The Jackdaw

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[BryanM]

Hello,

New to R2R and reefing itself. Here is the current build my boyfriend and I are working one. We both are big fans of Assassin's Creed Black Flag so we named our tank The Jackdaw.

We bought the tank in July of 2024 and it came in perfect condition. I built the cabniet myself and it is sturdy and great attention to detail. I appreciated the black caps that go over the screw heads so everything blends and loosk sharp. My boyfriend and our friend got the tank on the stand and we put all the tech together. We did have a mix up with the return pumps. Red Sea sent us the pumps for a larger tank so they did not fit with out set up. We spent way to long wondering why we couldn't figure out how to connect it untill we looked at the models and specs and realized we got the wrong ones. They promptly sent the correct ones at no additonal cost and we got to keep the wrong ones which we used in our water making set up.

We spent the next few months slowly collecting everything we needed and it wasn't until November that we finally got water in it and started cycling. We did a fishless cycle with Fritz Turbo start and phantom feeding. It took about a month to cycle which was quicker than we were expecting. We went ahead and got our two clowns and had them in quarentine while the tank cycled which worked out really well.

We make our own water using the RO/DI filters from BRS and my boyfriend and his dad put together a nice set up in the room off our garage that houses our water heater and the filtration for the house water. There is a hose for salt and a hose for fresh coming through the wall into our laundry room that give us easy access. I also bought the no spill water change kit so we can connect that hose to our setup and siphon and fill water without having to carry buckets. We need a better pump because the filling takes along time considering it has to travel through approx 80 ft of hose but it works.

So far it has gone really well. My boyfriend and I make a good team. He deals with the lights, pumps, skimmer, water changes, and overall setup while I have focused on the water chemistry, glass cleaning, and choosing the livestock that is compatible with our set up. We didnt plan to do it this way it just kind of happended. So far no big issues. We have been going through the ugly phase with diatoms and GHA but as long as its not growing over our coral it doesn't bother me to much. We did have some issues with snails dying which you will note in my table down below. Im not sure if we just got a bad batch or there wasnt enough food or what but currently what is in there seems to be doing well. We did loose a Firework Clove Polyp. It never opended all the way and then our big turbo mowed it over and the polyps broke off.

Overall we have enjoyed this tank for a first set up. We have realized with Red Sea that the tank and the setup is fantastic but we are not a fan of their technology. The skimmer and lights are ok and we will continue to use them but looking back we would have rather picked out our own. In the future we want to add a sump underneath with a refugiem. Its more because we want to pratice and learn than the tank actually needing it. Eventully we want to do more tanks to include a planted freshwater tank, a clownfish anenome nano, and a big 200gal predator tank. So this current setup is something to learn on while having fun and enjoying the hobby.

Some noteable tools/equipment that have made the job easier:
- Tunze Care Magnet Long: I orginally had a mag float that was deffinetly way to strong for the glass thickness becasue I didn;t know better and despite being careful I did cause a few small scratches towards the bottom of the tank. The Tunze however has been great I absolutely love it.
- E-Cloth WIndow Cleaning Kit: No chemicals required just water and a rag and it makes the glass look so good. I clean it way to often but it is so realxing!
- UPETTOOLS Aquarium Clean Tool 6 in 1 Fish Tank Cleaning Kit Algae Scraper Scrubber Pad Adjustable Long Handle Fish Tank Brush Cleaner Set: Very versitle and useful for cleaning and maintence. I use the gravel rake to smooth eveything out after siphoning and it is my emergency snail flipper. Also the corner scrub pad is perfect for getting a good edge to edge clean.
- Aquarium Log Book: Track Water Conditions, Maintenance, and Fish Health: Great little notebook to keep track of everything it was cheap and we use it constantly.


Start Date: 11/20/24

Tank Information
Type	Saltwater (Red Sea Salt)
Total Water Vol	68.7 gal
Display Water Vol	56.3 gal
Brand	Red Sea
Model	Max E-260
Lights	ReefLED 90 x2
Filtration	Sponge filters x2, Carbon (Red Sea), ceramic biomedia
Pumps	Return x2, Maxspect Jump Gyre Flow Pump MJ-GF308
Dosing	13 mL Tropic Martin All For Reef (Daily)
Food	Flakes, frozen mysis shrimp
ATO	Avast Parrot
Heater	Innovative Marine Helio PTC 350W
Sand	CaribSea Arag-Alive Hawaiian Black Aquarium Gravel
Rock	MacroRocks Dry Live Rock

