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The Madsalt 180


madsalt

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So I have moved from my 90 gallon bow front to a 180 gallon rectangle, so glad to be rid of the bow front.

I went with an aqueon 180, very happy and I built my own stand for it you can see the build here:

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/26866-starting-a-new-180-gallon-tank-and-stand-build/

I plan making this a mixed reef, tank was filled yesterday and fish added,

I went with dry sand and rock this time around in order to keep the tank as sterile as possible if that is way to describe it. My first couple of tanks started with live rock so i went a different route this time

I used FRITZ ZYME live nitrifying bacteria to kick off the tank, I have used this in the past and it worked great. So far ammonia and nitrite are zero and this fish appear to be comfortable.

I am using a rio 3100 pump and it is very quite, I am probably getting 800 gallons an hour out of it and will increase circulation with circulation pumps. I am still undecided as to which way to go so any suggestions would be great.

I went with a 40 gallon sump so I would have room under the stand for my ATO and misc stuff.

The protein skimmer is a reef octopus 150, I know it is smaller than recommended but will work until I have a load in the tank, I will get a new one then.

I plan on a mix of fish, angels, butterflies, maybe tangs, clowns, wrasses. I will post my stocking list once I figure it out

lighting will be 3 48" build my LED lights with 1 12k, 1 14k and one Actinic.

I will post pics as I get things going more

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  • 3 weeks later...

So the tank is coming along, I have added 2 royal gramma, one pink square anthias and flame angel, all are doing great. I never saw a spike in ammonia or nitrite and my nitrate has been almost non existent. My KH and PH were a little low but have since brought them up to a stable level and the tank stays at about 77 with .1 to .2 swing in temp.

I moved my corals back over from my 40 gallon tank and everything is going great, a frogspawn, torch, zoa colony, a couple different pulsating xenias, a purple digi that has never been purple and a yellow gorgonian. They are all small so I wasn't worried about moving them all back,they have great color and I have seen some growth on them already.

I am still trying to figure out what else to stock the tank with so any suggestions would be great.

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I'm interesting to see how this sterile approach works out over the long run. I plan on doing the same thing with my next tank. But I firmly believe there's more types of beneficial bacteria in a seeded live rock than in the bacteria in a bottle, so for mine I will seed it with one small piece of live rock.

Do you plan on buying pods and detrivores?

Be careful with butterflyfish, the type determines what they will pick at.

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I decided to use dry rock and sand just as a new way to start off the tank. I have added pods already and plan to add additonal little critters. After the tank has been up and running I will probably add some live rock to my sump to add that additional kick to the system. It may help and it may not but we will see in the long run I guess

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  • 8 months later...

So I have not added anything to this in a long time because I broke the tank down and moved. Well it is back up and running and I couldn't be happier to have it back up. So far everything is doing well except for a bout of hair algae that I am dealing with. I have an army of snails and a sea hare working on that, so far so good.

Currently the tank has a pair of maroons, 4 green chromis, a green coris wrasse and a scopes tang. I have a frog spawn, a small zoa colony and 2 toad stools. Now that the tank is in its final place I really hope to start building on my coral family.

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My wife painted it with a blue that we chose and had mixed at walmart, it was flat latex and has held up really well. She had to put about 3 coats to get it to fully cover. She used a roller that was designed for smooth surfaces, slow and steady did the trick

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  • 3 weeks later...

I posted some pics in the DIY section and remembered that I had started this thread doh!!! So I will keep everything here now.

These are pics of the current corals

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Great looking setup so far! The Ro/DI station is super clean and functional.

I'm surprised you added a Green Coris Wrasse. I thought about having one but I read they will eat Cleaner Shrimp. You'll have to keep us updated if anything happens.

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I added two new tank friends today and my other maroon decided he would be pose for pictures today. The pseudochromis wouldn't come out of his cave so I had to take what I could. The Copperband is cruising the tank and eating so that is a good start

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Great looking setup so far! The Ro/DI station is super clean and functional.

I'm surprised you added a Green Coris Wrasse. I thought about having one but I read they will eat Cleaner Shrimp. You'll have to keep us updated if anything happens.

I had a green coris in my tank before I moved and it was never a problem and so far same thing this go round.

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great tank, will you post picture of the light

I have some pics in my diy thread, the link is in my signature. I will take some new pics of the lights as they look now in the current setup. The pics in my diy thread only shopw the one light I had at the time. Look for the pics sometime this evening, tomorrow morning at the latest.

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Ok ARC I need a little input here. I am currently stocking the tank and I am looking for some fish advice.

My current stock:

1 Scopas Tang

1 Copperband Butterfly

1 Green Coris Wrasse

1 Pseudochromis

2 Maroon Clowns - the wife is an Aggie

3 Green Chromis

So now what I want:

1 Yellow Tang

1 Flame Angel

1 Fuzzy Dwarf Lion - probably the last to go in.

3 Convict Tangs

Any suggestions would be great. I plan on having more corals so fish on the edge of being reef safe are an option. Iknow these are your standard saltwater fish so I open to ideas for things that are not so common. Puffer and trigger options would work and maybe an eel (some worry here but I have seen them in peaceful tanks). Other tang options as well.

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great tank, will you post picture of the light

As requested pics of the lights. I'm not the best photographer but here they are. They are crooked in the front shot i know, I just lowered them and didn't quite get them straight.

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My water change station is done. I am going to make a video soon of how it works. The first pic is the fill and return inside the closet in the house. The second pic is the completed system. Not sure why the second pic is turned but it should be 180 to the right so it points down

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