- Joined
- May 6, 2019
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 29
First post on this forum, and a new reefer myself.
Its been a good learning curve, only about 3 months into this tank and saltwater so I am being patient and trying not to make any mistakes that will bite me later.
I started with dry rock and Dr. Tim's ammonia to cycle, added a few pieces of coral and pods, and i'm amazed at the variety of life in this little while.
History with me is I've kept 100+ Gallon freshwater and high-tech planted tanks in the past, so why not try something completely different. I like the challenge and idea of learning new things.
I initially had planned on a 30x30x15 rimless planted shrimp tank, since I had the CO2 tank and reg already. That's on the bench for the future at this point.
I discovered the Red Sea tanks while I was searching for cubes and liked the rimless and beveled edges, and the fact that it comes with a herbie style drain.
The stand is also nice, clean look and surprisingly good quality considering it has to ship flat.
It also fits perfectly in my office.
I have to say the tank as it's configured now is nearly silent. For comparison, I can hear the tiny aquaclear filter on my QT tank over this cube tank.
Pro's for this hobby to me
-Calming
-Educational for my kids
-Suits my lifestyle, compared to say a Dog.
Tank seems empty, but i'm more growing a tank than I am into having an instant tank in 6 months or a year. I will add new corals as I learn about them.
Frags seem a little easier to control hitchhikers than say a big colony would be. Just my opinion.
Onto the livestock and gear. Photos with comments at the end.
Tank - Red Sea Reefer 170
Corals
Red Acan
Green Hammer
Pink mushroom
Green tip Torch
Fish
Fire Goby
Inverts
Trochus snail
Dwarf blue leg hermit crab
Pistol Shrimp (x2)
Copepods starter pack
Notable Hitchhikers
Featherduster
Mini brittle star (black with tan bands)
Equipment
Ecotech Radion XR30 Pro G4
Ecotech Vortech Vectra S1 pump
Ecotech Vortech MP10wQD
Nyos Quantum 120
Clearview Pisces Exo lid/screen
Cobalt Aquatics Accu-therm 75w heater
RODI System (Carbon, Filtration, RO Cartridge, 2x DI)
Marcos Reef Saver + Shelf rock
Caribsea Fiji pink sand
Accessories
3D printed MP10 Anemone Guard
Titanium grounding plug
Ecotech PSU and Controller brackets
CDX Media for skimmer
Illume LED lighting for sump
APC Smart-UPS SMT1500RMU2
DIY Battery Backup - Group 31 + Battery Tender
Ikea Sektion Cabinet for electrical items
Ebay 19mm LED momentary switches (will be complete with Apex)
Quarantine Setup
10x10 cube ~ 2.6 gallon
Eheim Jagr 50w w/ Zoo Med mag clips
Aquaclear 20 HOB Filter
Saltwater Mixing Station
2x Ace Roto-Mold 26 Gal tank (SP0026-RT)
MaxiJet 1200
Fluval 100w Heater
Future Plans
Neptune Systems Apex w/ WXM & FMM
Automatic water change/top off tied into mixing station
1 more Vortech MP10wqd
4.25w x 15d x 18h custom glass refugium (Waiting for delivery)
Kessil H80 for Refigium
Kessil A80 for QT Tank
Hard plumb the Vectra S1
Gravity feed from RODI water on top into the bottom.
Bottom tank has the heater and maxijet keeping the saltwater ready.
1/4" Bulkheads in the tanks
Rim under the cap was cut slightly to make room for the two power cords in saltwater tank.
Stand is 1/2" plywood, glued with titebond and pin nailed, hasn't buckled yet.
Double layer top, top layer is cut out so the tank sets recessed slightly.
No fancy plumbing here, but I did add a union.
Tanks are HDPE and needed a bit of silicone in the bulkhead fitting to seal properly.
My view
Fire Goby
Initially its fins were torn and the dorsal was much shorter. The fire goby coloured up nicely and has regrown the dorsal.
This is the reason I set up the QT tank initially, as this fish had flukes when I got it.
Extremely timid fish, so he's first into the tank.
Not expecting it to pair with the pistol shrimp, but I will probably add a yellow watchman goby later and hope they do.
Here's the mushroom in white light, at night mind so its a little closed up. Stunning color for a little thing.
Another new addition, the torch. It's only about 1" across.
This guy has a tiny featherduster growing on the opposite side.
