rja
Well-Known Member
Hey Reef2Reef community! I’ve been holding off on starting my build thread but here we are!
So, I started out with a plan to find everything used or at a discount because this hobby becomes more rewarding and less stressful when you spend less money. That being said, if you cheap out on your equipment, things can go south very quickly!
Anyway, the tank itself turned out to be in a package deal on Facebook Marketplace. After weeks of looking for the right deal, I settled on this.
As you can see, the tank came with a Kessil A160WE, gooseneck mount, a hydor koralia nano, and the tank was also now rimless. Not pictured is a Kessil A80 Tuna Blue as well. $300 for everything. I would say that’s a good deal!
I bought a couple pounds of wet Carib Sea Life Rock and 20 pounds of Carib Sea Arag Alive from my LFS.
Eventually I found a deal for $60, 20 pounds of dry Carib Life Rock at Petsmart so I hopped right on that.
Planning to keep a Firefish— I knew this rimless tank needed a lid for sure. I decided upon building a mesh lid and cutting an acrylic piece to fit the bowfront.
With a ton of surface area for evaporation to occur, I knew I needed an ATO. I went with the Reef Breeders Prism for simplicity. Under the tank I just have a 5 gallon bucket of RODI water. Seems to do the trick just fine!
I also found a great deal, $50, on a controller for the Kessil. Here’s my settings!
In the back chamber, I have a few upgrades. I went with a MJ-1200 return pump, a JBJ fuge light with a wad of Chaeto, the In Tank media basket, and an Eheim Jager 100w heater plugged into an Inkbird controller. In the media basket I have ceramic beads, Chemi-Pure Blue, and filter floss. I just change out the floss weekly and I don’t really touch the other media. The Chaeto can’t be seen because the fuge light is off but I’m sure you can picture what it looks like. I just scraped off the paint in the back of the tank with a razor blade.
My wiring is a bit of a mess but alas, cable management has never been my strong suit!
So, I started out with a plan to find everything used or at a discount because this hobby becomes more rewarding and less stressful when you spend less money. That being said, if you cheap out on your equipment, things can go south very quickly!
Anyway, the tank itself turned out to be in a package deal on Facebook Marketplace. After weeks of looking for the right deal, I settled on this.
As you can see, the tank came with a Kessil A160WE, gooseneck mount, a hydor koralia nano, and the tank was also now rimless. Not pictured is a Kessil A80 Tuna Blue as well. $300 for everything. I would say that’s a good deal!
I bought a couple pounds of wet Carib Sea Life Rock and 20 pounds of Carib Sea Arag Alive from my LFS.
Eventually I found a deal for $60, 20 pounds of dry Carib Life Rock at Petsmart so I hopped right on that.
Planning to keep a Firefish— I knew this rimless tank needed a lid for sure. I decided upon building a mesh lid and cutting an acrylic piece to fit the bowfront.
With a ton of surface area for evaporation to occur, I knew I needed an ATO. I went with the Reef Breeders Prism for simplicity. Under the tank I just have a 5 gallon bucket of RODI water. Seems to do the trick just fine!
I also found a great deal, $50, on a controller for the Kessil. Here’s my settings!
In the back chamber, I have a few upgrades. I went with a MJ-1200 return pump, a JBJ fuge light with a wad of Chaeto, the In Tank media basket, and an Eheim Jager 100w heater plugged into an Inkbird controller. In the media basket I have ceramic beads, Chemi-Pure Blue, and filter floss. I just change out the floss weekly and I don’t really touch the other media. The Chaeto can’t be seen because the fuge light is off but I’m sure you can picture what it looks like. I just scraped off the paint in the back of the tank with a razor blade.
My wiring is a bit of a mess but alas, cable management has never been my strong suit!
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