Hello everyone!
I'm starting this thread for all the saltwater aquariums being set up in my new house right now. For those of you who have known me since I was a teenager learning the saltwater aspect of this hobby in 2010, back when I was an overly ambitious college student, I thank you for all the knowledge and help you've provided me over the years. Especially those of you who told me to cool my jets with my ideas without having practical experience.
For those of you who have known me the last 4-5 years you'll know I've been accumulating equipment and planning the start of my dream reef tank once I moved into a house. Well…that time has come for a build thread with my first "baby" step towards my dream SPS garden and various other saltwater organism displays.
There will be a total of 4 separate systems with one, the frag system, coming several months to a year from now.
I'm currently building 2 systems for my home office:
-A two tank system with a 12"x12"x12" (~5 gallon) rimless cube and a 36"x18"x18" (57 gallon)
-A UNS 60S (23 3/8"x 14 1/4" x 7 1/4") shallow lagoon
And the crown jewel of my systems will be a Waterbox 105.4 (72.3 gallon display/ 103 gallon total volume) for my living room.
I have had a 44 gallon brute Rubbermaid nearly full of live rock for all of these tanks for 20 months cycling. It is pest free, loaded with pods and has been constantly monitored and maintained that entire time. The cycle has been dark so coraline algae will take time to grow in all the systems.
I’m using a 7 Stage RODI system with a booster pump currently, I’m going to be building my water storage brute’s into a proper mixing station very soon. The only reason I haven’t yet is because one of the three I’ll be using is holding all the live rock for all of the tanks.
Everything going into these tanks will be treated and quarantined prior to going into any of the displays for as long as needed. I’ll have a 40 gallon breeder set up for fish quarantine when needed and a 20 gallon long for corals.
Office Builds:
The two tank system will consist of a rock flower anemone garden in the cube and bubble tip and haddoni carpet anemones in the 57 gallon along with various choice LPS.
For the cube I’m building a PVC tunnel to bury in the sand under the live rock for a pair of Yasha gobies and a paired pistol shrimp. The only livestock I plan on keeping are inverts and a couple pairs of different species clownfish, most likely percula and pink skunks, in the 57. All of the anemones in both tanks are compatible so with any luck I’ll have the rock anemones spawning and find some in the larger display eventually.
I’ll be lighting these tanks with AI Prime 16 HD LEDs (2 on the 57 and one on the cube) and they will share a sump(~20 gallons) that will be fairly basic to start. I’ll add a skimmer when needed and have an ATO with dissolved kalk. The 57 is drilled but the cube will have a HOB overflow and each tank will have its own return pump, both Sicce synctras (5.5 and 0.5 respectively). I have a spare versa pump or two I can use in the future if I feel I need to dose anything I can’t manually dose regularly.
For flow I’ll be using just the return pump’s flow to start in the cube and will have the return pump and a Jebao sine powerhead in the 57. 2x 150W titanium heaters will be heating this system, each controlled by an inkbird.
The UNS 60S lagoon tank will be primarily zoanthids, gonipora and chalice. I plan on keeping a dwarf angler fish in this tank and because of this, the only inverts I’ll have won’t be ones this bugger will try and eat (aka snails).
This tank will also have an AI Prime 16HD LED fixture lighting it and will have a 10 gallon sump with a Sicce synctra 0.5 return pump and if needed, I’ll add one of the numerous small powerheads I’ve collected over the years.
Waterbox 105.4:
Equipment List:
-2x Radion G6 XR30 Pro LED Fixtures
-2x VorTech MP40 mQD Powerheads
-ProfiLux4 GHL Controller
-Profilux Leak Sensor
-Aquamaxx cTech T-1 Calcium Reactor
-Tunze Osmolator ATO
-4x Versa Pumps
-Alktronic
-2x 400W Titanium Heaters (1 on an Inkbird, one on the controller)
-Vectra S2 Return Pump
-Axium EShopps X-120 Skimmer
-120lbs Sand
-Battery Backup for Pumps
-24 Month Cured Live Rock (As much as it takes to get the aquascape I want, the rest will be rubble in the sump)
I may omit the controller for a while and the skimmer, the skimmer itself may end up going into the sump of my anemone setup and I may upgrade it significantly if I do go with the full stock list I’ll share in a moment.
Planned Livestock:
-A Robust and Diverse CuC
-Picasso clown pair
-2x Mandarin
-1x TBD Wrasse
-2x TBD Firefish
-TBD Goby
-Yellow Tang
-Hippo Tang
-Maxima Clam
I’m going to add livestock slowly and methodically, with the clam not going in until this time next year. I’ll be starting to add simpler SPS to start while I dial in all the equipment to ensure a stable, healthy system set up for long term success.
I’ll be setting up the office aquariums next weekend and hopefully the waterbox will be delivered soon. Based on the estimates Waterbox is currently giving I could see the tank anywhere from 2-6 weeks from now. I ordered the tank through European Aquatics in Malden (shout out to Marty and his staff!) along with a bunch of the equipment I didn’t have already. I’ll definitely update this frequently and as things are coming together, I'll be sure to post lots of pictures.
