AndrewRyan
New Member
Starting a new thread to document my Waterbed Frag 55.2 build.
It's been a long, winding road to get here and to be honest I haven't experienced much success in keeping a reef tank. The first time I set this tank up it went well for a few months, with minimal distress other than working through various nuisance algae. Unfortunately my work travel picked up and increased to such an intensity that I had to shut it down. After my work finally settled down to the point that I could consistently be home, I decided to set up this tank again and give it another go. I was making what I felt was good progress until unexpected fish death overnight. I was moving too fast and it made it hard to determine what the cause was. It didn't appear to be disease and in fact I lost an emerald crab and cleaner shrimp that same night. Anyway, I decided the best course of action was to break down the tank and begin again with all new rock and sand. While breaking it down I discovered a small divot in the heater I was using (looked almost like someone had taken a screw driver and tried to punch a hole in metal. I'm now thinking that metal was leaching into the tank. In any case, I cleaned out the system and waited for the supplies to come in to begin this, my third, attempt at successful reef keeping.
On the last attempt I used MARCOS Rock and dry sand, but on this journey I decided to go with CaribSea Liferock and Ocean Direct sand. I ordered 40lbs of rock and a 40lbs bag of sand. The rock turned out to be way more than I needed with three arches and a base rock not utilized. I imagine it will be the same story with the sand, but I am aiming for an inch and half or so of sand.
I have the following equipment for use:
Two filter cups (preference over filter socks)
AI Hydra 32HD
AI Nero 3
Duetto ATO
BRS 200 watt titanium heaters w/ Inkbird controller (changed out for last heater which may have been the issue)
Sicce Syncra 2.0 pump (568 gph)
Bubble Magus Curve 5 protein skimmer (still eyeing this suspiciously since I installed it in the system the evening before the overnight deaths)
Skimmer stand
Hanna test kits (Alk, Calcium, Magnesium, HR Nitrate, LR Phosphate)
Salifert Test Kits (Ammonia, Nitrite)
I have a 40 gallon brute in the basement I am using for mixing salt water and several 5 gallon INC totes for hauling water. The water station is in the basement (unfortunate but necessary bc wife) and the tank is in the living room in a great location to be viewed from living area, dining room and kitchen. Hauling 5 gallon buckets up a flight of stairs isn't the best but definitely doable given that 5 gallons is a 10% water change weekly.
I have always used Tropic Marin Pro in the past but I have ordered some Fritz RPM for this build. My thought is that the higher alkalinity might be nice and the lower price certainly doesn't hurt.
My plan is to wait until I have a full stock of saltwater mixed, then add the live sand and water. I have Fritz Turbostart 900 and Fritz Fishless Fuel for a fishless cycle. I have been told that to succeed in this hobby you need patience and persistence. I have not been great in the patience department, so my hope is that I have learned to go slower on this my third attempt to get this tank up and running (at least that's persistence).
I am very grateful for any suggestions or guidance from the experienced reefers who are willing to take the time.
Thanks!
-Andrew
It's been a long, winding road to get here and to be honest I haven't experienced much success in keeping a reef tank. The first time I set this tank up it went well for a few months, with minimal distress other than working through various nuisance algae. Unfortunately my work travel picked up and increased to such an intensity that I had to shut it down. After my work finally settled down to the point that I could consistently be home, I decided to set up this tank again and give it another go. I was making what I felt was good progress until unexpected fish death overnight. I was moving too fast and it made it hard to determine what the cause was. It didn't appear to be disease and in fact I lost an emerald crab and cleaner shrimp that same night. Anyway, I decided the best course of action was to break down the tank and begin again with all new rock and sand. While breaking it down I discovered a small divot in the heater I was using (looked almost like someone had taken a screw driver and tried to punch a hole in metal. I'm now thinking that metal was leaching into the tank. In any case, I cleaned out the system and waited for the supplies to come in to begin this, my third, attempt at successful reef keeping.
On the last attempt I used MARCOS Rock and dry sand, but on this journey I decided to go with CaribSea Liferock and Ocean Direct sand. I ordered 40lbs of rock and a 40lbs bag of sand. The rock turned out to be way more than I needed with three arches and a base rock not utilized. I imagine it will be the same story with the sand, but I am aiming for an inch and half or so of sand.
I have the following equipment for use:
Two filter cups (preference over filter socks)
AI Hydra 32HD
AI Nero 3
Duetto ATO
BRS 200 watt titanium heaters w/ Inkbird controller (changed out for last heater which may have been the issue)
Sicce Syncra 2.0 pump (568 gph)
Bubble Magus Curve 5 protein skimmer (still eyeing this suspiciously since I installed it in the system the evening before the overnight deaths)
Skimmer stand
Hanna test kits (Alk, Calcium, Magnesium, HR Nitrate, LR Phosphate)
Salifert Test Kits (Ammonia, Nitrite)
I have a 40 gallon brute in the basement I am using for mixing salt water and several 5 gallon INC totes for hauling water. The water station is in the basement (unfortunate but necessary bc wife) and the tank is in the living room in a great location to be viewed from living area, dining room and kitchen. Hauling 5 gallon buckets up a flight of stairs isn't the best but definitely doable given that 5 gallons is a 10% water change weekly.
I have always used Tropic Marin Pro in the past but I have ordered some Fritz RPM for this build. My thought is that the higher alkalinity might be nice and the lower price certainly doesn't hurt.
My plan is to wait until I have a full stock of saltwater mixed, then add the live sand and water. I have Fritz Turbostart 900 and Fritz Fishless Fuel for a fishless cycle. I have been told that to succeed in this hobby you need patience and persistence. I have not been great in the patience department, so my hope is that I have learned to go slower on this my third attempt to get this tank up and running (at least that's persistence).
I am very grateful for any suggestions or guidance from the experienced reefers who are willing to take the time.
Thanks!
-Andrew
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