EDIT - Updated with recent FTS at bottom of this post.
Ok, now that I've got your attention, a little bit by way of introduction. I'm a long-time aquarist, relative noob to reefing. I've had an aquarium since I was a child, way too long ago, and other than a brief pause while an undergraduate, I've always had some form of a glass box of water with creatures in it. Early on, it was strictly freshwater, which then evolved to brackish water with African Cichlids. I had a 38 gallon Cichlid tank for a long time. But after the second tank crash (first by way of a 10 day power outage, second by way of a faulty heater) a little over 2 years ago, I decided to finally take the plunge into full salt water. I'd always wanted to do a salt water tank, but had always been told that 38 gallons was way too small for salt water. Incidentally, people said the same about Cichlids, but I had fantastic success with them in such a "small" tank. Since early on I had neither the space or money for a larger tank, and later when I had both, I lacked the time (young family), I stuck with brackish water.
Fast forward to the last tank crash, and I'm reading on the internet and talking with the LFS. Now it seems that people are having success with very small (nano and even pico) saltwater tanks, even mini reefs. So I decided to convert the 38 to salt water. Two years later, a lot of learning, and much equipment evolution, I've now got a reasonably successful mixed reef tank.
Now I'm hooked, I've got the space, time and money for a larger tank. Thanks to Red Sea and their 525XL for the price of a 450, and it's time for a new tank, and an official build thread. This thread will go quick at first, so as not to bore people with the early slow stages of a build. Now that the tank is full of water and cycling, I'll document how I got there, and what my next steps are. The overall plan is to move most of what you see above into the new tank, and turn the 38 (plus now 6ish gallons of sump) into a QT tank and/or frag tank.
Current pics with ReeFi lighting in blue:
and whiter look:
Ok, now that I've got your attention, a little bit by way of introduction. I'm a long-time aquarist, relative noob to reefing. I've had an aquarium since I was a child, way too long ago, and other than a brief pause while an undergraduate, I've always had some form of a glass box of water with creatures in it. Early on, it was strictly freshwater, which then evolved to brackish water with African Cichlids. I had a 38 gallon Cichlid tank for a long time. But after the second tank crash (first by way of a 10 day power outage, second by way of a faulty heater) a little over 2 years ago, I decided to finally take the plunge into full salt water. I'd always wanted to do a salt water tank, but had always been told that 38 gallons was way too small for salt water. Incidentally, people said the same about Cichlids, but I had fantastic success with them in such a "small" tank. Since early on I had neither the space or money for a larger tank, and later when I had both, I lacked the time (young family), I stuck with brackish water.
Fast forward to the last tank crash, and I'm reading on the internet and talking with the LFS. Now it seems that people are having success with very small (nano and even pico) saltwater tanks, even mini reefs. So I decided to convert the 38 to salt water. Two years later, a lot of learning, and much equipment evolution, I've now got a reasonably successful mixed reef tank.
Now I'm hooked, I've got the space, time and money for a larger tank. Thanks to Red Sea and their 525XL for the price of a 450, and it's time for a new tank, and an official build thread. This thread will go quick at first, so as not to bore people with the early slow stages of a build. Now that the tank is full of water and cycling, I'll document how I got there, and what my next steps are. The overall plan is to move most of what you see above into the new tank, and turn the 38 (plus now 6ish gallons of sump) into a QT tank and/or frag tank.
Current pics with ReeFi lighting in blue:
and whiter look:
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