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Aegeon's 25G Cube Build


Aegeon

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New First Post:

 

Now that my setup is finally up and running (just 21 months after I bought the tank) , I'm going to reserve some space here at the top to maintain a current FTS and equipment/stocking list. The original OP is still at the bottom of this post.

 

1/31/2012: Cycle complete. A little cleanup, and the first 2 fish added.

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EQUIPMENT

Display Tank:

Mr. Aqua 25g (18") cube display tank

DIY stand - built from IKEA kitchen cabinet base & countertop.

DIY LED light fixture - 18 Cree XR-E LEDs, 9 Royal Blue, 9 Cool White, buckpuck drivers

Glass-holes.com Super Nano con Dientes overflow kit.

Aqueon 500gph circulation pump (until I can decide on a permanent replacement)

1 Generic stick-on thermometers

 

Sump:

Mr. Aqua 7.5g (12") cube baffle-less sump

Maxi-Jet 1800 return pump.

Tunze 9002 DOC skimmer

Jager 75w TruTemp Heater

Aqueon 50w Backup Heater

JBJ ATO Controller w/ Aqualifter pump

1 Generic stick-on thermometers

 

LIVESTOCK

Rock:

~20lbs BRS Reefsaver dry rock

~7lbs live rock from LFS

 

Inverts:

2 hitchhiker snails (see post #71)

4" Bristle worm (in sump)

 

Corals:

None

 

Fish:

2 nano (1.5") Ocellaris Clownfish (amphiprion ocellaris) - tank bred

 

Thanks for taking a look. Comments/questions/suggestions are always appreciated.

Aegeon

 

---- ARCHIVED OP ----

Hey all,

 

I'm a noob on this site, and sort-of a noob to reefing in general. I tried to get into reefing way back in 2001, where I got as far as getting a 90 gallon tank full of saltwater and live rock before I unexpectedly lost my job and had to move. Everything was broken down and sold off to cover expenses, my dreams of an exciting new hobby dashed.

 

Since then I've moved a few times, gotten married, and settled in Chicago. We had our first son, Andrew, just six weeks ago. With the new addition to our little family I decided to get into reefing in a limited way as something to work on around the house. I also think as our little one gets older this will hopefully be a great hobby that we can share.

 

I've been working for the last few weeks on starting up my first tank, and thought I'd share the build here. I will say that from what little I remember from my first go-around, it appears that a LOT in the hobby has changed in the 9 years that I've been away. With the demands of a 9-to-5 job and the new little guy, the build is slow going, but progress is being made.

 

I really like the DIY aspect of reefing, so I'm doing as many things DIY as I can including the stand, light fixture, sump baffles, electical, tank drilling, etc. I'm always grateful for feedback and suggestions, so if you have any recommendations or catch me doing something completely stupid, please let me know.

 

Photos of the build will be coming for anyone who's interested, but in the meantime, here's the plan:

 

18" 25gal Mr. Aqua rimless cube DT, drilled with 1" overflow and 1/2" return from glass-holes.com

12" 7.5gal Mr. Aqua rimless cube sump

Maxi-Jet 1800 return pump

Tunze DOC Nano 9002 skimmer

Jager 75w Heater

JBJ ATO controller

Custom DIY tank stand

Custom DIY LED light fixture, 18 CREE XR-E LEDs, 50/50 mix Cool White/Royal Blue

BRS 75 GPD RO/DI 5 Stage PLUS System

BRS Single-chamber GFO and Carbon Reactor

Vortech MP10 Powerhead (eventually)

 

A few questions I'm still mulling over, feel free to comment:

 

1. On a tank this size, is Carbon/GFO overkill? I got the reactor and media as part of the BRS group buy, figuring if I don't use it now, I'll have it for the inevitable tank #2.

 

2. Anyone have recommendations for LED lighing for a fuge? My sump is tiny, so the fuge section will be barebottom wtih just some extra live rock/rubble and chaeto. The stand is very tight, so I'd like to go LED rather than a fullsize flood bulb if possible.

 

As I said, photos are on the way. In the meantime, a quick pic of my future co-reefer...

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Thanks!

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Well thought out and Andrew is a star.

 

EDIT Add a powerhead from the outset rather than using the return pump to supply all flow. Slower flow through the refugium is better, about 5 times the total water volume per hour is what I would aim for.

 

The reactor looks useful, where would you plumb it into the system?

