- Joined
- Oct 10, 2019
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 42
Hi!
Swedish computer nerd, RC-enthusiast and aspiring reefer here.
A while back, my wife called me on the way home from spending the day at the aquarium with the kids. She wanted an aquarium. A saltwater aquarium, no less. I've always kind of wanted one, but thought it seemed too temperamental and messy. Also, I kind of assumed she wouldn't want to put up with it. This seemed like the perfect chance, so I went into research mode.
The automation and testing available now really sold it for me.
A few days of heavy research later, she exclaimed:
She had been under the impression that we would go to a local store, buy some neat little aquarium set with everything included, plop a couple of fish in and call it a day. Unfortunately for her, I had come down with severe Reef Tank poisoning, so that was obviously crazy talk. Maybe she was just irritated that I couldn't stop talking about skimmers and pumps, but I chose to believe she was just temporarily confused.
Once she watched some videos of large reef tanks, she was completely on board. As long as she gets Nemo and Dory, she's happy. She doesn't want to know how much it's all going to cost, but hey, neither do I.
The goal is a SPS dominant mixed reef tank, with more fish than is probably sensible.
Eventually, I settled on a shopping list. Everything was ordered a bit over a week ago, and some of the smaller stuff has started trickling in:
The tank:
Red Sea Reefer XXL 625 V3 (Arrived)
The whole paper test / 750 disaster obviously cost me some sleep and resulted in a few extra wrinkles, but at the end of the day, I couldn't find any better alternatives short of a custom tank. I'm telling myself they probably keep a closer eye on QA than usual right now, and that my tank is going to be completely flawless and made of magic.
Only upside of that whole scare was being reminded to check with the insurance company that I'm properly covered.
The tank hasn't arrived yet, and since it's going to be drop shipped, I won't really hear anything until a couple of days before it arrives.
I've started preparing the living room where it's going to sit by placing a 3mm polycarbonate sheet with UV protective coating on the floor. It's hardwood directly on top of the concrete slab, so it's mostly to help distribute the weight of the cabinet feet, and protect the floor from small spills and splashes. It won't save the floor entirely, but it'll help. The tank itself is going to be at least 10 inches from the wall, but I'm still working on ideas on how to protect the wall from splashes.
Not sure what to do about the top off yet. The float valve seems universally disliked, and the RO tank will probably be in the way.
Cover:
Red Sea Net Cover (Arrived)
Hearing that most people think it's too flimsy, so might end up regretting this one.
Blue glow generators:
4 x Red Sea ReefLED 90 (Arrived)
I like the idea of presets and limited options, to protect myself from constant fiddling. I went with four rather than the suggested three because I'd rather run them at a slightly lower setting and hopefully limit the fan noise. Also not sure how much the cover is going to obscure the lights.
Heaters:
2 x Aqua Medic 300W Titanium Heater (Arrived)
These don't have thermostats, so I was initially just going to run them off the APEX. Since then, you have all scared me enough to realize that I need redundant controllers, so I'm going to buy a separate controller for them, and power that controller off the APEX, so I don't risk boiling my tank.
Return pump:
Neptune COR-20 (Arrived)
The COR-20 seemed like good value with decent performance, and I want to be able to affordably keep a spare.
Powerheads:
4 x Vortech MP40WQD (Arrived)
The magnetic wet side sold it for me. I have ordered a spare wet side, so I can clean one at a time without ever having any downtime.
Four of them is probably overkill, but it should allow for good flow everywhere in the tank, without crazy hot spots.
Hoping to place them so only two of them needs to run on battery in case of a power outage.
Filter:
ClariSea Gen2 SK5000 (Arrived)
Just watching videos about changing and cleaning filter socks made me not want to do it. Either introducing unknown amounts of contaminants by washing with tap water, or having to make RO water just to clean them or rinse them. No thank you!
Planning on removing the filter sock assembly completely, and plumbing the overflow directly to the ClariSea.
Skimmer:
Red Sea RSK 900 (Arrived)
I understand some people are having trouble with them. Hoping it'll be alright.
Manifold / reactor pump:
Neptune COR-15 (Arrived)
I wanted as much flow as possible through the return, and not having to worry about how much the reactors and manifold is restricting it. The COR-15 seems nice enough, and being able to drive it with just a 1LINK cable a bonus.
Reactors:
Aquaforest AF110 (Arrived)
Planning to use it for carbon. Plenty of space left for other media in the future.
