gsbrawley65
Community Member
- Joined
- May 7, 2026
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 34
- Location
- Houston
- What state or country do you live in
- Texas
September 7, 2026 Update:
First Corals are in the tank:
-2 Photosynthetic Gorgonians
-A few Ricordea Florida
-Blue Kenya Tree
-Toadstool Leather
-Bubble Tip Anemone
Livestock (Added):
-Two neon gobies. Ordered from Dr. Reef and he sent two (one free). So, I'm trying two of them out. They are small, captive bred. So, maybe they can pair. If not, I'll re-home.
-A variety of clean up crew members from Reef Cleaners. Loving the tiger conch and halloween hermit.
-Pom Pom Crab, Cleaner Shrimp, Emerald Crab.
Livestock (Later this Month Assuming the below was Anemone Related)
-Red Headed Solon Wrasse
-Flame Angel
Issues: The anemone walked to the Midas Blenny's favorite spot. This cause the stubborn Midas to sting himself (head and gills) about 15 times. As it is a very small anemone, I assume the sting was weaker (but maybe not). He then started violently flashing, yawning, swimming in the flow for about 48 hours. He has now settled down and signs the behavior has stoped (as best I can tell). So, though I'm still monitoring, I'm hopeful the issues solely related to the anemone sting.
Original Message:
I’m in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank. I have previous freshwater experience. Given the amount of research (what I really enjoy) that has gone into the process, I’ve decided to start a build thread largely for my own enjoyment. However, as a beginner, I welcome comments, critiques, suggestions, or encouragement.
As a sometimes busy lawyer, my goal is to make the tank low maintenance (within reason) and able to survive largely on its on (other than bi-weekly water changes and weekly ATO reservoir filling). I also made the mistake with my previous freshwater experience of going cheap initially and then upgrading everything. So, I’ve tried to avoid all that (within reason).
Current Equipment:
Tank: Innovative Marine INT 75 Complete Reef System (only 36 inches wide as opposed to the typical 48 inch 75 gallon).
Stand: APS Aquarium Stand
Sump: IM RFS-27-39 gallon (currently keeping the water level at 11 1/4 inches).
Return Pump: Mighty XL Return Pump (currently running at 50%)
Power Heads: Two Nero 3s (currently running each at 50% random flow)
Lights: Two AI Blade Grows (currently very low % and limited time)
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 110INT protein skimmer (on stand to allow higher water level)
ATO: Innovative Marine HydroFill Ti ATO with a Red Sea 18-liter ATO reservoir (only reservoir I could fit in the stand with the sump as it is just 3.5 inches wide).
Heaters: 2 EHEIM Jager 150W heaters with the InkBird ITC-306A
Rock: 50 pounds KP Aquatics Live Rock and 15 pounds of KP Aquatics Dry Rock. I also have about 10/15 pounds of the dry rock in the sump.
Sand: CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (Dry Version). About 1.5 inches and 2 to 2.5 inches in some areas.
Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
RO/DI System, Mixing, and Water Change System: BRS 4 Stage RO/DI System, 2 20 Gallon Brut Trash Cans, 10 Gallon Brut, 2 5 Gallon Buckets, One Syncra Silent 1.5 with 10 feet of hose for short water transfers, One Syncra Silent 3.5 with 25 feet of hose for long water transfers (also use to mix salt as I’ve found it does the best and the 25 feet of hose is unwieldy).
Equipment on the Way:
Automatic Feeder: The Plank and an associated smart plug.
Lid: Kraken Reef Lid with cutouts for the plank, cords on the back corners, and a feeding hole on the front right.
Planned Stocking:
Current Status: My cycle is complete. Set up the tank 7/1. Start the stocking process on Friday (2 days from now). My first stocking will be the Bonded pair of Ocellaris clownfish, the Neon goby, and the Chalk bass. The rest will follow in groups 2/3 weeks after.
Quarantine: My spouse was not excited about a separate quarantine tank after the setting up process. So, I’ve purchased quarantined fish and CUC from Dr. Reef.
