How not to start a reef tank, my first reef tank build

[aqua_code]

Red Sea are top of the line. I haven't personally used them but I see alot of people who rave about them and have successful SPS tanks. You will end up spending about $500-$1000 more for the same equipment. It's kind of like buying an Apple laptop.

They look great because they are so compact and there's alot of community support around the product. You will have a good sump setup and nothing to worry about if you go that route.

There are alot of additional expenses you will want to buy in the future, including the apex neptune. So make sure you plan on budgeting that out if you want to eventually keep SPS.

 

[bubbasguppies]

As the title suggests, I will be losing my reef tank virginity this weekend.

After about as much research, horror stories, and salivating over absurdly beautiful tanks that a man can handle, I decided to commit to building my very first reef tank.

What you see before you are the makings of an amazingly mediocre tank, that which I’m somewhat proud of, more so nervous as s*** about.

I’m starting with a 36 gal aqueon bowfront, the usual suspect in reef addiction, tragedy, and triumph.
-Two aqueon powerheads.
-Current USA marine orbit 36” LED.
-150w aqueon pro heater.
-50 gal ro/di unit.
-Aquaclear 70 power filter (you down with HOB, ya you know me)
-Reef Clear salt
-10 lbs of Marcos dry rock
-20 lbs of Bimini pink live sand
-Refractometer
-40 gal roughneck, 2x Home Depot 5s
-Gravel cleaner
-20 ft airline tube
-Dr. Tims
-Some electronic thermometer I forgot the name of.
-Dos powerstrips stolen from my battlestation (home office)
-Light timers
-Various nutrients for adjusting levels
-Hot tub grade shims
-Bunch of levels
-Yoga Mat stolen from ex

Here are the results from the initial purchasathon (excludes powerheads, dry rock, and ammonia test strips):

Welcome to the money pit addiction....lol

 

[living_tribunal]

Welcome to the money pit addiction....lol

It's got me by the cajones already.

 

[aqua_code]

For my builds I take one of these and drill 2x holes through it. There's a cheaper one for around $130.

25 Gallon Rimless Cube Tank - Low Iron

Mr. Aqua aquariums produces some of the finest nano and pico tanks on the market. With their simple "glass box" design, it is much easier to customize to your needs than all in one aquariums. For the slight extra cost of the low iron glass with the Mr. Aqua tanks, we would highly recommend it...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I've done it 3x and one time I noticed a chip on the outside of the tank. I think it happened before I was drilling but I didn't catch it and couldn't return a drilled tank. Definitely fully inspect the tank before you drill incase there are any defects. Once you drill, warranty is voided.

It helps to have another person spraying water while you drill. It's very loud but if you go slow and straight it should go fine. It helps to put a towel in the tank and use painters tape so the circle doesn't fall through and chip/scratch the glass. I watched a couple youtube videos on it first. I also use a glass drilling guide:

Glass Drill Bit Guide THK

A drill guide is used to eliminate bit wobble and ensure the beginning of your cut is straight. Once the cut is started it is a piece of cake. The bracket includes a level actuated suction cup to hold it securely in place both vertically and horizontally. The drill guide is adjustable up to 83mm...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

If you are concerned about voiding a tank warranty or drilling then it's worth buying the pre-drilled tanks.

 

[living_tribunal]

Kevin Spacey would do great in this house of cards.

(Disclaimer: Kevin Spacey will be going nowhere near my fish, future children, or dogs)

Not sure how to make the branches work everything looks awkward to me.

Open to feedback/suggestions.

 

[DMG Reef]

Kevin Spacey would do great in this house of cards.

(Disclaimer: Kevin Spacey will be going nowhere near my fish, future children, or dogs)

Not sure how to make the branches work everything looks awkward to me.

Open to feedback/suggestions.

I actually like it. You just have to visualize it covered in corals. Also, lots of caves for the fish to swim through. My fish love caves.

 

[living_tribunal]

I actually like it. You just have to visualize it covered in corals. Also, lots of caves for the fish to swim through. My fish love caves.

My concern is that I didn’t focus enough on the three dimensional depth of my rockscape. It climaxes in the center when I should have had it with a gradual build towards the back.

Caves, holes, pathways, got a ton of those in here.

 

[REEFer86]

As the title suggests, I will be losing my reef tank virginity this weekend.

After about as much research, horror stories, and salivating over absurdly beautiful tanks that a man can handle, I decided to commit to building my very first reef tank.

What you see before you are the makings of an amazingly mediocre tank, that which I’m somewhat proud of, more so nervous as s*** about.

I’m starting with a 36 gal aqueon bowfront, the usual suspect in reef addiction, tragedy, and triumph.
-Two aqueon powerheads.
-Current USA marine orbit 36” LED.
-150w aqueon pro heater.
-50 gal ro/di unit.
-Aquaclear 70 power filter (you down with HOB, ya you know me)
-Reef Clear salt
-10 lbs of Marcos dry rock
-20 lbs of Bimini pink live sand
-Refractometer
-40 gal roughneck, 2x Home Depot 5s
-Gravel cleaner
-20 ft airline tube
-Dr. Tims
-Some electronic thermometer I forgot the name of.
-Dos powerstrips stolen from my battlestation (home office)
-Light timers
-Various nutrients for adjusting levels
-Hot tub grade shims
-Bunch of levels
-Yoga Mat stolen from ex

Here are the results from the initial purchasathon (excludes powerheads, dry rock, and ammonia test strips):

lol yoga mat

 

[aqua_code]

I did a quick mockup using some tonga branch, shelf rock and another center rock.

