135 Gallon Reef Upgrade

[dawgwe1]

Decided to upgrade my 40b to a 135 gallon tank. Going to keep with the same tank theme to start off with - mainly LPS and softies, clams, a few montiporas, and a few fish. Ordered a Reef Keeper lite and a JBJ ATO to make things a little easier. Waited until the BRA sale to get the salt, substrate, power heads, and skimmer. Also picked up a small yellow mimic tang that is currently in a QT tank for a few weeks. Purchased two LED lights from Ocean by Design with a controller. (Can't wait to get!!) Built a sump from a 40b that will house the heater, Reef Octopus 150 skimmer, Macro algae, and an Eheim 1262 return pump. Decided to stick with Eshopps overflow system and do a 'bean animal' mod to it. Purchased the 1200 overflow model but only need one of the two drains to keep up with the two J-tubes and the Eheim 1262. Have a gate valve to adjust the drain so it is virtually silent. The second drain acts as a safety in case the main drain gets clogged for some reason. (pictures to be posted). Started to fill on Friday, added substrate, new base rock, and salt on Saturday. Finally cleared up today and added one piece of live rock from my 40b. Have a few other pieces I picked up from nomercymike that I will add later today. Should have the LED's next week - they needed some time to add the controller. Something about building a store is keeping mojo busy. Now it's just kick back and wait until cycled.

 

[dawgwe1]

 

[user 26995]

Great upgrade. Nice size tank. You will love all the extra room. Keep the updates coming.
Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Peppie]

Great start,
Well thought out. Keep the updates coming.
What is on your fish wish list?

 

[dawgwe1]

Still working on the fish wish list. Wanted a larger tank so I would have more options. I will transfer the livestock from my 40b - pair of true percs, six line wrasse, and engineer goby. I also have the yellow mimic tang in QT tank waiting. About the only two I know for sure is a powder brown tang and a second engineer goby. I have been reading through other reefers builds to get an idea of what others are having success with. IPisces has a really nice group.

 

[user 26995]

Hey thanks.
I love powder brown tangs. They are really pretty.

 

[Derbird]

Wow now that is a upgrade, more then 3X the space I have a six footer as well and love the swim space it gives. I have a mixed sailfin and its one of my favorite tangs(pacific and red sea cross).

 

[dawgwe1]

Update time - Swapped everything over from my 40b to the 135g on Dec. 3rd. Swap went good with no losses. REALLY LIKE the LED lights I put up from Oceans by Design. Tried to go with only two but had to add a third one that I picked up yesterday. I only have them at 12% or so - slowly increasing intensity about 3% a week. Leaving new coral at them bottom for a couple days before placing in the rock work. Going to build a suspended canopy this week to hide some of the cords. I have added a couple pieces of coral since the swamp. Picked up a powder brown tang, sand sifting goby, and a cool looking green hydnophora yesterday at RBA. So far the fish list includes the two I added yesterday, a yellow mimic tang, six line wrasse, pair of percs, and an engineer goby. Now for some pics.....

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[DTECH07]

Very clean and a great upgrade.

 

[pandora32]

Looks good. Question though. Why did you put your cheato in the display? Or is that cheato?

 

[user 26995]

Very nice looking rock work and tank.

 

[seakingaquariums]

nice! i like how there isnt too much work ! gives it a nice open feeling.

 

[dawgwe1]

Why did you put your cheato in the display? Or is that cheato?

No cheato in the display - only in the sump :wave:

 

[dawgwe1]

Its been a couple of months since the last update. Built a suspended hood for the helios lights, added a powder brown tang, sand sifting goby, and several corals. Looking for a sail fin tang to add to the group. The clown fish started laying eggs again about a month ago. Currently raising 20 or so babies in a hatchery tank. Most corals are doing great and responding well to the LED lights. Still hit and miss with acros. Some do great and others bleach out after a couple weeks.

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[1guydude]

Sweet hood. Guess the suspended hood/rimless/led is the way everyone is going.

Keep it up! Btw wats ur w/c plan?
D

 

[dawgwe1]

Thanks Devin - I like the suspended hood. Lights are 12" above the water. High enough for access to the tank. I do a 10 gallon water change once a week. The water parameters are staying consistent. CA is staying around 425.

 

[dawgwe1]

Well it's been a couple years since I have updated this post. The posts from two years ago were from when I just got this tank up and running upgrading from a 40b. Never had much luck with SPS so mostly LPS, a few anenomes, and softies. The mimic tang that was yellow in the original pictures has transformed from its juvenile yellow color to its adult coloring. Pretty cool to watch him change colors over a period of time. I have had the mimic tang and powder brown for two years, the fox face for a year. The powder brown will not let any other fish into the tank with out attacking it with the exception of the foxface even though it tried. The foxface was bigger and was still harassed for a few days before getting along. The clowns and wrasse were from my 40b. I want to add a few more fish but wouldl need to catch the powder brown and quarentine him for a while so hopefully the new fish can be left alone when he is introduced.

 

[mfinn]

Looks great.
How many anemones do you have in the tank?

 

[dawgwe1]

One large green long tentacle and two RBT's. Had one that split.

 

[mimosa]

Nice setup. Do you still breed the clownfish? Post pics? I always wanted to raise from the eggs, but never got around picking up when they hatched and attending them.