Isabella's little ocean ^_^ 90 gal mixed

Isabella rubalcaba · Aug 25, 2017

Hey there ! You have stumbled upon my little-big reef tank !! Going to describe my setup & share some tips ALSO looking to get some thoughts/opinions/comments going ! Here it is ! Will post some pics soon. Also, i do run a SUMPLESS system ! I know the drawbacks of going sumpless, but i cant afford one & am on a budget ! So thought i'd share this for all you budget reefers !! Lol
• 90 gallon glass tank
• Fluval Fx4 canister filter
• HOB 10 gallon refugium with macros
• reef octopus bh-1000 protien skimmer
• aquamaxx medium media reactor
• mixed reef
• some tangs, fire fish, clams, frags, pipefish & ALOT more !!!
• inch thick sand bed
• 10-15% weekly water changes a MUST for sumpless systems to avoid your canister filter becoming a NITRATE FACTORY lol !
Comments ? Opinions ? Again will post pics in a sec still kinda new to this !

Diesel · Aug 26, 2017

Looking good Girl.

FYI, with 10 to 15% water changes a week you doing your tank a good deed but clean that canister as well on weekly schedule as it is justva mechenical filter and will turn into a Po4 bomb if you don't.

Isabella rubalcaba · Aug 26, 2017

Diesel said:
Looking good Girl.

FYI, with 10 to 15% water changes a week you doing your tank a good deed but clean that canister as well on weekly schedule as it is justva mechenical filter and will turn into a Po4 bomb if you don't.

Thanks for the heads up ! I actually clean it out weekly two days after the water change, sure its a high maintence cost but it becomes a routine ! Plus my fish are happy !

Diesel · Aug 26, 2017

I knew you would ;Happy

Mikeinthekeys · Aug 26, 2017

Awesome tank Isabella. Sumps are so over rated and take up so much space. HOB, and canisters are the way to go. I used to run one HOB filter and one HOB protein skimmer, but to streamline my tank I removed the protein skimmer and replaced both filters with a larger HOB. Everybody seems to be happy. Also what kind of lights do you have there?

Isabella rubalcaba · Aug 26, 2017

Mikeinthekeys said:
Awesome tank Isabella. Sumps are so over rated and take up so much space. HOB, and canisters are the way to go. I used to run one HOB filter and one HOB protein skimmer, but to streamline my tank I removed the protein skimmer and replaced both filters with a larger HOB. Everybody seems to be happy. Also what kind of lights do you have there?

I hear ya ! While sumps do suit certain set ups, im not too sure why people look down in HOB ?? I mean you save some cash, everything fits better & alot easier to handle ! I currently have a 36 inch fluval marine 2.0 LED .. good enough for what i have now, but i do want to upgrade to some kessils soon !!!

Mikeinthekeys · Aug 26, 2017

Isabella rubalcaba said:
I hear ya ! While sumps do suit certain set ups, im not too sure why people look down in HOB ?? I mean you save some cash, everything fits better & alot easier to handle ! I currently have a 36 inch fluval marine 2.0 LED .. good enough for what i have now, but i do want to upgrade to some kessils soon !!!

If you are in the market for lights, this is just a personal recommendation which I upgraded to recently and am amazed at the quality. Current USA's orbit marine led are awesome. They are very bright and It includes a controller with loads of features and preset lighting schedules. When you get into the custom lighting schedules it gets a little complex but totally worth the customization.