Eienna
5000 Club Member
(Photos will be added tomorrow.)
Hello again, everyone!! At long last, I am returning to the saltwater side. Why the name? Of course, the animals are all my treasures! It will also have a special decoration. I am having a treasure chest 3D-printed, and will be putting the names of my loved ones on semiprecious stones to place inside. I bought a used NUVO 75 EXT and am slowly getting everything together. According to my budget plan, I am 2-3 months to fish, and over a year to complete. I know I have a lot to learn yet, but this time I am much better equipped to get things right. Back 6-8 years ago, I had no idea what I didn't know, and I'm realizing I botched a lot. I imagine I'll be falling on my face more than once with this build, too, but...I am determined to keep learning and growing, and I am far better informed now.
Having fibromyalgia and suspected rheumatoid arthritis, some automation is needed, but somehow I have to balance that with a limited budget. I am attempting to build it out on a budget of less than $500 spent per month.
I am basically plumbed on the drain end of things, thanks to the tank's original owner. I just have to do the return. I'm planning on a Sicce return pump - either the Syncra Silent or the SDC. Probably the non-DC option...I'd like controllability, sure, but I'm probably going to do a set-and-forget kind of thing, which really doesn't justify the extra price.
Powerheads will be Ecotech VorTechs, probably a pair of MP40s; The tank will be mainly LPS, including a healthy helping of Goniopora, Acanthastrea, Micromussa, and photosynthetic Gorgonian, so I don't want to blast them too hard. I do also want an ORA pink Stylophora, though...hm. Tips on how to do that right? Thinking the wider flow on these will be optimal, versus a jet stream. Starting with just one and making sure I get a battery backup (or two!) which is another HUGE selling point for me, since I live in a less populated area now and we will be very low on the power restoration priority list.
I still kind of want the Neptune SKY, but the fact is it's a bit beyond my budget. I'm probably going to go with a Grow Blade, later supplemented with a Freshwater Blade. I may add a Glow Blade down the line, as well. I like the Blades and Sky because, as an autistic, I often find the intense shimmer from most LEDs migraine-inducing.
I'm still conflicted as to whether to go with a skimmer or not. I like the idea of suspended particles and aminos and such as being food for your corals. Perhaps it would be a good idea the first year or two, combined with the planned refugium. If I do get a skimmer, I will probably get a Skimz or Reef Octopus model.
My refugium is going to have Gracilaria instead of Chaeto. I figure it'd be a nice treat for any herbivorous fish I end up with. I do realize I'll have to dose iron to make that work. I'll be dosing pods like a madwoman the first year or so, as well, even though my planned Mandarin Dragonet will be from Biota.
I am, contrary to popular instruction, actually going to be adding my Mandarin at the same time as my first fish. Since it will be Biota-bred, it should eat frozens, and that will make sure he has a chance to settle in and get used to the offered food (and methods thereof) before competition arrives. Before anyone has a panic attack, I will also be dosing pods at the same time. <3 This isn't my first Mandarin rodeo, and my beloved Spike - he's my avatar on the forum, btw - was one of the few things I did right. I trained that little guy to pellets myself, and he was fat and happy when I tragically lost him to a tank crash.
The planned fish - and y'all tell me if I have too much on the list - is:
Non-negotiable: a Biota black Ocellaris clownfish, possibly with an orange mate; a Biota Mandarin Dragonet; a Chalk Basslet (I believe ORA breeds them?); and a single Bartlett's Anthias, my dream fish.
Negotiable: a Biota Rainford's Goby to help me with algae; a Biota Royal Gramma (yes, I know that's a basslet too, but from what I understand they will be happy enough if I provide enough caves for both); a Royal Pencil Wrasse; and either a Magma or Conde's Fairy Wrasse. I also want a purple and maybe a blue Maxima clam.
Seems like a lot for a 75...so I'll take it slow and see how things are going. I am fully aware that the Pencil Wrasse is tricky, so if anyone has tips for him, I'd like to hear it. I do know they do much better shipped with sand, so I'm going to try to find a vendor who will do so or get him locally. I will be quarantining EVERYTHING, with prophylactics for Ich, Velvet, Brooklynella and that one other disease that causes lesions - the name escapes me atm.
Going with dry rock mainly for price considerations, possibly seeded with a little shipped-in-water ocean live rock, and a mixture of CaribSea Ocean Direct and Fiji Pink.
I find the methods that allow minimal water changes to be extremely alluring, just because of the physical work involved in water changes. Currently thinking Moonshiner's....we'll see just how well that works out budgetwise.
Eventually, I'd like to be able to sell some of my extra coral...but I kind of have to grow it first, so XDD we'll see down the line.
Yes, I am buying an Apex...
The tank does have a small chip in the corner, but I'm not seeing any spidering or anything like that. I'll be doing a month-long water test (two weeks half full, two more full) before I trust it. I may get a couple of glass plates to enclose and reinforce that corner.
