iTzJu's 90 Gallon Mixed Reef Adventure :)

[iTzJu]

I have been putting off a tale of the tank ever since I joined because I wasn't happy with my tank. I wanted to get it a bit nicer before I started a tale of the tank but what's the point right? Tale of the tank is about getting to the "end" of your reef adventure, if it ever does end haha

How this all started..

I started the tank back in late 2011 from a crashed 45 gallon I had prior. In the year 2012, I must admit I neglected the tank for a good 6 months due to getting a new job and other things that popped up. Last August I finally decided to get back in taking care of the tank. I did a massive water change and kept with weekly water changes to stabilize the system. I didn't have much corals to start off with so I didn't loose much during this time of neglect. The tank was going good until Sandy came along and killed whatever I had left, minus my yellow tang, pair of clowns, and keyhole angel that survived. Again, went through the whole process of weekly water changes and lots of testing to make sure the tank was able to keep corals healthy. December, the tank was stable and I started buying Zoas, LPS, and SPS frags to fill the tank again. However, I decided to change my sump out to a 20 long from a 30 long to save space in my stand and a mini-cycle happened. Ammonia was through the roof and killed all the SPS frags I had. Dosed Special Blend and Nite-Out II to take care of the spike. My fish, zoas, and lps frags made it through. I continued doing water changes and waited it out to get anymore SPSs till after the new year. I now find myself here writing this Tale of the Tank.

So here it goes...

The Equipment

90 Gallon RR Tank
100+lb Dry Rock (Reef Cleaners)
Carrib-Sea Live Sand
20 Gallon Long DIY Sump/Refugium
Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite
Beamworks 48" Quad EVO 3w LED Fixture
ViAqua 3600 Return Pump
Koralia Evo 1050 & 750
Vortech MP40 Gen II
SCA-302 Cone Skimmer
Hydor Theo 300w Heaters x 2
BRS Dual Reactor (GFO & GAC)
------------------------------------------
Aquamaxx Bio-Pellets Reactor (Offline)
BRS Dosers x2 (Offline)
Chinese Dosers x2 (Offline)
Two Little Fishes Phosban 150 Reactor (Offline)

Livestock

Fish & Inverts

• Yellow Tang
• Pair of False Percs Clowns
• Keyhole Angel
• Blue Green Chromis x4
• Dispar Anthaias x3
• Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
• ReefCleaners CUC

Corals

• Finger Leather
• Cabbage Leather
• Purple Shrooms
• Green Star Polyps (2 Strains)
• Utter Chaos Zoa
• Red Hornets Zoa
• Joker Zoa
• Bam Bam Zoa
• Reverse Gorilla Nipples Zoa
• TUBBS Blue Zoa
• Armor of God Zoa
• Nuclear Green Zoa
• Fire & Ice Zoa
• Watermelon Zoa
• Giant Cinnamon Paly
• Neon Green Trumpet
• Pale Pink Trumpet
• Miami Hurricane Chalice
• Blastomussa
• Duncan
• Torch
• Frogspawn
• Hammer
• Neon Green Plate
• Galaxea
• Blue Millipora
• Green Slimer
• Purple Slimer
• ORA Red Planet
• Ponape Birdsnest
• Red Monti Cap
• Green Monti Cap
• Superman Monti

Issues

Cyano!!! I ran bio-pellets when I started to take care of my tank again and I think it is the reason for my current cyano outbreak. I took it offline and started GFO again to see if that helped but it didnt. I am going to start dosing MB7 along with vacuuming the cyano to combat this problem. the outbreak is only on the sand bed so hopefully I can win this battle!

Future Plans

I would like to get the offline equipment running! The dosers are not being used since I don't really have a lot of corals as of yet, most are still frags so weekly water changes takes care of keeping calc/alk up for now. I am going use the chinese dosers as a ATO. I currently have my RODI unit hooked up to a float valve as an ATO but it's killing my RODI filters and resin with it constantly on and off. Get the Bio-Pellets back online once I win the war with cyano! I also want to replace my skimmer. I had an Eshopps PSK-200 Gen II but when I decided for a smaller sump I bought the SCA-302 Cone Skimmer. The Skimmer is fantastic for the price, it's generally a SWC clone and uses the same pump too. However, they rated it for a 180 Gal Tank which is false. I wouldn't use it for anything higher than 75 Gallon. I definitely want to upgrade my lighting. I bought the Beamswork Fixture when I knew very little about LEDs and needed to replace my bulbs for my T5 fixture. Don't get me wrong, the fixture is great for what it is but it is too white for my taste. I am either going for AI Sols or FathomLED fixtures. I will also be supplementing the LEDS with T5s. Oh, I also want to get more corals and maybe some clams haha

* Photo was taken with my phone. Will pull out the DSLR later.

 

[jgraz]

Looks good Judeo. Like the scape too.
Def take out the camera and get some coral shots

 

[iTzJu]

Looks good Judeo. Like the scape too.
Def take out the camera and get some coral shots

Thanks John, will do! Maybe tonight when I put the actinics on again. The scape wasnt always like that. I recently changed it to form the two island look. I like it so much more after I made the change.

 

[iTzJu]

Corals! and alittle bit of cyano

Took these shots under actinc lighting, got some of the zoas and such. These were shot with a Canon T2i.

 

[ClownAquatics]

VERY NICE!

If you ever frag your hammer let me know

 

[jgraz]

Nice shots. That's the second hammer I've seen that looks like it has blue tips. Is that the atinic lighting that's doing that.

 

[iTzJu]

VERY NICE!

If you ever frag your hammer let me know

will do! I actually have a very small head of it that you can see in the picture of the zoas. Once it grows out a little more I'll let you know.

 

[iTzJu]

Nice shots. That's the second hammer I've seen that looks like it has blue tips. Is that the atinic lighting that's doing that.

John, I actually can't wait to supplement my lighting with T5s because I think the tips are actually purple/violet. I see purple during the day.

 

[mnat]

Very nice, glad to see you have stuck with the hobby. We have had our ups and downs as well but the ups in this hobby are amazing.

 

[iTzJu]

Very nice, glad to see you have stuck with the hobby. We have had our ups and downs as well but the ups in this hobby are amazing.

Thanks! Yeah I definitely know about the ups and downs! So far it looks like this hobby isnt going anywhere anytime soon for me, haha. The feeling of getting everything working right and seeing progress in coral growth and color is too sweet of a feeling.

 

[iTzJu]

Hey guys, any ideas of stocking my tank? I am thinking about getting one more tang in there. what would be your recommendations? if not, maybe some wrasses?

 

[mnat]

Go with a pair of wrasses. Reef safe, will do fine in that tank.

 

[Coolaid]

I'm partial to flasher / fairy wrasse. I just love watching mine (filemented) extend his fins out and fly around the tank like he's the king.

 

[jgraz]

I have three tangs in my 90. I know thats a hippo and a yellow too many. The other is a kole. In my tank they get along great and don't appear to be confined. I did have a short war when i added the yellow. In my system the kole is king. I know they will need to be moved eventually. That said I agree with the others that the wrasses would be great. If you really want another tang, the kole and the tomini are great and can handle a tank that size but the yellow might not be happy with the addition.

 

[falconut]

I have three tangs in my 90. I know thats a hippo and a yellow too many. The other is a kole. In my tank they get along great and don't appear to be confined. I did have a short war when i added the yellow. In my system the kole is king. I know they will need to be moved eventually. That said I agree with the others that the wrasses would be great. If you really want another tang, the kole and the tomini are great and can handle a tank that size but the yellow might not be happy with the addition.

I've got three in my 90 too. A Hippo, Yellow and Orange Stripe (which is very similar to a kole). They've been in there for years and are fat and healthy, plus they never even bother each other.

 

[falconut]

I also want to replace my skimmer. I had an Eshopps PSK-200 Gen II but when I decided for a smaller sump I bought the SCA-302 Cone Skimmer. The Skimmer is fantastic for the price, it's generally a SWC clone and uses the same pump too. However, they rated it for a 180 Gal Tank which is false. I wouldn't use it for anything higher than 75 Gallon.

I've got the same skimmer on my 90. I've been running the SCA-302 for around a year and think it's worked better than my old ASM-G2. I agree, it's definitely not something I'd put on a 180, but a 90 seems good.

Tank looks nice.

 

[ahvrivera]

Ive got 3 tangs in my 125. 2 yellows and 1 sailfin. They flash at each other every now and them but dont beat each other up. I feed them nori everyday so they dont get into a territorial match. Im partial to the leopard wrasses. My potters is easy going and they tend to have great personalities. A Trio of flame wrasses would look awesome in your set up
Great looking tank by the way!

 

[iTzJu]

Thanks for the recommendation guys, I always wanted to keep a Blue Hippo, however I've tried several times in the past but it seems like I can never get them to live. I used to buy them very small though, maybe thats the reason why? I like the Kole Tang, I might consider that. Any thoughts on the Powder Brown Tang? looks beautiful!

I am definitely going to get a wrasse in my system, I was looking at the Linespot Flasher Wrasse. Also the Leopard Wrasse looks amazing! Do you guys think I can squeeze in another tang and a pair of wrasses or will that be overloading my tank? I am considering finding another home for my keyhole angel.

I've got the same skimmer on my 90. I've been running the SCA-302 for around a year and think it's worked better than my old ASM-G2. I agree, it's definitely not something I'd put on a 180, but a 90 seems good.

Tank looks nice.

Craig, I agree with you it is doing fine on my 90. However, I plan on running my bio-pellets again and I feel like this skimmer won't be able to handle the load. The skimmer is amazing and is the best bang for your buck if anyone is looking for one with a tank that is less than 90 gallons.

I will be picking up a SRO XP1000SS at the end of the week to replace the SCA-302 and have the input of the skimmer modified with a tee fitting so my output of my bio-pellets reactor is directly connected. (I think this was also the reason why cyano broke out in my system. I didn't have the output of my reactor directly feeding the skimmer)

 

[jgraz]

Look at my stock list. I think you can get them in there. I love powder browns. The wife wanted a yellow though. I've got 11 fish. All happy and healthy.

 

[jgraz]

Then again I just looked at your list. You might be cutting it tight.