Monique's Wave (reefer 525XL)

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Hey Everyone,
thanks to all the great posts here to help me get my new tank started. I've been keeping fresh water planted tanks for about 9 years, and salt for about 3 years. I've really wanted a big tank, so I finally pulled the trigger on a Red Sea Reefer 525xl. I put water in it almost a month ago. But here it is right before filling it.

20170201_194013.jpg


I think it took about 5 days to make enough water.

Here is a top down photo.
20170131_121822.jpg
 
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This tank has been cloudy since the beginning. I did use RODI, and I'm not running lights. When I got the water in I added a shrimp, a week later I added biospira. Two weeks later the shrimp was rotted, the tank was really cloudy, and I had no nitrates. I got some ammonia and added that to 2ppm. Three days later I have no ammonia, and my nitrites are very high, so I guess I'm finally getting it cycled with the ammonia.

20170220_204920-001.jpg


You can't even see the powerhead at the other end of the tank. I am running my protein skimmer and it gets light browns stuff out daily. I'll wait out the cloudiness until the tank is fully cycled. If its still cloudy i will be concerned.
 
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The tank continues to cycle...
So onto more pictures. Let's face it, everyone wants to see the sump. Here it is.
20170227_191536.jpg


I have a dual BRS reactor on the left for GFO and carbon, and a single on the right for biopellets. Vectra M1 return, Tunze ATO, two Aqueon Pro heaters, the Reef Octopus skimmer, and it will have aquamedic dosing. Just not set up yet.
 

ksfulk

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Welcome to the Red Sea Reefer "Big Kid" Club! Thats a really really slick rockwork setup. Its crazy how much more tock there is when you see the top down, compared to the side view! What are you using for an ATO container? I see you ditched the included one, but I didnt see where the water was kept! Whats the stocking plan for this bad jackson? Going all SPS or a mixed reef setup?
 
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Welcome to the Red Sea Reefer "Big Kid" Club! Thats a really really slick rockwork setup. Its crazy how much more tock there is when you see the top down, compared to the side view! What are you using for an ATO container? I see you ditched the included one, but I didnt see where the water was kept! Whats the stocking plan for this bad jackson? Going all SPS or a mixed reef setup?

I'm glad I didn't go bigger. I can barely reach inside the tank!
The ATO is currently in a 5 gallon bucket to the side. I go through that in two days. I plan on getting something 20 gallons and my husband (who is a trim carpenter) will build a nice cabinet for it.

The stocking plan short term is simple. I will move my clowns, nem, gobi and pistol shrimp to the tank. I have a bunch of corals to move as well, but I want to establish a very stringent quarantine / dipping because with my current dipping I still have pests.

Later I want a pair of mandarins, so a place for pods is in my future...
Other than that, I love the corals. I have freshwater where you can have a ton of fish, so that isn't such a priority in this tank.
 

ksfulk

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I'm glad I didn't go bigger. I can barely reach inside the tank!
The ATO is currently in a 5 gallon bucket to the side. I go through that in two days. I plan on getting something 20 gallons and my husband (who is a trim carpenter) will build a nice cabinet for it.

The stocking plan short term is simple. I will move my clowns, nem, gobi and pistol shrimp to the tank. I have a bunch of corals to move as well, but I want to establish a very stringent quarantine / dipping because with my current dipping I still have pests.

Later I want a pair of mandarins, so a place for pods is in my future...
Other than that, I love the corals. I have freshwater where you can have a ton of fish, so that isn't such a priority in this tank.

I have a 5 gallon plastic tote on the outside of my stand as well! Ideally I would run a water line through the wall, but I just finished the drywall downstairs, and Im loathe to put more holes in the wall.

Mandarins are neat as well, though Ive never really ponied up to keep any. I started in freshwater twenty five or so years ago, and used to keep and breed killifish, even going to Africa one summer in college to collect wild specimen. I did a lot of biotopes so usually I didnt crowd with too many fish - which is one of the problems I seem to have with saltwater :) Though, in fairness, I love corals as well.
 

revhtree

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Cool scape and looking good!
 

Daniel@R2R

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Looking good! Following!
 
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+1 on that scape. Minamalist look but on the overhead shot you still have plenty of places to mount coral.
I love the minimalist scapes I've seen here. In my current tank, I have quite a few zoas and LPS that are bleaching under the LED. The SPS are loving it though. So I'm hoping to fill the upper level with SPS and have other corals down low. The top down shot is one of my favorite of the tank.
 
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Nitrates are going down, and Nitrates are at 5ppm
I added 0.5 more ammonia, when that and nitrites are down I will add some CUC. I also started NoPox today. It still has a cloudy "smoke" (of bacteria?) but it is clearing up.
 
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