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Sounds like your back into it. I have been into the hobby for 4 years and could have never named out all that equipment after being gone for 9 years lol. I think it will be a great build. I have the BRS 75gpd plus system at home. It works great. I also have the 2 parts dosing kit for it. Haven't mixed it up yet but I have heard great things about it, you may want to check that out. GL

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Sounds like your back into it. I have been into the hobby for 4 years and could have never named out all that equipment after being gone for 9 years lol.

 

Thanks, Dasani. I've been trying to get back up to speed for the last 6 weeks or so, lurking around the various sites and reading as much as possible. I've done quite a bit of planning, and have been slowly acquiring all the pieces for the build.

 

I was close to getting a 2-part kit from BRS in the group buy as well, but figured I would wait until I figure out a stock list for the tank to determine what I need in terms of supplements. You'll have to let me know how it works out for you.

 

Once I get the tank up and running, I figure I'll have some time during the initial cycling to figure out what I want to put in the tank and get the rest of the test kits I'll need, along with supplements.

 

Thanks!

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Well thought out and Andrew is a star.

 

EDIT Add a powerhead from the outset rather than using the return pump to supply all flow. Slower flow through the refugium is better, about 5 times the total water volume per hour is what I would aim for.

 

The reactor looks useful, where would you plumb it into the system?

 

Thanks for the complements!

 

I'm planning on getting an MP10 as soon as possible, as I'm sure just the return pump will not be enough flow in the DT. My goal is to get the system plumbed and running, then add the MP10 when I add live rock & start the cycle. The build is going slowly (for not being able to do much, a newborn really eats up time!) so I've got a while until I really need it. I'm angling to get my wife to pick it up for me as an early birthday present.

 

I'm not entirely sure about the reactor yet. I'll be posting some pics of the stand in a minute, and I doubt I've got room under the tank for it, so if I use it it'll have to be remote somewhere. I may have to wait and build another cabinet to set next to the stand to hide it. Can someone attest to the value of running a carbon/GFO reactor on a tank this size? Is it worth the effort, or should I hold off until I build a bigger setup?

 

Thanks for the reply!

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Here's the DIY stand I've been working on over the last two weekends. It's built from an IKEA 18" base kitchen cabinet. We have a lot of other IKEA furniture, so the finish on the stand matches. The cabinet was initially 24" deep, so I cut down the sides to 18" to make a cube stand. The cabinet was a bit flimsy (all particleboard), so I reinforced the particle board sides, and replaced the stock cross-members with 1x3 solid wood to make sure it'll hold the weight of the tanks.

 

Since I cut the depth of the stand down to 18", I was able to use 2 additional standard 18" pre-finished cabinet doors as side panels to match the front, instead of having the fake light-wood laminate of the cabinet walls show.

 

The top of the stand is a 1-1/2" laminated countertop from IKEA. Now that I have the stand reinforced, weight should be no problem. The stand is also on 4" adjustable legs, hidden behind a matching plinth. This will let me level the stand exactly, and I can just pop the plinth off to clean up under the stand in case of spills.

 

View of the stand with the tank set on top. The box in the tank has the overflow/return kits from glass-holes.com.

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Another view of the tank/stand.

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Mr. Aqua 25G cube. Overall, I'm happy with the way it looks. The glass seems pretty thin, though. I'll have to be really careful when drilling and when placing rock. I don't think it'd take much to crack it, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm slightly concerned with the silicone job along the inside bottom joints. It looks like there are some gaps here and there. I'll try to get some pics.

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Inside the stand, showing the Mr. Aqua 7.5G cube sump. Door is mounted using 153 degree hinges, so access is good even though the cabinet is narrow. Boxes for the return pump and skimmer, and the Jager heater stored inside the tank.

 

The area below the shelf is for a 2.5gal square bottle I got for an ATO reservoir. Now that I have the shelf in there, I'm not too excited about the clearance above the sump tank. It's going to make maintenance/cleaning difficult, I think, so I'm considering taking out the shelf so the sump can sit on the bottom of the stand. Then I can either put a smaller shelf or brackets in above the sump to hold the ATO bottle which I can remove during maintenance, or I can plumb the reservoir remotely outside the stand. Thoughts?

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Finally, the pile of stuff for the build on the kitchen table my wife is currently tolerating (barely). The joys of DIY inside a Chicago apartment...

