Hello everyone,
My names Jake, currently located in Charlotte NC and I'm starting up my first saltwater tank. Creating this thread to share the positives and negatives that I face along my journey into the reefing hobby. As a massive Liverpool FC (soccer/football) supporter I chose the name You'll Never Reef Alone as a play on You'll Never Walk Alone ( Any football banter is welcome ). I've done my fair share of watching youtube videos and learning, but I'll most likely be asking for help / advice along the way! If you'd like to I'll also be posting on my Instagram page @YoullNeverReefAlone
Equipment:
Red Sea Reefer 250 ( purchased used from a local )
Lighting: Radion XR30s ( still looking for some mounts/arm ... so if you have any for sale LMK! )
Jebao DCP Return Pump
Reef Octopus Skimmer 150-SSS
Tunze ATO w. 5.5 Gallon Tank ( need to learn how to use this thing )
Jebao Dosing Pump w/ containers ( also need to learn how to use this )
Finnex Heater 150 Watt ( still coming in the mail )
Powerheads ( TBD but most likely purchasing 2X MP10s ~1 yr used )
Images below of the Red Sea Reefer 250
To clean it I saw a video that Citric Acid is god's gift and the best way to do it so I ordered some from Amazon and filled the tank with regular water from the shower with buckets.
I had the tank running for a couple days with citric acid, results below.. ( dog tax )
The citric acid did a great job, still think I'm going to get some water/vinegar solution and go through it a couple times just to get some of the spots that were missed.
As for the rocks / sand ... I ended up ordering caribsea dry aragonite ( 50 lbs ) and ordered STAX Rock ( 40 lbs ) from Marine Depot. I ordered these a couple days ago and they just came in today.
Here are the two boxes that came in ( I was expecting 1 big one but ended up finding the 2 boxes to be sufficient for my needs ) and had to do the cardboard trick that I see everyone else do for aquascaping.
I took some pictures of how it was package and how much came in 1 box for reference if anyone else is interested.
Packaging has individual sheets between the rock layers which is really well done, with little rubble from my own experience !
Second box had far more small / medium pieces which I actually ended up liking more than the massive pieces
Overall I'm pleased with what I received from STAX. The only thing I need to figure out now is what glue to potentially use once I figure out my final scape. I've read a lot that you can use regular superglue instead of the ones marketed by BRS and other sites. Also read cons that it eventually comes undone.... will need to read up a bit more on this.
During my lunch break, thankfully I work from home due to COVID, I was able to play around with the aquascaping that I initially envisioned.
Below are some images of my first pass at aquascaping, let me know your thoughts!
( Ended up fixing the uneven rock below because it was bothering me )
My initial thoughts was it would be cool to spell out LFC ( Liverpool Football Club ) from the top. I've included a big arch with a couple smaller ones with a few over hangs as well. This is my first go at it and the only thing that I'm trying to rethink would be to go from low to high from front to back to give it the depth feel. Also perhaps I can go a little smaller with the lettering of it to give that 2 inch on the side for maintenance.
Open to any advice!
Thanks for reading and hope you following along!
Next inline is to get an electrician to come in and install a GFCI outlet so I can sleep easy at night!
My names Jake, currently located in Charlotte NC and I'm starting up my first saltwater tank. Creating this thread to share the positives and negatives that I face along my journey into the reefing hobby. As a massive Liverpool FC (soccer/football) supporter I chose the name You'll Never Reef Alone as a play on You'll Never Walk Alone ( Any football banter is welcome ). I've done my fair share of watching youtube videos and learning, but I'll most likely be asking for help / advice along the way! If you'd like to I'll also be posting on my Instagram page @YoullNeverReefAlone
Equipment:
Red Sea Reefer 250 ( purchased used from a local )
Lighting: Radion XR30s ( still looking for some mounts/arm ... so if you have any for sale LMK! )
Jebao DCP Return Pump
Reef Octopus Skimmer 150-SSS
Tunze ATO w. 5.5 Gallon Tank ( need to learn how to use this thing )
Jebao Dosing Pump w/ containers ( also need to learn how to use this )
Finnex Heater 150 Watt ( still coming in the mail )
Powerheads ( TBD but most likely purchasing 2X MP10s ~1 yr used )
Images below of the Red Sea Reefer 250
To clean it I saw a video that Citric Acid is god's gift and the best way to do it so I ordered some from Amazon and filled the tank with regular water from the shower with buckets.
I had the tank running for a couple days with citric acid, results below.. ( dog tax )
The citric acid did a great job, still think I'm going to get some water/vinegar solution and go through it a couple times just to get some of the spots that were missed.
As for the rocks / sand ... I ended up ordering caribsea dry aragonite ( 50 lbs ) and ordered STAX Rock ( 40 lbs ) from Marine Depot. I ordered these a couple days ago and they just came in today.
Here are the two boxes that came in ( I was expecting 1 big one but ended up finding the 2 boxes to be sufficient for my needs ) and had to do the cardboard trick that I see everyone else do for aquascaping.
I took some pictures of how it was package and how much came in 1 box for reference if anyone else is interested.
Packaging has individual sheets between the rock layers which is really well done, with little rubble from my own experience !
Second box had far more small / medium pieces which I actually ended up liking more than the massive pieces
Overall I'm pleased with what I received from STAX. The only thing I need to figure out now is what glue to potentially use once I figure out my final scape. I've read a lot that you can use regular superglue instead of the ones marketed by BRS and other sites. Also read cons that it eventually comes undone.... will need to read up a bit more on this.
During my lunch break, thankfully I work from home due to COVID, I was able to play around with the aquascaping that I initially envisioned.
Below are some images of my first pass at aquascaping, let me know your thoughts!
( Ended up fixing the uneven rock below because it was bothering me )
My initial thoughts was it would be cool to spell out LFC ( Liverpool Football Club ) from the top. I've included a big arch with a couple smaller ones with a few over hangs as well. This is my first go at it and the only thing that I'm trying to rethink would be to go from low to high from front to back to give it the depth feel. Also perhaps I can go a little smaller with the lettering of it to give that 2 inch on the side for maintenance.
Open to any advice!
Thanks for reading and hope you following along!
Next inline is to get an electrician to come in and install a GFCI outlet so I can sleep easy at night!