Bedroom Budget Build

[muzikalmatt]

This will be my second reef tank ever and surprisingly...it's a downsize. My first was an IM Nuvo Fusion 40 and as much as I'd like to setup a bigger tank, I simply don't have the space right now. So instead, I wanted to try a couple of things; one is testing out reefing on a "budget", and the second is starting a tank with completely dry rock. My first tank used pretty well-established "live" rock from the LFS, complete with hitchhikers (good and bad), and it was a relatively painless setup. It was a quick and easy cycle, there was no real ugly stage to speak of, and it's been a relatively stable tank now approaching it's 3rd year. I've read and heard about the pitfalls of using dry "dead" rock to start a tank, but as with many things in life, I feel you need to experience to truly understand. How this tank goes will likely influence the direction I go with my next larger tank, so I'm excited to see how this little "experiment" goes.

Anyways, I got the tank officially setup and cycling last night. The equipment is inspired by the 10 gallon budget build series by Inappropriate Reefer on YouTube, but I'm going to modify some of it as I go.

Tank: Aqueon 10 gallon tank from Petco
Filter: Aquaclear 70 HOB filter
Heater: Aqueon 50W set at 78

~10lbs of cured Marco Rock
10lbs Carib-Sea Aragalive sand

I'll be adding either Marine Pure bioballs or maybe some Seachem Matrix to the HOB to increase the biological filtration, and eventually plan on using Chemi-Pure Blue for general water clarity. I'll have ROWAphos GFO on hand if phosphates become an issue as well. Overall, I want to keep it simple with basic filtration and weekly water changes.

Equipment

Aquascape

Filling

Up and Running

The next day. I had to move the filter to the left wall because it was blowing the sand off the front glass even at the lowest flow setting. I think this orientation is better as it pushes flow across the full length of the tank.

I plan on running/cycling this tank for quite a while before adding any livestock. Given that this is my first time using dry rock, I really want to pay attention to how the tank establishes itself in the early stages. Any advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

This will be my second reef tank ever and surprisingly...it's a downsize. My first was an IM Nuvo Fusion 40 and as much as I'd like to setup a bigger tank, I simply don't have the space right now. So instead, I wanted to try a couple of things; one is testing out reefing on a "budget", and the second is starting a tank with completely dry rock. My first tank used pretty well-established "live" rock from the LFS, complete with hitchhikers (good and bad), and it was a relatively painless setup. It was a quick and easy cycle, there was no real ugly stage to speak of, and it's been a relatively stable tank now approaching it's 3rd year. I've read and heard about the pitfalls of using dry "dead" rock to start a tank, but as with many things in life, I feel you need to experience to truly understand. How this tank goes will likely influence the direction I go with my next larger tank, so I'm excited to see how this little "experiment" goes.

Anyways, I got the tank officially setup and cycling last night. The equipment is inspired by the 10 gallon budget build series by Inappropriate Reefer on YouTube, but I'm going to modify some of it as I go.

Tank: Aqueon 10 gallon tank from Petco
Filter: Aquaclear 70 HOB filter
Heater: Aqueon 50W set at 78

~10lbs of cured Marco Rock
10lbs Carib-Sea Aragalive sand

I'll be adding either Marine Pure bioballs or maybe some Seachem Matrix to the HOB to increase the biological filtration, and eventually plan on using Chemi-Pure Blue for general water clarity. I'll have ROWAphos GFO on hand if phosphates become an issue as well. Overall, I want to keep it simple with basic filtration and weekly water changes.

Equipment

Aquascape

Filling

Up and Running

The next day. I had to move the filter to the left wall because it was blowing the sand off the front glass even at the lowest flow setting. I think this orientation is better as it pushes flow across the full length of the tank.

I plan on running/cycling this tank for quite a while before adding any livestock. Given that this is my first time using dry rock, I really want to pay attention to how the tank establishes itself in the early stages. Any advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated!