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Next steps:

1. Decide what I want to do with the shelf inside the stand. Remove it if necessary.

2. Add some cross-bracing across the back wall of the stand. My DIY light fixture will be supported by an aluminum pipe anchored to the back of the stand and extending up behind the back of the tank, and I need something solid to attach the anchors to. Also need some access holes to run the plumping through. I'll be using black flex PVC tube for the lines, so placement can be fairly flexible.

3. Drill the tank and work out the plumbing. Also need to decide if I should paint the back of the tank. What do you guys think? I'm going to try to keep the plumbing really clean and simple back there, and the wall the tank sits against is dark, but should I paint anyway?

 

As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

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That stand looks mighty wicked. In light of myself having the same tank, with the same glass-holes overflow and return drilling kit, i think i'll be following this thread to see how it goes.

 

I'm with you on how surprising it was that the glass wasn't all that thick on the cube, but i've seen a couple people with this tank set up already, and they say it's holding up perfectly, and they haven't had any problems with it.. yet. So we'll see about that in the future i guess. Also, aside from silicone job on the bottom corners you mentioned in your earlier post, what do you think about the overall setup of the tank? Personally.. i think it's much better than i was expecting. For 100$ shipped.. you really can't expect it to be perfect, but i feel that it fell really close to just that. On my tank, all the silicone is even and neat, and the panels are all aligned quite well.

 

Also, if i may throw in some two cents completely irrelevant from the tank.. when drilling for the return, i would advise drilling as close to the water line as possible, this way, when the return pump shuts off(for any reason) you will have minimal water flowback in to the sump. I was going to drill the return in the middle of the tank, but soon found out that would have been a dreadful idea, unless you have your own method of breaking the siphon when the pump goes out. But drilling the return up top very close to the water line is a much easier way, and gives more peace of mind. Just in case you didn't already know.. lol.

 

I'm drilling the tank today actually, so i'll come back with a couple pictures and some experience to let you know how it went.. if you haven't already drilled it by then lol. Hope it all goes well.. :s

 

Anyways, looking forward to more updates! Also, since you'll probably be getting the MP10 before me(since i has no job, lol), be sure to post what it's like with that powerhead in the cube, because i really want to get one, but if it's too much flow, or whatever, then i may consider not getting it.

 

Also, about the plumbing, it could be preference or whatever you want to call it, but in my head, i would advise against using black pvc tubing.. only because you won't be able to see what's going on inside the tubes if something happens to clog it. I know people use white opaque PVC piping on their tanks, but i think that's a bad idea also since you can't see inside if something happens to get clogged. Idk.. maybe they've figured a way to eliminate clogs from ever happening.. but i don't know about it lol. I'll be using regular clear PVC tubing.. just incase anything does get clogged i'll know where it's at. I know that they have bulkhead strainers which keeps mostly everything out of the plumbing, but i'm sure that strainer will get caked with crud.. so cleaning it would be inevitable. Just some things to think about i guess..

 

Also, I think painting the tank might be a good idea, because even though the back wall is dark, and the plumbing you intend to use is black as well, when the lights to the tank go on, you'll probably have some stray light, which could light up the backwall, and then all the plumbing and wires will be visible. Just another thing to consider. I'll be painting the back on my tank black. I hate seeing wires in the back of the tank, and my wall is a gray ash color, so wires would definitely be visible.

 

Peace!

-Zer0

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That stand looks mighty wicked. In light of myself having the same tank, with the same glass-holes overflow and return drilling kit, i think i'll be following this thread to see how it goes.

 

Thanks for following along! Keep me posted on how your setup goes. Are you planning a thread?

 

About the Mr. Aqua tank: Overall, I think it looks great for the money. At that price it's hard to argue about a few imperfections. As long as it holds up, I'll be happy. I also have the 7.5G cube, and the silicone job on it seems to be much cleaner. I did a water test with the 7.5G by filling it with tap water to within 1/4" of the top and it held up for two days with no leaks or anything, so I think that tank is solid. I haven't tested the 25G tank yet, but I'm planning on it before I drill in case I have to send it back.

 

I'm thinking of drilling the overflow towards one side of the back wall, and the return towards the other. This should leave room for the light fixture support tube to come up dead-center behind the tank. I'm planning on running all the wires for the light fixture down through the tube, and may try to run the powerhead cord through it, too, so no wires will be visible at all. This may or may not be possible, as I'll probably have to dismantle the powerhead to detach the wire or chop off the wall plug to get the wire fed into the tube. We'll see.

 

I've heard that clear pvc tube can grow algae in it since it doesn't block out any light, but I do like your suggestion about being able to see any blockages.... May have to think about that one. Also, the light-spillage issue through a non-painted back wasn't something I'd thought about. So many decisions...