First Corals are in the tank:
-2 Photosynthetic Gorgonians
-A few Ricordea Florida
-Blue Kenya Tree
-Toadstool Leather
-Bubble Tip Anemone
Livestock (Added):
-Two neon gobies. Ordered from Dr. Reef and he sent two (one free). So, I'm trying two of them out. They are small, captive bred. So, maybe they can pair. If not, I'll re-home.
-A variety of clean up crew members from Reef Cleaners. Loving the tiger conch and halloween hermit.
-Pom Pom Crab, Cleaner Shrimp, Emerald Crab.
Livestock (Later this Month Assuming the below was Anemone Related)
-Red Headed Solon Wrasse
-Flame Angel
Issues: The anemone walked to the Midas Blenny's favorite spot. This cause the stubborn Midas to sting himself (head and gills) about 15 times. As it is a very small anemone, I assume the sting was weaker (but maybe not). He then started violently flashing, yawning, swimming in the flow for about 48 hours. He has now settled down and signs the behavior has stoped (as best I can tell). So, though I'm still monitoring, I'm hopeful the issues solely related to the anemone sting.
Original Message:
I’m in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank. I have previous freshwater experience. Given the amount of research (what I really enjoy) that has gone into the process, I’ve decided to start a build thread largely for my own enjoyment. However, as a beginner, I welcome comments, critiques, suggestions, or encouragement.
As a sometimes busy lawyer, my goal is to make the tank low maintenance (within reason) and able to survive largely on its on (other than bi-weekly water changes and weekly ATO reservoir filling). I also made the mistake with my previous freshwater experience of going cheap initially and then upgrading everything. So, I’ve tried to avoid all that (within reason).
Current Equipment:
Tank: Innovative Marine INT 75 Complete Reef System (only 36 inches wide as opposed to the typical 48 inch 75 gallon).
Stand: APS Aquarium Stand
Sump: IM RFS-27-39 gallon (currently keeping the water level at 11 1/4 inches).
Return Pump: Mighty XL Return Pump (currently running at 50%)
Power Heads: Two Nero 3s (currently running each at 50% random flow)
Lights: Two AI Blade Grows (currently very low % and limited time)
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 110INT protein skimmer (on stand to allow higher water level)
ATO: Innovative Marine HydroFill Ti ATO with a Red Sea 18-liter ATO reservoir (only reservoir I could fit in the stand with the sump as it is just 3.5 inches wide).
Heaters: 2 EHEIM Jager 150W heaters with the InkBird ITC-306A
Rock: 50 pounds KP Aquatics Live Rock and 15 pounds of KP Aquatics Dry Rock. I also have about 10/15 pounds of the dry rock in the sump.
Sand: CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (Dry Version). About 1.5 inches and 2 to 2.5 inches in some areas.
Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
RO/DI System, Mixing, and Water Change System: BRS 4 Stage RO/DI System, 2 20 Gallon Brut Trash Cans, 10 Gallon Brut, 2 5 Gallon Buckets, One Syncra Silent 1.5 with 10 feet of hose for short water transfers, One Syncra Silent 3.5 with 25 feet of hose for long water transfers (also use to mix salt as I’ve found it does the best and the 25 feet of hose is unwieldy).
Equipment on the Way:
Automatic Feeder: The Plank and an associated smart plug.
Lid: Kraken Reef Lid with cutouts for the plank, cords on the back corners, and a feeding hole on the front right.
Planned Stocking:
- 2 (Bonded pair) Ocellaris clownfish
- 1 Neon goby
- 1 Chalk bass
- 1 Royal gramma
- 1 Yellow watchman goby and Tiger pistol shrimp
- 1 Midas blenny
- 1 McCosker’s flasher wrasses
- 1 Red-headed Solon fairy wrasse
- 1 Flame angelfish
- 1 Male Mandarin (After a year and trying to establish a pod population)
Current Status: My cycle is complete. Set up the tank 7/1. Start the stocking process on Friday (2 days from now). My first stocking will be the Bonded pair of Ocellaris clownfish, the Neon goby, and the Chalk bass. The rest will follow in groups 2/3 weeks after.
Quarantine: My spouse was not excited about a separate quarantine tank after the setting up process. So, I’ve purchased quarantined fish and CUC from Dr. Reef.
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