My little girl's first reef tank (Fluval Sea Flex 32.5G)

JNalley

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Hello,

I am doing this build with and for my 2-year-old daughter. It will be located in her room, though being 2, the majority of the responsibility will be on me until she's old enough.
We have not started the build yet, and are willing to take feedback from the community as we progress. I am almost about to pull the trigger on the tank purchase (Probably this weekend).

The order of operations currently is:
Tank+Live sand (Probably Black Hawaiin sand from CaribSea Arag-Alive)+Water

The live rock is where things get tricky, if I can find someone locally to split an order with me I intend to get some Florida Live Rock from either LiveRocknReef or SaltyBottoms. If I can't find someone to split an order, then I'll end up sourcing it locally from one of our stores, but I find their prices for what we actually get are kind of ridiculous.

As the build progresses I will update.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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I'd skip the black personally - unless you really want it (there are a lot of magnetic particles in it that can end up really scratching the glass).
Personally, I like the look of it (My own tank had it once upon a time) and never ran into any issues then. Are there any other drawbacks besides glass scratching?


Just make sure there is no way for her to put her hand in the tank.

She’s a baby and her immune system isn’t fully developed. There will be bacteria in that tank.

Yeh, it's going to be well out of her reach, bacteria is the least of my worries, though still a worry, a 120+ lb tank falling on her is a bit more of a concern though, which will mean it's well out of reach.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Update 1:

Decided to upgrade from the 13.5G Evo to the 32.5G Flex

Ordered the Flex, a Fluval PS1 Skimmer, and Heater
40lbs of CaribSea Life Rock
40lbs of CaribSea Ocean Direct Sand (Sadly I couldn't find any black sand from a store and I wanted to see it before I buy to make sure that's what I wanted)
InkBird Wireless Thermometer and Hygrometer with Aquarium Probe (for temp monitoring)
Current Dual eFlux Aquarium Wave Pumps 660GPH w/ Wireless remote
Aquatic Life RO Buddie Plus DI Four Stage RO system 50GPD
Salinity Refractometer
Marine Pure Biofilter 1.5" Spheres
PinkFusion and Purple Helix Combo Kit (Algae in a bottle)
Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt bucket
and a Marine Master Care kit from Red Sea

Corals:
Double Head Purple Blasto
Blue Face Splatter War Coral
Rock Flower Anemone
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Update 2:
Picked up some live rock from my LFS and swapped out some of the BioMedia balls for established balls so I had an insta-tank.

Also wasn't a fan of all the similarly shaped and sized pieces I got with the CaribSea Life Rock, so picked up 10lbs of Cornerstone and have a mix of the 3 in the tank now.

Corals are not really thriving, I'm trying to give them some acclimation time, but I am pretty sure one is a lost cause, we'll see though. The LFS I bought the coral from gave me a freebie with purchase, so I ended up with 2 Rock Flower Anemones. I also bought a Bubbletip and 2 tiny clowns from them.

let the tank sit with them in it for 3-4 days, all chemical levels were rock solid, so I added a few more to the tank today, got 3 Pajama Cardinals and an Orchid Dottyback.

Here's a video of the tank progress so far. I'll maybe make another after I clean the glass later this week.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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So far the tank is rock-solid and stable. One of the corals is not really coming out so not really sure what I can do for it other than give it time. I've tried about 8-9 different spots in the tank and no dice.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Update:

2x Oscellaris Clowns
3x Pajama Cardinals
1x Orchid Dottyback
1x Emerald Crab + miscellaneous other CUC

1x BTA
2x Rock Flower Anemone's
1x Purple Headed Blasto
Splatter War Coral didn't make it

Removed one more rock. Pics/video will come later this week.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Changed out the return and the powerheads for Sicce SDC line. I did this for ease of use (feed button controls all 3). Though, if I'm being honest, the Xstreams are much louder than the Current-USA. I'm sort of torn because they're audibly loud and they're much larger than the currents (I could put up with the size if they were silent) this is in a 2-year-olds room.

Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0
2x Sicce Xstream SDC

Here's a pic:
20211114_101002_HDR copy.jpg


Just did a water change which stirred up some stuff, and I have a bunch of hydroid jellyfish on the glass, but overall it's looking good I think
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Ordered:
2x AI Prime HD's
1x IceCap K-1 Nano
1x Screen Netting from BRS

Going to cut out the top of the lid and glue the netting in so I can mount the lights above without losing the stock appearance.

Though this also means I am going to have to get an ATO sooner rather than later since much more evaporation will be occurring.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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2x AI Prime HD's installed, working on the mesh top. 3DReef Shades and Diffusers will be here sometime today. I cut the stock top for the tank in hopes I could glue the netting to it, that's not working out so well so I might buy a Red Sea Custom Tank net top (I refuse to buy a $200 custom acrylic net top), or maybe fashion one out of parts from a hardware store...

20211119_112429_HDR copy.jpg
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Hey guys, we added some Zoanthids, a hitchhiking pulsing xenia (hitchhiked in on the unknown coral), some firework clove polyps, and an unknown coral (the guys at the store had no idea what it was. Will maybe post to the ID thread later). Also added an IceCap K1-Nano (though considering upgrading it to the K1-50 because I think it will fit with a bit of modification). We also added a Flame Hawkfish yesterday, and have a Yellow Watchman Goby, a Japanese Pistol Shrimp, and 2 Skunk Cleaner shrimps on the way (be here tomorrow). Also, don't mind the top, I had to modify it, tried gluing the screen to it, it wouldn't hold, so bit the bullet and ordered a Kraken lid for it. My BTA looks like it's getting healthier too.

Enjoy the pics:
20211122_112417_HDR.jpg

20211122_112440_HDR.jpg

20211122_112447_HDR.jpg

20211122_112500_HDR.jpg

20211122_112910_HDR.jpg
20211122_112527_HDR.jpg
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Update:

Carpet Anemone 6" easy
Flame Hawkfish 1.5"
Yellow Watchman Goby 2"
Japanese Snapping/Pistol Shrimp 2-2.5"


I'm hoping since the flame hawkfish is smaller he'll learn to play nice with the Shrimp, that Shrimp is super territorial though, and currently has not paired with the Goby. It also likes to kick up a ton of sand :-| The GBTA is constantly moving around the tank and I may end up re-homing it, it just can't seem to get settled.
 

Lsuhunter

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Looks like you are off to a good start. One day I need to ditch my lid and upgrade the lights too. Just can't justify the price of it.
 
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JNalley

JNalley

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Looks like you are off to a good start. One day I need to ditch my lid and upgrade the lights too. Just can't justify the price of it.
well, you don't NEED a kraken lid, I went ahead and got one because of convenience factor, but, if you bring the screen/netting with you into a hardware store, along with your dimensions (where you need bends and stuff) you can have them build you a screen frame and spline in the netting, this is a MUCH cheaper option... The lights are almost a necessity for a mixed reef, though, I think 2x Marine 3.0's CAN get you to a mixed reef, but if I was going to spend $220+ at Fluval for a light, I saw no reason to not sell the one I had for $140 and just invest in 2 lights I KNOW will work (Used AI Prime HD's)
 

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What settings do you have your Sicce SDC 3.0 on? There were a lot of modes but do you just have it at “constant”? Thanks!

Also, did you put in the strainer?
 
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JNalley

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What settings do you have your Sicce SDC 3.0 on? There were a lot of modes but do you just have it at “constant”? Thanks!

Also, did you put in the strainer?
Hello, yes I have it on constant 100%, I turned up the return nozzles so they break the surface of the water. I ran it without the strainer for a while, and then I put it on because I filled the return with BioMedia. I'm running an IceCap K1-Nano, but I've been told it also works with the PS-1 skimmer as well.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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