# Joffems Mixed Reef



## joffems (May 2, 2014)

After a lot of research, planning and a few obstacles, my tank is finally coming together.

Background
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I grew up with a 10 gallon tropical tank in my room and a Koi pond in the backyard. The 10 gallon had everything that this forumn loves. The tank had way too many fish, multi-colour fluorescent gravel and a plastic skeleton drinking rum power by my air pump. That said, I had the tank for about 8 years and loved it.

Moving On
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I have wanted to get a tank going again for many years. My wife agreed that it would make sense to get the tank once we moved. The original plan was to go for a 75 gallon planted tank to slowly get back into the hobby. After a lot of internal debate I decided to go straight to a reef tank as that was the end goal and what I really wanted. I also realized that a 75 gallon wasn't going to test my wife's patience enough, so it quickly went from 75 gallons to 90 then 120 and finally 180.

The tank would go into my basement office where I spend way too many hours every day. Unfortunately, a 180 wouldn't get down our basement stairs and I had to compromise a bit on the dimensions. I decided a 125 gallon would give me the length that I really wanted.

Initial purchases
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I purchased a used tank off a forum member along with a stand and sump. I also purchased several other pieces of used gear from other forum members. Everyone has been unbelievably friendly and helpful. Questions have been answered, additional tips shared and I have also seen some beautiful tanks.



Time to build
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The sump is located under the basement stairs which are conveniently behind my office wall. I added 2 Brutes to make RO/DI water and mix salt water, a new utility sink and a 20 amp line to power the tank.



Apparently my plan to test my wife's limits passed (or failed depending on how you look at things). To appease the boss, I built a 7" tub around all of the gear under the stairs using 2x4s and pond liner. This has already worked exceptionally well catching my spills.



The plumbing was built using Schedule 40 1.5" and 1" PVC. While the pros won't like my purple primer splotches and the 3 extra joints from my measurement screwups, I was really happy with the results. My first time using PVC took longer than expected, but there were no leaks in the joints.







Some Other Gear
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Some of the other gear I'm using
- Eheim 1262
- Maxspect Gyre
- Avast Marine CS-1 skimmer
- Neptune Apex (ordered)
- Media Reactor (TLF Phosban 150)
- Ati Sunpower 6 x 80W (will eventually supplement with DIY LED)

Start Cycling
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I purchased 100 pounds of Pukani from Big Reef Depot and prepped them in two 32 Gallon Brutes for 3 months. The rocks are now in my tank awaiting its first fish.

QT
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I decided to setup two 20 gallon Long tanks as my QT tanks. The plan is to do TTM along with two PraziPro treatments. The first inhabitants, a pair of Oscellaris clowns, conveniently named Nemo and, really creatively, Nemo are enjoying their first days in QT being observed.



Stocking Plan
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The current plan, though this changes daily. I'm definitely open to recommendations here.

2 x a. ocellaris
1 x melanurus wrasse
1 x pink spot goby
3 - 5 x Dispar Anthias
1 x Powder Brown Tang or Yellow Tang or One Spot Foxface or something completely different

Lessons learned so far
--
- I'm a really slow plumber. The PVC took significantly longer than I thought.
- Unions are awesome for longer runs where you have to line up multiple bends. The unions remove the need for perfect alignment.
- If you're just getting started, consider buying stepped drill bits. The most useful tool for me during the build.
- There are roughly 10,000 different protein skimmers on the market. Of that , roughly 1000 are the best according to their owners. Eventually you have to stop researching and make a decision.
- Don't let your young children name fish. You'll end up with two clownfish named Nemo.

Disclaimer: If you've read this far and plan on following, please remember that I have no idea what I'm doing. Only time will tell how the tank will turn out.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Very well thought out build and one of the better ones that i've seen. You are definitely on the right track and I'll definitely be tagging along for sure!

When you're ready, swing on by my place and pick up your first frags!!! I'll make you a deal you can't refuse  (pretty much free)

Would love to swing by one day when it's full and bring a few beers.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

Looking good man! Tagging along!


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

altcharacter said:


> Very well thought out build and one of the better ones that i've seen. You are definitely on the right track and I'll definitely be tagging along for sure!
> 
> When you're ready, swing on by my place and pick up your first frags!!! I'll make you a deal you can't refuse  (pretty much free)
> 
> Would love to swing by one day when it's full and bring a few beers.


Thanks. It sounds like I'm going to owe you beers in exchange for frags. You can definitely swing by when there is something worth seeing in the tank.



fesso clown said:


> Looking good man! Tagging along!


