Family's First Reef Tank!

After a trip to our LFS with 10 water jugs (1+hr round trip), realized how unsustainable it would be to have this as my water source.

Got the BRS 4 stage plus 75 gpd RODI and set it up downstream of our whole home water softener. The incoming TDS is 2 and output 0, which makes me wonder if I even needed this thing anyway? Regardless, it’s all set up! The RODI water is plumbed into a 10 gallon bin with a float switch and the waste line is directly plumbed into our sewer system via an air gap fitting. The air gap is a physical disconnect between the water filters and any sewage preventing any damage to the softener / RODI. Took 3 hours to fill the bucket, so not bad!

And of course, I fell victim to having the darn flush valve the wrong way . At least I finally figured it out after an hour.

Cycle coming along nicely. Using Dr Tim’s ammonium chloride as fuel. Initially used Brightwater Starter XLM for nitrifying bacteria, but I became concerned when realizing the bottle was leaking that the bacteria might be shot. Returned to Amazon and replaced with Dr Tim’s one and only reef and the nitrites took off the next day. Two days of strong nitrates and just today started to see a big drop in ammonia. Getting there!