Background: So about 2 years ago, I got my first ever aquarium, a 100 liter (~25 gallon) planted tank that I bought from my LFS. After about half an year I decided to research about saltwater tanks, really I didn't plan on setting up one since I had always heard it was very very expensive and almost impossible to care for (especially since I live in Brazil and aquariums aren’t that common here), but I thought it would be cool to learn how to care for one either way.
After a lot of research, I realized that it would still be super expensive, but nowhere as difficult as I had imagined; so I decided to research some more and set up a reef tank for myself.
Plan: Unfortunately, I don’t have that much space, so getting another tank was out of question, also the one I had fit perfectly where it was, and the stand look nice, so I decided to sacrifice my planted tank for a reef tank. The tank was already quite, so to add more water volume without taking away from the display, I decided to add a sump (with a refugium for the natural filtration and to increase in micro fauna), and therefore I needed an overflow. I didn’t want to add that many fish, maybe four max, so filtration wouldn’t be a big issue.
Since the tank is small I wanted an ATO, but I did not have enough space outside my cabinet for a pump-style ATO, so I decided on a gravity float valve ATO, that sits on top of the sump. In addition, a RODI Unit was on my list and a quarantine tank was necessary.
Process: I live in Brazil, so reef tank related products are kinda rare and very expensive, and since I would travel to the US in the end of last year, I decided to buy the expensive stuff (lighting and test kits) there and the rest here.
Also the tank is in my bedroom, so I had to remember that things needed to be quite, so that I can sleep at night.
The first thing I bought in my trip was the light, I bought a Viparspectra 165W light (looking back I should have gone with a AI Prime HD, but I didn’t understand much about reef lighting at the time and just bought the cheapest with the best par I could find). I also bought a kit with every Salifert test kit I needed (Ca, KH, Mg, pH, PO4, NH3, No2 and NO3)
While researching, I started buying the equipment I needed, like the RODI unit, the return pump, wave maker, Quarantine tank…
Set up: The first thing to be set up was the QT, it is a 5 gallon tank (since I don’t have that much space and am only housing small fish like clownfish) with a heater, air pump and small HOB filter. I will also buy medication as needed.
Then I started the Display itself. I purchased a HOB overflow, I really wanted a drilled overflow, because of the risks of a HOB one, but I couldn’t find anybody around me who was willing to drill an aquarium, and since I didn’t have any skill with drilling glass, I decided to go with a HOB overflow, so as not to destroy my really expensive aquarium.
In Brazil we don’t really have standard size aquarium, each manufacturer makes their own size, so for the sump I needed a custom made one. Since the prices were quite high, I chose to build my own sump with glass and silicone. The results were quite good for my first job with silicone, some of the dividers aren’t straight, but it doesn’t affect the functionality of the sump. I choose to leave the first area of the sump empty, in case I decided to add a protein skimmer.
I decided not to go with a skimmer right now for a few reasons, firstly, I couldn’t find any unit for a small tank for a decent price, also all the ones I found were quite noisy, and since the tank is in my bedroom, that want an option)
I also build the ATO reservoir from scratch, just like the sump, since I needed it to fit in the shelf of my stand. I also built the plumbing and painted it gray (the plumbing sold here is an ugly brown color.
After about a month of setting up, the display was ready to be filled. I prepared the RODI water, mixed it with the saltand filled the tank on the spam of about 3 days. I also bought about 20 pounds of dry live rock and 15 pounds of aragonite (shallow sand bed)
Right now the both the display and Quarantine are already cycled (I used Seachem stability and pure ammonia to cycle it), I will be travelling next week, so as soon as I get back I will be buying a pair of clownfish as the first inhabitants of the quarantine tank.
Equipment:
*Wave maker: Sun Sun Jvp 101a (to be honest I wanted a Jebao Ow-10, but the only place I can buy them from is China, and products take a really long time to get here when they’re ordered from China, that is, if they arrive at all. I will probably upgrade to it later down the line)
*Return Pump: Sarlo Better Sb2000 (Sarlo Better is a national aquarium brand in Brazil, it’s a quality brand and trusted by many, so I decided to go with a national pump)
*Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals (It was the easiest and best quality salt I found, so that’s what I went with)
*Lighting: Viparspectra 165w (Kind of an impulsive buy, wish I had gone with the AI Prime HD)
Stocking Plan:
*Clownfish Pair
*Midas Blenny
*Cardinal Bangai
* Bubble tip anemone
* Rock Flower Anemone
* Tisbe Copepods, Amphipods and Chaeto (Refugium)
* Mainly Soft coral and LPS coral, but a few easy SPS
Food:
*New Life Spectrum Marine Formula
*Poytara Marine Micro (Poytara is a decent national aquarium food)
*Homemade frozen food (frozen food isn’t common in Brazil, so I’ll just prepare my own frozen food)
If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them on the comments.
