First time reefer, long time R2R lurker

[Salty Rambler]

Welcome to R2R! Looks like you are off to a great start.

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[|Frank|]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Olefreebe]

Welcome to reef2reef!

 

[revhtree]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family!

 

[CMMorgan]

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!

Nice aquascape. Very smart to make it in two pieces. You never know when you will have to move it. Are you also a Florida Reefer?

 

[BaysEndReef]

Welcome to R2R!! Always here to help!!

 

[MmeAssoc]

Nice aquascape. Very smart to make it in two pieces. You never know when you will have to move it. Are you also a Florida Reefer?

It's actually in three pieces! One of the 'islands' is two separate pieces of rock, I don't trust myself to heave larger pieces in/out of the tank.

I'm in Sydney, Australia, so probably similar weather to Florida? Thinking about getting a chiller for summer, it gets fairly hot and humid here.

 

[Just John]

 

[DKPminus]

Welcome… you are obviously doing your research and sounds like you have a solid plan. Something important but difficult, BE PATIENT. . And i agree with Ged. Some more scape would prob serve you well. More surface for bacteria helps your system. I’m also a mixed reef. Love the mix of flow, colors and life.

 

[MmeAssoc]

Welcome… you are obviously doing your research and sounds like you have a solid plan. Something important but difficult, BE PATIENT. . And i agree with Ged. Some more scape would prob serve you well. More surface for bacteria helps your system. I’m also a mixed reef. Love the mix of flow, colors and life.

Great pictures! And thanks for the advice - I'll grab some more rock, and bulk out the scape a bit.

 

[LiveWire]

Welcome to the REEF!!

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Hello and welcome to R2R.

 

[MmeAssoc]

Unfortunately, lockdown has been extended here so it may be another month or so before my tank is delivered.

Thanks for the hardscape suggestions, @Gedxin and @DKPminus! I've taken it on board and added another 9kg/20lb of rock (I think I had about 20kg to start with).

I didn't trust my building skills enough to make an arch, so instead have added more islands - there are now five in total, but I'm grouping three together to look like a single large rock. It's a lot of rock touching the base of the tank, but I couldn't figure out another way to make solid structures that I can easily lift if needed. The highest point still sits between 1/2 and 2/3 of the height of the tank.

Are updates are ok in this thread, or should I be posting somewhere else?

I wish my tank was here, but at least I have a bit more time to save up for the lights!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Kiwi reefer]

Welcome looking forward to seeing your reef

 

[RC51]

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!

Welcome to R2R!!! Nice scape going on there

 

[MmeAssoc]

The tank is finally here! It arrived a week ago, and I've spent that time setting it up - will post a picture once it clears (I added live sand last, after the water and rock, and it's very cloudy at the moment).

I had some set up issues, but slowly worked through them. I spent a solid three days tinkering with the levelling feet and feeling like I would never get the tank level enough to fill it, only to eventually realise that my spirit level was inaccurate (and too short for the tank anyway) - bought a new, longer spirit level, and confirmed the tank actually is fully level in all directions.

Last night I was woken up to an ear-splitting alarm, to find out that the Inkbird heater controller apparently does not like it when the heater has been on for more than five hours - I've turned that alarm off via the app, which has been really easy to use.

I'm also not sure I've installed my ATO float valve correctly, but will keep an eye on the salinity and the level in the ATO chamber over the next few days.

Today I added ammonia to 2ppm, and Dr Tim's One and Only. Here's hoping the cycle goes quickly!

 

[James_O]

Welcome to R2R!!