Hello all,
I wanted to share my newest system and get some advice on it.
I have had experience keeping predatory FOWLR (large systems 300-450 gallons) and some experience with easy soft corals like leathers, xenia, kenya tree etc. I am setting up a new tank and am planning to go all in on reef this time around. I am currently in the process of cycling from dry rock. I used four ounces of turbo start 900 on day 1 and am currently in the nitrite phase (~21 days in). I have been cycling with a clown from one of my other systems and am over feeding. One frozen mysis cube every couple of days. Cycling from Dry to avoid potential pest issues and cycling with a fish that I have had for nearly 4 years and no health or disease issues. I am doing this because I will not be running a quarantine tank. Will source my fish from places that quarantine like Mike from Dr Reefs. Unsure on where to source corals but may go with Dr reef as I have had a pleasant experience every time ive ordered from him. I am open to alternatives if there are better ones.
This is week 4 of the cycle and my one clown is looking healthy and still maintaining a steady appetite and demeanor. At no point has the fish indicated signs of stress or reason for concern.
I made the novice mistake of leaving my light on for the first week of the cycle because I was setting up and programming my system and completely forgot about turning off the light during the cycle. it has been a couple weeks without the light. Had a lot of algae start to show up which made me realize my mistake and subsequently turned the light off.
I am looking for advice in aquascaping, coral addition timing, and coral suggestions. I was hoping to do LPS and soft corals. I have always loved Hammers and Frogspawn so was hoping to add those once the timing makes sense. If you have any suggestions for improvements of my system please let me know.
Display tank Dimensions:
23.5 x 23.5 x 19 (custom 40G I won in a give away from Eshopps at reefapalooza)
~40 gallons Display
Sump Dimensions:
18 x 18 x 16 - (came with the tank)
probably holding another 10-15 gallons at the current water level in the sump
Total System:
Holding between 50-55 Gallons
40 pounds fiji pink Carib sea
~30-35 pounds Aquaforest AF Rock (all are arch pieces)
1 gallon of 1.5" MarinePure Ceramic BioMedia
90 grams of MarinePure Gems
I use Fritz Reef Pro Mix for my Salt
I have not seeded Copepods yet
Mechanical System:
Vectra S2 running at 23 watts or ~400-500 GPH (Bought from @p1u5h13r4m24 - Thanks again!)
InkBird fluctuating temperature between 76 and 77 Fahrenheit
100W Titanium Heating element
Mesh lid from Red Sea
Tunze Osmolator for ATO
5 gallon Trigger ATO Reservoir
SMARTFARM 95 Watt G5 Aqua Star - Mounted 13 inches from the waters surface.
Eshopps S-120 Skimmer (not running or broken in yet)
Sicce Nano Voyager 1000 wave maker
4-stage RO unit
The only mechanical item I have concerns about is the light. Just a random light off of Amazon I bought years ago but seemed functional enough for the easy stuff. I have not gotten a reading on PAR yet and will figure that out down the line. Assumed it would be sufficient to start before investing in a more expensive light. Currently I have the lights set to Mix See the photos attached for more detail. Lights come on at 7, slowly turn up intensity until 8am. maintain that intensity until 7pm and winds down until 8 and then the moonlight feature is held from 8 to 10pm. Lights are off from 10pm to 7am. Please let me know thoughts on that timing. I could probably switch to the LPS only setting instead of the lps sps mix since I don't plan on doing sps.
Parameters (As of 9/22/25):
Salinity: 1.026 - refractometer (Accurately Calibrated)
Temperature: 76.9F - frequently stays between 76 and 77 even when topping off from ATO)
PH: 8.1-8.2 - API test kit (not the most accurate test kit but consistently reads around 8.2)
Ammonia: 0.00 PPM - API Test kit (I find these very hard to read but have not yet invested in a better test kit)
Nitrite: 0.25 PPM - API Test kit (Again I find them hard to read but not yet purchased a better kit)
Nitrate: 7.5 PPM - API Test Kit (Same as above)
Alk: 8.1 dKH - Hanna Test Kit
Calcium: 400-450 PPM - Salifert test kit (still getting a hang of this test kit, readings may be off due to personal error)
Magnesium: 1350 PPM - Salifert test kit
To my understanding parameters are in a good place excluding nitrite from cycling. Nitrates should be lower once cycle is over as I will not be feeding as much and will have more filtration turned on. I think I am measuring all of the important ones maybe except phosphates. Any suggestion on Hanna vs Salifert for the rest of the parameters to test?
The attached photos are of my tank and system. Let me know your thoughts on coral stocking ideas, placements, timing for addition of corals, etc.
I had some issues attaching photos so I had to take screen shots of the photos to upload. Sorry if they come out weird.
