Hey everyone! It's been a few years since my wife, daughter and I had a tank up and after a few moves, we feel comfortable with setting up another! Although, after a few years off, it's kind of overwhelming to see how far the hobby has progressed! I'm sure we'll find our own level of success as we've always enjoyed the hobby! But some of you need to slow down already! 
To get the space ready, we've had to do some work. Removal of old flooring, priming and painting and an attempt at an epoxy floor! We had electrical run, so we hopefully have enough amperage to run everything! Had to switch out sinks, so we can have what we consider something appropriate for a basement laundry/fish room. I'll be excited to not lug buckets around!
I choose the Aqueon dual overflow 120. We have good friends who have one and I always was envious. I don't do much planning, as you'll see! So when we decided to make the move and start this venture, I went to the LFS and ordered the tank and stand. Well, it showed up a heck of a lot sooner than I had planned! So it sat while we got all the other things done. I wanted a decent stand and went with the Monterey, which doesn't have a center support brace and it's a bit taller than the basic pine stand with a furniture grade look.
I've made a few DIY sumps before, but when I saw the Trigger Sapphire sumps, I was giddy with excitement! So we got the sapphire 34" and matching ATO reservoir. I have a 40b on standby, for when I need to get back to my humble roots as a "get it done, on the cheap" person!
In all honesty, I feel way out of my league having new stuff. My first tank I found in an alley years ago. I've always had to nickel and dime my hobbies, so when I was able to spend the money on just these basics, I was already feeling sick to my stomach and guilty. Maybe I'm not the type to really enjoy things unless I've had a hand in crafting it? Maybe, my Catholic guilt is just a smoke screen and I'm secretly enjoying the hell out of myself?
I took full advantage of some sales and this is what I've come up with for the rest of the equipment for this build!
Sicce Snycra SDC 7.0 for the return pump. They had me at a 5 year warranty!
Octo Essence 130 I needed something with a smaller footprint and I liked the looks and simplicity as well.
Kessil H80 for the fuge-The last light I had was a 13w pc bulb in a hardware store clamp hood!
Kessil AP9X for the display. The sleek, low profile design and Kessil's reputation was a big draw. I'll add a 2nd down the road.
I started curing 120lbs of Marco in a 100g poly tank in early Dec with some Bacter7, actually the whole bottle. Some beta food from my daughters tank and some mysis cubes along the way.
I've got a few of Sicce's powerheads, using in the poly but I'll probably get a few Jebao OW's and a gyre.
I picked up a reef octopus calcium reactor pretty cheap, for down the road when I actually have something to take care of?
InkBird controller and 300w BRS element. I've been liking it on the poly so far, but I've got nothing to loose. Fingers crossed.
I picked up some old rock locally. I power-washed it and have been bleaching/rinsing it for 3 weeks. There's some nice Fiji in this that I want!
The mega overflow plumbing that came with the tank looks nice, but I'm not sure how sturdy it will be and I've got all new bulkheads sitting here for when I need to change it out. Since those bulkheads have barbed ends, I'm plumbing soft to start. I've never hard plumbed any tanks before, and since I don't plan to save my life, I figured I should do what I know for the time being. But, I did draw out my plumbing schematics, with my daughters glitter markers, so I got that going for me!
I've got tons of photos, I'll drop a few here and then some more posts highlighting my insane planning abilities!
I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed it! I can't thank the reefing community enough! The wealth of knowledge and insight is an amazing resource to have, no matter your experience level!
To get the space ready, we've had to do some work. Removal of old flooring, priming and painting and an attempt at an epoxy floor! We had electrical run, so we hopefully have enough amperage to run everything! Had to switch out sinks, so we can have what we consider something appropriate for a basement laundry/fish room. I'll be excited to not lug buckets around!
I choose the Aqueon dual overflow 120. We have good friends who have one and I always was envious. I don't do much planning, as you'll see! So when we decided to make the move and start this venture, I went to the LFS and ordered the tank and stand. Well, it showed up a heck of a lot sooner than I had planned! So it sat while we got all the other things done. I wanted a decent stand and went with the Monterey, which doesn't have a center support brace and it's a bit taller than the basic pine stand with a furniture grade look.
I've made a few DIY sumps before, but when I saw the Trigger Sapphire sumps, I was giddy with excitement! So we got the sapphire 34" and matching ATO reservoir. I have a 40b on standby, for when I need to get back to my humble roots as a "get it done, on the cheap" person!
In all honesty, I feel way out of my league having new stuff. My first tank I found in an alley years ago. I've always had to nickel and dime my hobbies, so when I was able to spend the money on just these basics, I was already feeling sick to my stomach and guilty. Maybe I'm not the type to really enjoy things unless I've had a hand in crafting it? Maybe, my Catholic guilt is just a smoke screen and I'm secretly enjoying the hell out of myself?
I took full advantage of some sales and this is what I've come up with for the rest of the equipment for this build!
Sicce Snycra SDC 7.0 for the return pump. They had me at a 5 year warranty!
Octo Essence 130 I needed something with a smaller footprint and I liked the looks and simplicity as well.
Kessil H80 for the fuge-The last light I had was a 13w pc bulb in a hardware store clamp hood!
Kessil AP9X for the display. The sleek, low profile design and Kessil's reputation was a big draw. I'll add a 2nd down the road.
I started curing 120lbs of Marco in a 100g poly tank in early Dec with some Bacter7, actually the whole bottle. Some beta food from my daughters tank and some mysis cubes along the way.
I've got a few of Sicce's powerheads, using in the poly but I'll probably get a few Jebao OW's and a gyre.
I picked up a reef octopus calcium reactor pretty cheap, for down the road when I actually have something to take care of?
InkBird controller and 300w BRS element. I've been liking it on the poly so far, but I've got nothing to loose. Fingers crossed.
I picked up some old rock locally. I power-washed it and have been bleaching/rinsing it for 3 weeks. There's some nice Fiji in this that I want!
The mega overflow plumbing that came with the tank looks nice, but I'm not sure how sturdy it will be and I've got all new bulkheads sitting here for when I need to change it out. Since those bulkheads have barbed ends, I'm plumbing soft to start. I've never hard plumbed any tanks before, and since I don't plan to save my life, I figured I should do what I know for the time being. But, I did draw out my plumbing schematics, with my daughters glitter markers, so I got that going for me!
I've got tons of photos, I'll drop a few here and then some more posts highlighting my insane planning abilities!
I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed it! I can't thank the reefing community enough! The wealth of knowledge and insight is an amazing resource to have, no matter your experience level!
