My First Tank

[DapperSnapper]

Hello all, as the title states I’m a new comer to the hobby (and reef2reef) and I figured I would document my progress with my first tank. It will be a bit before she really gets up and going as I’m a merchant mariner and can’t start for a few more weeks, but soon my boots will be on solid ground for good.



My equipment is as follows:

Innovative marine nuvo 20 long

Mighty jet return pump

Ice cap Ato

2 Aquael 100w heaters ran on an inkbird

Innovative marine AIO UV sterilizer

Ecotech MP10

Jebao gyre (not sure which, single side, the smallest one)

Kessil A360XE Tuna Blue with wifi dongle



I also have a single head dosing pump that the make and model are slipping my mind at the moment.



I’m using Tropic Marin Pro reef salt, and intend to be dosing All For Reef when the time comes.



The tank will be started with live rock and bio media and cycled using ammonia chloride and nitrifying bacteria.



If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out, pictures to come. I’m really excited to be joining all of you.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hello @DapperSnapper!

Congrats on your new tank and build, I'm sure this is going to be great!

I have one comment which is that if you're using a lot of or even all real, wet live rock from a quality Local Fish Store (LFS), then you may not need to do a cycle with the ammonium chloride and bacteria. Live rock is basically already cycled and ready to go in your tank. If you're using just a little live rock, and mostly dry rocks, then you may need to do a fishes cycle with the bacteria and ammonium chloride.

The other suggestion I'd make is you may want to consider starting a build thread for your tank at the link bellow. That way, other members can follow along with your project, and you can get a spiffy "build thread" badge for under your avatar:

So you want a MY TANK THREAD badge???

Well, here's the way to get one! STEP 1: Start a tank thread in one of our member tank forums (CLICK HERE). *Btw, it doesn't have to be a new tank. It doesn't matter if your tank has been up for 40+ years, we would still love for you to start a tank thread where we can follow all the updates...

www.reef2reef.com

If you have questions as you get going, please post here at R2R and someone I'm sure will be able to help you.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Make sure to take a look at this thread!

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Subsea]

Yes to starting tank journal in members tank forum.

One comment: In 55 years of Reefing, I have never lost livestock due to too cold, but I have lost livestock to heat. Two 100W heaters on a 20G is more than overkill, it’s potentially dangerous. I live in the South where we run air conditioning and none of my systems have heaters. In fact, I use evaporation to cool system water temperature down.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[DapperSnapper]

Yes to starting tank journal in members tank forum.

One comment: In 55 years of Reefing, I have never lost livestock due to too cold, but I have lost livestock to heat. Two 100W heaters on a 20G is more than overkill, it’s potentially dangerous. I live in the South where we run air conditioning and none of my systems have heaters. In fact, I use evaporation to cool system water temperature down.

The reason behind running two is incase one fails, the second heater will be set at a temperature 4-5 degrees lower so it will seldom- if ever- kick on.

 

[Subsea]

The reason behind running two is incase one fails, the second heater will be set at a temperature 4-5 degrees lower so it will seldom- if ever- kick on.

Again, in 55 years of Reefing, I have never had a heater fail off, but I have had them fail on and wipe out a small tank. If you were in Alaska, I could see the wisdom of heater redundancy. Is Mobile, Alabama your home port?

Go fortune on your first tank.

 

[DapperSnapper]

Again, in 55 years of Reefing, I have never had a heater fail off, but I have had them fail on and wipe out a small tank. If you were in Alaska, I could see the wisdom of heater redundancy. Is Mobile, Alabama your home port?

Go fortune on your first tank.

It is! Hahaha good guess. And for the heater getting stuck on the inkbird will shut it off. I was very paranoid about heater related crashes and did my research to insure I didn’t have such problems.