Photos:
The beginning of my planted tank
Building the Sump:
The RODI unit:
The tank being setup:
The light:
The quarantine (I've made some changes):
The plumbing:
The empty tank:
Before I bough enough Live rock:
The tank right now:
My failed attempt at aquascaping:
After a lot of research, I realized that it would still be super expensive, but nowhere as difficult as I had imagined; so I decided to research some more and set up a reef tank for myself.
Plan: Unfortunately, I don’t have that much space, so getting another tank was out of question, also the one I had fit perfectly where it was, and the stand look nice, so I decided to sacrifice my planted tank for a reef tank. The tank was already quite, so to add more water volume without taking away from the display, I decided to add a sump (with a refugium for the natural filtration and to increase in micro fauna), and therefore I needed an overflow. I didn’t want to add that many fish, maybe four max, so filtration wouldn’t be a big issue.
Since the tank is small I wanted an ATO, but I did not have enough space outside my cabinet for a pump-style ATO, so I decided on a gravity float valve ATO, that sits on top of the sump. In addition, a RODI Unit was on my list and a quarantine tank was necessary.
Process: I live in Brazil, so reef tank related products are kinda rare and very expensive, and since I would travel to the US in the end of last year, I decided to buy the expensive stuff (lighting and test kits) there and the rest here.
Also the tank is in my bedroom, so I had to remember that things needed to be quite, so that I can sleep at night.
The first thing I bought in my trip was the light, I bought a Viparspectra 165W light (looking back I should have gone with a AI Prime HD, but I didn’t understand much about reef lighting at the time and just bought the cheapest with the best par I could find). I also bought a kit with every Salifert test kit I needed (Ca, KH, Mg, pH, PO4, NH3, No2 and NO3)
While researching, I started buying the equipment I needed, like the RODI unit, the return pump, wave maker, Quarantine tank…
Set up: The first thing to be set up was the QT, it is a 5 gallon tank (since I don’t have that much space and am only housing small fish like clownfish) with a heater, air pump and small HOB filter. I will also buy medication as needed.
Then I started the Display itself. I purchased a HOB overflow, I really wanted a drilled overflow, because of the risks of a HOB one, but I couldn’t find anybody around me who was willing to drill an aquarium, and since I didn’t have any skill with drilling glass, I decided to go with a HOB overflow, so as not to destroy my really expensive aquarium.
In Brazil we don’t really have standard size aquarium, each manufacturer makes their own size, so for the sump I needed a custom made one. Since the prices were quite high, I chose to build my own sump with glass and silicone. The results were quite good for my first job with silicone, some of the dividers aren’t straight, but it doesn’t affect the functionality of the sump. I choose to leave the first area of the sump empty, in case I decided to add a protein skimmer.
I decided not to go with a skimmer right now for a few reasons, firstly, I couldn’t find any unit for a small tank for a decent price, also all the ones I found were quite noisy, and since the tank is in my bedroom, that want an option)
I also build the ATO reservoir from scratch, just like the sump, since I needed it to fit in the shelf of my stand. I also built the plumbing and painted it gray (the plumbing sold here is an ugly brown color.
After about a month of setting up, the display was ready to be filled. I prepared the RODI water, mixed it with the saltand filled the tank on the spam of about 3 days. I also bought about 20 pounds of dry live rock and 15 pounds of aragonite (shallow sand bed)
Right now the both the display and Quarantine are already cycled (I used Seachem stability and pure ammonia to cycle it), I will be travelling next week, so as soon as I get back I will be buying a pair of clownfish as the first inhabitants of the quarantine tank.
Equipment:
*Wave maker: Sun Sun Jvp 101a (to be honest I wanted a Jebao Ow-10, but the only place I can buy them from is China, and products take a really long time to get here when they’re ordered from China, that is, if they arrive at all. I will probably upgrade to it later down the line)
*Return Pump: Sarlo Better Sb2000 (Sarlo Better is a national aquarium brand in Brazil, it’s a quality brand and trusted by many, so I decided to go with a national pump)
*Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals (It was the easiest and best quality salt I found, so that’s what I went with)
*Lighting: Viparspectra 165w (Kind of an impulsive buy, wish I had gone with the AI Prime HD)
Stocking Plan:
*Clownfish Pair
*Midas Blenny
*Cardinal Bangai
* Bubble tip anemone
* Rock Flower Anemone
* Tisbe Copepods, Amphipods and Chaeto (Refugium)
* Mainly Soft coral and LPS coral, but a few easy SPS
Food:
*New Life Spectrum Marine Formula
*Poytara Marine Micro (Poytara is a decent national aquarium food)
*Homemade frozen food (frozen food isn’t common in Brazil, so I’ll just prepare my own frozen food)
If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them on the comments.
Photos:
The beginning of my planted tank
Building the Sump:
The RODI unit:
The tank being setup:
The light:
The quarantine (I've made some changes):
The plumbing:
The empty tank:
Before I bough enough Live rock:
The tank right now:
My failed attempt at aquascaping:
