First time reefer, long time R2R lurker

MmeAssoc

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
75
Reaction score
121
Location
Sydney
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi all, I'm excited to finally be starting my first saltwater tank!

I had this info in the Member Tanks board, but @Just John suggested I move it here (thanks!).

So, I've taken the plunge, and finally after a year of thinking about it bought a Cade PR 900 S2! This will be my first saltwater tank, and the plan is for softies and LPS, with a decent mix of colourful non-aggressive reef-safe fish.

The tank was meant to be delivered last week, but unfortunately it's been indefinitely delayed due to pandemic restrictions. But on the plus side, I have more time to get the rest of the equipment organised!

Purchased equipment
  • Cade 900S2: 90x70x60cm (roughly 3x2x2 feet), display 324L (85g), total capacity 373L (98g).
  • Four stage RO/DI
  • Return pump: Sicce Syncra 4.0
  • Skimmer: Great White 7
  • Heater: Eheim 300W
  • Sand: Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand, 2x20lb bags
  • Biomedia: Marine Pure balls
  • Testing: Ammonia (Sera), Nitrite (Sera), Nitrate (Nyos), Phosphate (Nyos), pH (Salifert), Salinity (Hanna checker)
  • Cycling: Dr Tim's ammonia and One & Only
Planned equipment
  • Lights: 2x Radion XR15 pros
  • Wavemaker: MP40
Planned livestock (eventually)
  • Firefish goby
  • Lawnmower blenny
  • Midas or bicolour blenny
  • Pistol shrimp & goby pair
  • Pair of clowns
  • Scarlet hawkfish
  • Mandarin goby
Another silver lining to the delivery delay is that I've got plenty of time to work on my scape. Trying to decide between two separate islands, or a single larger rock formation in the middle of the tank - any comments or suggestions to change things are welcomed!

IMG_0052.jpg IMG_0053 (1).jpg
 

Fish Think Pink

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 6, 2021
Messages
5,629
Reaction score
25,987
Location
DFW Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi all, I'm excited to finally be starting my first saltwater tank!

I had this info in the Member Tanks board, but @Just John suggested I move it here (thanks!).

So, I've taken the plunge, and finally after a year of thinking about it bought a Cade PR 900 S2! This will be my first saltwater tank, and the plan is for softies and LPS, with a decent mix of colourful non-aggressive reef-safe fish.

The tank was meant to be delivered last week, but unfortunately it's been indefinitely delayed due to pandemic restrictions. But on the plus side, I have more time to get the rest of the equipment organised!

Purchased equipment
  • Cade 900S2: 90x70x60cm (roughly 3x2x2 feet), display 324L (85g), total capacity 373L (98g).
  • Four stage RO/DI
  • Return pump: Sicce Syncra 4.0
  • Skimmer: Great White 7
  • Heater: Eheim 300W
  • Sand: Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand, 2x20lb bags
  • Biomedia: Marine Pure balls
  • Testing: Ammonia (Sera), Nitrite (Sera), Nitrate (Nyos), Phosphate (Nyos), pH (Salifert), Salinity (Hanna checker)
  • Cycling: Dr Tim's ammonia and One & Only
Planned equipment
  • Lights: 2x Radion XR15 pros
  • Wavemaker: MP40
Planned livestock (eventually)
  • Firefish goby
  • Lawnmower blenny
  • Midas or bicolour blenny
  • Pistol shrimp & goby pair
  • Pair of clowns
  • Scarlet hawkfish
  • Mandarin goby
Another silver lining to the delivery delay is that I've got plenty of time to work on my scape. Trying to decide between two separate islands, or a single larger rock formation in the middle of the tank - any comments or suggestions to change things are welcomed!

IMG_0052.jpg IMG_0053 (1).jpg
Welcome!

Glad you joined. Other future fish research their sleeping habits, as often they like caves and/or crevices to sleep/hide.

Often mandarin fish starve in aquariums, but this is a great post for supplemental daily feeding. I have two of the flat brine shrimp hatcheries so I can always have baby brine going. Also I found black pex for downspout which sort of hides tube, but I'm on hunt for dark blue. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thanks-paulb-mandarin-feeder.263752/
 
OP
OP
MmeAssoc

MmeAssoc

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
75
Reaction score
121
Location
Sydney
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome!

Glad you joined. Other future fish research their sleeping habits, as often they like caves and/or crevices to sleep/hide.

Often mandarin fish starve in aquariums, but this is a great post for supplemental daily feeding. I have two of the flat brine shrimp hatcheries so I can always have baby brine going. Also I found black pex for downspout which sort of hides tube, but I'm on hunt for dark blue. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thanks-paulb-mandarin-feeder.263752/
Thank you!

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I've worked to include a lot of little caves/crevices and overhangs in the rock, so I'm hoping any future fish will have enough hiding spaces to feel comfortable/able to sleep. I'm also planning a moderately deep sandbed, for any sand sifting fish or possibly wrasse that sleep in the sand.

The mandarin is a dream fish, but I want to wait and see if I can get a sustained population of pods in the tank. I might add a fuge to help with this, if I can figure out how to make space for it in the sump. Thank you for linking to the thread on feeding, I'll go through it in detail!
 

Gedxin

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
1,004
Reaction score
2,345
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome! Scape looks pretty good, though given how much room you have in that tank, I think I'd fill it out a little more. I'd personally suggest either adding an arch somewhere (maybe it goes from back to front?) or more islands. Either way, I'm sure you'll create something great.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 68 52.3%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 67 51.5%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 33 25.4%
  • None.

    Votes: 29 22.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.9%
Back
Top