Hello all,
I am normally outside running on trails and competing on obstacle courses, but radiation and chemo have taken a hefty toll over the last year. I have slowed tremendously and I have been looking for a great hobby that is challenging but with a lot less running. I have had a number of freshwater tanks in the past, so I wanted to switch things up a bit and give saltwater a go.
I bet this "build" thread is a bit odd since I do not technically have a tank yet. I have been reading, researching, and deciding what to put together over the last few weeks. I want to take my time now so that I can put it together the right way and at the same time make sure that I have what I need if I ever decide to expand outside of a FOWLR tank. I have a space in my apartment that is 52" wide and 9ft tall. I'm looking to put in a Reefer XL300 or Reefer 350. I'm not sure that I want to go with anything bigger since I worry about putting to much weight on my apartment floor. I also want to be sure that I can keep up with this project. Bigger may not necessarily be better for me right now. I expect to have a tank within 4 weeks or so and begin the real build.
Parts and pieces have been changing almost daily. I am looking at a lot of equipment that I know I don't need right now, but I am doing capacity planning and research up front so that I know what my gear may look like down the road. I realize I may not need a lot of this from the start. I am including everything here to be as complete as I can for the future.
The short list of things as of right now:
I am normally outside running on trails and competing on obstacle courses, but radiation and chemo have taken a hefty toll over the last year. I have slowed tremendously and I have been looking for a great hobby that is challenging but with a lot less running. I have had a number of freshwater tanks in the past, so I wanted to switch things up a bit and give saltwater a go.
I bet this "build" thread is a bit odd since I do not technically have a tank yet. I have been reading, researching, and deciding what to put together over the last few weeks. I want to take my time now so that I can put it together the right way and at the same time make sure that I have what I need if I ever decide to expand outside of a FOWLR tank. I have a space in my apartment that is 52" wide and 9ft tall. I'm looking to put in a Reefer XL300 or Reefer 350. I'm not sure that I want to go with anything bigger since I worry about putting to much weight on my apartment floor. I also want to be sure that I can keep up with this project. Bigger may not necessarily be better for me right now. I expect to have a tank within 4 weeks or so and begin the real build.
Parts and pieces have been changing almost daily. I am looking at a lot of equipment that I know I don't need right now, but I am doing capacity planning and research up front so that I know what my gear may look like down the road. I realize I may not need a lot of this from the start. I am including everything here to be as complete as I can for the future.
The short list of things as of right now:
- Tank : RedSea Reefer XL300 or Reefer 350
- Skimmer: Reefer Skimmer 600
- Lighting: Kessil AP9X - I realize I do not need this right now, but this light is one I am quite interested in for the future.
- Return Pump: COR-20 Intelligent Return Pump (2000 GPH) - I am not sure I want to go with this pump, but I have not yet found a pump that seems to be liked universally. I have been able to find a number of bad reviews on pretty much everything I have found. I have been considering this pump because I may want to run an Apex later down the road.
- ATO: Neptune Systems ATK or Tunze 3155 ATO - I haven't been able to decide on this. Same issue as return pump. It has been difficult to find an ATO that is universally liked. The ATK makes sense if I go with Apex later, but I think the Tunze may be better based on reviews. Really not sure.
- Heater: IM Helio
- Controller: Neptune Systems Apex - This one has thrown me for a loop. So many add-ons. Not sure which ones would be necessities and which ones would simply be a nice to have. I have been looking at several of the modules or add-ons. I figure DOS gear is completely unnecessary until I get to the point where I am supporting coral and such.
- Cor20
- WSK
- Flow Monitoring Kit
- ATK
- UV: Smart UV 25 Watt - Pentair Aquatics - Not even sure I will ever need this. I have been reading some decent results for its use and Pentair seems like one of the better ones available from what I can tell right now. More research is definitely needed here.
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