Jables
03/09/2015, 08:27 PM
I am setting up my first salt water tank and figured I would journal it here. Have been on this forum doing a lot of research but this is my first thread. Have done freshwater african cichlids for years, but finally taking on salt water.
The tank is 75g, with a 20g sump. The tank was not predrilled, but I had drilled and added a gl*******s.com overflow on my FW setup. I built the stand and canopy myself, nothing fancy.
I have a little less than 40lbs reef grade sand, makes it a shallow sand bed about an inch thick. Have 70lbs BRS reef saver rock that has been cooking in a trash can for about a month.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153112.jpg
Lighting is two ebay chinese 165w full spectrum led units. Looking great so far. The whites and blues are controlled separately and they are dimmable. Dimmed all the way down in these pics. Also have a blue and purple led strip for moonlights. Am still tweaking that though.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152953.jpg
The sump just has a filter sock, reef octopus skimmer, jager heater, and mag 9 return pump. Have a glass baffle. The wires are a mess, still need to clean them up.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153037.jpg
I built a simple diy temperature controller. It monitors the water temp and if it falls below a set point it turns the heater on and over a set point cuts the heater off and the fans on in the canopy. Fans are just pc fans. Auto topoff is from autotopoff.com
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153049.jpg
Have circulation with two hydor koralia 1150s. I am using a 75gpd ro/di unit from BRS. Plan to eventually have soft corals. I decided to seed the dry rock with some live rock. Have 20lbs of tampa bay aquacultured live rock coming hopefully tomorrow and a little live sand.
The dry rock has been cycling and is pretty much done. My last test showed almost 0 ammonia (had dosed some earlier in the day.) Have had a nitrite spike that is finally coming down and getting close to 0. Nitrates have been climbing but haven't gone too far over 20ppm. Also have a quarantine tank that has been cycling and is almost done.
Excited to get things going!
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152940.jpg
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152844.jpg
The tank is 75g, with a 20g sump. The tank was not predrilled, but I had drilled and added a gl*******s.com overflow on my FW setup. I built the stand and canopy myself, nothing fancy.
I have a little less than 40lbs reef grade sand, makes it a shallow sand bed about an inch thick. Have 70lbs BRS reef saver rock that has been cooking in a trash can for about a month.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153112.jpg
Lighting is two ebay chinese 165w full spectrum led units. Looking great so far. The whites and blues are controlled separately and they are dimmable. Dimmed all the way down in these pics. Also have a blue and purple led strip for moonlights. Am still tweaking that though.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152953.jpg
The sump just has a filter sock, reef octopus skimmer, jager heater, and mag 9 return pump. Have a glass baffle. The wires are a mess, still need to clean them up.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153037.jpg
I built a simple diy temperature controller. It monitors the water temp and if it falls below a set point it turns the heater on and over a set point cuts the heater off and the fans on in the canopy. Fans are just pc fans. Auto topoff is from autotopoff.com
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_153049.jpg
Have circulation with two hydor koralia 1150s. I am using a 75gpd ro/di unit from BRS. Plan to eventually have soft corals. I decided to seed the dry rock with some live rock. Have 20lbs of tampa bay aquacultured live rock coming hopefully tomorrow and a little live sand.
The dry rock has been cycling and is pretty much done. My last test showed almost 0 ammonia (had dosed some earlier in the day.) Have had a nitrite spike that is finally coming down and getting close to 0. Nitrates have been climbing but haven't gone too far over 20ppm. Also have a quarantine tank that has been cycling and is almost done.
Excited to get things going!
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152940.jpg
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/JacobL1/Reef%20Tank/20150305_152844.jpg