Looks like a solid start to the hobby!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Looks like a solid start to the hobby!

Thanks! I'm really trying to get the full experience! I learned so much from my first tank but still have so much to learn.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Thanks! I'm really trying to get the full experience! I learned so much from my first tank but still have so much to learn.

Same here I’ve been reefing for ten years and I’m still learning new ways to maintain stability and make things convenient. There’s many different challenges in this hobby to learn from

 

[muzikalmatt]

Well...I caved in and bought an Auto Top Off for the tank. With the dry winter air, the tank is evaporating quite a lot, and I just don't think my nightly top offs were going to be enough in the long run.

To be fair, I would consider this a "budget" ATO as it was only about $60. I'm trying out the AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite, which is perfectly sized for this build. I also picked up a cheap cereal container as my ATO reservoir, so this ATO setup was less than 70 bucks.

AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite & ATO reservoir

ATO pump is super tiny.

ATO water level sensor is tiny as well.

I drilled two holes in the top of the container to run the pump tubing and power cable. The pump fits this container like a glove.

ATO Reservoir

ATO sensor is perfect for the Aquaclear 70.

ATO all setup...and the cycle continues.

So far I'm loving this ATO. It fits this build perfectly and it was very reasonably priced. We'll see how it does in the long run, but I have high hopes!

 

[Sgchick]

Looks like a great start!! Let the fun begin!

 

[muzikalmatt]

So the cycle is pretty much complete in this tank after about 2 weeks! I dosed the tank with ammonium chloride to get to 2ppm ammonia, then added BIO-Spira to jumpstart the cycle. After peaking at 2ppm ammonia a few days ago, ammonia levels have dropped to zero and I'm at about 1ppm nitrite and 30ppm nitrates. I did a roughly 40% water change and will continue letting the tank run for probably another couple of weeks before adding any livestock.

API tests for ph, ammonia, and nitrite.

Nyos nitrate test

Water Change

I'm looking forward to stocking this tank in the near future! Thanks for following along!

 

[SydneyRose]

Looking good. It’s fun watching the dry rock color up over time.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Looking good. It’s fun watching the dry rock color up over time.

Thanks! I'm excited to see that myself. A big reason for this build is to start with just dry rock and learn how to navigate that process, pitfalls and all.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Big update! The tank is definitely fully cycled now and I've acquired the remaining gear I needed. I picked up an Inkbird temperature controller and Santa brought me a Kessil A160WE for Christmas. The build may have migrated out of the "budget" territory, but some of the splurges I've gone for aren't totally necessary.

Nitrites finally bottomed out.

New Kessil A160WE. I had the gooseneck from my larger tank before I swapped it for the 90 degree arm. Working well on the 10 gallon.

I'm not planning on running the light yet to keep the algae at bay for now. I'm probably going to pick up the first fish for the tank sometime this week while I'm off work and can monitor it more closely.

 

[SydneyRose]

I started my last tank with dry rock (previous used live). I kept the lights off for the first 4-5 months and it definitely helped keep the ugly phase controllable.

 

[muzikalmatt]

I added the tank's very first inhabitant today, a single Bangai Cardinalfish. I picked him up at one of my LFS's that quarantines their fish before putting them on sale. The tank has been running for almost 6 weeks and has been fully cycled for at least 3 weeks.

So far he looks good and I'm planning on keeping the lights off for maybe another week or two. I'm trying to avoid an algae explosion while the tank's biofilter stabilizes.

 

[KellyCorals]

Taking your time! I think that’s a great way to go. It’s painful to just sit there and wait for the cycle to happen but I think it really pays off in the long run! Watching that rock start to coralline will be very rewarding. Keep the pictures coming!

 

[CanuckReefer]

This will be my second reef tank ever and surprisingly...it's a downsize. My first was an IM Nuvo Fusion 40 and as much as I'd like to setup a bigger tank, I simply don't have the space right now. So instead, I wanted to try a couple of things; one is testing out reefing on a "budget", and the second is starting a tank with completely dry rock. My first tank used pretty well-established "live" rock from the LFS, complete with hitchhikers (good and bad), and it was a relatively painless setup. It was a quick and easy cycle, there was no real ugly stage to speak of, and it's been a relatively stable tank now approaching it's 3rd year. I've read and heard about the pitfalls of using dry "dead" rock to start a tank, but as with many things in life, I feel you need to experience to truly understand. How this tank goes will likely influence the direction I go with my next larger tank, so I'm excited to see how this little "experiment" goes.

Anyways, I got the tank officially setup and cycling last night. The equipment is inspired by the 10 gallon budget build series by Inappropriate Reefer on YouTube, but I'm going to modify some of it as I go.

Tank: Aqueon 10 gallon tank from Petco
Filter: Aquaclear 70 HOB filter
Heater: Aqueon 50W set at 78

~10lbs of cured Marco Rock
10lbs Carib-Sea Aragalive sand

I'll be adding either Marine Pure bioballs or maybe some Seachem Matrix to the HOB to increase the biological filtration, and eventually plan on using Chemi-Pure Blue for general water clarity. I'll have ROWAphos GFO on hand if phosphates become an issue as well. Overall, I want to keep it simple with basic filtration and weekly water changes.

Equipment

Aquascape

Filling

Up and Running

The next day. I had to move the filter to the left wall because it was blowing the sand off the front glass even at the lowest flow setting. I think this orientation is better as it pushes flow across the full length of the tank.

I plan on running/cycling this tank for quite a while before adding any livestock. Given that this is my first time using dry rock, I really want to pay attention to how the tank establishes itself in the early stages. Any advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated!

Experimentation I like....and budget is my middle name.... following.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Taking your time! I think that’s a great way to go. It’s painful to just sit there and wait for the cycle to happen but I think it really pays off in the long run! Watching that rock start to coralline will be very rewarding. Keep the pictures coming!

Thanks! I'm definitely more patient now having gone through my first tank, and with some of the challenges I've heard/read about using dry rock I want to be extra cautious. I'm looking forward to watching this tank mature!

 

[SydneyRose]

Keeping the lights off longer definitely helped manage/reduce the early algae outbreaks. I am about 10 months since start up. The ugliest started around 8 months and are just about gone. I found I had to do a significant more water changes during this time when compared to using live rock.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Experimentation I like....and budget is my middle name.... following.

Nice! I definitely have some interesting ideas for this tank and love experimenting as well. I think that's a big part of why I enjoy the reefing hobby so much.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Keeping the lights off longer definitely helped manage/reduce the early algae outbreaks. I am about 10 months since start up. The ugliest started around 8 months and are just about gone. I found I had to do a significant more water changes during this time when compared to using live rock.

Awesome! I figure if I keep the bioload relatively light and the lights off, I can hopefully avoid or at least minimize the uglies.

 

[SydneyRose]

Did the same thing. It certainly kept it to a minimum but I think it caused it to not a bit later than normal. Just my experience. Cardinals are great, btw.

 

[muzikalmatt]

So I caved and put my first tester coral in the tank a few days ago, a green hairy mushroom (rhodactis).

I have been slowly turning on the light for a few hours a day just to see if I get a small algae bloom. Sure enough I started seeing some diatoms on the rocks and sandbed.

I figured the tank could handle some hardy corals at that point so I moved a mushroom frag from my other tank to this one. Low and behold it's doing great!

The single fish inhabitant, a small banggai cardinalfish is doing well also. He's eating great although he only prefers frozen food or ROE at the moment. I'm hoping I can get him eating flake and/or pellet food eventually. He's also much less shy now and tends to hang out front and center when I'm around.

All in all the tank is going well so far. I'm trying to remain patient but it's difficult for sure. I may move a few zoa frags from my other tank to this one and see how they do next.