Hey everyone, my name is Shawn. I started this hobby about 2 years ago with a Fluval Evo 13.5. I'm glad that it got me started in this wonderful hobby, but a small AIO tank like that is way too much headache than its worth. It's difficult to have proper filtration, flow, and water chemistry, etc. Also, living in a small apartment, I don't have space for a 100+ gallon tank. As a result, I went with a Red Sea Reefer 170 that I got off a member here.
Here's my Evo at its prime:
I wish it only got better from that, but currently, I only have the fish, anemones (it split), the zoas, and various snails/hermits. Rather than reset that tank, i'll just move all the inhabitants to a new tank.
Equipment that I already have:
Apex neptune Classic controller
AI Prime HD
Sicce 2.0
Eshopps X120 Skimmer
Icecap Gyre 1k
Cobalt Neotherm 75w (will be used a backup)
Kessil H380 fuge light
cheap amazon grow light 9w
Reefer ATO refugium mod
Innovative Marine Hydrofill Ti
Jebao SW2 (will be put in the sump)
Aquatic life Hanging kit x2
Equipment to buy:
Aquatic life T5 hybrid
Cobalt Neotherm 150w
Possibly 1 more AI Prime HD or 1 Radion XR15 Pro (total 2 AI or 1 Radion)
upgrade to Apex Neptune 2016
1 more Icecap 1k gyre
Icecap battery backup
Clear Polycarbonate lid
Apex auto feeder
Apex COR 15
Apex ATK v2
4-8 head dosing setup
5lbs Miracle Mud
The goal of this build is to have a stable Mixed Reef with some easy to keep SPS. I plan to eventuallly run BRS 2 part, Tropic Marin part c, Red Sea NoPox, Red Sea Reef Energy A+B.
I let all the old organics build up for a couple of days and removed it all thru the skimmer/manual removal.
This time around I wanted to start absolutely fresh, so I bought 40lbs Marco dry rock and 30lbs Tropic Eden dry sand. I used E-marco 400 to cement the reefscape.
After the cloudiness cleared up:
Here's the sump. I know its small, but I think it will be infinitely better than my old AIO in terms of filtration.
So far its been cycling for 14 days with a mixture of Microbacter7, Dr. Tim's 1 and only, and the one that did the trick...Bio Spira...I finally got ammonia reduction today and measurable Nitrite. The biggest lesson I've learned in the hobby is to have patience and that's exactly how i'll approach this build. I plan to wait until the tank can completely convert 2ppm Ammonium Chloride to 0 ppm in 24 hours or less before anything goes in the tank. And even at that point, I plan to move my current Evo inhabitants in stages spanning a couple of weeks to a month.
Here's my Evo at its prime:
I wish it only got better from that, but currently, I only have the fish, anemones (it split), the zoas, and various snails/hermits. Rather than reset that tank, i'll just move all the inhabitants to a new tank.
Equipment that I already have:
Apex neptune Classic controller
AI Prime HD
Sicce 2.0
Eshopps X120 Skimmer
Icecap Gyre 1k
Cobalt Neotherm 75w (will be used a backup)
Kessil H380 fuge light
cheap amazon grow light 9w
Reefer ATO refugium mod
Innovative Marine Hydrofill Ti
Jebao SW2 (will be put in the sump)
Aquatic life Hanging kit x2
Equipment to buy:
Aquatic life T5 hybrid
Cobalt Neotherm 150w
Possibly 1 more AI Prime HD or 1 Radion XR15 Pro (total 2 AI or 1 Radion)
upgrade to Apex Neptune 2016
1 more Icecap 1k gyre
Icecap battery backup
Clear Polycarbonate lid
Apex auto feeder
Apex COR 15
Apex ATK v2
4-8 head dosing setup
5lbs Miracle Mud
The goal of this build is to have a stable Mixed Reef with some easy to keep SPS. I plan to eventuallly run BRS 2 part, Tropic Marin part c, Red Sea NoPox, Red Sea Reef Energy A+B.
I let all the old organics build up for a couple of days and removed it all thru the skimmer/manual removal.
This time around I wanted to start absolutely fresh, so I bought 40lbs Marco dry rock and 30lbs Tropic Eden dry sand. I used E-marco 400 to cement the reefscape.
After the cloudiness cleared up:
Here's the sump. I know its small, but I think it will be infinitely better than my old AIO in terms of filtration.
So far its been cycling for 14 days with a mixture of Microbacter7, Dr. Tim's 1 and only, and the one that did the trick...Bio Spira...I finally got ammonia reduction today and measurable Nitrite. The biggest lesson I've learned in the hobby is to have patience and that's exactly how i'll approach this build. I plan to wait until the tank can completely convert 2ppm Ammonium Chloride to 0 ppm in 24 hours or less before anything goes in the tank. And even at that point, I plan to move my current Evo inhabitants in stages spanning a couple of weeks to a month.
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