The Beast Below

Alaeriel · Aug 22, 2020

Finding my way around the forum and around the hobby as well! They suggested we start a build thread and so here I am.

Equipment owned:
•200 gallon pre-drilled tank with stand, canopy, and 30-ish gallon sump. (Pre-owned)
•BRS 6-stage RO/DI unit (pre-owned)
•Protein skimmer (will find its actual product name and edit)
•Enthusiasm

And such the year of preparation begins! We can't start up the tank until we move out of the duplex we're renting. Hoping to buy a house once our contract is up next year! This year seems like it'll go quickly if spent researching the optimal setup and equipment.

Monday marks the beginning attempts to clean out the tank (with diluted vinegar as a solution) and see how it looks!

5/29/21
The Beast Below has found its resting place at last! Now we'll finally be able to start piecing together some plumbing and order some live sand as soon as TBS is back up and running!

Devaji · Aug 22, 2020

great job giving your self time. lots will change in a year but keep at it. I might suggest a small nano to get your feet wet so to speak them move the fish over to the big tank once you decide on the house.

even if it just a small 10 or 20 gal. give you lots of experience for sure!

Alaeriel · Aug 22, 2020

Devaji said:
great job giving your self time. lots will change in a year but keep at it. I might suggest a small nano to get your feet wet so to speak them move the fish over to the big tank once you decide on the house.

even if it just a small 10 or 20 gal. give you lots of experience for sure!

You're the second person today to give me that advice! I've always heard that nano saltwater tanks were much harder to keep, but I love the idea of them becoming a quarantine tank to isolate newcomers. If I can convince my husband to let me set one up, I'll definitely go for it!

Devaji · Aug 23, 2020

Alaeriel said:
You're the second person today to give me that advice! I've always heard that nano saltwater tanks were much harder to keep, but I love the idea of them becoming a quarantine tank to isolate newcomers. If I can convince my husband to let me set one up, I'll definitely go for it!

with todays tech not that hard at all. get a 20L at petco $1 per gallon sale. a hang on the back filter ( HOB) an auto top off you will need for the big tank anyway sand and rock + light.

keep it simple to get the hang of saltwater you will learn tons. then when its time for the big tank you will have most of the hick ups handled.

lots of simple nano tanks out there.
also check out nano reef.com a whole forum just for nano and then there is the nano sub forum here on R2R + you tube tons of free info out there.

all the best!

Alaeriel · Aug 23, 2020

I'm strongly considering cuttlefish, and all the wonderful headaches they bring. If I can get parameters absolutely stable with a good colony of corals growing over the next couple years, I think that's how we'll proceed :3 seems like the shrimp breeding is the most challenging part of their care, but that also sounds like fun.

Alaeriel · May 25, 2021

Finally got the behemoth moved over to the new house! We'll be dragging it down to the basement on Saturday and hoping it stays intact. Needed lots of scrubbing, but it cleaned up beautifully! Will update again if it makes the descent safely

Alaeriel · Jul 17, 2021

Just got this little guy acclimated to the 20 gallon so we can observe her while the behemoth is slowly coming together :3 She's a big scaredy cat and hides behind the firefish, who also has a temperament bordering on a semi-permanent heart attack.