I grew up swimming, snorkeling, and diving in Florida. I moved away from the ocean almost 15 years ago and have been trying to find a way to stay in touch with the water which was such an impactful part of my youth. After always researching and talking about it but never taking action, I made the decision to start a saltwater tank. I'll document my journey here and would love feedback from all of you!
I purchased a 45 gallon Red Sea Max E170 off of Facebook Marketplace (no sump) with all of the standard parts plus a few upgrades and about 40 pounds of formerly live rock (was sitting in a garage for about 3 months). Took a decent amount of cleaning to get it ready, but I think I'm close.
Return Pump: Stock 2150 lph
Light: AI Prime HD
Skimmer: Stock MSK 900 Rear Sump Protein Skimmer
ATO: Innovative Marine Hydrofill Ti ATO
Wavemaker: Jebao SOW-4 Wave Maker
Corals seem a bit intimidating to dive right into, so my plan is to start with a FOWLR tank for about 6 months to get into a routine and stabilize all the basics. Then I'll start making upgrades to my water and testing kits to make it coral ready.
From a stocking standpoint, I'm thinking the following. Anything you'd recommend for a Caribbean biotope?
- Neon goby (x2)
- Yellow-headed jawfish
- Royal Gramma
- Blue Chromis (x3)
- Maybe a juvenile atlantic blue tang (with the understanding that I'd only keep him for a year or 2 before he'd outgrow the tank)
- Pederson cleaner shrimp
- Peppermint shrimp (still need to figure out if these will get along with the pederson)
I've got ~35 pounds of live sand and a couple pounds of live rock from TBS coming that I'll use to augment or replace the existing rock I have. But I'll use that to start my cycle and add in a chromis or 2 from my LFS in a week or 2 after that.
Here's the initial aquascape plan, but it's subject to change once I see the live rock I'm getting. Any suggestions?
I purchased a 45 gallon Red Sea Max E170 off of Facebook Marketplace (no sump) with all of the standard parts plus a few upgrades and about 40 pounds of formerly live rock (was sitting in a garage for about 3 months). Took a decent amount of cleaning to get it ready, but I think I'm close.
Return Pump: Stock 2150 lph
Light: AI Prime HD
Skimmer: Stock MSK 900 Rear Sump Protein Skimmer
ATO: Innovative Marine Hydrofill Ti ATO
Wavemaker: Jebao SOW-4 Wave Maker
Corals seem a bit intimidating to dive right into, so my plan is to start with a FOWLR tank for about 6 months to get into a routine and stabilize all the basics. Then I'll start making upgrades to my water and testing kits to make it coral ready.
From a stocking standpoint, I'm thinking the following. Anything you'd recommend for a Caribbean biotope?
- Neon goby (x2)
- Yellow-headed jawfish
- Royal Gramma
- Blue Chromis (x3)
- Maybe a juvenile atlantic blue tang (with the understanding that I'd only keep him for a year or 2 before he'd outgrow the tank)
- Pederson cleaner shrimp
- Peppermint shrimp (still need to figure out if these will get along with the pederson)
I've got ~35 pounds of live sand and a couple pounds of live rock from TBS coming that I'll use to augment or replace the existing rock I have. But I'll use that to start my cycle and add in a chromis or 2 from my LFS in a week or 2 after that.
Here's the initial aquascape plan, but it's subject to change once I see the live rock I'm getting. Any suggestions?