Thanks. I was a little concerned that your skimmer plus swabbie would be a tight fit under the stairs, but it worked out really well.


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## szl (Sep 18, 2015)

Looks good!

I am also the owner of 2 nemos, I feel ur pain.


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Good stuff, love the pic of the clowns 👍🏼


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

szl said:


> I am also the owner of 2 nemos, I feel ur pain.


I feel better knowing that I'm not alone.



fury165 said:


> Good stuff, love the pic of the clowns &#128077;&#127996;


Thanks. Getting good shots in the fish room was definitely harder than I anticipated. At some point I'm going to cave and purchase a macro lens.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

joffems said:


> I feel better knowing that I'm not alone.


Feel no shame. 
I don't understand the extreme indignant reaction many reefers have when someone calls a clownfish Nemo... it's a pretty hilarious really.


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## Orangutran (Oct 16, 2012)

Looks good so far! Are you sure this is your first SW tank? 

And I love the scape you have so far! 

My clowns are called sammy and sammy, because my daughter has not watched that nemo movie yet.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

fesso clown said:


> Feel no shame.
> I don't understand the extreme indignant reaction many reefers have when someone calls a clownfish Nemo... it's a pretty hilarious really.


I have no problem having a Nemo in my tank. Letting my daughter choose and name the fish was my technique to help her feel included and hopefully develop an interest in the tank. To me, the funny part is that she chose the same name for both fish. That duplication feels like a parenting fail.

On the topic of Nemo and Nemo, I've been struggling to get the smaller one to eat. Picked up some frozen baby brine this morning and the problem was solved.



Orangutran said:


> Looks good so far! Are you sure this is your first SW tank?
> 
> And I love the scape you have so far!
> 
> My clowns are called sammy and sammy, because my daughter has not watched that nemo movie yet.


Thanks. Definitely my first go.


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## Mikeylikes (Nov 22, 2013)

Great start! Tagging along ...

I built my 165+ gallon from scratch with my partner in crime Paulf757. People thought we were nuts and gutsy as first time reefers. Check out our build thread.

Year+ later couldn't be more happy ...

Mikey


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*fantastic*

hey there love your build , deff following this one , love how u just took the bull by the horns ,seems u have done all your research .things look great ,look forward to more photos and details ,
cheers 
tom


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

Marvellous build and thread. Tagging along to watch your progress!!! Well done =) 

Sent from my SM-N915W8 using Tapatalk


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Mikeylikes said:


> Great start! Tagging along ...
> 
> I built my 165+ gallon from scratch with my partner in crime Paulf757. People thought we were nuts and gutsy as first time reefers. Check out our build thread.
> 
> ...


I have been following the two of you since the start (I started researching a year and a half ago due to the joy that is the Toronto release estate market).

Your acrylic builds are fantastic.



tom g said:


> hey there love your build , deff following this one , love how u just took the bull by the horns ,seems u have done all your research .things look great ,look forward to more photos and details ,
> cheers
> tom


Thanks. Having to wait so long before even buying the tank really gave me a lot of time to read.



saltmeup said:


> Marvellous build and thread. Tagging along to watch your progress!!! Well done =)
> 
> Sent from my SM-N915W8 using Tapatalk


Thanks.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

One item that I've quickly learned that I need to optimize is topping off the QT tanks with RODI. I had been using a piece of leftover 1/4" tubing to manually top off the QT tank using a siphon. Starting the sihpon got old really quickly. Luckily, there was a quick fix. I remembered that I had two spare ball valves from when I built my custom 3 way valve for bypassing the DI on startup.

I put the ball valve inline with my siphon tubing and ran the tubing through a hole in the Brute handle to hold it in place.



All I do now is open and close the valve. My siphon is always ready to go and top off is much simpler.

Looking at the photo above, I noticed that the Cat6 cables behind my fresh water Brute were really messy. I tidied the cables with velcro wrap.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Time for another update.

Heater Issue
==
The only issue that I've hit so far during QT is a bad heater. I setup my second QT tank and prepped it for the first tank transfer. The heater appeared to be calibrated and temperature was holding steady at 78 after 12 hours. I transferred the fish, turned out the lights and called it a night. When I woke up I noticed that the QT temperature was 83. I quickly pulled the heater out as I wasn't sure how high the temp would go. I had a spare 100 watt heater and placed it in the tank. I realized that I needed to watch temperature very closely.

Luckily, I had contemplated doing a DIY controller based on a popular design on ReefCentral and had built a prototype. A while back, I decided to shelve the project as I spend one week in the US every month for work and I wanted a controller with support in case there were issues. I pulled my prototype out the closet and started using it to monitor the QT temp.



I now plan on building this controller out as a tool for QT which I'm excited about.

Water Changes
==
I'm quickly learning that simple maintenance tasks need to be simplified with tools and ideally, should be automated if possible. To get this going, I've added some plumbing to my water mixing station. I now have valves for mix mode and pump mode on my salt water tank. I also added a 1 inch valve to quickly fill the saltwater Brute with RODI and a 1/2 inch valve to fill my ATO bucket. This plumbing has already simplified TTM and water changes.



I also created my new favourite tool, the hook. The hook is attache to the fresh Saltwater pumping valve and lets me hang the pipe on the side of tanks. This simple design works well for fill tanks.



The hook at work. Ignore the giant mess of cables. Apex should arrive today and the cable cleanup can start.



Next Step - Automation
==
Because I spend one week away each month I need to get as many tasks automated as possible. The first two items I'm going to tackle are automated feeding and automated water changes. For the feeing I will use a Neptune AFS.

I haven't selected a water change solution yet. There has been a bit of chat regarding automated water changes and I'm evaluating the options.The current options are a Reef Genesis, LitreMeter which I learned about this week, or build my own DIY solution. Currently, I'm leaning towards DIY.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

It's been a frustrating week tank wise. First, I lost my Melanurus Wrasse in QT. That was a disappointing process, I but I believe there was something wrong with the fish from day one and I also learned to have sand for the fish from day one.

On Friday night I went to turn off the lights on my tank and I could only see one of my two clowns. I searched top to bottom, moved some rock, checked the overflows, plumbing to the sump, filter socks, floor around the tank and in the sand bed near where the two clowns tend to hangout. He just vanished. Gone. The one thing I did notice when I got to the tank is that my cleanup crew, 6 snails, was out and about. 

The only thing that changed in the tank is that I did a water change earlier in the day. I confirmed water temperate and salinity were consistent before the change. And I also checked parameters after I noticed the MIA clown.

Ammonia: < 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2 ppm
SG: 1.025
Temp: 79 F

Not really sure what happened on this one. Hopefully there isn't some predator lurking in my tank that I cannot see, though I assume not as I used dry rock, clowns were in QT for more than a month and the only source I could think of would be the snails.

I've been waiting for 2 weeks for my second EB8 and a probe holder to arrive so I can get my Apex up and running. First world problems.

I had originally, planned on getting a few coral frags this weekend, but I've decided to wait a bit until I decide what to do about replacing my clown. Not sure if I should get another small clown or wait for the current QT round to complete and get a bigger clown this time around. My one fear is that a much bigger clown may beat the baby up a bit too much.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Tank progress is slow, but I'm getting to a place where I'm happy. I've added an Apex with an extra EB8, 2 media reactors (carbon and rowaphos), and added mesh covers to the tank. I also added an LED strip in the fish room to make it easier to work in the sump. I'm testing my parameters with a few new test kits (Red Sea for Alk, Calk and Mag) and a Hanna Alk tester which was added after the Red Sea purchase. Not sure if it is just me, but I find the colour change hard to judge on the Red Sea Alk test.

The custom water pan under my sump, made from 2 x 4 and pond liner has payed off again. I left a valve open on the mixing station and everything was trapped in the pan waiting to be cleaned up. Instead of an angry wife I ended up with a wife laughing at my mistake. Up next, I need to add a water sensor into the pan.

My Firefish and Melanurus Wrasse have made it from QT to the tank. The wrasse was a bit of bastard on his second day in the tank, but has since dropped the attitude and become a model citizen. Next step is to add some corals. I thought I was going to be able to start with corals last weekend, but house work trampled all over that plan. I'll hopefully be able to visit some of the members who have already messaged me with offers on Saturday.

Finally, a few simple photos of the progress.

Full tank:



Fish Room:


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## Orangutran (Oct 16, 2012)

Looks great!!

Good call with the water pan. I've flooded my basement a couple times already… It's just a rite of passage for a reefer!


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Orangutran said:


> Looks great!!
> 
> Good call with the water pan. I've flooded my basement a couple times already&#8230; It's just a rite of passage for a reefer!


What a well timed post.