I look forward to sharing the journey of these tanks with you all,
Eddie
I'm starting this thread for all the saltwater aquariums being set up in my new house right now. For those of you who have known me since I was a teenager learning the saltwater aspect of this hobby in 2010, back when I was an overly ambitious college student, I thank you for all the knowledge and help you've provided me over the years. Especially those of you who told me to cool my jets with my ideas without having practical experience.
For those of you who have known me the last 4-5 years you'll know I've been accumulating equipment and planning the start of my dream reef tank once I moved into a house. Well…that time has come for a build thread with my first "baby" step towards my dream SPS garden and various other saltwater organism displays.
There will be a total of 4 separate systems with one, the frag system, coming several months to a year from now.
I'm currently building 2 systems for my home office:
-A two tank system with a 12"x12"x12" (~5 gallon) rimless cube and a 36"x18"x18" (57 gallon)
-A UNS 60S (23 3/8"x 14 1/4" x 7 1/4") shallow lagoon
And the crown jewel of my systems will be a Waterbox 105.4 (72.3 gallon display/ 103 gallon total volume) for my living room.
I have had a 44 gallon brute Rubbermaid nearly full of live rock for all of these tanks for 20 months cycling. It is pest free, loaded with pods and has been constantly monitored and maintained that entire time. The cycle has been dark so coraline algae will take time to grow in all the systems.
I’m using a 7 Stage RODI system with a booster pump currently, I’m going to be building my water storage brute’s into a proper mixing station very soon. The only reason I haven’t yet is because one of the three I’ll be using is holding all the live rock for all of the tanks.
Everything going into these tanks will be treated and quarantined prior to going into any of the displays for as long as needed. I’ll have a 40 gallon breeder set up for fish quarantine when needed and a 20 gallon long for corals.
Office Builds:
The two tank system will consist of a rock flower anemone garden in the cube and bubble tip and haddoni carpet anemones in the 57 gallon along with various choice LPS.
For the cube I’m building a PVC tunnel to bury in the sand under the live rock for a pair of Yasha gobies and a paired pistol shrimp. The only livestock I plan on keeping are inverts and a couple pairs of different species clownfish, most likely percula and pink skunks, in the 57. All of the anemones in both tanks are compatible so with any luck I’ll have the rock anemones spawning and find some in the larger display eventually.
I’ll be lighting these tanks with AI Prime 16 HD LEDs (2 on the 57 and one on the cube) and they will share a sump(~20 gallons) that will be fairly basic to start. I’ll add a skimmer when needed and have an ATO with dissolved kalk. The 57 is drilled but the cube will have a HOB overflow and each tank will have its own return pump, both Sicce synctras (5.5 and 0.5 respectively). I have a spare versa pump or two I can use in the future if I feel I need to dose anything I can’t manually dose regularly.
For flow I’ll be using just the return pump’s flow to start in the cube and will have the return pump and a Jebao sine powerhead in the 57. 2x 150W titanium heaters will be heating this system, each controlled by an inkbird.
The UNS 60S lagoon tank will be primarily zoanthids, gonipora and chalice. I plan on keeping a dwarf angler fish in this tank and because of this, the only inverts I’ll have won’t be ones this bugger will try and eat (aka snails).
This tank will also have an AI Prime 16HD LED fixture lighting it and will have a 10 gallon sump with a Sicce synctra 0.5 return pump and if needed, I’ll add one of the numerous small powerheads I’ve collected over the years.
Waterbox 105.4:
Equipment List:
-2x Radion G6 XR30 Pro LED Fixtures
-2x VorTech MP40 mQD Powerheads
-ProfiLux4 GHL Controller
-Profilux Leak Sensor
-Aquamaxx cTech T-1 Calcium Reactor
-Tunze Osmolator ATO
-4x Versa Pumps
-Alktronic
-2x 400W Titanium Heaters (1 on an Inkbird, one on the controller)
-Vectra S2 Return Pump
-Axium EShopps X-120 Skimmer
-120lbs Sand
-Battery Backup for Pumps
-24 Month Cured Live Rock (As much as it takes to get the aquascape I want, the rest will be rubble in the sump)
I may omit the controller for a while and the skimmer, the skimmer itself may end up going into the sump of my anemone setup and I may upgrade it significantly if I do go with the full stock list I’ll share in a moment.
Planned Livestock:
-A Robust and Diverse CuC
-Picasso clown pair
-2x Mandarin
-1x TBD Wrasse
-2x TBD Firefish
-TBD Goby
-Yellow Tang
-Hippo Tang
-Maxima Clam
I’m going to add livestock slowly and methodically, with the clam not going in until this time next year. I’ll be starting to add simpler SPS to start while I dial in all the equipment to ensure a stable, healthy system set up for long term success.
I’ll be setting up the office aquariums next weekend and hopefully the waterbox will be delivered soon. Based on the estimates Waterbox is currently giving I could see the tank anywhere from 2-6 weeks from now. I ordered the tank through European Aquatics in Malden (shout out to Marty and his staff!) along with a bunch of the equipment I didn’t have already. I’ll definitely update this frequently and as things are coming together, I'll be sure to post lots of pictures.
I look forward to sharing the journey of these tanks with you all,
Eddie
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