Fish
Type	Amount	Date Added
Mocha oscellaris clownfish	2/2	12/13/24
PJ Cardinal	3/3	2/9/25

Coral
Type	Amount	Date Added
Long polyp toadstool	1/1	2/2/25
Green star polyp	1/1	1/30/25
Sinularia finger leather	1/1	2/2/25
Red rodactius muschroom	1/1	2/2/25
Firework Clove Polyp	0/1	2/2/25

Inverts
Type	Amount	Date Added
Mexican turbo snail	1/2	01/06/25
Red banded trochus snail	3/3	01/06/25
Margherita turbo snail	1/2	1/30/25
Bumblebee snail	2/3	01/06/25
Tiger conch	2/2	01/30/25
Nerite snail	2/2	03/05/25
Florida cerith snail	?/24	03/05/25
Dwarf cerith snail	32/32	03/05/25
Nassarius snail	8/9	01/06/25 x2, 03/05/25 x7
Collonista snail	3/3	01/30/25 Hitchhikers?
Astrea snail	0/12	03/05/25

Below are some tables with water parameters. I am still working on transfering the data from our notebook to my spreadsheet so it wont have all of them;

Calcium (380-450 ppm)
Date	Reading	Notes
1/20/25	260	Fritz
1/28/25	240	Fritz
1/30/25	220	Fritz, Added 4 snails and GSP colony
2/6/25	240	Fritz, Added 4 soft corals on 2/2/25
2/11/25	260	Fritz
2/22/25	260	Fritz, started dosing Tropic Martin Orginal Balling Component Part A 3/4 cup daily
2/26/25	280	Fritz
3/11/25	340	Fritz, added additional CUC on 3/5/25
3/16/25	440	Fritz, No longer dosing Part A, began dosing Tropic Martin AFR 13mL daily
3/26/25	440	Fritz

Alkalinity (8-12 dKH)
Date	Reading	Notes
12/01/24	8	Red Sea
12/04/24	8.5	Red Sea
12/08/24	9.5	Red Sea
12/09/24	9	Red Sea
12/15/24	10	Red Sea
12/23/24	5.5	Red Sea
12/29/24	5.5	Red Sea, dosed Seachem Marine Buffer 3.5 tsp daily
01/02/25	7	Red Sea
01/08	10	Hanna, no longer dosing Marine Buffer
01/10/25	9.7	Hanna
01/15/25	9.4	Hanna, dosed coraline algae
1/20/25	8.8	Hanna, dosed 2.8mL of KH Coralline Gro daily
01/28/25	9.1	Hanna
02/06/25	9.9	Hanna
02/11/25	10.1	Hanna
02/22/25	9.9	Hanna
03/11/25	9.6	Hanna
3/26/25	9.5	Hanna, no longer dosing KH Cor Gro, Dosing AFR daily since 3/16/25

Magnesium (1200-1400 ppm)
Date	Reading	Notes
1/24/25	1200	API
1/30/25	1200	API, Added GSP colony and additional CUC
2/6/25	1080	API, Added 4 soft corals 2/2
2/11/25	1245	API
2/22/25	1275	API, started dosing Tropic Martin Bio Magnesium 2.3 scoops daily
2/26/25	1320	API
3/11/25	1200	API, Added additional CUC 3/5
3/16/25	1440	API, Started dosing Tropic Martin AFR 13mL daily
3/26/25	1440	API, to high?

Our current wishlist for this tank:
- Watchman Goby x1
- Tiger Pistol x1
- Porcealin Crab x1
- Lawnmower/Algae Blenny x1
- Royal Gamma Basslet x1
- Banggai Cardinals x2
- Purple Firefish x2 (Mated pair)
- McCosker Flasher x1 Wrase
- Zoas
- Cabbage leather
- Sea fan
- Hammer
- Acan
- Candy cane
- Ricordea Mushroom
- Bubble
- Duncan
- Clove Polyp
- Pipe organ

And finally pictures.....
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Welcome to R2R, and this is a great looking build!

 

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[parclife]

Awesome tank and build thread! Puts mine to shame lol

 

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[Gumbies R Us]

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I like the lid you are using for your tank!

 

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[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

The build thread looks awesome, and it looks like all your coral is happy from your most recent photos!

Maybe I missed it in your most recent update, but do you know the reason you are losing fish? I know you had mentioned refining your QT process.

 

[245013]

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