I entered my fishroom last night to top off my QT with RODI and noticed that the QT tank was less than half full. A crack in the bottom of the tank was letting water out slowly. I setup my second QT tank on our the bar with the leftover water and some fresh water and then cleaned the lovely mess. Fans are still running to dry everything out.

My wife says that now I have to add a drip tray to my QT stand.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

YIKES! I thought at first your main tank had cracked and had to read it again.... thank goodness it was only the QT. 

LOoking great so far!


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## Orangutran (Oct 16, 2012)

joffems said:


> What a well timed post.
> 
> I entered my fishroom last night to top off my QT with RODI and noticed that the QT tank was less than half full. A crack in the bottom of the tank was letting water out slowly. I setup my second QT tank on our the bar with the leftover water and some fresh water and then cleaned the lovely mess. Fans are still running to dry everything out.
> 
> My wife says that now I have to add a drip tray to my QT stand.


Sorry to hear. Do you know why it cracked?

Gotta keep the wife happy. Or else you sleep in the fish room.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Orangutran said:


> Sorry to hear. Do you know why it cracked?
> 
> Gotta keep the wife happy. Or else you sleep in the fish room.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


I'm still not sure why it cracked. I double checked and the stand is still level. My best guess is that it took a hit and no one has owned up to it. It's definitely frustrating not knowing why it broke.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

A quick tank update.

I picked up my first three frags from March at the beginning of the week. With a bit of helpful feeback I ended up with zoa, acan and pulsing xenia frags to start out. Starting out with 3 frags to see how they do in my tank.



Wow. I now know why people say that the coral part is addictive. Watching the corals grow is amazing and I'm less than a week in. The xenia and zoa are already displaying new growth which is amazing to watch.

At this point there is also a bit of algae growing in the tank. My phosphate levels are a bit high, (about 0.17ppm). I'm trying to drop the phosphate level with Rowaphos, water changes and decreasing feedings (less food overall and also less Reef Frenzy and more PE mysis).

Finally, the replacement clown, Krusty, is almost ready for the tank. Up next for the QT is a one spot foxface if I can find one.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

I've managed to take the summer off from work travels and have used the time to stabilize the tank a bit.

During my last work trip at the beginning of July, I had a skimmer overflow that went unnoticed for 4 or 5 days. After the overflow I struggled with phosphate levels that continuously crept higher. After a lot of frustration I started dosing NOPOX. Nitrate and phosphate levels are now under control, if not too low. I'm now manually removing the leftover algae from the phosphate spike to complete the cleanup. During this time frame I've also started adding Kalk to my top off to stabilize calc and alk which is definitely helping the corals in the tank.

On the fish front, I added a diamond watchman goby and a Flame Hawk. The Flame Hawk was a recommendation by Crayon and tom g and one of the best pieces of advice that I have received. The flame hawk has an unbelievable personality and is quickly becoming my favourite fish. The goby is having a blast rearranging the tank, but my wife thinks he is amazing so I will definitely put up with the sand movement.



L]

Photobombing the flame hawk photo


Up next, I need to connect my float sensors to my apex. I need to monitor sump high, sump low, skimmer cup overflow and ATO low. I just need to come up with a nice way to mount the sensors in the sump and buckets. I'm considering making brackets with acryllic and magnets.

Finally, there are the corals. I now get why people get hooked on corals. I've slowly added a few pieces. I have a mix of zoas, an acan, LPS and SPS. The corals are doing pretty well and watching their health and growth is addictive. I have been feeding my acan and LPS once a week with mysis which is my favourite weekly maintenance task.



The one coral that I've really struggled with are the zoas. My first two frags started off alright, but eventually started melting away. With nothing left to lose, I raised the frags to give them more light. So far the additional light has been working and they're slowly recovering. Hopefully the heads will go back to their original size and colours. Only time will tell.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

The tank continues to progress. I've added 4 lyretail anthias and so far they are doing well. The last two fish to be added are a yellow tang and powder brown tang. The two tangs have been hanging out in QT awaiting their trip to the DT for just over a month. So far the tangs are doing really well in QT.

On the coral front, I was struggling with the stability of the core elements. I was using Kalk to keep levels stable, but Kalk and being away for 1 week every month just wasn't working. The tank also saw a sudden spike in magnesium uptake during one trip which didn't help anything. I decided that I needed to move away from Kalk and add automatic dosing to try and stabilize Alk, Calcium, and Magnesium.

