T-rev
New Member
So this is a thread to document my new reef tank. I'm returning back to the hobby after a 10-ish year hiatus. I had three previous tanks 29L, 40B, and a 58. All three were what I'd call science projects, lots of DIY, used equipment, lots of learning over 4-5 years.
That was back in the reef central days and I have to say, it's been a wild ride getting re-engaged with the reef world after being gone for a while. I was seeing the first MP40s, no LEDs, no DC pumps, the first budget dosing pumps coming from China. Not super Long ago, but the technology advances, marketing madness, and social media are crazy from where I sit. When people say the reefing hobby has gotten harder, I can relate to that 100%. It seems hard to cut through the noise to find good info. I remember listening to Marc Levenson's old podcast and it's been a real joy finding new favs with Reef Beef, Reef Therapy, and Reefbum.
As a tactic to get back up to speed, my wife and I set up a Red Sea Max Nano (20G) which gave me a crash course in dry rock cycling, and exercising all the old reef muscles for monitoring water quality, water changes, and above all else, patience. It was in our house during the research process for the new tank and was moved across town where it sits happy and healthy at my wife's office. A nice little mixed reef with a leather, assorted favia, euphyllia and a couple Mocha clowns.
Now for the tank. My plan is for an SPS dominant tank. I love big stags, torts, and moni caps. This will be the focus. Here's the timeline as we sit today early June 2022.
December 2021 - Ordered a Nuvo EXT 150 from Innovative Marine, with white APS stand
January 2022 - I was gifted a Brute's worth of old/dead live rock which I bleached and mixed with new Marco rock. I used the CA glue/oolite sand method to build up some structures using choice pieces on top of Marco base pieces. This resulted in about 60-70 lbs of rock. These went into a 40g stock tank in our crawlspace with some MBStartXLM and a shrimp. I dosed some MB7 along the way without too much concern for the instructions. They'd be in the dark for months, so I was just making sure to keep temp and salinity in check.
April 2022 - The tank arrived and it was wrangled it into place. I had a feeling it'd be a challenging fit, but I had a great set of helpful hands from my LFS. It received 100% new water and all the rock was transferred. I plumbed up the stock tank as a sump, added my skimmer, return pump, and a 250w MH pendant to get some energy in the tank. I added a small group of chromis to grow the biome. In the meantime, I continued to collect my gear.
June 2022 - So here we, the tank has since been re-plumbed to fit a Trigger 44 sump, fitted in-tank water motion, lights. There's a kalkwasser reactor and calcium reactor ready to go when the time is right. With the tank sitting where it is, I was able to run the power supplies for the lights & mp40s through the wall and under the stairs. I can't believe how I would have managed all the bloody cords otherwise. The shelf that came with the stand has been fitted at the top with a DJ power strip that will power the reactors, dosing pumps, heaters, etc. Please excuse the lack of cable management, I'm leaving it "casual" for now in these early days. I'm contemplating blocking one of the returns and hard plumbing it as a single 3/4 for 500-600 gph max.
The tank is currently stocked with four Chromis and a bunch of Trochus snails. I heard Greg Carroll talk about his success combating the uglies with a big bunch of Trochus snails and bacteria dosing. It's been okay thus far, fingers crossed. I am expecting to add a mimic tang, yellow tang and Tomini tang next to combat hair algae asap. A nice group of Anthias will likely come a few months thereafter.
I have a small Monti cap in the there as a tester, so far so good. My plan is to add the first batch of hardier sps in August after some planned travel. This will include stags, digis, and caps.
Equipment breakdown:
Tank: IM Nuvo EXT 150 (48L*36W*20H ish)
Stand: IM APS white
Lights: Ecotech Marine XR30 G6 * 3
Circulation: Ecotech Marine MP40QD * 4
Sump: Trigger 44
Heater: IM heater controller and two 250w heaters.
Return: Ecotech Marine M2
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 200 Elite INT
These will come online when appropriate:
Refugium: to help with PH but after system develops sufficient nutrients
Kalkwasser stirrer: Avast Marine K2 with Kamoer X1 Pro T2
Calcium reactor: GEO 618, Milwaukee PH controller, Kamoer X1 Pro T2
As it stands now, I don't expect to utilize a controller. Perhaps a Hydros just for monitoring temp and ph swings.
