Tank pic as of 26.11.2022
11.05.2022
Hi all! This forum has been invaluable to me so I thought it's about time I contribute a little something.
I put this tank together about about 6 months ago as an upgrade from my first reef attempt which was a 3.5 gallon pico. The initial plan was for a very simple setup with rock flower anemones and sexy shrimp but rfas have been impossible to come by where I'm based so I had to change course.
I really enjoyed the pico, which I ran bare bottom. I decided to go bigger for a few reasons 1) to be able to enjoy a couple fish 2) to watch my corals grow out and keep a wider variety 3) maintenance was actually a bit of a pain with the pico - it was my first reef attempt and my poor 'scape' made glass cleaning difficult 4) I wasn't convinced the lighting I had for the pico was sufficient for long term growth.
3.5g pico, was up and running for 4 months:
Overall I'm happy I started with the pico to learn the ropes and see if I really enjoy saltwater before investing in anything more major.
Now to the main event!
I decided to use an ADA 60P (60 litre, about 16 gallon) because it was the most readily available low iron tank of quality in my area. (I'm also a shameless ADA fangirl).
Equipment:
Tank: ADA 60P (16 gallon)
Lighting:Zetlight UFO 55watt LED Zetlight Qmaven II 60watt LED
Flow: Jebao SLW-10 wifi sine wave pump
Filtration: Seachem Tidal 35 HOB filter with Seachem Matrix media, a small bag of carbon & filter floss
Heating: Aquael Ultra 100Watt heater (maybe overkill but my house gets quite cold in the winter)
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO micro
Although I appreciate the practicality of a bare bottom tank, I prefer the sand aesthetic and used Seachem Meridian for this build.
For the rock-work I used the two pieces of marco rock from the pico along with more dry rock and I what I think is an old piece of pukani I was lucky to come across. I used the freshwater trick of superglue and cotton to secure the main rocks. I also purchased some Fiji rock from another reefer's fish only setup.
I try and do a 10% water change every week to fortnight which seems to be keeping things on track so far.
Progression pics:
After the initial transfer, looking pretty darn ugly! No points for guessing which rocks came from the pico.
More rock added and coral settling in.
Welcome home clowns!
That's enough for now I think. There have been a few changes from the last pic but I'll do another update soon!
Thanks for looking
11.05.2022
Hi all! This forum has been invaluable to me so I thought it's about time I contribute a little something.
I put this tank together about about 6 months ago as an upgrade from my first reef attempt which was a 3.5 gallon pico. The initial plan was for a very simple setup with rock flower anemones and sexy shrimp but rfas have been impossible to come by where I'm based so I had to change course.
I really enjoyed the pico, which I ran bare bottom. I decided to go bigger for a few reasons 1) to be able to enjoy a couple fish 2) to watch my corals grow out and keep a wider variety 3) maintenance was actually a bit of a pain with the pico - it was my first reef attempt and my poor 'scape' made glass cleaning difficult 4) I wasn't convinced the lighting I had for the pico was sufficient for long term growth.
3.5g pico, was up and running for 4 months:
Overall I'm happy I started with the pico to learn the ropes and see if I really enjoy saltwater before investing in anything more major.
Now to the main event!
I decided to use an ADA 60P (60 litre, about 16 gallon) because it was the most readily available low iron tank of quality in my area. (I'm also a shameless ADA fangirl).
Equipment:
Tank: ADA 60P (16 gallon)
Lighting:
Flow: Jebao SLW-10 wifi sine wave pump
Filtration: Seachem Tidal 35 HOB filter with Seachem Matrix media, a small bag of carbon & filter floss
Heating: Aquael Ultra 100Watt heater (maybe overkill but my house gets quite cold in the winter)
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO micro
Although I appreciate the practicality of a bare bottom tank, I prefer the sand aesthetic and used Seachem Meridian for this build.
For the rock-work I used the two pieces of marco rock from the pico along with more dry rock and I what I think is an old piece of pukani I was lucky to come across. I used the freshwater trick of superglue and cotton to secure the main rocks. I also purchased some Fiji rock from another reefer's fish only setup.
I try and do a 10% water change every week to fortnight which seems to be keeping things on track so far.
Progression pics:
After the initial transfer, looking pretty darn ugly! No points for guessing which rocks came from the pico.
More rock added and coral settling in.
Welcome home clowns!
That's enough for now I think. There have been a few changes from the last pic but I'll do another update soon!
Thanks for looking
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