I wanted to share my newest system and get some advice on it.
I have had experience keeping predatory FOWLR (large systems 300-450 gallons) and some experience with easy soft corals like leathers, xenia, kenya tree etc. I am setting up a new tank and am planning to go all in on reef this time around. I am currently in the process of cycling from dry rock. I used four ounces of turbo start 900 on day 1 and am currently in the nitrite phase (~21 days in). I have been cycling with a clown from one of my other systems and am over feeding. One frozen mysis cube every couple of days. Cycling from Dry to avoid potential pest issues and cycling with a fish that I have had for nearly 4 years and no health or disease issues. I am doing this because I will not be running a quarantine tank. Will source my fish from places that quarantine like Mike from Dr Reefs. Unsure on where to source corals but may go with Dr reef as I have had a pleasant experience every time ive ordered from him. I am open to alternatives if there are better ones.
This is week 4 of the cycle and my one clown is looking healthy and still maintaining a steady appetite and demeanor. At no point has the fish indicated signs of stress or reason for concern.
I made the novice mistake of leaving my light on for the first week of the cycle because I was setting up and programming my system and completely forgot about turning off the light during the cycle. it has been a couple weeks without the light. Had a lot of algae start to show up which made me realize my mistake and subsequently turned the light off.
I am looking for advice in aquascaping, coral addition timing, and coral suggestions. I was hoping to do LPS and soft corals. I have always loved Hammers and Frogspawn so was hoping to add those once the timing makes sense. If you have any suggestions for improvements of my system please let me know.
Display tank Dimensions:
23.5 x 23.5 x 19 (custom 40G I won in a give away from Eshopps at reefapalooza)
~40 gallons Display
Sump Dimensions:
18 x 18 x 16 - (came with the tank)
probably holding another 10-15 gallons at the current water level in the sump
Total System:
Holding between 50-55 Gallons
40 pounds fiji pink Carib sea
~30-35 pounds Aquaforest AF Rock (all are arch pieces)
1 gallon of 1.5" MarinePure Ceramic BioMedia
90 grams of MarinePure Gems
I use Fritz Reef Pro Mix for my Salt
I have not seeded Copepods yet
Mechanical System:
Vectra S2 running at 23 watts or ~400-500 GPH (Bought from @p1u5h13r4m24 - Thanks again!)
InkBird fluctuating temperature between 76 and 77 Fahrenheit
100W Titanium Heating element
Mesh lid from Red Sea
Tunze Osmolator for ATO
5 gallon Trigger ATO Reservoir
SMARTFARM 95 Watt G5 Aqua Star - Mounted 13 inches from the waters surface.
Eshopps S-120 Skimmer (not running or broken in yet)
Sicce Nano Voyager 1000 wave maker
4-stage RO unit
The only mechanical item I have concerns about is the light. Just a random light off of Amazon I bought years ago but seemed functional enough for the easy stuff. I have not gotten a reading on PAR yet and will figure that out down the line. Assumed it would be sufficient to start before investing in a more expensive light. Currently I have the lights set to Mix See the photos attached for more detail. Lights come on at 7, slowly turn up intensity until 8am. maintain that intensity until 7pm and winds down until 8 and then the moonlight feature is held from 8 to 10pm. Lights are off from 10pm to 7am. Please let me know thoughts on that timing. I could probably switch to the LPS only setting instead of the lps sps mix since I don't plan on doing sps.
Parameters (As of 9/22/25):
Salinity: 1.026 - refractometer (Accurately Calibrated)
Temperature: 76.9F - frequently stays between 76 and 77 even when topping off from ATO)
PH: 8.1-8.2 - API test kit (not the most accurate test kit but consistently reads around 8.2)
Ammonia: 0.00 PPM - API Test kit (I find these very hard to read but have not yet invested in a better test kit)
Nitrite: 0.25 PPM - API Test kit (Again I find them hard to read but not yet purchased a better kit)
Nitrate: 7.5 PPM - API Test Kit (Same as above)
Alk: 8.1 dKH - Hanna Test Kit
Calcium: 400-450 PPM - Salifert test kit (still getting a hang of this test kit, readings may be off due to personal error)
Magnesium: 1350 PPM - Salifert test kit
To my understanding parameters are in a good place excluding nitrite from cycling. Nitrates should be lower once cycle is over as I will not be feeding as much and will have more filtration turned on. I think I am measuring all of the important ones maybe except phosphates. Any suggestion on Hanna vs Salifert for the rest of the parameters to test?
The attached photos are of my tank and system. Let me know your thoughts on coral stocking ideas, placements, timing for addition of corals, etc.
I had some issues attaching photos so I had to take screen shots of the photos to upload. Sorry if they come out weird.