I think you can start things for now and add some additional pieces as you get them. It's taken me years to collect good pieces of live rock. You might be able to get lucky ordering online and see how they fit in there. Tonga branch always adds cool vertical lines to the tank.

 

[living_tribunal]

Lights out, heat up.

My kind of Friday night

Pouring a cold one of Fritz 900 and topping it off with a 40 drop dose of Dr. Tim’s ammonia chloride. Things are getting hazy up in here.

Time to get this cycle going.

 

[living_tribunal]

I did a quick mockup using some tonga branch, shelf rock and another center rock.

I think you can start things for now and add some additional pieces as you get them. It's taken me years to collect good pieces of live rock. You might be able to get lucky ordering online and see how they fit in there. Tonga branch always adds cool vertical lines to the tank.

I really like this and your suggestion removed a brain block on what I can do.

I don’t think I’ll add as large a piece of live rock in the center area, that’s a major cave/archway area. I do want to add a small flat piece as it would elaborate the depth.

I also like your more splintered and tight archway in the top left. It looks brilliant.

Going to buy some more live rock, beat the hell out of it, and see if I won the dry rock lottery to make this work.

Excellent suggestion.

 

[living_tribunal]

@Kattkrazie @aqua_code

I will say, the one thing I am proud of is the network of tunnels and archways. It’s basically a fish race track within the rockscape.

 

[aqua_code]

I like the re-scaping looks more natural. Wrasses will definitely be zooming around in there.

You might want to start seeding some coralline since you are starting with dry rock and have a pristine environment right now.

Purple Helix Coralline Algae in a Bottle + Nitrifying Bacteria & Live Spores

ARC Reef's Purple Helix Coralline Algae in a bottle contains 7 different species of live algae spores. Seed your aquarium with epiphytic purple coralline.

arcreef.com

I think this is generally accepted for the spores. If you add this and keep lighting on the tank - rocks should start to show beneficial growth in the display.

 

[living_tribunal]

I like the re-scaping looks more natural. Wrasses will definitely be zooming around in there.

You might want to start seeding some coralline since you are starting with dry rock and have a pristine environment right now.

Purple Helix Coralline Algae in a Bottle + Nitrifying Bacteria & Live Spores

ARC Reef's Purple Helix Coralline Algae in a bottle contains 7 different species of live algae spores. Seed your aquarium with epiphytic purple coralline.

arcreef.com

I think this is generally accepted for the spores. If you add this and keep lighting on the tank - rocks should start to show beneficial growth in the display.

I started seeding fritz. Should I do coralline at the same time?

 

[aqua_code]

You can seed coralline anytime. I like doing it early so the tank starts filling in.

 

[living_tribunal]

Fish quarantine is ready to go.

I think I may create a permanent coral quarantine setup given how much longer coral quarantine is. Plus it looks cool.

Also, I have a current poll on what lights I should upgrade to once my quarantine tank is set up. See above. My budget is $450 and under.

 

[living_tribunal]

You can seed coralline anytime. I like doing it early so the tank starts filling in.

I think I will purchase some coralline seeding formula today and it.

It may be the only life my tank experiences.

 

[aqua_code]

Looks great. Coral quarantine alot of work. You really need an established tank to run as a coral QT. But it can help prevent against pests like flatworms, aptasia, bryopsis. You might be able to get away with some soft corals in a small QT. If you plan to do that would start getting the bacterial filter going. You can seed it with the sponge from your main tank.

Coralline is definitely a good idea to do now. It will take 2-3 months before it starts to show any impact.

 

[living_tribunal]

Looks great. Coral quarantine alot of work. You really need an established tank to run as a coral QT. But it can help prevent against pests like flatworms, aptasia, bryopsis. You might be able to get away with some soft corals in a small QT. If you plan to do that would start getting the bacterial filter going. You can seed it with the sponge from your main tank.

Coralline is definitely a good idea to do now. It will take 2-3 months before it starts to show any impact.

A coral quarantine is a must as you need to house the coral bare minimum 45 days in quarantine before they are added to DT.

From my understanding you can add coral/inverts to a fully cycled tank and supplement nutrients as needed.

I may return one of the 10G tanks and purchase a 20-30, purchase a few frag racks, and use a standard powerhead/ hob filter for the quarantine tank.

 

[aqua_code]

This is correct, but if you are keeping SPS, they will be much more sensitive. I recommend purchasing alot of good quality salt and plan to do water changes for the next 2 months until you have a good stability on the quarantine and main tank. A skimmer is pretty crucial and you might need GFO/carbon reactors. Dealing with water volumes under 100 gallons introduces alot of challenges with corals, and an ATO will be important on both systems as well.

IMO it's better to setup two separate stable tanks if you plan to quarantine corals. If I'm starting a new tank I usually will try to purchase from a trusted place and dip/strip the corals from the base plugs. If you have pests at this point, usually you can remove the corals or undergo treatment on the tank without a ton of inhabitants adversely impacted by medication.