2 x ITC ALR-MR220 (Arrived)
Algae reactors. Probably chaeto. Going to ramp up to first using one, then both once the bio load needs them.
Controller:
APEX with the lab-grade probes & two energy bars (Arrived)
The whole controller thing made me embarrassingly excited. Automation and tinkering is absolutely my thing, so a controller was a no brainer. The APEX was an easy choice, given how prolific it is.
WXM (for the MP40s), AFS, FMK (planning on measuring return flow), MPR & extra energy bar has arrived. Only the APEX itself is missing.
Working on ideas for mounting everything. Not keen on keeping the APEX itself in the cabinet so near the sump. Can't imagine the humidity is going to be good for it. Operation "Honey, we need a second cabinet" has begun. It has met limited success so far.
RO:
D-D RO150 + silicate filter & booster pump (Arrived)
Not planning to do huge water changes, so hopefully a 150 gallon / day unit will be good enough. Might reconsider once I have to start filling the quarantine tanks.
Dosing:
2 x APEX DOS + DDR Combo Package (Arrived)
Have ATI Essentials Pro on order, which is a concentrated two-part that is supposed to contain "everything". Sort of like Triton Core 7, but concentrated into two bottles. Leaves two dosing containers and two pumps for other things and/or just the pump for water changes.
Salt:
ATI Absolute Ocean (Arrived)
A liquid, lab grade concentrate, so no mixing in buckets, and waiting for it to dissolve.
Should make water changes quicker and less messy. I also really like the idea of it being perfectly consistent.
Sand:
ATI Fiji White Sand (Arrived)
A bunch of bags of the 0.3 - 1.2 mm grain stuff. It's supposed to be super clean, and heavier than the usual aragonite, so it'll move around less.
Planning on a relative thin cover.
Rock:
Marco (Arrived)
I really don't want any pests in the tank that I don't put there myself.
I realize dead rocks is going to take a lot of time to get started properly, but I'm plenty patient, and the idea of starting the tank with a bunch of pests and Aiptasia really freaks me out.
Hardest part is going to keep the wife and kids off my back during the months of waiting for the tank to do anything other than smell weird.
Plus a bunch of other small things to help with maintenance and such.
I think that's it for now! Hoping to document as much of this as possible.
Swedish computer nerd, RC-enthusiast and aspiring reefer here.
A while back, my wife called me on the way home from spending the day at the aquarium with the kids. She wanted an aquarium. A saltwater aquarium, no less. I've always kind of wanted one, but thought it seemed too temperamental and messy. Also, I kind of assumed she wouldn't want to put up with it. This seemed like the perfect chance, so I went into research mode.
The automation and testing available now really sold it for me.
A few days of heavy research later, she exclaimed:
She had been under the impression that we would go to a local store, buy some neat little aquarium set with everything included, plop a couple of fish in and call it a day. Unfortunately for her, I had come down with severe Reef Tank poisoning, so that was obviously crazy talk. Maybe she was just irritated that I couldn't stop talking about skimmers and pumps, but I chose to believe she was just temporarily confused.
Once she watched some videos of large reef tanks, she was completely on board. As long as she gets Nemo and Dory, she's happy. She doesn't want to know how much it's all going to cost, but hey, neither do I.
The goal is a SPS dominant mixed reef tank, with more fish than is probably sensible.
Eventually, I settled on a shopping list. Everything was ordered a bit over a week ago, and some of the smaller stuff has started trickling in:
The tank:
Red Sea Reefer XXL 625 V3 (Arrived)
The whole paper test / 750 disaster obviously cost me some sleep and resulted in a few extra wrinkles, but at the end of the day, I couldn't find any better alternatives short of a custom tank. I'm telling myself they probably keep a closer eye on QA than usual right now, and that my tank is going to be completely flawless and made of magic.
Only upside of that whole scare was being reminded to check with the insurance company that I'm properly covered.
The tank hasn't arrived yet, and since it's going to be drop shipped, I won't really hear anything until a couple of days before it arrives.
I've started preparing the living room where it's going to sit by placing a 3mm polycarbonate sheet with UV protective coating on the floor. It's hardwood directly on top of the concrete slab, so it's mostly to help distribute the weight of the cabinet feet, and protect the floor from small spills and splashes. It won't save the floor entirely, but it'll help. The tank itself is going to be at least 10 inches from the wall, but I'm still working on ideas on how to protect the wall from splashes.
