Evening all,
I posted a while back about the new tank in the "New to Saltwater..." forum but thought I would create a build thread now to document my experience.
Equipment list
RedSea Reefer 425 XL in white
2 x RedSea ReefLED 90
TMC Reef Pump 4000
Maxspect Jump Gyre 4K
Bubble Magus Curve 5
Inkbird temp controller
2 Eheim 300w heaters
Media
30kg Real reef rock (88lbs)
10kg Ocean Rock (22lbs)
30kg Betta Samoa sand (66lbs)
2 x 1kg bags, Maxspect nano spheres
I rinsed the sand under the tap to remove the unbelievable amount of dust. This took a fair while then after one last dunk in RO I spread it around the tank.
Two redesigns and a bit of faffing with the rock and I am happy with the layout. I bought one bug lump of the cheaper white ocean rock yo use as a base then decorated it with the real reef rock. No fancy shapes for me, just a stylish pile! I hope...
I filled it up with RO with just two trips to my LFS. Luckily they have barrels to borrow as I only had 5!
Once full and leak checked I began heating but struggled to get over 24 degrees C (75). My initial plan was to run a pair of DD titanium heaters but while I wait for stock at the LFS they loaned me a 300 watt heater. Clearly it wasn't up to the job so I had to add a second and now I am stable on the inkbird controller (calibrated) at 25 degrees C (77).
Once warmed through I began cycling with a pair of Clown Fish using ATM Colony.
This has gone well and I have been carrying out ~10% water changes every two weeks initially while I monitor and learn how the levels behave. This will no doubt increase in time at which point I will definitely need my own RODI station!
A few weeks in I added a smal CUC consisting two snails (not sure which type...), a banded Coral Shrimp and two black leg hermits.
I have since added a pair of Halloween Hermits, another couple of snails and 4 emerald crabs. These are helping emencely with the Dino' outbreak.
I am now trying a couple of coral plugs just to see how they react. I have a small Zoa' frag with about 10 heads, a green leather (lettuce?) and some GSP which is on it's very own rock!
I have seeded copepods with a view to building up enough of a population for a dragonet and I am now seeing some kind of bugs on the glass just above the sand. I will top these up as often as is practical for a few months to see how the numbers settle.
Just yesterday I added a Royal Gramma Basselet who is full of character and a great addition.
Finally, some pictures! (Just phone snaps)
The GSP had just been spooked by a crab.
I posted a while back about the new tank in the "New to Saltwater..." forum but thought I would create a build thread now to document my experience.
Equipment list
RedSea Reefer 425 XL in white
2 x RedSea ReefLED 90
TMC Reef Pump 4000
Maxspect Jump Gyre 4K
Bubble Magus Curve 5
Inkbird temp controller
2 Eheim 300w heaters
Media
30kg Real reef rock (88lbs)
10kg Ocean Rock (22lbs)
30kg Betta Samoa sand (66lbs)
2 x 1kg bags, Maxspect nano spheres
I rinsed the sand under the tap to remove the unbelievable amount of dust. This took a fair while then after one last dunk in RO I spread it around the tank.
Two redesigns and a bit of faffing with the rock and I am happy with the layout. I bought one bug lump of the cheaper white ocean rock yo use as a base then decorated it with the real reef rock. No fancy shapes for me, just a stylish pile! I hope...
I filled it up with RO with just two trips to my LFS. Luckily they have barrels to borrow as I only had 5!
Once full and leak checked I began heating but struggled to get over 24 degrees C (75). My initial plan was to run a pair of DD titanium heaters but while I wait for stock at the LFS they loaned me a 300 watt heater. Clearly it wasn't up to the job so I had to add a second and now I am stable on the inkbird controller (calibrated) at 25 degrees C (77).
Once warmed through I began cycling with a pair of Clown Fish using ATM Colony.
This has gone well and I have been carrying out ~10% water changes every two weeks initially while I monitor and learn how the levels behave. This will no doubt increase in time at which point I will definitely need my own RODI station!
A few weeks in I added a smal CUC consisting two snails (not sure which type...), a banded Coral Shrimp and two black leg hermits.
I have since added a pair of Halloween Hermits, another couple of snails and 4 emerald crabs. These are helping emencely with the Dino' outbreak.
I am now trying a couple of coral plugs just to see how they react. I have a small Zoa' frag with about 10 heads, a green leather (lettuce?) and some GSP which is on it's very own rock!
I have seeded copepods with a view to building up enough of a population for a dragonet and I am now seeing some kind of bugs on the glass just above the sand. I will top these up as often as is practical for a few months to see how the numbers settle.
Just yesterday I added a Royal Gramma Basselet who is full of character and a great addition.
Finally, some pictures! (Just phone snaps)
The GSP had just been spooked by a crab.
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