So I figured it was time to talk about my ongoing build. I started in January by preparing for a larger build by buying a few books to get a general idea of what I was getting into (Tullock, Calfo.. etc). Then I somehow talked the wife into a frag tank, which water box put on sale (frag 45.2). After reading the natural aquarium, I settled on going with a massive amount of Lr and chaeto. So I bought some Lr from the gulf and then some from the keys, it gave me a great diversity in bacteria and various sponges, coral, etc.
For lighting I had researched the dickens out this and figured the orphek would be perfect and ended up getting like 150 off the light. A huge turn off was that due to how the water box was set up, it limited how I could mount the light. This ended up being a pain in the you know what, I hated the thought of having to build a light mount instead of just buying one. When it’s all said and done building one usually came to the price of buying one. But whatever, I liked the orphek due to the various positives and the layout of the leds. But at the time I ordered it ended up being like a week before the Chinese New Year. So this was an additional 3 weeks but I was on w that. Then corona ramped up in China and they turn around went past the 3 weeks and I could never get a good answer to a timeline. Plus talking to customer service half way across the world and the delay that goes into that, was a bit u settling. So once the time line went by a couple times, I just requested a refund. They were great about it and got it back to me in less than a day. At this time the gen 5 Radion came out and I was able to get it and save money when all was said and done. Plus easy to get ahold of and located somewhere in Pa I believe
Mounted it super easy.
as for fish, I figured I’d keep that simple. While cycling the tank I got inpatient and went with a clown, it was starting to read nitrates so it wasn’t to inhospitable. my wife wasn’t a fan of the orange so I inadvertently went with a black saddleback not knowing they tend to be more difficult and a bit aggressive. It looked a bit dark for the little guy at first but it ended up being the typical clown behavior in a new tank. Once it was fully cycled I tossed in a six line but the clown had taken off and was growing fairly fast. So it ended up being second in command to the saddleback. Now up to this point I had always very much wanted to get an orchid dottyback but held back due to their aggression. But with the current two I figured he’d be fine. So at this point the clown is still in charge and claims whatever territory it wants. The wrasshas taken to the rocks and the dottyback gets whatever the other two want to give him but he found a hole in a rock that he sneaks off to.
for coral, idk I just buy what I like and try to stay away from cancerous ones that cost a pretty penny. So really couldn’t tell you any names. Few ric fl, acans, micromussa, favia, blasto muss,zoa, Monti...etc
As of recent I had been getting nitrates fairly high ish and phosphate holding steady at .12-.16. This is with a Q3d water change and because of that schedule I don’t dose for anything and most stay fairly consistent. I went and got a cheap eshops protein skimmer. Figured Tullock and Calfo were probably right when they sang praise of these things. But it was hard to get it dialed in and overall wasn’t very impressed. So I got to talking to Jeff at lifereef and learned a lot from him, heck of a guy.All I knew about Venturi set ups were what I read in those books previously mentioned. So with what I read and what we talked about, I went with a lifereef. They are simple, efficient and last forever. Plus every product has a hateful review no matter how good they are but lifereef seems to consistently have praise. Plus I never see any one getting rid of them, that should be a sign right?
during our talk I was able to voice my frustration with the waterbox sump set up. It really didn’t allow you to efficiently do anything. The skimmer section was fairly small and to run it as a refugium was next to impossible( I know its a skimmer section though) and the ATOwas only around 2 gallons. My problem with the ato is that
A) it’s incredibly small
B) if I did loose power the water in the DT would end up over flowing the sump. The ato is right next to the pump section and has a overflow hole drilled into the top to help in this case.
so anyways.... we decided that the apace could be better utilized with a custom sump, allowing me to get practice use out of every bit of my sump and if need be I can run an external ato of 10 ish gallons.
