- Joined
- Feb 19, 2020
- Messages
- 671
- Reaction score
- 353
My first ever fish tank. Everything is new or open box (except the Kessil controller). Totally not how I wanted to start, but the local used market after several months produced nothing, and many more months later, still nothing, so I don't regret buying what I have bought, especially since covid came along right after I started- perfect way to pass the time at home!
Although I failed to understand how it would limit mounting an MP10 anywhere near the surface on the back wall, I'm very happy with the overflow, and the way the light mounting turned out and how the light looks on the tank, but some aspects of the plumbing and the difficulty of doing what should have been simple plumbing didn't work out anywhere near what I intended. And overall, sometimes it just seems like a Honda Civic with wobbly wheels and a jet engine strapped to the back; as I have learned more, I think an experienced reefer would approach a smaller system like this radically differently for good reasons, resulting in something much simpler. If I had to do it over, I would have done 2 x 40 gallon breeders in a muscle stand and not worry at all about appearances (save that for after some experience). On the other hand, if the tank succeeds and the stand doesn't corrode or emit too much noise (later update: shockingly quiet- the Kessil is by far the loudest thing, I should have bought the A360x), I will have succeeded as planned and could potentially be happy with this set up for a long time, assuming I like the husbandry part of this ongoing.
Easy:
Harder:
Bad:
Good:
- Aquamax 33 gallon cube (19.7" external on all sides, 6 mm thick)
- FujiCube 15 gallon sump
- Stand is a stainless steel commercial kitchen work table ($50 new, has built in leveler feet), side panels still in progress
- Synergy reef v2 overflow (coast-to-coast minus 1.5" on the ends)
- Varios 2 DC pump
- Reef Octopus Classic 110-S Skimmer
- MP10 powerhead
- BRS 100W heater/controller
- Kessil A360WE with mounting arm + slide extension tube, mounted on a custom bar I made (overflow prevents mounting on rear glass, and lights clamped onto glass make me nervous)
- Kessil Spectral X controller (Ebay)
- Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
- Kamoer X1 Pro 2 Wifi dosing pump
- Pukani rock
- Caribsea live sand
- All metal is stainless steel, aluminum, or galvanized steel (including screws, nuts, etc.)
Although I failed to understand how it would limit mounting an MP10 anywhere near the surface on the back wall, I'm very happy with the overflow, and the way the light mounting turned out and how the light looks on the tank, but some aspects of the plumbing and the difficulty of doing what should have been simple plumbing didn't work out anywhere near what I intended. And overall, sometimes it just seems like a Honda Civic with wobbly wheels and a jet engine strapped to the back; as I have learned more, I think an experienced reefer would approach a smaller system like this radically differently for good reasons, resulting in something much simpler. If I had to do it over, I would have done 2 x 40 gallon breeders in a muscle stand and not worry at all about appearances (save that for after some experience). On the other hand, if the tank succeeds and the stand doesn't corrode or emit too much noise (later update: shockingly quiet- the Kessil is by far the loudest thing, I should have bought the A360x), I will have succeeded as planned and could potentially be happy with this set up for a long time, assuming I like the husbandry part of this ongoing.
Easy:
- Drilling and painting the tank
Harder:
- Figuring out how to assemble the stand so the top is trued (i.e. flat plane with no slight bowing)
- Plumbing and getting the overflow bulkheads to not leak
Bad:
- Stand needs cross bracing, and may corrode
- It was hard to get the return line to be absolutely vertical ("rigging" needs improvement)
Good:
- Actually looks sharp (even my wife thinks this, though she still hasn't let me move it to the living room...)
- The massive skimming: coast-to-coast on a small tank like this = rapid/complete surface skimming
- The return line siphon breaks almost instantly and can't fail, the return line doesn't vibrate or move, rock solid connection to the pump that will be easy to remove/restore for pump maintenance
- Size
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