 

Keep me posted on your build. Thanks!

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That stand is awesome. Definitely the coolest looking one ive ever seen...

 

Thanks! Always nice to get a compliment.

 

Andrew's toys and Daddy's toys.

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Yep, definitely a few things to think about. I also agree that the clear tubes would most likely grow algae.. i think that's pretty inevitable.. so i may have to rethink my strategy on that one as well. Maybe black flex tubing would be cool.. and if any blockages happen i guess i could shut the tank down for a little to inspect the tubes a little closer.. maybe try and feel around it to see if i can find the clog by putting pressure on the tube.. hmm.. not sure. I also am planning to do the drilling exactly the way you are as well. Overflow will be in the furthermost top left corner.. and my return will be in the furthermost top right corner. Just seems cleaner that way, you know, eliminate as much clutter in the tank as possible. I'm just really excited because i've never done a sump before.. but i've heard so many good things about having one. Being able to keep heaters out of the tank, and skimmers off the back lol.. plus the fuge i built in to the sump. I think it's going to be pretty sweet.

 

Also, just as another piece of info, i water tested my cube and it held w/o any leaks or anything for a day. So i can say on my side at least that it seems pretty solid, but you'll have to experience it for yourself.

 

As for a build thread.. err.. i'm not one to keep track of all my building lol.. but i will possibly make a thread on the tank, once there is water circulating through it and my cycle is about to start. Everything before that is.. well.. pretty boring imo lol. My stand was a DIY from scratch.. just used some 2x4's and some thin plywood as a skirt to cover it all around. And i never painted it.. lol.. so it looks kinda bland. But anyways.. maybe i'll make a thread.. who knows. :P

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My stuff from the BRS group buy showed up yesterday, along with an order I placed at Marine Depot and another from US Plastics. Now sitting in my office next to my desk:

 

From US Plastics:

2 2.5 gal square jugs (for the ATO reservoir, and a backup)

2 5 gallon buckets (for mixing ASW and water changes)

 

From Marine Depot:

6 feet of 1" black PVC flex tubing

6 feet of 1/2" black PVC flex tubing (which is actually grey, not black, which kinda ticks me off)

Misc test kits

Refractometer

Aqualifter pump for ATO

JBJ ATO controller

 

From BRS:

RO/DI unit

Carbon Reactor

Carbon and GFO media

Maxi-Jet 900 for the reactor

2-part Dosing Kit

 

A few thoughts on this "Christmas in April":

 

1. I seriously underestimated the size of the carbon reactor. There's no way it'll fit under the stand, so I'll either need to hold off on it, or start thinking about another cabinet I can put next to the stand to run the reactor remotely. This might not be a bad idea anyway, as I'm going to need somewhere to store all the test kits, jars of media and chemicals, and miscellaneous equipment I'm accumulating.

 

2. Mail and UPS delivery to my condo is sketchy (actually the delivery is fine, it's the neighborhood that's sketchy. Things have a way of "wandering off" if they're left unattended) so I have everything delivered to my office. Now I have to figure out how to get all this stuff home on the bus. Do you think anyone would say something if I got on a city bus toting 6 cannisters of white powder?

 

3. With this delivery, I should finally be done buying stuff! Well, except for one more trip to Home Depot for PVC fittings and cement. And I still have to get salt mix. And some sand. And live rock. And a cleanup crew. And some fish. And coral. And one more powerhead. But after that, I'm DONE!

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Thought I would tag along. Looks like an awesome build so far and i've been thinking about upgrading to a 25g cube as soon as I settle down and quite moving. Until then it's just going to be the easily portable 6 gallon. Keep up the good work i'm really enjoying seeing how you bring things together.

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I didn't have a whole lot of time over the weekend to work on the build, but I did make a little progress. I managed to get the tank drilled for the overflow and return lines, and built a GFCI outlet box to mount inside the stand.

 

Drilling the tank went surprisingly well. Using kits from glass-holes.com, there we no real surprises even though this was my first attempt at drilling a tank. Here's the tank:

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Tank with the overflow template in place.

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After starting the hole using the template, I removed it and build a dam around the hole using plumber's putty. Then I could flood the area with water to keep the bit cool.

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The final result.

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Tank with the overflow box in place.

