My janky basement build

[mbmiche]

Picked up a used 20+ (24" wide, 16.5" deep, 12.25" tall) w/10 gal sump from another local reefer. Just getting back into the game after 20 years. Came with the return pump and skimmer and all the rock. Had some anthelia and a few green polys, but I pulled those after reading too many horror stories... I'm keeping the gsp that was hidden away, though. Have it isolated on a rock, and I can cut it back if I need. Added an ato, wave maker, fuge light, kessil a360x, and bought a lot of other supplies... Added a few berghia nudis to take care of some Aiptasia that came in on the rock (I haven't seen them since introducing them, but the aip is slowly going away). Grabbed a few starter corals--2 ricordia, 2 favia, and a sunny D zoa frag. As soon as the aip are gone, I'll add a small CUC, shrimp, clown, and tailspot. About 3 weeks in, parameters are stable but thinking of changing salts--10% wc weekly--to bring up my ph (hovers just below 8), alk (consistently 7), and calcium (360-380). I think the wife is a bit jealous that much of my weekend is consumed tinkering, but I'm excited to see how this develops!

 

[blaxsun]

Your corals look lonely!

 

[mbmiche]

The struggle to resist the urge to go all-in right away is real!

I figure that I'll tinker for now while the nudis take care of the Aiptasia, and then I'll start adding a fish or two and small CUC and shrimp.

And, when I get my ph/alk/calcium up just a bit, more corals...

 

[mbmiche]

And corals are just placed right now. Acclimating them to the light and playing with flow to see where they respond well. They'll get their permanent spots in a few weeks

 

[mdb_talon]

Looks like a good start!