So at this point the skimmer is done and on its way and I am pretty dang excited, went with a few custom colored touches and this should last me for any tank I need in the future up to a point. Also for the next tank I can convert this to a frag/QT Tank. Sump should be done in mid August, possibly July. Got to say upto this point Jeff has been great to work with and found a new appreciation for everything lifereef. It’s simple, efficient and should do what it’s meant to and then some. I’ll keep this updated as I get the rest in
For lighting I had researched the dickens out this and figured the orphek would be perfect and ended up getting like 150 off the light. A huge turn off was that due to how the water box was set up, it limited how I could mount the light. This ended up being a pain in the you know what, I hated the thought of having to build a light mount instead of just buying one. When it’s all said and done building one usually came to the price of buying one. But whatever, I liked the orphek due to the various positives and the layout of the leds. But at the time I ordered it ended up being like a week before the Chinese New Year. So this was an additional 3 weeks but I was on w that. Then corona ramped up in China and they turn around went past the 3 weeks and I could never get a good answer to a timeline. Plus talking to customer service half way across the world and the delay that goes into that, was a bit u settling. So once the time line went by a couple times, I just requested a refund. They were great about it and got it back to me in less than a day. At this time the gen 5 Radion came out and I was able to get it and save money when all was said and done. Plus easy to get ahold of and located somewhere in Pa I believe
Mounted it super easy.
as for fish, I figured I’d keep that simple. While cycling the tank I got inpatient and went with a clown, it was starting to read nitrates so it wasn’t to inhospitable. my wife wasn’t a fan of the orange so I inadvertently went with a black saddleback not knowing they tend to be more difficult and a bit aggressive. It looked a bit dark for the little guy at first but it ended up being the typical clown behavior in a new tank. Once it was fully cycled I tossed in a six line but the clown had taken off and was growing fairly fast. So it ended up being second in command to the saddleback. Now up to this point I had always very much wanted to get an orchid dottyback but held back due to their aggression. But with the current two I figured he’d be fine. So at this point the clown is still in charge and claims whatever territory it wants. The wrasshas taken to the rocks and the dottyback gets whatever the other two want to give him but he found a hole in a rock that he sneaks off to.
for coral, idk I just buy what I like and try to stay away from cancerous ones that cost a pretty penny. So really couldn’t tell you any names. Few ric fl, acans, micromussa, favia, blasto muss,zoa, Monti...etc
As of recent I had been getting nitrates fairly high ish and phosphate holding steady at .12-.16. This is with a Q3d water change and because of that schedule I don’t dose for anything and most stay fairly consistent. I went and got a cheap eshops protein skimmer. Figured Tullock and Calfo were probably right when they sang praise of these things. But it was hard to get it dialed in and overall wasn’t very impressed. So I got to talking to Jeff at lifereef and learned a lot from him, heck of a guy.All I knew about Venturi set ups were what I read in those books previously mentioned. So with what I read and what we talked about, I went with a lifereef. They are simple, efficient and last forever. Plus every product has a hateful review no matter how good they are but lifereef seems to consistently have praise. Plus I never see any one getting rid of them, that should be a sign right?
during our talk I was able to voice my frustration with the waterbox sump set up. It really didn’t allow you to efficiently do anything. The skimmer section was fairly small and to run it as a refugium was next to impossible( I know its a skimmer section though) and the ATOwas only around 2 gallons. My problem with the ato is that
A) it’s incredibly small
B) if I did loose power the water in the DT would end up over flowing the sump. The ato is right next to the pump section and has a overflow hole drilled into the top to help in this case.
so anyways.... we decided that the apace could be better utilized with a custom sump, allowing me to get practice use out of every bit of my sump and if need be I can run an external ato of 10 ish gallons.
So at this point the skimmer is done and on its way and I am pretty dang excited, went with a few custom colored touches and this should last me for any tank I need in the future up to a point. Also for the next tank I can convert this to a frag/QT Tank. Sump should be done in mid August, possibly July. Got to say upto this point Jeff has been great to work with and found a new appreciation for everything lifereef. It’s simple, efficient and should do what it’s meant to and then some. I’ll keep this updated as I get the rest in
