Hello Reef2Reef family!
I am so excited to get back into the hobby after a 15-year hiatus. It was one thing that really brought my dad and me together. Now that I live over 6000 miles away from my parents and have my own home in San Diego, I've decided that it's time to dive back into the world of marine biology.
I recently purchased a 170-gallon Innovative Marine tank, INT version. Beneath the aquarium, there's a 74-gallon RFS Sump. I'll share pictures of it in a post tomorrow: today was the wire-organization day.
The aquarium currently features 40 lbs of CaribSea Dry LifeRock and 80 lbs of CaribSea's Fiji Pink Arag-Alive! Reef Sand.
For the salt mix, I'm using Nyos' PURE Salt Mix in a bucket. I was surprised to see how quickly it dissolves, the salinity reading matched the label, and it didn't have any sediment or debris. The wavemaker is a Nero 7 by Aquaillumination, which I'm loving so far! The heating system includes two 300W Titanium Aquarium Heaters with a Helio Controller. I am currently running it at 80F for the duration of a cycle.
The skimmer I chose is the Reef Octopus Classic 150INT. For the refugium, I'm using two 1/2” spheres of Ceramic Biomedia by MarinePure and an Auqa Gadget ChaetoMax 2-n-1 Refugium LED by Innovative Marine. I am planning to run Chaetomorpha from AlgaeBarn and copepods from there too. The return system is powered by an Innovative Marine Mighty Jet DC Return Sump Pump, the XL model, which has a flow rate of 2,656 GPH. It's super quiet which is incredible.
For ATO, I am using a 15-gallon Innovative Marine ATO tank and a Tunze Osmolator 3 ATO system, which is also very quiet.
Currently, I am on Day 10 of a fishless cycle using Dr. Tim's One and Only. My water parameters are included in the attachment below. Would love to hear your thoughts on when I could do a big water change and turn the lights on. For my lights, I will be using 2x Aquaillumination Blade Grow lights. Already purchased them, just waiting for the rails to arrive.
Awesome to meet you,
JW
I am so excited to get back into the hobby after a 15-year hiatus. It was one thing that really brought my dad and me together. Now that I live over 6000 miles away from my parents and have my own home in San Diego, I've decided that it's time to dive back into the world of marine biology.
I recently purchased a 170-gallon Innovative Marine tank, INT version. Beneath the aquarium, there's a 74-gallon RFS Sump. I'll share pictures of it in a post tomorrow: today was the wire-organization day.
The aquarium currently features 40 lbs of CaribSea Dry LifeRock and 80 lbs of CaribSea's Fiji Pink Arag-Alive! Reef Sand.For the salt mix, I'm using Nyos' PURE Salt Mix in a bucket. I was surprised to see how quickly it dissolves, the salinity reading matched the label, and it didn't have any sediment or debris. The wavemaker is a Nero 7 by Aquaillumination, which I'm loving so far! The heating system includes two 300W Titanium Aquarium Heaters with a Helio Controller. I am currently running it at 80F for the duration of a cycle.
The skimmer I chose is the Reef Octopus Classic 150INT. For the refugium, I'm using two 1/2” spheres of Ceramic Biomedia by MarinePure and an Auqa Gadget ChaetoMax 2-n-1 Refugium LED by Innovative Marine. I am planning to run Chaetomorpha from AlgaeBarn and copepods from there too. The return system is powered by an Innovative Marine Mighty Jet DC Return Sump Pump, the XL model, which has a flow rate of 2,656 GPH. It's super quiet which is incredible.
For ATO, I am using a 15-gallon Innovative Marine ATO tank and a Tunze Osmolator 3 ATO system, which is also very quiet.
Currently, I am on Day 10 of a fishless cycle using Dr. Tim's One and Only. My water parameters are included in the attachment below. Would love to hear your thoughts on when I could do a big water change and turn the lights on. For my lights, I will be using 2x Aquaillumination Blade Grow lights. Already purchased them, just waiting for the rails to arrive.
Awesome to meet you,
JW