Not sure what to do about the top off yet. The float valve seems universally disliked, and the RO tank will probably be in the way.
Cover:
Red Sea Net Cover (Arrived)
Hearing that most people think it's too flimsy, so might end up regretting this one.
Blue glow generators:
4 x Red Sea ReefLED 90 (Arrived)
I like the idea of presets and limited options, to protect myself from constant fiddling. I went with four rather than the suggested three because I'd rather run them at a slightly lower setting and hopefully limit the fan noise. Also not sure how much the cover is going to obscure the lights.
Heaters:
2 x Aqua Medic 300W Titanium Heater (Arrived)
These don't have thermostats, so I was initially just going to run them off the APEX. Since then, you have all scared me enough to realize that I need redundant controllers, so I'm going to buy a separate controller for them, and power that controller off the APEX, so I don't risk boiling my tank.
Return pump:
Neptune COR-20 (Arrived)
The COR-20 seemed like good value with decent performance, and I want to be able to affordably keep a spare.
Powerheads:
4 x Vortech MP40WQD (Arrived)
The magnetic wet side sold it for me. I have ordered a spare wet side, so I can clean one at a time without ever having any downtime.
Four of them is probably overkill, but it should allow for good flow everywhere in the tank, without crazy hot spots.
Hoping to place them so only two of them needs to run on battery in case of a power outage.
Filter:
ClariSea Gen2 SK5000 (Arrived)
Just watching videos about changing and cleaning filter socks made me not want to do it. Either introducing unknown amounts of contaminants by washing with tap water, or having to make RO water just to clean them or rinse them. No thank you!
Planning on removing the filter sock assembly completely, and plumbing the overflow directly to the ClariSea.
Skimmer:
Red Sea RSK 900 (Arrived)
I understand some people are having trouble with them. Hoping it'll be alright.
Manifold / reactor pump:
Neptune COR-15 (Arrived)
I wanted as much flow as possible through the return, and not having to worry about how much the reactors and manifold is restricting it. The COR-15 seems nice enough, and being able to drive it with just a 1LINK cable a bonus.
Reactors:
Aquaforest AF110 (Arrived)
Planning to use it for carbon. Plenty of space left for other media in the future.
2 x ITC ALR-MR220 (Arrived)
Algae reactors. Probably chaeto. Going to ramp up to first using one, then both once the bio load needs them.
Controller:
APEX with the lab-grade probes & two energy bars (Arrived)
The whole controller thing made me embarrassingly excited. Automation and tinkering is absolutely my thing, so a controller was a no brainer. The APEX was an easy choice, given how prolific it is.
WXM (for the MP40s), AFS, FMK (planning on measuring return flow), MPR & extra energy bar has arrived. Only the APEX itself is missing.
Working on ideas for mounting everything. Not keen on keeping the APEX itself in the cabinet so near the sump. Can't imagine the humidity is going to be good for it. Operation "Honey, we need a second cabinet" has begun. It has met limited success so far.
RO:
D-D RO150 + silicate filter & booster pump (Arrived)
Not planning to do huge water changes, so hopefully a 150 gallon / day unit will be good enough. Might reconsider once I have to start filling the quarantine tanks.
Dosing:
2 x APEX DOS + DDR Combo Package (Arrived)
Have ATI Essentials Pro on order, which is a concentrated two-part that is supposed to contain "everything". Sort of like Triton Core 7, but concentrated into two bottles. Leaves two dosing containers and two pumps for other things and/or just the pump for water changes.
Salt:
ATI Absolute Ocean (Arrived)
A liquid, lab grade concentrate, so no mixing in buckets, and waiting for it to dissolve.
Should make water changes quicker and less messy. I also really like the idea of it being perfectly consistent.
Sand:
ATI Fiji White Sand (Arrived)
A bunch of bags of the 0.3 - 1.2 mm grain stuff. It's supposed to be super clean, and heavier than the usual aragonite, so it'll move around less.
Planning on a relative thin cover.
Rock:
Marco (Arrived)
I really don't want any pests in the tank that I don't put there myself.
I realize dead rocks is going to take a lot of time to get started properly, but I'm plenty patient, and the idea of starting the tank with a bunch of pests and Aiptasia really freaks me out.
Hardest part is going to keep the wife and kids off my back during the months of waiting for the tank to do anything other than smell weird.
Plus a bunch of other small things to help with maintenance and such.
I think that's it for now! Hoping to document as much of this as possible.
Last edited:
