Howdy y'all, from just north of DFW, TX. Here's my journey towards a (mostly) SPS reef tank in my home office.
I had a reef over a decade ago. My wife has listened to me go on about it since we met. This past Christmas, she finally got tired of the tall tales, and told me to set one up. It was going to be a 225 gallon tank. Several delays (and my impatience) saw me cancelling the order on that tank, and ordering a RSR 625 XXL.
It's finally setup. I thought I'd share the equipment I purchased, how I set it up, and some of the mistakes I made. It's my hope that some of my thoughts might help someone else who wants to setup a similar tank.
The main tank:
I had a reef over a decade ago. My wife has listened to me go on about it since we met. This past Christmas, she finally got tired of the tall tales, and told me to set one up. It was going to be a 225 gallon tank. Several delays (and my impatience) saw me cancelling the order on that tank, and ordering a RSR 625 XXL.
It's finally setup. I thought I'd share the equipment I purchased, how I set it up, and some of the mistakes I made. It's my hope that some of my thoughts might help someone else who wants to setup a similar tank.
The main tank:
- RSR 625 XXL purchased from Rift 2 Reef Aquatics.
- 4 Kessil A360X lights.
- 61" Aquatic Life T5HO hybrid fixture.
- Kessil H380 refuge light.
- Reef Octopus Varios-8 return pump.
- Reef Octopus Regal 150-INT Skimmer.
- Reef Octopus SST2 skimmer stand.
- 2 Maxspect Gyre XF280 pumps.
- 2 300W Cobalt heaters.
- Red Sea DIY net top.
- AutoAqua Smart AWC.
- eKoral Pro controller.
- CaribSea Arag-Alive Oolitic sand (enough for 4").
- Approx 150 pounds dry rock from reefcleaners.org.
- BRS C02 scrubber.
- 2 BRS media reactors.
- Generic led strip lights from Amazon.
- BRS 7-stage RODI.
- 3 22-gallon Rubbermaid trash cans.
- Generic 20-gallon long tank & stand.
- Generic LED lights.
- Fluval C2 HOB filter.
- Hydor wavemaker.
- 2 MJ400 powerheads.
- Pretty much every Hanna colorimeter.
- Milwaukee optical salinity meter.
- Hanna pHep meter.