I decided to grab 3 BRS dosers on one of my monthly trips and I added an EB4 to my Apex for control. Since swapping to the doser setup, my levels are really stable and I am now seeing great growth on my corals. The growth is encouraging and will definitely lead to more frags going into the tank.



Related to the EB4, one odd thing happened after the latest Fusion update. My EB4 started reporting that it was using over 85 amps at times. Of course, this happened while I was away. I confirmed that the house was still standing and restarted the EB4 a few days later when I got home.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Took a quick full tank shot. I think shot makes it very clear that it is time for more coral!


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Things have been quiet in this thread, and I think it is time for a year in review update.

At this time last year, the tank was just a dream and pile of stuff sitting in the garage.



A year later, the tank is starting to stabilize, and the inhabitants seem to be getting comfortable.



The livestock now includes a Powder Brown Tang and a Flame Hawkfish who are my two favorites.





There is also a trio of Bartlett Anthias that are doing well.



The corals in the tank have taken a bit more patience. At first, I saw limited growth and a loss of color in many of my frags. The addition of dosing pumps has stabilized Alk, Ca, and Mag levels and I have seen a noticeable improvement in the growth rate.

Over the last two months, I have been slowly elevating nitrate levels. I have also started feeding Reef-Roids and Reef Chili to the corals. These changes have lead to improved coloration and additional growth for my corals at the expense of a little more algae. My bleached Birdsnest frag is finally showing signs of color. The base is showing a yellow/green color, and the tips are coloring up pink (photo forthcoming). With the changes, I have also finally seen some improvement in my zoas which I have struggled with since day one.



It hasn't all been fun and games. I'm currently battling aiptasia, and for the first time in a week, I noticed one anemone. Hopefully, the fight against the aiptasia will be successful in 2017. So far I have used Aiptasia-X and then peppermint shrimp to fight the issue.

I also have a vermetid snail outbreak which is proving to be a real headache. I have been manually removing the snails a few times a week in the hopes of beating them.


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## Ephemeral (Dec 30, 2015)

Looks great! Really inspiring build!

I would caution against the Xenia (and GSP). You can avoid a very long battle keeping them in check by removing it now. It's like planting dandelions on a golf course.


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## cica (Feb 10, 2013)

Ephemeral said:


> Looks great! Really inspiring build!
> 
> I would caution against the Xenia (and GSP). You can avoid a very long battle keeping them in check by removing it now. It's like planting dandelions on a golf course.


If you keep the Xenias and GSP on a separate rock, not attached to your main rock work, you are safe. That way you can always remove that rock.

Very nice progress with your tank. Well done! Good luck with your battle against the aptasia.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*awesome*

awesome update just re read everything 
glad u went with the flame hawk
gonna keep following


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

Ephemeral said:


> Looks great! Really inspiring build!
> 
> I would caution against the Xenia (and GSP). You can avoid a very long battle keeping them in check by removing it now. It's like planting dandelions on a golf course.


Noted. The Xenia is spreading. Time to research removing it cleanly.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

As mentioned, here are a few more shots of the tank.

This piece is finally coloring up. There is a mix of green and yellow at the base with purple tips.



Pocillopora that I picked up from another reefer. This piece is growing quickly.



A little love for my cleanup crew.



And finally, a closeup.


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## Ephemeral (Dec 30, 2015)

Cica is the Xenia trainer! Like a snake charmer.


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## joffems (May 2, 2014)

The last two months with the tank have not gone according to plan. First, while traveling, a ton of Alk was dumped into the aquarium which created an Alk spike (from 8 to 13 dkh). When I returned several days later, a lot of the SPS was not doing well. Not long after that, I had a phosphate spike during another work trip (I guess someone dumped a bunch of food into the tank and the overflowing skimmer didn't help). The result is that I lost a lot of the SPS in my tank.

I finally had things under control and was seeing color return to my remaining, less demanding, SPS (pocillopora and montipora).

At some point on Saturday, my Gyre XF150 died. I noticed Sunday and after a bunch of troubleshooting, special thanks to ray at reefsupplies for the quick responses, it looks like the motor is dead. For now, I have to leave things to the other Gyre XF 130 and a spare Korallia nano 425 I had (I know, the big guns).

I now need to make a decision. Replace the pump for the gyre or give up on the thing and purchase an MP40. Thoughts on the choice are appreciated.


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## Ryguy (Oct 20, 2016)

Good luck removing the xenia, I had it spread all over. Even up the back glass in my 120. I even chipped rock apart and blow torches it! Still came back. It's like a cockroach lol live through a nuclear blast


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