So there we are chaps. I'd like to get some better pics of the setup for you. But for now I just wanted to get this first post documented. Happy reefing!
That was back in the reef central days and I have to say, it's been a wild ride getting re-engaged with the reef world after being gone for a while. I was seeing the first MP40s, no LEDs, no DC pumps, the first budget dosing pumps coming from China. Not super Long ago, but the technology advances, marketing madness, and social media are crazy from where I sit. When people say the reefing hobby has gotten harder, I can relate to that 100%. It seems hard to cut through the noise to find good info. I remember listening to Marc Levenson's old podcast and it's been a real joy finding new favs with Reef Beef, Reef Therapy, and Reefbum.
As a tactic to get back up to speed, my wife and I set up a Red Sea Max Nano (20G) which gave me a crash course in dry rock cycling, and exercising all the old reef muscles for monitoring water quality, water changes, and above all else, patience. It was in our house during the research process for the new tank and was moved across town where it sits happy and healthy at my wife's office. A nice little mixed reef with a leather, assorted favia, euphyllia and a couple Mocha clowns.
Now for the tank. My plan is for an SPS dominant tank. I love big stags, torts, and moni caps. This will be the focus. Here's the timeline as we sit today early June 2022.
December 2021 - Ordered a Nuvo EXT 150 from Innovative Marine, with white APS stand
January 2022 - I was gifted a Brute's worth of old/dead live rock which I bleached and mixed with new Marco rock. I used the CA glue/oolite sand method to build up some structures using choice pieces on top of Marco base pieces. This resulted in about 60-70 lbs of rock. These went into a 40g stock tank in our crawlspace with some MBStartXLM and a shrimp. I dosed some MB7 along the way without too much concern for the instructions. They'd be in the dark for months, so I was just making sure to keep temp and salinity in check.
April 2022 - The tank arrived and it was wrangled it into place. I had a feeling it'd be a challenging fit, but I had a great set of helpful hands from my LFS. It received 100% new water and all the rock was transferred. I plumbed up the stock tank as a sump, added my skimmer, return pump, and a 250w MH pendant to get some energy in the tank. I added a small group of chromis to grow the biome. In the meantime, I continued to collect my gear.
June 2022 - So here we, the tank has since been re-plumbed to fit a Trigger 44 sump, fitted in-tank water motion, lights. There's a kalkwasser reactor and calcium reactor ready to go when the time is right. With the tank sitting where it is, I was able to run the power supplies for the lights & mp40s through the wall and under the stairs. I can't believe how I would have managed all the bloody cords otherwise. The shelf that came with the stand has been fitted at the top with a DJ power strip that will power the reactors, dosing pumps, heaters, etc. Please excuse the lack of cable management, I'm leaving it "casual" for now in these early days. I'm contemplating blocking one of the returns and hard plumbing it as a single 3/4 for 500-600 gph max.
The tank is currently stocked with four Chromis and a bunch of Trochus snails. I heard Greg Carroll talk about his success combating the uglies with a big bunch of Trochus snails and bacteria dosing. It's been okay thus far, fingers crossed. I am expecting to add a mimic tang, yellow tang and Tomini tang next to combat hair algae asap. A nice group of Anthias will likely come a few months thereafter.
I have a small Monti cap in the there as a tester, so far so good. My plan is to add the first batch of hardier sps in August after some planned travel. This will include stags, digis, and caps.
Equipment breakdown:
Tank: IM Nuvo EXT 150 (48L*36W*20H ish)
Stand: IM APS white
Lights: Ecotech Marine XR30 G6 * 3
Circulation: Ecotech Marine MP40QD * 4
Sump: Trigger 44
Heater: IM heater controller and two 250w heaters.
Return: Ecotech Marine M2
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 200 Elite INT
These will come online when appropriate:
Refugium: to help with PH but after system develops sufficient nutrients
Kalkwasser stirrer: Avast Marine K2 with Kamoer X1 Pro T2
Calcium reactor: GEO 618, Milwaukee PH controller, Kamoer X1 Pro T2
As it stands now, I don't expect to utilize a controller. Perhaps a Hydros just for monitoring temp and ph swings.
So there we are chaps. I'd like to get some better pics of the setup for you. But for now I just wanted to get this first post documented. Happy reefing!
