AJ's Ark 5 Foot Rimless Aquariams4life build

Aj's Ark · Sep 18, 2023

Hey Everyone,

This is my first ever tank build thread. Ive been in the hobby before for over 10 years and then took a 8 year break and now im back!!

So far equipment all purchased.
Equipment list:
3 x Radion xr15 blue (to add another)
Red sea skimmer 600
Red sea reef mat 1200
red sea 7000 pump
Red sea Ato
1 x Nero 7 wave maker (to add another)
Neptune Apex (Controller, trident and powerbar)

Aquascape was outsourced to custom aquascape Ltd and now also complete. Previousely i've always done my own Aquascape but first time i've outsourced this and well pleased.

Water storage containers also in place so ill be seeding the rocks in advance before I take delivery of the tank.

I'll post upates when the tank arrives.

Thanks all

AJ

Aj's Ark · Sep 18, 2023

Last piece of the aquascape finished today for a scolly garden.

Aj's Ark · Sep 20, 2023

Tank delivery 4 weeks away so ive started to wet the rocks.

First rinsed in RO and now filling up with seawater get them cooking for 4 weeks ready for tank arrival.

vandy · Oct 6, 2023

Loving the rockwork man. Was it pretty pricey?

Aj's Ark · Oct 13, 2023

Hi All,
Rocks have been cooking and now cycled. Tank is getting delivered tommorow. I will post updates on delivery and install.

For now I have setup most equipment and control board in preparation.

fishface NJ · Oct 13, 2023

good luck!

Aj's Ark · Oct 13, 2023

vandy said:
Loving the rockwork man. Was it pretty pricey?

£500 for the aquascape.

Aj's Ark · Oct 13, 2023

fishface NJ said:
good luck!

Thank you

Gumbies R Us · Oct 13, 2023

Aj's Ark said:
Hey Everyone,

This is my first ever tank build thread. Ive been in the hobby before for over 10 years and then took a 8 year break and now im back!!

So far equipment all purchased.
Equipment list:
3 x Radion xr15 blue (to add another)
Red sea skimmer 600
Red sea reef mat 1200
red sea 7000 pump
Red sea Ato
1 x Nero 7 wave maker (to add another)
Neptune Apex (Controller, trident and powerbar)

Aquascape was outsourced to custom aquascape Ltd and now also complete. Previousely i've always done my own Aquascape but first time i've outsourced this and well pleased.

Water storage containers also in place so ill be seeding the rocks in advance before I take delivery of the tank.

I'll post upates when the tank arrives.

Thanks all

AJ

Great looking aquascape!

Aj's Ark · Oct 13, 2023

Gumbies R Us said:
Great looking aquascape!

Thank you

Aj's Ark · Oct 15, 2023

Okay. The tank arrived this weekend and Ive spent the weekend setting it all up. The Build quality im very impressed with.

Aj's Ark · Dec 25, 2023

Tank Update

And before you all think too much stock and too quick.....

Just like stability is better then chasing numbers, as most corals and fishes can adapt to changes, as long as there is aclimation and then stability. Same goes with building a thriving reef tank within a few months. Here the key becomes preparation and strong foundation to adapt quickly to any changes to stabilise tank.

Ive been in this hobby for over 17 years and took a break for a number years and now back. The minute I got the itch, I knew I was going to end up with another tank so I started my prep work in advance.

I got all my rocks, 30% dry scape and 70% premium quality cured live rocks and all my sand and started my cycle in 2 large containers with powerheads, heating and ATM colony bacteria for 1 month, adding 2 fishes after 1 week with some more ATM colony on the day of intro.

At this stage I know people dont use lighting. However, I prefer to give a few hours lighting on the rocks for a few reasons - I get to observe the changes on the rocks and any pests etc and also if anything was going to trigger of an algae bloom, I would rather see it through in the containers and see through any ugly stages in advance.

Just over a month later the cycle was complete in my containers.

I then moved all the cycled rocks into my new tank with 50% of the cycled water from the container and 50% NSW with some more ATM colony for good measure into the new tank.

I start with more corals at a time each day but slow introduction of fishes at 1 to 2 fishes a week.

In the first 3 weeks I was testing parameters with trident every 6 hours to find balance for KH, CA and MG. Found the sweet spot and then adjustments were made and continued to test every 6 hours, as corals were still introduced every other day.

4 months later and here I am.

Kh at 8.5
Ca at 480
MG at 1300
Nitrates at 5
Phosphates at 0.10

Everythings thriving and stable.