Brandon's 210

So I setup the quarantine tank and brought the family to our favorite LFS. We picked out two new inhabitants that were actual tank mates at the store, so we knew that they would get a long... at least for now. We bought a Blue Hippo Tang and a Sail Fin Tang. Our LFS already quarantines all of their fish before they put it out for sale, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to give them a few weeks in my "observation tank". This is not a great picture at all, but at least it shows you my setup.
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I received the AI Hydra 52 lights and AWM module for the Apex. I love them!!!! It took a little bit of tinkering and a lot of research to figure out how to setup it up, but now it is working great! I'm sure I will be playing with the colors more, as I haven't quite found the right look yet. Plus without any coral in the main tank yet (all of my frags are still in the frag section), I don't have anything in the main display to help me gauge where the intensities or colors need to be.

I picked up about 5-6 more coral frags this week. I'll post pictures a little later once I am able to break out the SLR camera. I also redid the rock work a bit more after spending the past month questioning our original decision in rock placement. I know that once the tank is grown with coral it will be less of a deal, but I still wanted something different. Part of the fun, I guess!
 
It has been while since I have updated my original post, so I thought I would throw in an update. My goal is to do a better job of updating, as quite a few things have happened/changed. I always enjoy looking at what other people post on their setups, so I will try to do a better job.

Some changes since last time:
- Purchased and installed a NextReef reactor for carbon and a reactor for biopellets. I have had the biopellet reactor for a while, but the carbon reactor was new. I was very impressed with their build quality. Highly suggest. I was using a Phosban 150 for carbon, but it was undersized for my tank. Plus the MR1 looks so much cooler!!! There's the gadget junkie in me coming out!

- Designed and installed a manifold system for the reactors. I currently have a dedicated Eheim 3000 compact pump running it, but since I upgraded reactors, the flow is a bit on the low side. Considering plumbing the manifold to the main return pump to supply everything. Currently I am only using the Jaebo 12000 at 40%, so I have plenty of power to give. Plus I already have a few replacement pumps that if (and when) the main pump fails, I can quickly change it out.
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- So after much thought and discussion with some of my reef friends, I decided to stay with dosing my tank in leah of going with a calcium reactor. While the tank will continue to be SPS dominant, I concluded that I can dose for a while until the coral grow and start to really take off. If I need to supplement, then I can add a calcium reactor later on. I have a bubble magus dosing unit that I plan on installing, but haven't gotten around to it. To be honest, I really haven't had to dose much as the tanks parameters have been good. Mostly because the corals I have are frags and are just beginning to encrust. I usually have to supplement once or twice a week with BRS two-part.

- I finally have doors and a canopy! After pricing out how much it would be to purchase a canopy commercially, I decided that I would throw on my Bob-the-Builder pants on and build one myself. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I took me quite a while to decide on the overall design and even more on how to build it. There were a few articles online as to how to begin, but in the end I used a lot of trial and error. I will write-up how I constructed it and put it in the DIY forum later this weekend for anyone that is interested. For the doors, I bought 4 does from ikea that matched the door I have on the equipment cabinet. I did have to cut them down slightly, as they were too tall. I then opted to attached them with magnets rather than hinges for ease of removal and access to the sump area. For $7 a door, I am very pleased and it was a super easy install!
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- Livestock. We have added 3 bar gobies to the tank, We call them Harold and the twins. I first purchased two of the three (the twins) at our favorite LFS, but sent back to get Harold after my wife found out that I left him at the store. I cannot tell you why I only purchased two at first as they were all in the same tank and swimming together. Funny story... Harold is the kamikaze jumper of the three. When I went back to the LFS the next day, they could not find him at first but was later found in the tank next to him that contained a newly hatched cat shark. The next day after he was reunited with the twins, he jumped out of the tank and was baking under the lights on one of the screens I have installed (I forgot to replace the middle screen after feeding). The latest attempt was about two weeks ago when he found a small opening in one of the return sections and jumped in and was sucked down into the sump. It took me about a day to realize that he was down there and then the hard part began... trying to get him out. Anytime I would get near the sump, he would swim up into the bubble tower filled with rock. I ended up catching him with a fish trap and about 6 hours of sitting in front of the tank. I have now closed the opening into the returns, as I do not want that to happen again.
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- Coral. Over the past few months I have met quite a few people in this community and picked up quite a few frags. I'll post some pics up soon.

This is a great community and I really appreciate all of the help everyone has given me both directly and indirectly with your posts on this forum. Thanks!
 
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