Birdfeathers Coldwater/NPS Tank Round 2

Well after much deliberation with myself, I've decided to stop keeping sps's and nps's in the same tank. It's far more work than than its worth so I'm separating all my NPS's and making a dedicated cold water tank. Which I will be keeping around 68-71 degree's.

Here is my old thread and all the NPS"s from that tank will be moving to this tank.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-of...er-tank-20-gallons-132526-3.html#.UpOyWeLXvZY

Anyways unlike my old build I'm going to show the progress of the tank being built.

Anyways. Time for the fun to begin.

I picked up this 34 Solona from a local forum member for cheap. Although I got a great price I'm really OCD with my tank and wanted to make it look brand new. So I figure I might as well kill two birds with one stone and make sure it holds water and give it a vinegar bath simultaneously. After I determined the tank was leak free, I re-finished the stand and recondition the wood to give it a brand new finish

Here is a before.

And after.


Equipment: I will be updating this and editing it as I go along, as some of this equipment Items are not set in stone.

Jbj 1/10 Chiller
Nextreef Mr1 Media Reactor w/ rowaphos
JBJ ATO
EcoTech MP10
Custom built 15 gallon sump and refugium
Skimmer I'm undecided on still. I need something that can handle the heavy feedings of an NPS tank.
Maxspect razor(only going to run when I'm spectating the tank otherwise i'm going to keep the light off completely.)
30 lbs. of rock from BRS: 10 lbs. Tonga Shelf rock, 20 lbs. of Fiji

As far as some of the NPS corals I already have in my current tank I have the following:

Orange Chilli coral
Purple Chilli coral
Walking Dendro
Black Sun Corals
Orange Sun Corals
Dendro
Deep sea Japanese anemone
Blueberry Gorg.
Spiral Coral
NPS Sea fan.

 

Reserve Slot

 

Reserve Slot 2

 

That's probably a good idea. So many creatures in nature have different needs. Hard to balance everything in one tank.

 

Yeah...doing a SPS and NPS tank is tough...trust me, as I am running one as well. After lots of research, I too decided not to do the soft coral NPS in this tank as well...just too much work. I love the Solanas...now you have me mentally spending more money!

Good luck with the new tank. Following.

 

I've done it successfully for almost 2 years now, but the water is a colder then my sps's would like, and warmer then my nps and coldwater species would like as well. I feel like spot feeding also will be way easier in a dedicated tank. Because in my current tank, all the fish and shrimp and stuff are always trying to steal food out of my sun corals and dendro. Not only that but I have to put a lot of extra effort in placement in the tank for the NPS coral because I've got such a bright l.e.d. fixture for my SPS's, it will be nice to have a whole tank to work with

 

The aqua scape has began. It's still in it's very juvenile stage but it's coming along slowly but surely.