Just saying hello! And a little info.

Arod6641

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Hello all, Just started my first reef aquarium and thought it would be a great idea to join the reef2reef community. I’ve been reading a lot of really good and informative forums. Thanks to all you longtime reefers for helping out the new guys and ladies like me.

A little background, I’ve been keeping freshwater aquariums for as long as I can remember. And before that my parents had aquariums in the house. But now it’s time to get my hands salty. Really want to have a dream build 450 gallon reef aquarium in the future. So I’m taking this whole thing pretty serious. But yet still want it to be a lot of fun. I’m planning on having setbacks from time to time. But hope to keep those to a minimum.

Tank - Waterbox 60.2 total volume 55 gallons
Controller - Neptune apex pro with trident
Lighting - Neptune sky
Return - Neptune cor15
Flow - 2 x vortex mp10
Heater - 2 x helio 200w heaters
Sand - Caribsea ocean direct and special grade mix
Rock - Liferock nano reef and arches
Salt - ESV b-ionic
Media - Nano tech bio blocks x 4
Skimmer - Reef oct 110sss 5 ( not using until needed )
Two part- ESV b-ionic ( haven’t used it yet )

Been testing everything. Latest tests are alk - 7dkh to 6.6dkh, cal - 390 to 375, mag - 1380 to 1350, phos - 0.0, ammo - 0.0, no2 over 5 ppm, ph - 7.7 to 7.5 and salinity - 1.025 to 1.026. no no3 my Hanna is giving me false reading because my nitrite is so high.

Tanks been up for about 3 weeks. Started cycle with Fritz turbo start 900 and Brightwell Microbacter 7 for bacteria diversity. Dosed Fritz fishless fuel to 3 ppm. After ammonia hit zero turned the light on low about 10% and added 4 jars of galaxy pods from algae barn. Have been feeding them with Tommy’s phyto mix 15 mL a day. Added a softball size chaetomorpha to my refugium. With a Neptune GRO refugium light at the same time and it seams to be doing well. Nitrite has been up over 5 ppm for 14 days. And have ordered a quarantined clown pair and a quarantined small cuc that should be here in the next few weeks. Have been noticing my ph, alk, and cal starting to creep back up from the big drop I had from the beginning of the cycle. Let me know if you have any questions.
 

Peace River

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Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

Clownfish.gif
 

frags2fishes

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Sounds like a great build, setup, and eventual goal! I just got back into the game as well with a 60g cube. Lots has changed since my last tank almost 15 years ago, but all in a good way so far. Anyway, good luck with your tank and have fun!
 

vetteguy53081

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Dinkins Aquatic Gardens

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Hello all, Just started my first reef aquarium and thought it would be a great idea to join the reef2reef community. I’ve been reading a lot of really good and informative forums. Thanks to all you longtime reefers for helping out the new guys and ladies like me.

A little background, I’ve been keeping freshwater aquariums for as long as I can remember. And before that my parents had aquariums in the house. But now it’s time to get my hands salty. Really want to have a dream build 450 gallon reef aquarium in the future. So I’m taking this whole thing pretty serious. But yet still want it to be a lot of fun. I’m planning on having setbacks from time to time. But hope to keep those to a minimum.

Tank - Waterbox 60.2 total volume 55 gallons
Controller - Neptune apex pro with trident
Lighting - Neptune sky
Return - Neptune cor15
Flow - 2 x vortex mp10
Heater - 2 x helio 200w heaters
Sand - Caribsea ocean direct and special grade mix
Rock - Liferock nano reef and arches
Salt - ESV b-ionic
Media - Nano tech bio blocks x 4
Skimmer - Reef oct 110sss 5 ( not using until needed )
Two part- ESV b-ionic ( haven’t used it yet )

Been testing everything. Latest tests are alk - 7dkh to 6.6dkh, cal - 390 to 375, mag - 1380 to 1350, phos - 0.0, ammo - 0.0, no2 over 5 ppm, ph - 7.7 to 7.5 and salinity - 1.025 to 1.026. no no3 my Hanna is giving me false reading because my nitrite is so high.

Tanks been up for about 3 weeks. Started cycle with Fritz turbo start 900 and Brightwell Microbacter 7 for bacteria diversity. Dosed Fritz fishless fuel to 3 ppm. After ammonia hit zero turned the light on low about 10% and added 4 jars of galaxy pods from algae barn. Have been feeding them with Tommy’s phyto mix 15 mL a day. Added a softball size chaetomorpha to my refugium. With a Neptune GRO refugium light at the same time and it seams to be doing well. Nitrite has been up over 5 ppm for 14 days. And have ordered a quarantined clown pair and a quarantined small cuc that should be here in the next few weeks. Have been noticing my ph, alk, and cal starting to creep back up from the big drop I had from the beginning of the cycle. Let me know if you have any questions.
Welcome to the hobby! It sounds like a really nice setup!
 

Freshwater filter only or is it? Have you ever used an HOB filter on a saltwater tank?

  • I currently use a HOB filter on my reef tank.

    Votes: 54 25.2%
  • I don’t currently use a HOB filter on my reef tank, but I have in the past.

    Votes: 53 24.8%
  • I have used a HOB on fish only or quarantine tanks, but not on the display tank.

    Votes: 52 24.3%
  • I have never used a HOB on a saltwater tank.

    Votes: 51 23.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 4 1.9%
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