyp coral I think maybe a Duncan, Birdsnest and the Zoas.

 

[mnat]

Corals look great, and yes that 4th picture is a duncan.

 

[ReeferRick]

Corals look great, and yes that 4th picture is a duncan.

Thanks, I have not identified the first (green color) and second (red color) one yet but my guess is two variations of montipora corals. The Duncan is doing great when fully opened it is the size of my fist. I think it stuck its tongue out when I was taking its picture.

 

[Zippy69]

Things are good with the corals thanks to everyone who helped out, especially Pete. Now I am officially keeping a reef tank! Dance

The photos attached show some of the corals that were gifted to me. So far I have not lost any but a few zoa polyps due to poor placement in a high flow area that was corrected. Favorites include the large polyp coral I think maybe a Duncan, Birdsnest and the Zoas.

View attachment 9240View attachment 9241View attachment 9242View attachment 9243View attachment 9244View attachment 9245

First, neon green pocillipora. Never spawned for me but electric green color that pops.Second is red montipora digitata. Can take over but great branching. Third is Ora green birdsnest from fishbrain. This has a pendulous form and the individual polyps sway with the current (good light and flow). Next is a frag from my original 10 gal nano. It's a Duncan that is a beautiful color of pale green, when mature is a great show stopper. Fourth is a Sunny d polyp ( great one IMO) and some other one that's a good filler of background space. Fith is the very first coral I ever had.... Some funky green mushroom. No clue on name. If you want I have some more stuff from the 55. Enjoy.....it only gets addictive! Lol

 

[ReeferRick]

The neon green pocillipora is a small beauty for sure which is in a high flow area of the tank. The red montipora digitata looks redish brown under my light but when the actinic is on they are a beautiful red and pink color. The green birdsnest is beautiful in all kinds of light, a real stunner. The Duncan appears as light lavender with a hint of green in my light, nice show piece. The sunny d polyp is very cool in actinic light. I hope the sunny d grows out more. The green mushroom appears to be healthy but I noticed a small clear worm living among them. I am not sure if I should dip them again to prevent any issues.

Other corals not pictured include the green slimmer and two different birdsnest coral (purple and green). I will work on posting pictures of them soon.

Recently I have been fighting small areas of cyanobacteria showing on the sand bed which I have been siphoning up with the water changes. I have since upgraded my skimmer to the BM Curve 5, added a power head to increase flow and doing more frequent water changes. The good news is that almost all the green hair algae is gone after adding the CUC and running macro algae in the sump.

I have been logging my tank parameters at Aquatic Log (www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/rssedivec/2).
Happy reef keeping!

 

[ReeferRick]

New photo of the tank so you get an idea how far this has progressed.

 

[Classklown90]

Looks great rick, love the islands

 

[ReeferRick]

Thanks the corals are starting to show growth which is very exciting. The snails are putting eggs all over the place. I think the island approach would reduce aggression in the fish, time will tell.


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[ReeferRick]

There are worms in my mushrooms. What should I do. Dip or are they safe?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlDIzm-q2yU

Thanks!

 

[Zippy69]

Spaghetti worms, they eat detritus and leftovers. Had em all over my sand bed. Very beneficial in my opinion. No harm to corals or fish.

 

[ReeferRick]

That is good news. It started with one but now I have several. Possibly made their way into the tank with the snails.

The snails are leaving their eggs all over. If I scrape the eggs from the glass the blenny will snatch them up.

The corals are doing great so far and the cyano is getting better.


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[ReeferRick]

Photo update...

More life is showing in the corals. I see new polyps on the duncans and the branching corals are showing new buds.

 

[ReeferRick]

Added a few new items from the recent Frag Swap. See attached video.

[video=youtube;Xlxe2ZcV84E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlxe2ZcV84E&list=UUIredsXNgyPY8zmSCI4rblA[/video]