Introduction:
My name is Jonathan Tran and I have been in the hobby for 11 months since May 2024. It all started with a visit to Petco to refill the treat jar for my Golden Retriever. My 5-year-old daughter said… “Daddy, I want a Nemo & Dori”…. That’s all it took. I immediately satisfied that wish and took it miles further. I ordered my very first tank.. The Waterbox 65.4… Big mistake. I truthfully feel like anyone serious in the hobby should start with a minimum of 100g+. At the time, the model I ordered was on back order. My wife introduced me to an old friend that was a reefer. Known on BRS as Royal. Man.. he put me on and really accelerated my learning. I was looking at a 2 month lead time on the tank and Royal had lent me his 20g IM to learn on.
I immediately started making mistakes like putting fish in same week, corals in the next & adding a baby Dori…. Don’t do that btw.. Bad idea and boy did this hobby teach me patience. I ended up learning about morals and being conscious. After losing a handful of fish, I finally got it through my thick skull that things need to be done right… Kind of. I believe some corners can be cut. Fast forward, I learned so much in that 20g tank and before you know it, my 65.4 arrived.
It went well, I tinkered with it daily (Bad Idea, let things stabilize). Eventually I became irritable and wanted a bigger tank but couldn’t digest the investment after the initial investment.
6 months in, I went out on a limb and posted about wanting to upsize & see if anyone would want to downsize? Sure enough I found a reefer on here known as Acoustic-Reef. He is so awesome. We ended up trading my WB 65.4 for his Red Sea 525.
It’s been exactly 3 months since the transition and so far everything is going great! I plan to use this thread to update everyone on my journey but also document my achievements/mistakes for personal reference.
System Profile
Water Parameters:
I am using Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt
What kind of rock did you start with?
I started with 80lb of CaribSea Life Rock
What is your substrate?
I am using Carib Sea Fiji pink live sand.
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:
I dose 2500mL of Saturated Kalkwasser Daily and will start to supplement Mag when needed but as of right now it is not necessary.
Photoperiod
Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:
Red Sea Reefmat 1200 and I plan on adding as much seeded rock to my sump as possible.
What is your maintenance routine?
Fish list ( total):
Invertebrates:
Corals:
Soft Corals:
LPS Corals:
SPS Corals:
Other:
Fish and Coral Feeding:
I feed my fish 2-3 cubes daily plus a sheet of green and purple seaweed.
Any stocking regrets?
No, but the order of stocking could have been better.
Future plans?
To have a successful mixed reef tank. Hopefully, maybe, upgrading to a 200+ gallon system.
Social Media Accounts:
instagram.com
I plan to post all updates of my tank on this thread! Please feel free to join me on my journey!
Tank as of April 10, 2025.
My name is Jonathan Tran and I have been in the hobby for 11 months since May 2024. It all started with a visit to Petco to refill the treat jar for my Golden Retriever. My 5-year-old daughter said… “Daddy, I want a Nemo & Dori”…. That’s all it took. I immediately satisfied that wish and took it miles further. I ordered my very first tank.. The Waterbox 65.4… Big mistake. I truthfully feel like anyone serious in the hobby should start with a minimum of 100g+. At the time, the model I ordered was on back order. My wife introduced me to an old friend that was a reefer. Known on BRS as Royal. Man.. he put me on and really accelerated my learning. I was looking at a 2 month lead time on the tank and Royal had lent me his 20g IM to learn on.
I immediately started making mistakes like putting fish in same week, corals in the next & adding a baby Dori…. Don’t do that btw.. Bad idea and boy did this hobby teach me patience. I ended up learning about morals and being conscious. After losing a handful of fish, I finally got it through my thick skull that things need to be done right… Kind of. I believe some corners can be cut. Fast forward, I learned so much in that 20g tank and before you know it, my 65.4 arrived.
It went well, I tinkered with it daily (Bad Idea, let things stabilize). Eventually I became irritable and wanted a bigger tank but couldn’t digest the investment after the initial investment.
6 months in, I went out on a limb and posted about wanting to upsize & see if anyone would want to downsize? Sure enough I found a reefer on here known as Acoustic-Reef. He is so awesome. We ended up trading my WB 65.4 for his Red Sea 525.
