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Unread 02/18/2018, 05:12 PM   #1
Ryan20A
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EA Reef Pro 900s build

Hi everyone, recently I decided to make the move from freshwater to saltwater after around 10 years of keeping fish I was keeping & breeding various different fish (discus, synodontis lucipininnis, African cichlids & pufferfish etc) but I felt like I needed a bigger challenge so I sold up and bought an ea reef pro 900s from my LFS. I thought now that I’ve started buying equipment for the tank I would set up a build thread. I was originally eyeing up the ea reef 900s but when I went back to the shop I ended up buying the ea reef pro 900s (the pro comes with a weir, hard piping & is taller). While both are beautiful tanks the pro just seemed a better put together tank where as the standard model seemed more of a budget tank in comparison, though the pro did come at a higher price (around £200 more! ) but I was glad I spent the extra money! Next I purchased x2 ai prime hd led lights, what lights to buy was a hard decision for me because there’s so many on the market and everyone recommends something different! also coming from basic freshwater led lighting that has an on/off switch the lighting for marine tanks seemed very daunting with everything being individually adjustable. I went for the ai’s For a couple of reasons: looks, my tanks are my pride and joy and being the centrepiece of my living room it has to look good! There’s nothing worse than a nice tank surrounded in ugly equipment! Also the price, I set my self a budget of £500 for lighting and the ai’s fitted the price range but still seem very good quality. Another reason for buying the ai primes was ease of use, the downloadable file settings make life so much easier especially for a beginner like myself. Next I chose my rock for the tank, I went with the Carib sea life rock. I used a mixture of regular and “shapes” for my aquascape held together with aqua stick epoxy. I chose the Carib sea life rock because it comes in a nice colour and being dry it gave me a chance to work on my aquascape over a few days outside the tank which made life much easier, it also comes with the added bonus of being friendly on the environment . I then bought a TMC reef pump 6000 and a TMC reef tide compact, both come with controllers for adjustable flow etc. My only worry is the circulation pump looks a little small when I see it sitting in my tank...but who knows maybe it will pack a punch! Il have to wait until my tank is filled to get a better idea . Anyway this is as far as I’ve gotten, il hopefully be visiting the LFS for some more equipment over the next few weeks then I can start the cycling process! I oringinally planned to stick with soft corals but now I really want some lps (hammers, torch & frogspawn are my absolute favourite corals) any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I’m new to all of this! Il hoepefully be back with more updates very soon .


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Unread 02/19/2018, 01:09 PM   #2
JUNBUG361
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Be patient you’ve probably heard. If you cycle your tank you’ll have ocean smell for almost a month, unless you cycle the rocks in a container for a month. Opening windows once in awhile works too. you start with 1 coral, you want more after. Then a bigger tank its a addictive hobby. Are your rocks glue together? Nice fresh water fish collection


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Unread 02/19/2018, 02:43 PM   #3
Ryan20A
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Will this still happen since I’ve used the Carib sea life rock? Due to it being man made? They also claim the rock has “dormant bacteria” to help speed up the cycling process but I feel like that sounds a little too good to be true lol. The rocks are all held together with aqua stick epoxy, it’s meant to be a similar colour to coraline but it looks awful but I managed to hide most of it with small bits of rubble from a smashed up rock.


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Unread 02/24/2018, 04:19 PM   #4
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So tonight I was passing a LFS and picked up a Red Sea diy aquarium cover, a couple of hours work, a sliced finger and a monkey plaster later it was built and on the tank love how these sit inside the rim so you can’t really see them at all unless looking from above! It was a little tricky to build but with a little help I got there! Also here is a couple of photos of the rock/equipment that’s in the tank so far, hoping to get back to the LFS tomorrow for everything else ready for water next weekend


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Unread 02/24/2018, 07:11 PM   #5
JUNBUG361
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Looks like it’s ready for saltwater


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Unread 02/25/2018, 01:31 AM   #6
Ryan20A
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Yeah picking up the final bits today, still need the skimmer, auto top off, test kits, salt and some media for the sump...should have water by next weekend!


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Unread 02/25/2018, 07:05 AM   #7
Ryan20A
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You know it’s a good day when you have to leave the LFS with a trolly pretty much everything bought for the tank today ready for water now!


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Unread 03/07/2018, 04:04 PM   #8
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Added my sand tonight, I used 2 bags of Red Sea Fiji pink live sand giving me around a 2 inch sand bed. I may possibly remove some as this was a little more than I would have liked. Il be heading to the LFS for 300 litres of ro water to finally get it filled and cycled.
406371E5-A50F-4417-9A29-5A8BE1E9EC3A.jpg


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Unread 03/10/2018, 02:50 PM   #9
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So the tank finally got wet the skimmer is going pretty mental but I’m hoping that’s just cause its new!


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Unread 03/18/2018, 10:29 AM   #10
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Not much is happening as the tank is cycling, skimmer is still going mental and still waiting for the ammonia to rise higher. Added a new light to the cabnet today though so I can see what I’m doing


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Unread 03/18/2018, 12:36 PM   #11
JUNBUG361
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Nice.


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Unread 03/28/2018, 02:03 PM   #12
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So the tank cycle has finished...it happened a little quicker than I expected only lasting around 3 weeks today I went to the LFS and got my first marine fish a little watchman goby...it’s absolutely tiny but it’s good to have some life in the tank! I was a little nervous adding it after such a short cycle time and I tested my water about 3 times today before going to get it to triple check all my levels were okay! he’s been in there since this morning and has been doing great so far and is super active! Hopefully all the levels stay good and I can add something else in a couple of weeks!


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Unread 03/31/2018, 03:12 AM   #13
Ryan20A
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So my goby has gone missing don’t know if he’s alive or not but I can’t find a body anywhere! He was really active for about 2 days then he vanished! I’ve chekced my sump and weir box and he’s not in there...hoping he has just found himself a nice cave inside my rockwork all parameters still seem to be okay....


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Unread 04/08/2018, 01:59 PM   #14
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So it’s been over a week since the goby went missing and still no sign of it All parameters continue to be good so I went to the LFS today and picked up some bangaii cardinals...hopefully I have a little better luck with these! Who knows the goby could still turn up


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