jake royston
Active Member
Figured id let you all know what im up to. So long story short, I started my first reef tank after moving into my first home in January of this year. It was supposed to be set up as a freshwater tank, to transfer my fish from my old 36 gallon bowfront, which ended up being given to a buddy of mine. I started with an aqueon 75 gallon tank/stand ensemble from petsmart. No sump, just HOB skimmer, HOB refugium, and a few other odds and ends (see my previous build thread here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/f...with-lps-polyp-extension.846404/#post-9213086).
Ive learned a lot with this tank, and have more coral losses than i care to remember. My plan is to upgrade to the Waterbox Reef LX 320.7 sometime next year, and that plan still stands. This large upgrade will be started from scratch, cycled and put through the uglies the proper way, not like i did with my 75.
So, here is what led to the reefer... My 75g is against a wall that separates my kitchen from my front room / entry way (a game room... well, it has an old pool table in it, so thats what i call it, LOL). So thinking about tank placement, in my logic, means id have to break down the old tank before the new tank goes in. With starting from scratch, this doesn't work without a ton of work and risk. I've wanted a "real reef tank" since i started, so i figured id buy a similar sized redsea tank, move the current one out, and give myself the opportunity to start the Reef LX the way i want to. This option satisfies the upgrade bug for the next year until i can buy everything i need for the dream tank all at once, rather than in pieces. It will also look much nicer in my home than my Frankenstein setup i have now, which i havent really been super happy with. (Yes, i am impatient and fancy the finer things, and yes, it is expensive, but worth it in my eyes).
Enough rambling, and onto the build:
This tank will be run with the Reef Moonshiners method. I sent off an ICP this week, and plan on using all the old water in the new tank, and topping off the new tank with fresh mixed salt water. The plan is a mixed reef, SPS, LPS and some zoas.
Tank has been ordered, and hopefully delivered in the next week or so.
Equipment ordered:
- RedSea Reefer 350, white
- Eshopps Axium X160 protein skimmer
- Syncra silent 4.0 return pump
- 60 lbs Carib Sea Fiji Pink sand
- Vivid Creative return line upgrade kit, dual nozzle with random flow generator
- Reef Moonshiner's trace elements
Equipment to be used from old tank
- 2x RedSea Reef LED 90's with mounting arms
- 2x Ecotech Vortech MP40's
- Neptune Apex EL
- Neptune Trident
- BRS 300 watt titanium heater with Inkbird controller
- Tunze osmilator ATO
- about 50-60 lbs of CaribSea life rock
Livestock: (currently in final observation stage of QT, after an Ich outbreak)
- small Blue hippo tang
- Hawaiian yellow tang
- small One spot foxface rabbitfish
- pair of oscellaris clowns
- lawnmower blenny
- royal grama
Current Corals:
- GSP
- Magician Zoa
- Hornet Zoa
- Alpha omega Zoa
- Mystery Zoa
- Green stylo
- pink rock flower anemone
- Teal hammer
- Green pavona
- Splatter frammer
- purple candycane
- gulf strean Goni
- Radical Ricordea
- Green Efflo Acro
- Plutonium Tenuis Acro
- Purple Staghorn Acro
- Red Monti cap
Also have a black torch, green frogspawn, and green goni that arent looking so hot, but still seem to be alive. (Thanks to a faulty refractometer calibration solution that left me with a salinity of 1.021 for at least a few months).
Looking forward to this build and keeping this thread updated!
Current setup
Ive learned a lot with this tank, and have more coral losses than i care to remember. My plan is to upgrade to the Waterbox Reef LX 320.7 sometime next year, and that plan still stands. This large upgrade will be started from scratch, cycled and put through the uglies the proper way, not like i did with my 75.
So, here is what led to the reefer... My 75g is against a wall that separates my kitchen from my front room / entry way (a game room... well, it has an old pool table in it, so thats what i call it, LOL). So thinking about tank placement, in my logic, means id have to break down the old tank before the new tank goes in. With starting from scratch, this doesn't work without a ton of work and risk. I've wanted a "real reef tank" since i started, so i figured id buy a similar sized redsea tank, move the current one out, and give myself the opportunity to start the Reef LX the way i want to. This option satisfies the upgrade bug for the next year until i can buy everything i need for the dream tank all at once, rather than in pieces. It will also look much nicer in my home than my Frankenstein setup i have now, which i havent really been super happy with. (Yes, i am impatient and fancy the finer things, and yes, it is expensive, but worth it in my eyes).
Enough rambling, and onto the build:
This tank will be run with the Reef Moonshiners method. I sent off an ICP this week, and plan on using all the old water in the new tank, and topping off the new tank with fresh mixed salt water. The plan is a mixed reef, SPS, LPS and some zoas.
Tank has been ordered, and hopefully delivered in the next week or so.
Equipment ordered:
- RedSea Reefer 350, white
- Eshopps Axium X160 protein skimmer
- Syncra silent 4.0 return pump
- 60 lbs Carib Sea Fiji Pink sand
- Vivid Creative return line upgrade kit, dual nozzle with random flow generator
- Reef Moonshiner's trace elements
Equipment to be used from old tank
- 2x RedSea Reef LED 90's with mounting arms
- 2x Ecotech Vortech MP40's
- Neptune Apex EL
- Neptune Trident
- BRS 300 watt titanium heater with Inkbird controller
- Tunze osmilator ATO
- about 50-60 lbs of CaribSea life rock
Livestock: (currently in final observation stage of QT, after an Ich outbreak)
- small Blue hippo tang
- Hawaiian yellow tang
- small One spot foxface rabbitfish
- pair of oscellaris clowns
- lawnmower blenny
- royal grama
Current Corals:
- GSP
- Magician Zoa
- Hornet Zoa
- Alpha omega Zoa
- Mystery Zoa
- Green stylo
- pink rock flower anemone
- Teal hammer
- Green pavona
- Splatter frammer
- purple candycane
- gulf strean Goni
- Radical Ricordea
- Green Efflo Acro
- Plutonium Tenuis Acro
- Purple Staghorn Acro
- Red Monti cap
Also have a black torch, green frogspawn, and green goni that arent looking so hot, but still seem to be alive. (Thanks to a faulty refractometer calibration solution that left me with a salinity of 1.021 for at least a few months).
Looking forward to this build and keeping this thread updated!
Current setup
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