Hello from Fort Collins

JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
Hey there. I'm JZ. Yeah, my screenname is JZinCO, but that's my username over at ReefCentral. So, I've met a few reefers from a Facebook group. They all told me to check this forum out (as did Great White when they were around). My GF has done freshwater for over a decade and has been salty for a year now ;) I joined her this summer. I took her inhabitants from a 30g and moved them into a 50g. I can post photos of my build and set up. It's pretty crude but an improvement. They 30g was sumpless, skimmerless with a HOB power filter. The 50g now has a HOB overflow into a 20g sump. I don't dose, run a skimmer, run GFO, or do anything complicated. My softies (and a couple LPS) don't seem to mind. The 50g is a reef tank but I'm soon to be building and plumbing in a 30g sea grass and macroalgae lagoon.

So anyway, other reefers told me to come here and that MASC is a great resource especially when it comes to sharing knowledge and DBTC, which sounds intriguing. I have some macros I'd like to share and am always on the hunt for things I can't find in stores like stomatella or lettuce nudibranches. I ended up buying a lettuce nudi so when I'm done with it I would love to share that too. So hello to all.
 
SynDen

SynDen

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#2
#2
Excellent :welcome: to the darkside. Should post up some pics of the setup :)
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
#9
So you can see the back wall I put together. I used great stuff pond foam, crushed coral and dry rock that I rubbled up. The wall comes out (towards the front pane) on the left to hide the overflow box and sump return line. I did something similar on the right to create a planter box for eventual mangroves. The sump is a eshopps wet/dry. I'm fine with it even though I know others aren't. Some call them nitrate factories. If that's the case, I call them 'macro feeders'. :) I have an eshopps 1000 overflow box with only one u-tube feeding it right now. For peace of mind I put a float valve to shut off the pump if the u-tube loses siphon. For my "display" rocks, the left side has a huge boulder, the middle has an archway, and the right side has a shelf sitting on some jumbled rocks. I mostly like the whole design just because I put so much effort into it. The one thing I wish is that the tank was deeper than 12". I must have 60-70lb of rock in there (at least) and it looks very claustrophobic in the pictures (i.e. the midground rocks blend in with the rock wall). A little space between the rocks and rock wall would have bee ice. Over time if I can get some aggressive soft corals to spread over the rock wall it will make the mid-ground rocks pop out from the background more.

So, the pump is DC, eheim compact+. It is so very quiet. Lights are a ~50w orbit marine and a blue stunner strip. Everything goes to my ADJ power strip bus. I like having all the switches. The return line already has a tee in it to plumb in another tank. This secondary tank that I described above will be drilled (first time! Wish me luck) and drain back down into the sump. I might move some rock into that one as well. I am also making a wall for the back of it. I have about 50 mussels glued up and some barnacles to put on that wall, so that will be the main feature instead of rubble and crushed coral.

Okay, livestock for the 50g
Fish: Matted filefish, clownfish, firefish, starry blenny, twinspot goby. The twinspot is a PITA to keep alive but my gf wanted it so fingers crossed that it thrives.
Coral: Xenia, anthelia, kenya tree, mushrooms, candy cane, zoas, palys, some red LPS I dunno and GSP
Other: Hermit crabs, one stupid ass Astrea, Mithrax which never comes out, a nassarius which I believe to be a predatory whelk because all of my other snails have died

for the 30g
Coral: palys
Other: Barnacles and mussels that have been alive since June so I hope they become a mainstay.
Algae: Ulva, a couple Caulerpa spp., some gracillaria that maybe alive

I'm done fish wise for the 50g. I don't want to heavily stock it. For the 30g I want to add as much macroalgae diversity as possible and add seagrasses. Fish-wise I am thinking barnacle blennys and yellowhead jaw fish. Maybe a molly, minnow, killifish, or some other cheap brackish water fish that can be acclimated to saltwater.
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
#10
Thanks Neil. I might even figure out Youtube and add a link to a video here. I also have a big order of crustaceans, anenomes, and soft coral coming in this week. Hope they all take to the tank well. With all the rocks, a relatively light fish load, and a light hand at feeding I haven't had any nutrient problems yet. Nitrates have barely been detectable if at all and all the rock was either taken from the old tank or had been well-cycled as well.

Shout out to Luke in Loveland for selling me some stuff and to Chris in Greeley for giving me some coral.
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
Thanks man. Some xenias and palys got smashed in transit but have already regrown and look great.
I was stoked to see some of the hitchhikers like the micro brittles and bristle worms. I notices some vermetid snails (if I am IDing them right) which don't seem to both the mushrooms and there were aiptasia but maybe the filefish will find them. As for the flatworms, I was worried about their toxin if I used FW exit so I decided to wait and see. Over time, I've noticed their population going down.
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
well poop, I was drilling my 29g and it cracked through.I think I put pressure on the glass when drilling the second hole..
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
neil82;n660189 said:
Welcome! Glad you found this club. I'd love to see pics, especially your sea grass/macro lagoon.
Click to expand...
SynDen;n660179 said:
Excellent :welcome: to the darkside. Should post up some pics of the setup :)
Click to expand...
I got some photos that could satisfy the both of you.

If you check out here ( https://pix.sfly.com/S3_dM1 ) you can see my new nano macros tank.

Here is a photo legend:
1) Full tank short with things that had been moved over from the holding tank. Fern caulerpa, codium, a small paly colony. Just the lone rock to provide sanctuary for critters to hide around. If you look on the rock you can see what might be my favorite critter of all, my largest mussel.

The rest are after new additions which include mermaid's fan, shaving brush, ogo, gracilaria, turtle grass, halimeda, red grape tree, and an orange gorg. The latter two I put in to see how they'd do and I don't think they survived shipping.

2) is the left side. a bit deeper at 6" for the turtle grass. 3) is middle, 4) is right side 5) is FTS from above. 6) is looking from the side glass on the right.
7) shows the emerald crab chowing down on the gracilaria. I had put in three clumps and one has already vanished thanks to hermit crabs and the emerald, all were caught in the act. 8) and 9) show some of the life quickly adapting to new conditions. The feather dusters quickly built new tubes, the nass snails are going to town, and the twinspot goby seems right at home. Photo 10) shows the whole system including the reef, macro, and sump tanks.

I'd like some blues and yellows in there so that will dictate my next choice of macros.
 
JZinCO

JZinCO

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
#20
Thanks Neil. I'll post updates as it matures. If anyone is into macros we can think about doing trades down the road too.
 
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