Hello all, after dreaming of this tank for nearly a decade I've finally pulled the trigger and set up the tank I always wanted. I'll be recording the progress here. The tank has been up for a couple months now, so the first few posts will be about the progress so far. I didn't plan on making a build thread, so I don't have a ton of photos from the very early days.
My history:
Summer of 2013, I got obsessed with the idea of keeping reef tank and bought an IM Nuvo 38 AIO tank with my internship money. It was a mixed reef with a couple clowns, a Midas blenny, and a handful of other fish that I had varying success with but ultimately it was a healthy tank with a happy anemone and a variety of corals in it. After a few years I let life distract me and the tank suffered for it, I finally took it down after it crashed after about 4 years. I lost a clownfish while I wasn't home and most everything else in the tank died as a result. A couple years ago I got the itch to set it back up so I re-estabilshed the Nuvo 38 with live sand and the reefsaver rock. It went pretty well once I started properly maintaining it. The success there got me thinkin bigger and after I bought my own home I finally saved up enough to buy my dream tank!
The Setup:
Tank/Sump - Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL G2
Custom HNSA Style aquascape made from Marco Rock
Dry Special Grade Sand
Filtration:
ReefMat 1200 Fleece Roller
Regal 150INT Protein Skimmer
BRS Mini Reactor w/ ROX 0.8 Carbon
MarinePure 4" brick and transferred Spheres from previous tank
Lighting:
2x Kessil A360X
48" Coral Cover Hybrid Fixture
Plumbing:
Return - 2x Vectra S2 in parallel
2x MP40QD on opposite ends
Other:
Neptune Apex A3 Pro
2x EB832 Energy Bars
2x Kamoer X1 Dosing Pumps (BRS Cal/Alk 2-Part)
500W Aquatop Heater
2x Eheim Autofeeders - TDO Chromaboost Pellets
Testing:
Hanna Alk, Cal, ULR Phosphate
Red Sea Nitrate Pro
Salifert Mag
On Aug 21, 2022 I got the tank set up, plumbed in and filled. I started the cycle off with Fritz Turbo-Start and a Fritz Ammonia Supplement. I left the skimmer/reactor off for the cycle and didn't install the ReefMat until the cycle finished off. I also left the lights off for the whole cycle and initial setup. I used some filter floss where the filter socks usually go to clean up the fine sediment from the sand and ended up adding some flocculent to try to clean it up some more. I also moved over ~1/2 of the MarinePure Bioballs from the existing tank at the start of the cycle to try to seed the tank with pods.
My history:
Summer of 2013, I got obsessed with the idea of keeping reef tank and bought an IM Nuvo 38 AIO tank with my internship money. It was a mixed reef with a couple clowns, a Midas blenny, and a handful of other fish that I had varying success with but ultimately it was a healthy tank with a happy anemone and a variety of corals in it. After a few years I let life distract me and the tank suffered for it, I finally took it down after it crashed after about 4 years. I lost a clownfish while I wasn't home and most everything else in the tank died as a result. A couple years ago I got the itch to set it back up so I re-estabilshed the Nuvo 38 with live sand and the reefsaver rock. It went pretty well once I started properly maintaining it. The success there got me thinkin bigger and after I bought my own home I finally saved up enough to buy my dream tank!
The Setup:
Tank/Sump - Red Sea Reefer 625 XXL G2
Custom HNSA Style aquascape made from Marco Rock
Dry Special Grade Sand
Filtration:
ReefMat 1200 Fleece Roller
Regal 150INT Protein Skimmer
BRS Mini Reactor w/ ROX 0.8 Carbon
MarinePure 4" brick and transferred Spheres from previous tank
Lighting:
2x Kessil A360X
48" Coral Cover Hybrid Fixture
Plumbing:
Return - 2x Vectra S2 in parallel
2x MP40QD on opposite ends
Other:
Neptune Apex A3 Pro
2x EB832 Energy Bars
2x Kamoer X1 Dosing Pumps (BRS Cal/Alk 2-Part)
500W Aquatop Heater
2x Eheim Autofeeders - TDO Chromaboost Pellets
Testing:
Hanna Alk, Cal, ULR Phosphate
Red Sea Nitrate Pro
Salifert Mag
On Aug 21, 2022 I got the tank set up, plumbed in and filled. I started the cycle off with Fritz Turbo-Start and a Fritz Ammonia Supplement. I left the skimmer/reactor off for the cycle and didn't install the ReefMat until the cycle finished off. I also left the lights off for the whole cycle and initial setup. I used some filter floss where the filter socks usually go to clean up the fine sediment from the sand and ended up adding some flocculent to try to clean it up some more. I also moved over ~1/2 of the MarinePure Bioballs from the existing tank at the start of the cycle to try to seed the tank with pods.