mynameiscaleb
New Member
I was scrolling through planted tank stuff on Instagram and started seeing videos of torch corals. They seemed like something from another planet. Eventually I started watching reef related videos out of curiosity.
I saw a gently used Red Sea Nano Max G2 XL on Facebook Marketplace and decided to take the plunge. Two hours of driving later and I was on my way. I was aware of issues with Red Sea reefers but mistakenly thought the nano G2s weren’t impacted. Hopefully I get lucky.
I intend to take things slow and steady so I can learn the basics without being overwhelmed. That approach has definitely helped with my planted tanks. I'm also trying to buy used items as much as possible to keep the budget reasonable.
I'm aiming for four to five fish added one month apart and then preparation for my first corals. That will give me time to get the basics of things like salinity down before I start getting serious about the ABCs and flow.
My initial stocking plan is:
* clownfish pair
* royal gramma
* Some kind of Goby/Shrimp pair
* Maybe a mantis goby if things are going extremely well.
I plan on doing 30 days of observation QT for each batch of fish. I’m aiming for safe suppliers and captive bred fish and I accept that there’s some risk.
Since torches started me on this journey, I’ve decided to aim for a torch garden with some duncans, and maybe hammers, or other accent corals here or there. I love the mixed reefs that are like art galleries but I’m going for something more inline with a planted tank.
I secretly want a bubble tip anemone but I also don’t want to be locked into an anemone only tank or be stuck having to find ways to offload a bunch of animals. Maybe once I get the inevitable larger tank.
I plan to stay stock for the most part, but the seller included an ATO+. I bought a 10 gallon reefcan hoping that will make it easy to keep my salinity stable.
I was originally planning on holding off on RODI for a few months so I bought a ton of Nutri-sea water. I also bought Special Grade Arag-Alive Reef Sand and dry Marco rock from my LFS. I’ve since bought and setup a BRS RO/DI system.
I set everything up on my birthday 07/07.
I’ve had luck with fish-less cycling using Dr. Tim’s One and Only in the freshwater world, so I decided to do the same for my first reef. The basic nitrogen cycle took 21 days.
I followed the BRS videos on NSA to create my hardscape. I didn’t want to wait to get started so I used JB Waterweld and superglue to stick everything together. I didn’t bother covering the epoxy with sand, but I may do that before stocking the fish.
I plan to keep lights off until two weeks after the last batch of fish are added to the DT. Then I’ll add a duncan or hammer as a starter coral.
My goals are:
* Keep the reef alive for at least 3 years
* Get things down to an hour or so of normal maintenance per week.
Right now I’m not running the stock skimmer or the nano mat. I plan to setup the nano mat two days before the first fish goes into the DT. I’ll setup the skimmer as needed.
Expect a flood of questions!
I saw a gently used Red Sea Nano Max G2 XL on Facebook Marketplace and decided to take the plunge. Two hours of driving later and I was on my way. I was aware of issues with Red Sea reefers but mistakenly thought the nano G2s weren’t impacted. Hopefully I get lucky.
I intend to take things slow and steady so I can learn the basics without being overwhelmed. That approach has definitely helped with my planted tanks. I'm also trying to buy used items as much as possible to keep the budget reasonable.
I'm aiming for four to five fish added one month apart and then preparation for my first corals. That will give me time to get the basics of things like salinity down before I start getting serious about the ABCs and flow.
My initial stocking plan is:
* clownfish pair
* royal gramma
* Some kind of Goby/Shrimp pair
* Maybe a mantis goby if things are going extremely well.
I plan on doing 30 days of observation QT for each batch of fish. I’m aiming for safe suppliers and captive bred fish and I accept that there’s some risk.
Since torches started me on this journey, I’ve decided to aim for a torch garden with some duncans, and maybe hammers, or other accent corals here or there. I love the mixed reefs that are like art galleries but I’m going for something more inline with a planted tank.
I secretly want a bubble tip anemone but I also don’t want to be locked into an anemone only tank or be stuck having to find ways to offload a bunch of animals. Maybe once I get the inevitable larger tank.
I plan to stay stock for the most part, but the seller included an ATO+. I bought a 10 gallon reefcan hoping that will make it easy to keep my salinity stable.
I was originally planning on holding off on RODI for a few months so I bought a ton of Nutri-sea water. I also bought Special Grade Arag-Alive Reef Sand and dry Marco rock from my LFS. I’ve since bought and setup a BRS RO/DI system.
I set everything up on my birthday 07/07.
I’ve had luck with fish-less cycling using Dr. Tim’s One and Only in the freshwater world, so I decided to do the same for my first reef. The basic nitrogen cycle took 21 days.
I followed the BRS videos on NSA to create my hardscape. I didn’t want to wait to get started so I used JB Waterweld and superglue to stick everything together. I didn’t bother covering the epoxy with sand, but I may do that before stocking the fish.
I plan to keep lights off until two weeks after the last batch of fish are added to the DT. Then I’ll add a duncan or hammer as a starter coral.
My goals are:
* Keep the reef alive for at least 3 years
* Get things down to an hour or so of normal maintenance per week.
Right now I’m not running the stock skimmer or the nano mat. I plan to setup the nano mat two days before the first fish goes into the DT. I’ll setup the skimmer as needed.
Expect a flood of questions!
| Tank | Red Sea Nano Max G2 XL |
| ATO | Red Sea ATO+ |
| Sand | CaribSea Arag-Alive! Special Grade Reef Aquarium Sand |
| Seawater | At first Nature's Ocean Live Nutri-Seawater, now Red Sea Salt |
| Hardscape | Marco Rocks |
| Filtration | Red Sea Nano Mat |
| Lid | Kraken Lid |
| Return Pump | Jebao DCW-2500 |
| Flow | VorTech MP10 (one in place, one I may setup later) |
