Well I guess welcome to my build thread. I have been wanting to do a saltwater tank for a minute now. However, due to stability in living situation and work, I havent had a chance until now. With all of my classes for my undergrad online, I decided to dive headfirst into a reef tank build. I had a Fluval flex 15g sitting around from my dorm last year that only had a Betta so 'ol Jessi my Betta got put into a new Walstad tank. This gave me the tank and Filter setup I needed.
As for the build, Here is what I did to modify the tank for initial startup:
-Nano protein skimmer in the first chamber
-Biomedia, charcoal, sponge into the second chamber of the filter
-Sponge butted up into the transfer from the first to second filter stage
-Heater and stock pump in third chamber. Might convert second and third to refugium later if I wanna get fancy
-13 lbs liverock
-Amazon cheap 400gph powerhead
-Live sand, 1.5"
-Hunk of snowflake obsidian bc its a nice looking rock
Right now, I have a luminie P30 for the tank. However I do not have an auto- topoff at the moment so the stock lid and light are still running. However, a family has a CNC laser that I am gonna use to cut some custom plexiglass lids for my tanks. These lids will have a series of airholes, as well as ports to allow the protein skimmer, power and air lines, as well as lighting mount point on them. If this doesnt pan out, I will likely cut up the lid and install the P30 into it, hovering above a hole with plexiglass silicon'd into it. The tank is finally cycled so this will happen to it fairly soon.
As for stock, the current livestock plan:
-1 Ocellaris (black or mocha)
-1 Firefish
-1 Prawn goby
-Couple snails, hermits
- GSP
-Xenia
-Candy cane
-Easy leathers
I had a piece of live rock come with some ZOAs (I haven't id'ed what kind yet) and Aiptasia. I have been controlling the aiptasia babies on the glass, as well as killing the ones that came on the live rock with a syringe filled with lemon juice. I just squirt it on the buggers and they shoot out bubbles. Idk if that means there dying, but I haven't seen the ones I've squirted appear again so I think it worked. Hopefully I will have the Ocellaris going in this weekend, along with maybe an invert or two. I also have some tiny starfish that have appeared since starting the tank.
Anyhow, this will sort of serve as a tank journal for me so follow along with me on this adventure into saltwater and sustainably recreating one of the most fragile, complex, and beautiful ecosystems in the world.
As for the build, Here is what I did to modify the tank for initial startup:
-Nano protein skimmer in the first chamber
-Biomedia, charcoal, sponge into the second chamber of the filter
-Sponge butted up into the transfer from the first to second filter stage
-Heater and stock pump in third chamber. Might convert second and third to refugium later if I wanna get fancy
-13 lbs liverock
-Amazon cheap 400gph powerhead
-Live sand, 1.5"
-Hunk of snowflake obsidian bc its a nice looking rock
Right now, I have a luminie P30 for the tank. However I do not have an auto- topoff at the moment so the stock lid and light are still running. However, a family has a CNC laser that I am gonna use to cut some custom plexiglass lids for my tanks. These lids will have a series of airholes, as well as ports to allow the protein skimmer, power and air lines, as well as lighting mount point on them. If this doesnt pan out, I will likely cut up the lid and install the P30 into it, hovering above a hole with plexiglass silicon'd into it. The tank is finally cycled so this will happen to it fairly soon.
As for stock, the current livestock plan:
-1 Ocellaris (black or mocha)
-1 Firefish
-1 Prawn goby
-Couple snails, hermits
- GSP
-Xenia
-Candy cane
-Easy leathers
I had a piece of live rock come with some ZOAs (I haven't id'ed what kind yet) and Aiptasia. I have been controlling the aiptasia babies on the glass, as well as killing the ones that came on the live rock with a syringe filled with lemon juice. I just squirt it on the buggers and they shoot out bubbles. Idk if that means there dying, but I haven't seen the ones I've squirted appear again so I think it worked. Hopefully I will have the Ocellaris going in this weekend, along with maybe an invert or two. I also have some tiny starfish that have appeared since starting the tank.
Anyhow, this will sort of serve as a tank journal for me so follow along with me on this adventure into saltwater and sustainably recreating one of the most fragile, complex, and beautiful ecosystems in the world.