Radion hung from the ceiling with the Pisces Exo keeping my fire goby in the tank. Fire goby has hit the roof a couple times now, so well worth it.
Front view. Corals are still down low and i'm going from 21% to 50% acclimation over 4 weeks with the Radion, using Deepwater Natural mode on the light.
MP10 on the right side, future plan is to put one on the right and have a reef crest mode. Currently I use lagoon mode.
Side view, night time in daylight for the photo.
Hermit crab has been busy knocking the mushroom over.
Here's the sump. Not much to look at. Nyos Quantum 120 front and center, the CDX isn't working that great as the skimmer doesn't pull that much air in this configuration. I'm working on a solution for that.
The medicine bottle is there to catch any condensate before it drips into the bottle of CDX media.
QT tank, had some PVC pieces in here that have been removed. Waiting for the next patient.
I have a piece of lexan for the top, just waiting on some tabs to hang it. For now this piece of face shield has been a good makeshift cover.
Here's the Sektion stand. I laminated a piece of 3/4" MDF for the front, and also used it to make a shelf.
It sits in there with the shelf pins, the front has a double row of holes so that worked out nicely.
Wires will be tidied up in the future once I add the Apex.
Open space in the middle is for a second MP10, battery backup is ready to go.
The buttons don't do anything yet, but they're white, blue, green, and red. Plan is to wire them to the PS2 style connection the Apex uses.
Haven't thought about the functions for the buttons yet as I don't know much about programming the Apex.
Fun little battery project. Little bit of soldering and heatshrink and its good. I'm not sure what the runtime is, but it should be enough.
I had a recent power outage and the whole system ran on UPS for 4 hours. Outages have been longer though in the past.
If UPS were to run out, I would lose the light and the heater and the battery will kick in for the Vectra and MP10.
On the box are 3 amp fuses for the Vectra and the MP10.
I have the Vectra calibrated for my tank, so i'm not sure if it will draw more than 3A on high flow, but seems fine.
There's a 5A main fuse inside the battery cover as well.
And I believe the Vectra adapter has its own inline fuse closer to the controller.
The jacks are Ebay special 2.5mm male for the MP10 and 2.5mm female bulkhead style connections I've mounted on the battery box.
Ebay special fuse box as well, and I got extra long (6' male 2.5mm) wires so slightly less work to make a male/male wire.
Its been a good learning curve, only about 3 months into this tank and saltwater so I am being patient and trying not to make any mistakes that will bite me later.
I started with dry rock and Dr. Tim's ammonia to cycle, added a few pieces of coral and pods, and i'm amazed at the variety of life in this little while.
History with me is I've kept 100+ Gallon freshwater and high-tech planted tanks in the past, so why not try something completely different. I like the challenge and idea of learning new things.
I initially had planned on a 30x30x15 rimless planted shrimp tank, since I had the CO2 tank and reg already. That's on the bench for the future at this point.
I discovered the Red Sea tanks while I was searching for cubes and liked the rimless and beveled edges, and the fact that it comes with a herbie style drain.
The stand is also nice, clean look and surprisingly good quality considering it has to ship flat.
It also fits perfectly in my office.
I have to say the tank as it's configured now is nearly silent. For comparison, I can hear the tiny aquaclear filter on my QT tank over this cube tank.
Pro's for this hobby to me
-Calming
-Educational for my kids
-Suits my lifestyle, compared to say a Dog.
Tank seems empty, but i'm more growing a tank than I am into having an instant tank in 6 months or a year. I will add new corals as I learn about them.
Frags seem a little easier to control hitchhikers than say a big colony would be. Just my opinion.
Onto the livestock and gear. Photos with comments at the end.