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I repeated the process for the return line. The kit for the return didn't have a template included, so I drilled a hole through the fiberboard template included with the overflow kit to use with the smaller hole saw. I didn't have a hole saw of the correct size, so I just used the glass saw itself. In retrospect, this probably wasn't the best move. Particles from the fiberboard clogged up the diamond cutting surface of the holesaw, and I had to clean it out using water and a toothbrush. In the end, it worked just fine, though.

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The hole for the return. There was a bit more chip-out around this hole than there was around the larger one. I'm not sure if that's because the hole was smaller, or if I went to fast or too slow. In either case, the gasket for the bulkhead completely covers the chip-out area, so I think it's fine.

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Final result with both the overflow and return bulkhead installed.

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Here's the GFCI outlet box I built to go inside the stand. I wanted at least two separate outlets, so if something were to trip one of them the other would still be up and running. I also have two outlets near where the tank will be located that are on different circuits in my condo, so I wanted two cords out of the outlet box. This means I can run one GFCI from each of two separate house circuits, which will help balance the load of the system across two separate 15amp circuits and reduce the possibility that having a breaker trip on one circuit will shut down the entire system.

 

Parts for the GFCI outlet box. I used two replacement appliance cords I found at a local Ace Hardware, which have a 3-prong plug at one end and bare wire at the other. This way, everything was already color-coded, and I didn't have to cannibalize a standard extension cord and worry about stripping wires, or have to wire up a plug myself.

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Outlets wired up. The power cables run through clamps to provide strain relief.

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Box assembled.

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I also had some time to work on the stand itself. I removed the shelf in the middle of the stand, since I decided having it in there wouldn't leave me enough room over the sump tank to work. I also got the GFCI outlet box mounted inside the stand, along with two power strips. I'll post more photos of the stand in progress tonight.

 

Thanks!

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Hahahaha! Excellent! I'm glad everything went well! Great drilling job and that's pretty much exactly how mine looks.. if not exactly the same. Placement of the overflow and all. And yeah.. i noticed as well how a return kit template was not included so i trapped 'em in a vice and then drilled a hole through it with the 1/2" hole saw just like you did haha. Worked really well too.

 

Good job dude. Looking forward to seeing more updates.

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Hahahaha! Excellent! I'm glad everything went well!

 

Thanks, Zer0. The drilling locations seemed pretty logical. I want to keep the back of the tank free of algae, so I put the overflow box as far to the left as I could, leaving what I think is enough space to get a razor blade between it and the side wall. I put the return hole as far up as I could while leaving enough room for the bulkhead. I was nervous about drilling a hole too close to the top edge of the tank wall, but in retrospect I could have probably moved it up another half-inch or so.

 

In any case, I think it'll work out. How's your build coming? Any photos?

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In my considerable downtime between building sessions, I've been thinking about the stock list for this tank. I'm shooting for a mixed reef, and I'd appreciate any feedback/comments on what I have outlined below. I'm keeping in mind that all these items will need to be added slowly, so it may take six month to a year to get everything into the tank, but here are my initial thoughts/wants:

 

Fish:

Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish

Pair of Firefish

Orange Spotted Goby

Either 1 Catalina Goby OR 1 Hi-Fin Red Banded Goby

 

Inverts:

Tiger Shrimp (hopefully to pair with OSG)

Spotted Porcelain Crab

Reefcleaners.org Cleanup Crew

 

Corals:

Mixed Acropora

Mixed Montipora

Mixed Zoanthids

Small Frogspawn or Hammer Coral

 

Macro:

Chaeto in sump/refugium.

 

My thoughts/concerns:

 

1. Six fish might be a bit much for a 25G system, though all the fish will be pretty small, even at maturity. If I go with the complete list, I'm looking at a maximum of about 18.5" of full-grown fish (according to the liveaquaria.com website). I figure the complete system will have about 27-29 gallons of water in it, once the displacement of the substrate, rock and equipment is accounted for. However, I will be running a decent skimmer, and have a carbon/GFO reactor I can plumb into the system if needed. Coupled with weekly water changes, should this be doable, or am I asking for trouble?

 

2. Will a Catalina or Red-Banded Goby be ok with the Orange Spotted? From what I've been able to gather, these species should leave each other alone, provided they have enough room to maneuver.

 

3. Will a Spotted Porcelain Crab bother the Tiger Shimp, or vice-versa?

 

4. Anyone know where you can get a pre-mated pair of firefish?

 

Anyone care to chime in? See anything that is a definite no-go, or something awesome I should consider instead?

