Hello all! I'm brand new to the hobby and working on starting up my first tank! I'm on a budget, so planning to take it slow and watch for some deals to pop up. I just picked up the tank as step 1, which is a used Aquatop Recife 40 AIO.
I've since stood up that Ikea Kallax with board games on it and emptied out the bottom two shelves and left about a foot and a half of space on either side of the tank so I have room to get on either side comfortably and not have the games in splash range.
It came with the some little boxes that go in the back but they're empty. Here's the stock photo from Aquatop for reference:
Let me know what you think I should have in them right away, if anything. I'm currently planning to leave them empty and just fill them with media as I run into issues and find myself needing something.
The protein skimmer pictured did come with the tank but that little hose piece that sticks out of the top under the collection cup is missing and I believe that's needed to actually tune the thing so I'm guessing it won't work correctly and is junk. I might list it on ebay for parts and I'll just run without one for now. Measuring the chamber it looks like the Ice Cap K1 would fit but isn't rated for a tank this size. Again, I'll probably get the tank started without a skimmer and add it after I have 2-4 fish.
I've ordered a Python No Spill which comes in tomorrow so my next step is to water test this. I feel like the stand is mighty flimsy (MDF or something) for such a big fish tank and want to stick a 2x4 or some L brackets in it or something, but it's a purpose made stand so I'm probably worried about nothing.
Assuming the water holds, my next step is waiting for the 6 stage RODI unit at BRS to go on sale (assuming here around black friday it will) since my city treats the water with chloramines. I'll probably go ahead and order some dry rock while I'm waiting so I can be figuring out an aquascape. I want to do one of those negative space scapes following the Tidal Gardens method with the thin glue and sand/powdered dry rock. Anyone have experience with that?
Excited to get started in this hobby!
I've since stood up that Ikea Kallax with board games on it and emptied out the bottom two shelves and left about a foot and a half of space on either side of the tank so I have room to get on either side comfortably and not have the games in splash range.
It came with the some little boxes that go in the back but they're empty. Here's the stock photo from Aquatop for reference:
Let me know what you think I should have in them right away, if anything. I'm currently planning to leave them empty and just fill them with media as I run into issues and find myself needing something.
The protein skimmer pictured did come with the tank but that little hose piece that sticks out of the top under the collection cup is missing and I believe that's needed to actually tune the thing so I'm guessing it won't work correctly and is junk. I might list it on ebay for parts and I'll just run without one for now. Measuring the chamber it looks like the Ice Cap K1 would fit but isn't rated for a tank this size. Again, I'll probably get the tank started without a skimmer and add it after I have 2-4 fish.
I've ordered a Python No Spill which comes in tomorrow so my next step is to water test this. I feel like the stand is mighty flimsy (MDF or something) for such a big fish tank and want to stick a 2x4 or some L brackets in it or something, but it's a purpose made stand so I'm probably worried about nothing.
Assuming the water holds, my next step is waiting for the 6 stage RODI unit at BRS to go on sale (assuming here around black friday it will) since my city treats the water with chloramines. I'll probably go ahead and order some dry rock while I'm waiting so I can be figuring out an aquascape. I want to do one of those negative space scapes following the Tidal Gardens method with the thin glue and sand/powdered dry rock. Anyone have experience with that?
Excited to get started in this hobby!