Tank - Red Sea Reefer 170
Corals
Red Acan
Green Hammer
Pink mushroom
Green tip Torch
Fish
Fire Goby
Inverts
Trochus snail
Dwarf blue leg hermit crab
Pistol Shrimp (x2)
Copepods starter pack
Notable Hitchhikers
Featherduster
Mini brittle star (black with tan bands)
Equipment
Ecotech Radion XR30 Pro G4
Ecotech Vortech Vectra S1 pump
Ecotech Vortech MP10wQD
Nyos Quantum 120
Clearview Pisces Exo lid/screen
Cobalt Aquatics Accu-therm 75w heater
RODI System (Carbon, Filtration, RO Cartridge, 2x DI)
Marcos Reef Saver + Shelf rock
Caribsea Fiji pink sand
Accessories
3D printed MP10 Anemone Guard
Titanium grounding plug
Ecotech PSU and Controller brackets
CDX Media for skimmer
Illume LED lighting for sump
APC Smart-UPS SMT1500RMU2
DIY Battery Backup - Group 31 + Battery Tender
Ikea Sektion Cabinet for electrical items
Ebay 19mm LED momentary switches (will be complete with Apex)
Quarantine Setup
10x10 cube ~ 2.6 gallon
Eheim Jagr 50w w/ Zoo Med mag clips
Aquaclear 20 HOB Filter
Saltwater Mixing Station
2x Ace Roto-Mold 26 Gal tank (SP0026-RT)
MaxiJet 1200
Fluval 100w Heater
Future Plans
Neptune Systems Apex w/ WXM & FMM
Automatic water change/top off tied into mixing station
1 more Vortech MP10wqd
4.25w x 15d x 18h custom glass refugium (Waiting for delivery)
Kessil H80 for Refigium
Kessil A80 for QT Tank
Hard plumb the Vectra S1
Gravity feed from RODI water on top into the bottom.
Bottom tank has the heater and maxijet keeping the saltwater ready.
1/4" Bulkheads in the tanks
Rim under the cap was cut slightly to make room for the two power cords in saltwater tank.
Stand is 1/2" plywood, glued with titebond and pin nailed, hasn't buckled yet.
Double layer top, top layer is cut out so the tank sets recessed slightly.
No fancy plumbing here, but I did add a union.
Tanks are HDPE and needed a bit of silicone in the bulkhead fitting to seal properly.
My view
Fire Goby
Initially its fins were torn and the dorsal was much shorter. The fire goby coloured up nicely and has regrown the dorsal.
This is the reason I set up the QT tank initially, as this fish had flukes when I got it.
Extremely timid fish, so he's first into the tank.
Not expecting it to pair with the pistol shrimp, but I will probably add a yellow watchman goby later and hope they do.
Here's the mushroom in white light, at night mind so its a little closed up. Stunning color for a little thing.
Another new addition, the torch. It's only about 1" across.
This guy has a tiny featherduster growing on the opposite side.
Radion hung from the ceiling with the Pisces Exo keeping my fire goby in the tank. Fire goby has hit the roof a couple times now, so well worth it.
Front view. Corals are still down low and i'm going from 21% to 50% acclimation over 4 weeks with the Radion, using Deepwater Natural mode on the light.
MP10 on the right side, future plan is to put one on the right and have a reef crest mode. Currently I use lagoon mode.
Side view, night time in daylight for the photo.
Hermit crab has been busy knocking the mushroom over.
Here's the sump. Not much to look at. Nyos Quantum 120 front and center, the CDX isn't working that great as the skimmer doesn't pull that much air in this configuration. I'm working on a solution for that.
The medicine bottle is there to catch any condensate before it drips into the bottle of CDX media.
QT tank, had some PVC pieces in here that have been removed. Waiting for the next patient.
I have a piece of lexan for the top, just waiting on some tabs to hang it. For now this piece of face shield has been a good makeshift cover.
Here's the Sektion stand. I laminated a piece of 3/4" MDF for the front, and also used it to make a shelf.
It sits in there with the shelf pins, the front has a double row of holes so that worked out nicely.
Wires will be tidied up in the future once I add the Apex.
Open space in the middle is for a second MP10, battery backup is ready to go.
The buttons don't do anything yet, but they're white, blue, green, and red. Plan is to wire them to the PS2 style connection the Apex uses.
Haven't thought about the functions for the buttons yet as I don't know much about programming the Apex.
Fun little battery project. Little bit of soldering and heatshrink and its good. I'm not sure what the runtime is, but it should be enough.
I had a recent power outage and the whole system ran on UPS for 4 hours. Outages have been longer though in the past.
If UPS were to run out, I would lose the light and the heater and the battery will kick in for the Vectra and MP10.
On the box are 3 amp fuses for the Vectra and the MP10.
I have the Vectra calibrated for my tank, so i'm not sure if it will draw more than 3A on high flow, but seems fine.
There's a 5A main fuse inside the battery cover as well.
And I believe the Vectra adapter has its own inline fuse closer to the controller.
The jacks are Ebay special 2.5mm male for the MP10 and 2.5mm female bulkhead style connections I've mounted on the battery box.
Ebay special fuse box as well, and I got extra long (6' male 2.5mm) wires so slightly less work to make a male/male wire.