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Well, no photos for me because my cam is pretty whack.. but i'm sure i'll be able to start a thread soon enough.

 

Anyways, i think your stock list looks good. Only, as you said yourself, six fish might be a little too many, but in my honest opinion i really don't think it will be that much considering you have a sump which adds more water volume, which means better water quality, and the fact that the fish you're choosing don't get very large in their maturity.

 

A couple things. First, i would get rid of one firefish, and instead of having a pair.. just keep it to one. Because even with a sump and small fish.. six fish is still six fish.

 

Second, i would advise against getting a catalina goby. Yep, they're very cool looking but they happen to be a coldwater species, not tropical. Due to the change in temperatures, the catalina goby will slowly die, and its life span will be severely cut short, rather than if they were living in a coldwater aquarium. Just a FYI. I've seen the catalinas in tropical tanks.. but they never last very long.

 

The porcelain crab and the tiger pistol will get a long just fine. No aggression towards either. However.. if the crab decides to trek down in to the tiger pistols cave/home.. there may be a fish to the death unless the crab backs off. But that goes for pretty much any invert/inhabitant you will have in the tank that decides to go in to the shrimps cave.

 

As for the pair of firefish, if you decide to do that, try liveaquaria.com and go in to their WYSIWYG section of fish, and i'm pretty sure they have a firefish mated pair for sale. Only thing is.. i'm pretty sure it's a buttload of money. Somewhere around 250$ for the two fish.

 

I think the rest of your list sounds great.

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A couple things. First, i would get rid of one firefish, and instead of having a pair.. just keep it to one. Because even with a sump and small fish.. six fish is still six fish.

 

Second, i would advise against getting a catalina goby.

 

Good call on the Catalina. I totally missed the temperature requirement for them, so Hi-Fin Goby it is. I'm also fine limiting myself to a single firefish if need be.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

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Coming along nicely, excellent work.

 

Inches per gallon is an outdated and pretty useless rule for stocking an aquarium. An active three inch fish adds more bioload than a sedentary three inch fish. A messy eater adds more load than a fish with better table manners. A four inch fish adds more than double the load when comapred to a two inch fish of the same type (it has about eight times the mass)........

 

That's a lot of fish in my opinion, especially considering the water conditions you will need to maintain for many Acropora. Whatever fish you choose, make sure to pay attention to possible aggression as well as bioload.

 

If your not running the reactor, any other plans for running some chemical filtration and/or mechanical filtration?

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Inches per gallon is an outdated and pretty useless rule for stocking an aquarium.

It's funny, the first time I started into this hobby, which was about 9 years ago, I remember the "inches per gallon" rule being a big thing. But then again, Caulerpa was THE macro algae to have, and bristle worms were aquarium enemy #1. A lot has changed since then, I guess.

 

That's a lot of fish in my opinion, especially considering the water conditions you will need to maintain for many Acropora. Whatever fish you choose, make sure to pay attention to possible aggression as well as bioload.

 

If your not running the reactor, any other plans for running some chemical filtration and/or mechanical filtration?

I think it's probably a pretty high load, too. My plan is to go really slow when adding livestock, and see how the tank reacts. If I have to skip the firefish or the goby, so be it. I'll be adding the CUC first as the cycle draws to a close, followed by the clowns. The others can be be added over the course of several months, along with the corals.

 

I'd still like to run the reactor, but it's going to take some extra planning and might be a post-startup addition. The reactor is big, and there's no way it'll fit inside the stand itself. The idea of mounting the reactor on the outside of the stand is a no-go, either, so what I may end up doing is getting a small matching cabinet to go next to the display stand that I can put the reactor in and plumb into the system remotely. I'm looking at something like this from IKEA, which would match the DT stand.

 

If this secondary cabinet is large enough, I may add bigger sump than the 7.5G I'm currently working with, or possibly a dedicated fuge, also plumbed remotely. This should have the effect of upping the system's water volume, and adding more filtration.

 

Needless to say, this option is down the road a bit as I'm already deep in the money pit. I want to get the tank up and running, and if the bioload gets to the point where I need carbon/gfo or a fuge, I'll add the second cabinet.

 

For mechanical filtration in the meantime, I think I can run carbon in a filter sock in the sump if necessary. I'm thinking about splitting my drain line from the DT into two lines, one with a ball valve. I can add the sock to the outflow of that line, so that I can run carbon when it's necessary, but can shut it off when it's not.

 

Awesome setup cant wait to see the final product

 

Thanks!

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