My Custom CFI 80

[Chichas01]

Well, figured I would start a new thread. My original design thread is here: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f13/80-gallon-build-41286/

2011 has been rough. Ich outbreak wiped out the fish and then I had a Dinoflagellate outbreak that took a huge toll on my corals and snails. So, time for a rebuild. I removed all my sand and put all my rock in covered tub in the garage with a skimmer to finish wiping out and Dino's for the last 6 weeks.

I'm about to start re-aquascaping the tank this weekend after a trip to Barrier yesterday to pick up some new corals and some of the FHI Real Reef rock. Nice stuff! Brie was kind enough to let me pick through the tank and I got some nice pieces. I noticed that the FHI stuff varies in density so I looked for the lightest stuff I could find. New corals I picked up yesterday include BRS Borealis, ORA Plum Crazy, Strawberry Shortcake, pink Milli, ORA blue bottlebrush, and nice chunk if Montipora Undata.

My plan is to try and do 'more' with less rock. No a complete minimalist design but definitely going to try and leave as much open space as possible.
Pics to follow once I figure out how to get a half way decent shot with my camera!

 

[Chichas01]

Finally done with my aquascaping. Only took 6 weeks :lol:
My friend who has a decent camera was nice enough to come by and take some decent pics:

Might try and get a full tank shot tomorrow when the lights come on.

 

[mojoreef]

Looking good you got some nice pieces


Mojo

 

[trido]

Looks like a real nice piece of undata there. Great looking LR too

 

[Chichas01]

thanks guys! I couldn't resist the undata after drooling over the one in the big display at Barrier. I cut way back from the amount of the rock I had previously. I used some of my favorite pieces of the regular live stuff that I had and then supplemented it with Reel Reef Rock. I really like the color on that stuff.

 

[TJL]

New tank looks good man, will be nice to have youo back on the boards now as well. Now where is that promised FTS!

Cheers, Todd

 

[Chichas01]

New pics, not quite as good as the last ones. One of these days I'll get a decent camera:

I'll probably be getting some new sand soon now that the rock work is in place. Thinking of the CaribSea Fiji Pink live sand. Wish they would sell it dry.

 

[Chichas01]

Edit: check Classifieds - livestock section

 

[Maxx]

Looks good!

What are the acrylic plates under your rockwork?

OT....are you on ARFcom also? You seem....familar.

Nick

 

[Chichas01]

Hey Maxx, the plates just 1/2" think acrylic drilled out so that I can place acrylic rod into them. I drilled out the rock so that once I add my sand (1") there really shouldn't be any significant amount of rock sitting on the sand. The majority should just touch or be up to 1/2" above the sand bed. Never heard of ARF.com so ust be someone else

On the tank update side of things, I noticed that one of my corals began to STN...or RTN. I noticed it last night and it hadn't progressed much by this AM. Just took it out and applied gobs of superglue around the areas where there is still tissue left over the skeleton. Hopefully that will stop it. I think this one is totally my bad; not enough acclimation time before I placed it directly under one of my halides. Lesson learned.

 

[Maxx]

Ahh...

Thought it was something you'd bought. Love the concept. I do something similar in that I drilled out the bottom of my rocks and inserted 3/8th inch acrylic rods to raise them up for flow and to aid in detritus removal...My tank is BB so its necessary to get as much out as possible.

No worries on the ARFcom thing...its a gun board and thought you might be someone I know on it.

Re: the STN....I generally dont add superglue or anything like that for STN. I try to find the cause of it, and treat that. The coral either recovers or doesnt. For RTN, I will frag the coral and superglue it to try and save some of it....

Nick

 

[Chichas01]

Good info on the STN/RTN Maxx. I'll be doing some tests later today. All other corals are doing fine, this one is the newest.

 

[Chichas01]

Finally got around to my tests:

• ph - 8.2
• alk - 10dkh
• Calc - 450
• Mg - 1300

I've been shooting for around 9 dkh and slightly less calcium, maybe around 420 or so. Overall looks good though since from what I can tell balanced calcium at 10dkh is 432.

Ordered my sand yesterday from Barrier. Going with the Fiji Pink dry sand from Caribsea. Anyone else using this? If so, how do you like it?

 

[tyson256031]

I'll probably be getting some new sand soon now that the rock work is in place. Thinking of the CaribSea Fiji Pink live sand. Wish they would sell it dry.

I got the fine marco rocks Bahaman sand and it is amazing! very clean and dry when came, free shipping with every order also! For what its worth

 

[Maxx]

You wanna lower your DKH before adding the sand.
Otherwise you'll end up with a calcified brick you paid extra to ship in a bag...

Ask me how I know...

Nick

 

[Chichas01]

Maxx
I was under the impression that dkh could be 7-12 and would need to have to be 13+ with even higher calcium levels to begin any sort of precip in the sand. What was your experience?

 

[Maxx]

Mine was at 12 and the sand bed turned solid in many places...
Its still in my 58 gallon tank right now, but will need to be broken up to get out eventually.

I've since gotten the DKh down to between 8 & 9....

Nick

 

[Chichas01]

Time for an update! Added some sand just before Christmas and then a little update to my lighting this morning courtesy of Ecotech and couple of their Radions.

Before:

After:

I've been playing around with the programing on the lights and it's pretty cool. I'm using a modified natural mode at 30% of full intensity and will ramp up 5% each week until i get to 100% output.

 

[tyson256031]

The tank is looking great! Gotta love the Radion units, so much control and flexibility with them its amazing. Ive only had them for about two months and have been seeing growth at a great rate. Cant wait to see the tank in a few months when everything has filled in, its going to be amazing looking.

 

[Chichas01]

Thanks! I'm pretty excited to see how the corals do under the new lighting. They look pretty amazing at the moment. Wish I could get decent up-close pics with my camera and capture the color but it doesn't really work for me.
On the live stock side, I've added a few corals; Red Planet, Birds of Paradise, tri-color acro, and a supernatural monti. Also have 2 firefish in QT and they will be the first fish in the tank since last July/August.