Oceanbound
New Member
Hey all,
I've been interested in getting into reefing for a while (no, not that kind), but I've been living in a small one bedroom flat in London and haven't had the space to take the plunge. I'm moving to Leicester at the end of the month and I'm going to have a lot more room going forward.
I'm still in the pre-purchase stage and looking for advice on how to get this as right as possible first time. I've been watching YouTube videos and reading articles, so I have a grounding in the theory, but I'm looking for advice from people who have been there and done that, to make sure that I purchase everything I need, and understand the work I'll be undertaking.
I'm fairly experienced with plumbing & DIY already, so I think I'd rather go for a DIY-ish option with a sump, return pump & in-cabinet filtration system rather than a more convenient but less expansible AIO system.
My intention is to eventually keep seahorses, but I don't want to add such a sensitive animal until I've got a proven system with stable chemistry. To that end, I wont be adding any aggressive species like clowns or tangs, or stinging corals. The idea is that I'll create a low-aggression reef with a good CuC, get used to managing that, and then add seahorses when I have more experience (possibly a year from now). As such, I'm expecting algae management to be a problem, and would love any advice on that.
Tank & Sump
I'm currently looking at this Diversa tank, built with 8mm guardian glass. I'm aware that I'll need to drill an overflow outlet and a return inlet into the tank (both of which honestly scare me, I've never drilled glass before).
I'll be buying a prefab sump to go with this, approx 120 litres. I'm really looking for advice on this, my instinct would lead me to something like this, which gives me space for a filter sock on the outler, reactors, a live refugium, heater, and a protein skimmer, as well as a return pump.
The main concern is to keep all the equipment out of the display tank, a) because that should slow any issues that occur from malfunction and b) because the whole point of a sump is to keep the display tank sightly.
Flow Equipment
I've heard good things about the Jebao submersibles, so my intent is to use a Jebao DCS-5000, which I could bring down to about 3600L/hr flow rate (12x my 300 litre capacity). I'd then plan to add a couple of VorTech MP10w powerheads which would provide 20-30x additional turnover, one at each end of the tank.
I'm not 100% sure whether this would be enough, or I'd be better off going for the VorTech MP40w powerheads instead. My concern is that these wouldn't turn down low enough to be seahorse-friendly, so this might be a question I take to that forum.
Filtration Equipment
My intent is to run a filter sock on the outlet pipe, plus a refugium with Tunze EcoChic light and chaeto to remove nitrates & phosphates, Boyu DB-200 protein skimmer to remove waste and decomposed food, and carbon filtration.
I'll also be using homemade RODI water with marine sea salt (brand recommendations desired -- is there much difference between them?), with a 15% change every week as well as top ups for evaporation with feeding.
This is the area I'm least knowledgeable about, and why I'm not willing to start out with more sensitive livestock until I'm more confident and I've gotten any warts out of my plans.
Lighting
I'm looking to use two or three (advice sought) NICREW Dimmable LED lights. These should support soft coral growth and maybe some Gorgonias. I'm not looking to keep any expert corals for a very long time, and I'm fully committed to changing the lighting to be more specific if/when I make that decision. The lights will be run on a timer.
Rock & Substrate
I'm planning to use an inch of fine grain sand for substrate, and use about 80 lbs of man-made live rock (I don't really fancy dealing with a bobbit worm or a mantis shrimp on my first build).
Heater/Chiller
I haven't worked this part out yet. I understand the seahorses are very intolerant of spikes or drops in temperature. My ambient temperatures can get quite high so I need to manage chilling as well as heating, I hear JBJ do climate controlled combo units. Does anyone have some advice?
Monitoring
I'm planning to get a Seneye Reef to give me immediate warnings for temperature, lighting or chemistry issues. This will be in addition to manual alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, phosphate & nitrate testing
I'm really looking for any input on this. Have I missed anything obvious? I'll go into livestock next but I want to try to break this down and make it a real plan instead of a dream.
I've been interested in getting into reefing for a while (no, not that kind), but I've been living in a small one bedroom flat in London and haven't had the space to take the plunge. I'm moving to Leicester at the end of the month and I'm going to have a lot more room going forward.
I'm still in the pre-purchase stage and looking for advice on how to get this as right as possible first time. I've been watching YouTube videos and reading articles, so I have a grounding in the theory, but I'm looking for advice from people who have been there and done that, to make sure that I purchase everything I need, and understand the work I'll be undertaking.
I'm fairly experienced with plumbing & DIY already, so I think I'd rather go for a DIY-ish option with a sump, return pump & in-cabinet filtration system rather than a more convenient but less expansible AIO system.
My intention is to eventually keep seahorses, but I don't want to add such a sensitive animal until I've got a proven system with stable chemistry. To that end, I wont be adding any aggressive species like clowns or tangs, or stinging corals. The idea is that I'll create a low-aggression reef with a good CuC, get used to managing that, and then add seahorses when I have more experience (possibly a year from now). As such, I'm expecting algae management to be a problem, and would love any advice on that.
Tank & Sump
I'm currently looking at this Diversa tank, built with 8mm guardian glass. I'm aware that I'll need to drill an overflow outlet and a return inlet into the tank (both of which honestly scare me, I've never drilled glass before).
I'll be buying a prefab sump to go with this, approx 120 litres. I'm really looking for advice on this, my instinct would lead me to something like this, which gives me space for a filter sock on the outler, reactors, a live refugium, heater, and a protein skimmer, as well as a return pump.
The main concern is to keep all the equipment out of the display tank, a) because that should slow any issues that occur from malfunction and b) because the whole point of a sump is to keep the display tank sightly.
Flow Equipment
I've heard good things about the Jebao submersibles, so my intent is to use a Jebao DCS-5000, which I could bring down to about 3600L/hr flow rate (12x my 300 litre capacity). I'd then plan to add a couple of VorTech MP10w powerheads which would provide 20-30x additional turnover, one at each end of the tank.
I'm not 100% sure whether this would be enough, or I'd be better off going for the VorTech MP40w powerheads instead. My concern is that these wouldn't turn down low enough to be seahorse-friendly, so this might be a question I take to that forum.
Filtration Equipment
My intent is to run a filter sock on the outlet pipe, plus a refugium with Tunze EcoChic light and chaeto to remove nitrates & phosphates, Boyu DB-200 protein skimmer to remove waste and decomposed food, and carbon filtration.
I'll also be using homemade RODI water with marine sea salt (brand recommendations desired -- is there much difference between them?), with a 15% change every week as well as top ups for evaporation with feeding.
This is the area I'm least knowledgeable about, and why I'm not willing to start out with more sensitive livestock until I'm more confident and I've gotten any warts out of my plans.
Lighting
I'm looking to use two or three (advice sought) NICREW Dimmable LED lights. These should support soft coral growth and maybe some Gorgonias. I'm not looking to keep any expert corals for a very long time, and I'm fully committed to changing the lighting to be more specific if/when I make that decision. The lights will be run on a timer.
Rock & Substrate
I'm planning to use an inch of fine grain sand for substrate, and use about 80 lbs of man-made live rock (I don't really fancy dealing with a bobbit worm or a mantis shrimp on my first build).
Heater/Chiller
I haven't worked this part out yet. I understand the seahorses are very intolerant of spikes or drops in temperature. My ambient temperatures can get quite high so I need to manage chilling as well as heating, I hear JBJ do climate controlled combo units. Does anyone have some advice?
Monitoring
I'm planning to get a Seneye Reef to give me immediate warnings for temperature, lighting or chemistry issues. This will be in addition to manual alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, phosphate & nitrate testing
I'm really looking for any input on this. Have I missed anything obvious? I'll go into livestock next but I want to try to break this down and make it a real plan instead of a dream.
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