Chlorinated
Non-member
Hi everyone,
I joined the club a few months back at the auction and thought it was about time to start up a build thread. I have had fresh water tanks for years (community and oscars) but always wanted a saltwater setup.
About 2.5 years ago I finally took the plunge after months of research and purchased the Innovative Marine 8 gallon. I know most people don't recommend starting small, but living in an apartment, and the thought of moving it later made it seem like a good size. I kept the stock lights (8w led's), upgraded the stack return to an MJ 900 and upgraded the stock media basket to the Aqua Gadget running Chemipur Elite and Purigen.
The 8 gallon did well for the most part, but lost several corals with time due to small crashes and just the general learning curve that we all go through. I eventually upgraded the light to the 60w 16K Maxspect Razor Nano. The light looked awesome, but I got "light happy" and bleached out 90% of my corals. I learned and cranked them way down and things SLOWLY started to recover.
Finally this year my wife and I decided to upgrade to the Innovative Marine Fusion 20 gallon, the 8 was just too small and my 5" Durassa clam wasn't helping the space situation. I kept the MJ 900 return and added a RW-4 to the tank for flow. I also upgraded the lights to a 4 bulb 24" Aquaticlife T5HO fixture (2 ATI Actinic, B+, Coral+).
Since the swap and upgrade on the lights, the tank has never looked healthier, and I am seeing more growth than ever before. I still run Chemipure Blue and Purigen in one media rack, filter sock in the other. Weekly 2.5 gallon water changes with Red Sea Coral Pro, Seachem Reef Builder in my ATO and BRS Mag and Ca for dosing.
I would eventually like to add the Ghost protein skimmer, and junk the filter socks for a second Aqua Gadget media tray.
LPS:
Green with purple tip frogspawn
Green with purple tip hammer X2
Green and purple Wellso
Light blue and orange Acans
Maroon and green Blastos
SPS:
Hawkins Echinata
Tricolor Valida
Montipora Songodes
Montipora Cap (Red)
Green Millepora
I joined the club a few months back at the auction and thought it was about time to start up a build thread. I have had fresh water tanks for years (community and oscars) but always wanted a saltwater setup.
About 2.5 years ago I finally took the plunge after months of research and purchased the Innovative Marine 8 gallon. I know most people don't recommend starting small, but living in an apartment, and the thought of moving it later made it seem like a good size. I kept the stock lights (8w led's), upgraded the stack return to an MJ 900 and upgraded the stock media basket to the Aqua Gadget running Chemipur Elite and Purigen.
The 8 gallon did well for the most part, but lost several corals with time due to small crashes and just the general learning curve that we all go through. I eventually upgraded the light to the 60w 16K Maxspect Razor Nano. The light looked awesome, but I got "light happy" and bleached out 90% of my corals. I learned and cranked them way down and things SLOWLY started to recover.
Finally this year my wife and I decided to upgrade to the Innovative Marine Fusion 20 gallon, the 8 was just too small and my 5" Durassa clam wasn't helping the space situation. I kept the MJ 900 return and added a RW-4 to the tank for flow. I also upgraded the lights to a 4 bulb 24" Aquaticlife T5HO fixture (2 ATI Actinic, B+, Coral+).
Since the swap and upgrade on the lights, the tank has never looked healthier, and I am seeing more growth than ever before. I still run Chemipure Blue and Purigen in one media rack, filter sock in the other. Weekly 2.5 gallon water changes with Red Sea Coral Pro, Seachem Reef Builder in my ATO and BRS Mag and Ca for dosing.
I would eventually like to add the Ghost protein skimmer, and junk the filter socks for a second Aqua Gadget media tray.
LPS:
Green with purple tip frogspawn
Green with purple tip hammer X2
Green and purple Wellso
Light blue and orange Acans
Maroon and green Blastos
SPS:
Hawkins Echinata
Tricolor Valida
Montipora Songodes
Montipora Cap (Red)
Green Millepora
