Hi everyone,
It's been quite some time, around 10 years since my last tank, which was my first. It was a lightly stocked 55 gallon. I had a bargain purple tang that I nursed back to health, kept some SPS corals and a small refugium. I had to break it down when I had to move. I realize now that I was extremely fortunate that the tank ran with so few problems. I've been watching quite a few educational videos on Bulk Reef Supply, and knowledge of the hobby has come a LONG way in the past 10 years, and I'm trying to be as prepared as possible to give the tank the highest chance of success, since I'll inevitably screw something up. Without further ado: here's the tank:
Tank: Waterbox Peninsula Mini 25 gallons
Equipment:
RO/DI: 4 Stage Value 75GPD RO/DI System
Pump: Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0 Wifi
Skimmer: Aquamax Bullet-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer
Heater: Aquael 150W Ultra Heater
Cooling: 2 Fan Propeller Breeze 3 - GHL
Flow: 2K Gyre Flow Pump (2000 GPH) with WaveEngine LE Controller - IceCap
UV: Coralife Biocube Mini UV Sterilizer
Light: AI Prime 16 HD
Filtration: Felt 225 Micron filter sock, Activated carbon
ATO: Prism Auto Top Off - ReefBreeders
No refugium (This one worries me the most, but I live on third floor of my building and weight is a concern)
Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive Live Sand
Rock: Around 25 lbs of dry rock
Currently the tank has no water in it. The current aquascape is in the attached photos, none of the rock is super glued or epoxyed yet. Sorry for the photo quality, my phone's camera sucks.
Goal: SPS dominant tank, long term is hopefully acropora, but first will be an island of star polyps, followed by hardier SPS, i.e. stylophora and bird's nest.
I currently have Hanna checkers for Calcium, Alkalinity, Ultra Low Range Phosphate, High Range Nitrate, and Salinity
Red Sea Ammonia Test kit, API Nitrite test kit (mulling finding something else)
I don't have a quarantine tank yet, but that is next on the list, so please feel free to make recommendations.
Fish/Inverts planned: This is largely up in the air and will gladly take advice
1 Court Jester Goby
1 Six-line Wrasse
3-4 Chromis (maybe)
Possibly a smaller tang, but unlikely due to tank size recommendations
1 Peppermint Shrimp
3-5 hermit crabs
3-5 trochus snails
1 emerald crab
Immediate plan after hardware: Fishless cycle with Brightwell MicroBacter QuikCycl, MicroBacter StartXLM, MicroBacterClean, and Purple/Pink Coralline Algae dose in very low light for at least a month. Still need to do the initial tests on the RO/DI water to determine if I need another stage or not.
Notes: The pump doesn't fit in the pump chamber in the tank (doh) but I'm way too attached to it to not use it, however it does fit in the center chamber without the pump guard. Trying to figure out something so the pump intake isn't completely unguarded. The UV Sterilizer is cheap, but it's small enough to fit in the back.
Anyway, for anyone who's read this wall of text, thanks. And let me know if I missed something, or you have recommendations. Happy reefing!
It's been quite some time, around 10 years since my last tank, which was my first. It was a lightly stocked 55 gallon. I had a bargain purple tang that I nursed back to health, kept some SPS corals and a small refugium. I had to break it down when I had to move. I realize now that I was extremely fortunate that the tank ran with so few problems. I've been watching quite a few educational videos on Bulk Reef Supply, and knowledge of the hobby has come a LONG way in the past 10 years, and I'm trying to be as prepared as possible to give the tank the highest chance of success, since I'll inevitably screw something up. Without further ado: here's the tank:
Tank: Waterbox Peninsula Mini 25 gallons
Equipment:
RO/DI: 4 Stage Value 75GPD RO/DI System
Pump: Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0 Wifi
Skimmer: Aquamax Bullet-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer
Heater: Aquael 150W Ultra Heater
Cooling: 2 Fan Propeller Breeze 3 - GHL
Flow: 2K Gyre Flow Pump (2000 GPH) with WaveEngine LE Controller - IceCap
UV: Coralife Biocube Mini UV Sterilizer
Light: AI Prime 16 HD
Filtration: Felt 225 Micron filter sock, Activated carbon
ATO: Prism Auto Top Off - ReefBreeders
No refugium (This one worries me the most, but I live on third floor of my building and weight is a concern)
Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive Live Sand
Rock: Around 25 lbs of dry rock
Currently the tank has no water in it. The current aquascape is in the attached photos, none of the rock is super glued or epoxyed yet. Sorry for the photo quality, my phone's camera sucks.
Goal: SPS dominant tank, long term is hopefully acropora, but first will be an island of star polyps, followed by hardier SPS, i.e. stylophora and bird's nest.
I currently have Hanna checkers for Calcium, Alkalinity, Ultra Low Range Phosphate, High Range Nitrate, and Salinity
Red Sea Ammonia Test kit, API Nitrite test kit (mulling finding something else)
I don't have a quarantine tank yet, but that is next on the list, so please feel free to make recommendations.
Fish/Inverts planned: This is largely up in the air and will gladly take advice
1 Court Jester Goby
1 Six-line Wrasse
3-4 Chromis (maybe)
Possibly a smaller tang, but unlikely due to tank size recommendations
1 Peppermint Shrimp
3-5 hermit crabs
3-5 trochus snails
1 emerald crab
Immediate plan after hardware: Fishless cycle with Brightwell MicroBacter QuikCycl, MicroBacter StartXLM, MicroBacterClean, and Purple/Pink Coralline Algae dose in very low light for at least a month. Still need to do the initial tests on the RO/DI water to determine if I need another stage or not.
Notes: The pump doesn't fit in the pump chamber in the tank (doh) but I'm way too attached to it to not use it, however it does fit in the center chamber without the pump guard. Trying to figure out something so the pump intake isn't completely unguarded. The UV Sterilizer is cheap, but it's small enough to fit in the back.
Anyway, for anyone who's read this wall of text, thanks. And let me know if I missed something, or you have recommendations. Happy reefing!