Hello, my name is Phil, Im from Montreal Canada, been a long time lurker here, studying the hobby for at least 4-5 years before having my own tank. I also had no space in my appartment so I waited until I bought myself a home. Not new to fishkeeping, I had plenty of planted tank before. So first of all I ordered a custom 5x2 eurobraced starfire tank from a local builder that took a few months to build. Once I finally got it the stand wasn't ready yet because my father was building it when he had spare time ( big thanks to him ). Meanwhile I was buying the required piece like lightning, plumbing , pumps and all little by little, Im the kind of person who study each piece thoroughly before buying anything so it took a while lol. When the stand was finally ready we accidentally broke the front glass and had to bring it back to get it fixed -_- !! Really testing my patience which is a good perk to have in this hobby !! I also broke my ankle which is another story on it's own but it delayed me from finishing the build too. So there it is 2 years after initial tank order. Up and running, had the ugly phase recently, trochus took care of it quickly No reading can replace experience as with only a few months of true reefing I allready regret stuff I would of built differently but Im still very happy with the result overall. I haven't documented much with pictures but here what I have.
The tank sitting empty in the garage with my rodi and mixing station.
I since added a hose and ball valve so I can pump fresh saltwater directly to the tank.
When we first moved the tank to the stand.
While my ankle was broken I had plenty of time so I messed for days with the rockwork, I could not choose how to setup them, I had about 30kg of AF rocks to work with. This is my best attempt at negative space fish habitat with what I had, took about 12 hours of gluing it together with epoxy. Basement smelled for a month after that
I then rinsed 80 pounds of special grade sand with 5 gallon buckets for a whole day, It was hard work but I really recommend doing it, had minimal cloud when I filled up tank.
I installed apex and every electrical stuff in my stand and also plumbed my sump, also a lot of work especially for me, that was my first ever plumbing experience. Worked on it little by little every night after work.
Now its been up and running since February 2022, ugly phase has been taking care of by 20 trochus snails doing an awesome job not leaving any diatoms. I have 2 clownfish, 2 chromis and a few coral frags for now. Adding a royal gramma tonight.
Build list.
Aquanov 5x2 custom starfire tank with herbie corner overflow
Sicce 5.0 return pump
Maxpect gyre xf330 on each side
Trigger tritton 44 sump
Apex EL
Aquatic life T5 fixture with radion g5 xr30 and xr15 pro
Bubble magus curve 5 elite skimmer
Kessil fuge light
Eheim 250w heater
Dd jumpguard top net
Avast marine plank autofeeder
Next project is to build a transfer box that auto switch return pump to 12v battery in case of outage.
Really happy to start reefing, you will see me post more often now ! Take care.
The tank sitting empty in the garage with my rodi and mixing station.
I since added a hose and ball valve so I can pump fresh saltwater directly to the tank.
When we first moved the tank to the stand.
While my ankle was broken I had plenty of time so I messed for days with the rockwork, I could not choose how to setup them, I had about 30kg of AF rocks to work with. This is my best attempt at negative space fish habitat with what I had, took about 12 hours of gluing it together with epoxy. Basement smelled for a month after that
I then rinsed 80 pounds of special grade sand with 5 gallon buckets for a whole day, It was hard work but I really recommend doing it, had minimal cloud when I filled up tank.
I installed apex and every electrical stuff in my stand and also plumbed my sump, also a lot of work especially for me, that was my first ever plumbing experience. Worked on it little by little every night after work.
Now its been up and running since February 2022, ugly phase has been taking care of by 20 trochus snails doing an awesome job not leaving any diatoms. I have 2 clownfish, 2 chromis and a few coral frags for now. Adding a royal gramma tonight.
Build list.
Aquanov 5x2 custom starfire tank with herbie corner overflow
Sicce 5.0 return pump
Maxpect gyre xf330 on each side
Trigger tritton 44 sump
Apex EL
Aquatic life T5 fixture with radion g5 xr30 and xr15 pro
Bubble magus curve 5 elite skimmer
Kessil fuge light
Eheim 250w heater
Dd jumpguard top net
Avast marine plank autofeeder
Next project is to build a transfer box that auto switch return pump to 12v battery in case of outage.
Really happy to start reefing, you will see me post more often now ! Take care.
Last edited:
