46 to 65gal upgrade. New photos added 1/17

Nice looking tank. Good thread too.

 

Thanks, still have a long way to go but trying to keep patient and wait to add everything. Hoping to get a nice light fixture in the next month and then some corals

 

Everything still doing great, Both clowns and the Blue Hippo tang are eating well and I can notice some growth. The Xenia is also growing, there were some small pieces left on the rock where stalks previously fell off and all are growing new stalks and on all the stalks that are there I notice many new shoots. I plan on upgrading the lighting in the next mont to the dual bulb T5HO from the T8, a little nervous about how the xenia will react to such an increase in light. Also thinking about a HOB fuge or skimmer soon since the nitrates are starting to climb and are now closer to 20 then 10 like they were before.

How bad is a nitrate level of 20 in a 2.5month old tank?
Also, do skimmers remove nitrates as well as organics or do they only remains organics before they break down like most chemical media does?

Not sure when I plan on adding a forth fish thinking about waiting a little while and adding only corals for the next couple months since they dont contribute much to bioload and probably should be given time to acclimate and grow before I introduce fish that may nip at them like a dwarf angel.

 

I finally saw some copepods last night for the first time since adding them with my CUC! Also saw a bunch of amphipods for the first time in about a month. Very excited, I thought the population never grew and they slowly died off since it had been so long since I could find even one but always wondered why the clownfish would occasionally pick at the rocks.

Also placed an order for a new light fixture, expecting delivery sometime next week then I can finally start adding more corals besides the pulsing xenia currently in there.

 

Thats awesome to hear! Seems like you are taking a pretty good approach to it and it is definitely worth taking your time in adding fish/ corals.

I have a 46g bowfront too and love it. Have you decided on what light you want to get yet?

 

I finally decided on the Aquaticlife linkable dual bulb marine fixture. I ordered one for my FW plant to test it out and liked it so decided to go with the marine version for the reeftank. Comes with 2 420/460 actinic/blue bulbs, a 10k bulb, and a 460/620 purple bulb. I also ordered a Geismenn powerchrome 15k bulb so I have some choices to play with. I might order a marineland accentlight as a moonlight but have not fully decided if it is worth it or not.

 

Planned on waiting for a skimmer but good HOB deals dont seem to come around very often. Ordered a Reef Octopus BH-100F demo model from salty supply for only 80 bucks! Hopefully it comes in good condition I will update after it arrives.

With that said I believe I am done for the time being for equipment, after everything arrives my setup will be

Fluval C4 HOB Filter
Reef Octopus BH-100F HOB protein skimmer
1 Hydro Koralia Evo 750 powerhead
2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 powerheads
Fluval E 200watt heater
Aquaticlife T5-HO linkable dualbulb light fixture
40lbs Caribsea Ocean Direct Live Sand
Approx 40lbs dryrock (Pukani and Branch) ?? weight when wet

Still on the list would be a TDS meter and RO/DI unit along with some better testkits and a refractometer.

 

The new light arrived the other day along with the extra bulbs. MarineandReef.com has some amazing customer service, I asked them to swap out the free aquaticlife 10k bulb with a Geismenn powerchrome 15k bulb in addition to the one I purchased and they did it no problem. I ended up going with the 10k and 420/460 aquaticlife bulbs for now and figured I would save the Geismenn powerchrome 15k bulb for when I get more corals that need a higher quality light. Overall pleased with the light makes the tank so much brighter that I can now see the heater in the back. Cant wait to get the skimmer (should be here by Wednesday)since I will be able to put the heater in the skimmer and have it out of site. The xenia also seem to enjoy the brighter light as they have started pulsing more since added.


I still have the old light and put it on the tank at night near the front of the aquarium. Not exactly a night light but it keeps the front bright and fades to really dark in the back, kind of a neat effect actually! When I put it on the blue tang went to her bed inside the rock in the rear of the tank and the clowns stayed out and active.


The tank is still a little cloudy just finished the waterchange less than an hour ago and I stirred up the rocks real good to get all the nasty stuff out beforehand.

 

A picture 24hours post WC, a lot clearer now.

 

Nice set up, where did you buy the rocks online?