Thoughts welcome!!
Hello again, everyone!! At long last, I am returning to the saltwater side. Why the name? Of course, the animals are all my treasures! It will also have a special decoration. I am having a treasure chest 3D-printed, and will be putting the names of my loved ones on semiprecious stones to place inside. I bought a used NUVO 75 EXT and am slowly getting everything together. According to my budget plan, I am 2-3 months to fish, and over a year to complete. I know I have a lot to learn yet, but this time I am much better equipped to get things right. Back 6-8 years ago, I had no idea what I didn't know, and I'm realizing I botched a lot. I imagine I'll be falling on my face more than once with this build, too, but...I am determined to keep learning and growing, and I am far better informed now.
Having fibromyalgia and suspected rheumatoid arthritis, some automation is needed, but somehow I have to balance that with a limited budget. I am attempting to build it out on a budget of less than $500 spent per month.
I am basically plumbed on the drain end of things, thanks to the tank's original owner. I just have to do the return. I'm planning on a Sicce return pump - either the Syncra Silent or the SDC. Probably the non-DC option...I'd like controllability, sure, but I'm probably going to do a set-and-forget kind of thing, which really doesn't justify the extra price.
Powerheads will be Ecotech VorTechs, probably a pair of MP40s; The tank will be mainly LPS, including a healthy helping of Goniopora, Acanthastrea, Micromussa, and photosynthetic Gorgonian, so I don't want to blast them too hard. I do also want an ORA pink Stylophora, though...hm. Tips on how to do that right? Thinking the wider flow on these will be optimal, versus a jet stream. Starting with just one and making sure I get a battery backup (or two!) which is another HUGE selling point for me, since I live in a less populated area now and we will be very low on the power restoration priority list.
I still kind of want the Neptune SKY, but the fact is it's a bit beyond my budget. I'm probably going to go with a Grow Blade, later supplemented with a Freshwater Blade. I may add a Glow Blade down the line, as well. I like the Blades and Sky because, as an autistic, I often find the intense shimmer from most LEDs migraine-inducing.
I'm still conflicted as to whether to go with a skimmer or not. I like the idea of suspended particles and aminos and such as being food for your corals. Perhaps it would be a good idea the first year or two, combined with the planned refugium. If I do get a skimmer, I will probably get a Skimz or Reef Octopus model.
My refugium is going to have Gracilaria instead of Chaeto. I figure it'd be a nice treat for any herbivorous fish I end up with. I do realize I'll have to dose iron to make that work. I'll be dosing pods like a madwoman the first year or so, as well, even though my planned Mandarin Dragonet will be from Biota.
I am, contrary to popular instruction, actually going to be adding my Mandarin at the same time as my first fish. Since it will be Biota-bred, it should eat frozens, and that will make sure he has a chance to settle in and get used to the offered food (and methods thereof) before competition arrives. Before anyone has a panic attack, I will also be dosing pods at the same time. <3 This isn't my first Mandarin rodeo, and my beloved Spike - he's my avatar on the forum, btw - was one of the few things I did right. I trained that little guy to pellets myself, and he was fat and happy when I tragically lost him to a tank crash.
The planned fish - and y'all tell me if I have too much on the list - is:
Non-negotiable: a Biota black Ocellaris clownfish, possibly with an orange mate; a Biota Mandarin Dragonet; a Chalk Basslet (I believe ORA breeds them?); and a single Bartlett's Anthias, my dream fish.
Negotiable: a Biota Rainford's Goby to help me with algae; a Biota Royal Gramma (yes, I know that's a basslet too, but from what I understand they will be happy enough if I provide enough caves for both); a Royal Pencil Wrasse; and either a Magma or Conde's Fairy Wrasse. I also want a purple and maybe a blue Maxima clam.
Seems like a lot for a 75...so I'll take it slow and see how things are going. I am fully aware that the Pencil Wrasse is tricky, so if anyone has tips for him, I'd like to hear it. I do know they do much better shipped with sand, so I'm going to try to find a vendor who will do so or get him locally. I will be quarantining EVERYTHING, with prophylactics for Ich, Velvet, Brooklynella and that one other disease that causes lesions - the name escapes me atm.
Going with dry rock mainly for price considerations, possibly seeded with a little shipped-in-water ocean live rock, and a mixture of CaribSea Ocean Direct and Fiji Pink.
I find the methods that allow minimal water changes to be extremely alluring, just because of the physical work involved in water changes. Currently thinking Moonshiner's....we'll see just how well that works out budgetwise.
Eventually, I'd like to be able to sell some of my extra coral...but I kind of have to grow it first, so XDD we'll see down the line.
Yes, I am buying an Apex...
The tank does have a small chip in the corner, but I'm not seeing any spidering or anything like that. I'll be doing a month-long water test (two weeks half full, two more full) before I trust it. I may get a couple of glass plates to enclose and reinforce that corner.
Thoughts welcome!!
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