It’s been exactly 3 months since the transition and so far everything is going great! I plan to use this thread to update everyone on my journey but also document my achievements/mistakes for personal reference.
System Profile
- Aquarium: Red Sea Reefer 525XXL V3 (139 gallon)
- Glass or Acrylic: Glass
- Protein skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 150-s
- Carbon/phosphate filtration: BRS Carbon ROX 0.8 in a AquaReady Media Reactor
- Return pump: Sicce Syncra SDC 7.0
- Water circulation: (1) Ecotech MP40 & (1) Aqua Illumination Orbit 4 Gyre
- Lighting (display): (2) Orphek Atlantiks
- Lighting (refugium): Tunze Eco Chic Refugium Light
- Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing equipment: Neptune QD Dos
- Auto top-off: Duetto ATO 2
- Heating/cooling: (2) BRS 300 watt heaters on an InkBird.
- System control: Neptune Apex Controller w/ Trident
- Filtration: Red Sea Reefmat 1200
Water Parameters:
- Temp: 77
- pH: 8.1-8.2
- Specific gravity: 1.025-1.026
- NO3: 30-35ppm
- Ca: 400-450
- Alk: 9.0-9.5
- Mg: 1480
- PO4: 0.10
- Ammonia and nitrites: 0
- PAR: 300 Top & 150 Bottom
I am using Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt
What kind of rock did you start with?
I started with 80lb of CaribSea Life Rock
What is your substrate?
I am using Carib Sea Fiji pink live sand.
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:
I dose 2500mL of Saturated Kalkwasser Daily and will start to supplement Mag when needed but as of right now it is not necessary.
Photoperiod
- Display tank: 13 hours from 10:00am-11:00pm with 1 hour ramp up and down. 6 hours of peak spectrum and 5 hours of blue spectrum for viewing..
- Refugium: Refugium is 12 hours opposite light schedule from the display.
Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:
Red Sea Reefmat 1200 and I plan on adding as much seeded rock to my sump as possible.
What is your maintenance routine?
- Daily: Monitor Trident Readings, Reef Moonshiners Daily Doses, check live stocks, clean the glass daily, and feed the fish and corals.
- Weekly: Test parameters, refill ATO and other additives that needs to be filled. Check equipment to make sure they are all working properly. Scrape the back wall and side of the tank if needed.
Fish list ( total):
- Yellow Tang
- Powder Blue Tang
- Blue Hippo Tang
- Purple Tang
- (3) Lyretail Anthias
- (6) Blue-Green Chromis
- (2) Frostbite Clownfish
- Six-Line Wrasse
- Melanurus Wrasse
- Diamond Goby
- Yasha Goby
- Niger Trigger
Invertebrates:
- Cerith snails
- Turbo Snails
- Nassarius Snails
- Peppermint shrimp
- Fire Shrimp
- Derasa Clam
Corals:
Soft Corals:
- Kenya Tree
- Yuma & Bounce Mushrooms
- Xenia
- Toadstool Leathers
- Zoanthids
- GSP
- Clove Polyps
- Torch
- Acan
- Micromussa
- Hammer
- Frogspawn
- Octospawn
- Blasto
- Goniopora
- Alveopora
- Plate Coral
- Chalice
- Favia
- Pectinia
- Acropora
- Montipora
- Pocillopora
- Digitata
- Milleopora
- Aiptasia
- Nexus Burst Anemone
Fish and Coral Feeding:
I feed my fish 2-3 cubes daily plus a sheet of green and purple seaweed.
Any stocking regrets?
No, but the order of stocking could have been better.
Future plans?
To have a successful mixed reef tank. Hopefully, maybe, upgrading to a 200+ gallon system.
Social Media Accounts:
Jaytee Tran (@saltyjaytee) • Instagram photos and videos
2,356 Followers, 2,043 Following, 79 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Jaytee Tran (@saltyjaytee)
instagram.com
I plan to post all updates of my tank on this thread! Please feel free to join me on my journey!
Tank as of April 10, 2025.
Last edited:
Clam is about 7”
