Making a Come Back

[Zappy]

Been a while, but I finally decided to jump back into the reefing hobby—and honestly, I’m so glad I did. I forgot how much I genuinely enjoy this hobby. I started my new tank back in October and cycled it using Fritz Turbo Start 900. This time around, I went with a pre-made aquascape from Reef Scape Designs. I figured that was the smarter move because when I first got into the hobby, I thought I did all the research… yeah, not even close. I barely scratched the surface of how much there is to learn in reefing.


The tank is an IceCap 45g AIO, and equipment-wise I’m running a Jebao wavemaker and a Jebao gyre for flow, along with two 30” AI Blade Coral Grow lights. I also picked up a Kamoer X1 Pro-T to dose All-For-Reef, plus an IceCap 240 skimmer. For the sandbed, I went with black Hawaiian sand because I really wanted the corals to pop and stand out.


Right now, I’ve got a plate of zoas, a hammer, two duncans, and a Monti digitata since my parameters are stable. I’ve also been using Hanna testers to keep a close eye on everything, which has made a huge difference in staying consistent and confident with my numbers. This time around, I actually have a plan for the tank instead of just buying corals because they’re cheap. I definitely learned that lesson the hard way before—I introduced way too many pests, ended up tearing the tank down, and took a long break.


Now I’m taking things slow and steady, with the goal of eventually keeping SPS corals. I’ve completely fallen in love with other reefers’ SPS tanks and told myself, yeah, I want one of those. I’ll be running Nyos Pure Salt for this setup. Livestock-wise, I currently have two clowns and a firefish, plus my clean-up crew that I added during the ugly stage. I’m still not sure if I want to add more fish since keeping it lightly stocked should help with stability and maintenance.


I’m also planning to add a CO₂ scrubber to help raise and keep my pH more stable for coral growth. The bottom tank is my quarantine tank for whenever I decide to add more fish in the future.

 

[rayadog]

Ah well welcome back, at last! It is so much fun! For now .. jk. Love to see you getting back into it with a super forward and thought out plan! Hope the tank cruises!

 

[Zappy]

Ah well welcome back, at last! It is so much fun! For now .. jk. Love to see you getting back into it with a super forward and thought out plan! Hope the tank cruises!

Yeah definitely want it to be a better experience this time around and making a solid plan to go off of will definitely help on the long run. It’s always fun until it’s not and the problems start and you have to battle it out lol.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[143MPCo]

I love the layout of this design. Best of luck! Please keep us posted.

 

[Zappy]

I will keep you all updated as I go along and post new pictures when I add new corals or new residents.

 

[Zappy]

Ohhh I forgot that I ended up getting some frags from WWC for cheap but I haven't received them since the winter storm affected shipping. I just noticed today that 3 of the 4 that i got were spongodes ... i was reading up on it and they seem to be fast growers maybe i should trade1 or 2 of the frags for something else. also what would be a good placement for these baby frags after acclimation.

 

[Zappy]

Update: 3/2/26

I have added new residents, a 6 line wrasse, 3 chromis, and bi color bleny . Also added the c02 scrubber a diy connected to my skimmer. On top of that I got a Kamoer dosing pump for my all for reef. I am having trouble keeping my nitrate and phosphate up despite adding the new residents and feeding more aswell as running the skimmer on the dryer side. New corals that have been added are
1. Reef Chasers Heat wave Acropora
2. Pc Rainbow
3.RC sour patch Acropora,
4.RC Furiosa Acropora
5. RC Yellow Ledbetter

The tank started with a digi, the Zoa plate,and the Duncans which are doing good and spawning. The spongodes look to be doing good aswell. I did have some tissue reside from the hirsuta monti but it’s doing good now.

 

[Zappy]

October 2026 Update — A Lot Has Changed!​

Well, it's been a long time since I updated this thread! A LOT has happened since March, so here's a little recap of where the tank stands today.

The IceCap 45g AIO has gone through quite a few changes. I've switched out the original AI Blade lights for an A8SE Max Pro, upgraded the flow to two DMP-20 wavemakers, and added a Red Sea ReefDose 4.

My main goal when starting this tank was to eventually keep Acropora, and I'm finally doing it! I've added quite a few Acro frags, including some Millies, and recently picked up a much larger Acro colony. Several frags are showing encrusting and new growth, which has been really exciting to see.

It definitely hasn't been smooth sailing. I've lost corals, dealt with nutrient swings, battled dinos, and spent way too much time trying to figure out my CO₂ scrubber setup. But that's reefing, lol.

Dosing and filtration:

• All-For-Reef for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium
• TRITON MYTE trace element dosing
• AcroPower for the SPS
• IceCap 240 skimmer with a CO₂ scrubber

The CO₂ scrubber has probably been one of my biggest improvements. I used to struggle with pH in the upper 7s, and recently I've been seeing around 8.1 overnight and 8.3 in the evening.

Latest water parameters:

• Alkalinity: 9.3 dKH
• Phosphate: 0.08 ppm
• Nitrate: 4.4 ppm before a NeoNitro correction dose
• Salinity: 1.026
• Temperature: Approximately 79°F

I've also been doing a lot of 3D printing with my Bambu Lab P1S, making custom equipment mounts, dosing bottle holders, and a honeycomb mounting system to keep everything organized.

The tank still has some sand-bed dinoflagellates, which I believe are large-cell Amphidinium based on my earlier microscope observations. The outbreak has improved quite a bit, but I'm planning a gradual silicate-based approach to encourage competing diatoms.

Overall, I'm happy with how far the tank has come. My main focus now is keeping things stable and letting these Acros grow into colonies.