acrapp Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Hi all, After months of research and a quick pull of the trigger, I've decided to take the plunge into saltwater . I've kept African cichlids for years, and have always wanted to give reefing a shot. So here we go... Equipment List Red Sea Reefer Nano (28g; 21g in display, 7g in sump) Lighting: Kessil A360W Tuna Blue (w/ Kessil Spectral Controller)Circulation: Vortech MP10QDReturn Pump: some piece of garbage that sounds like an Apollo launch... on the replacement listSkimmer: Aquamaxx WS-1 in-sump (has been off for the cycle) Heater: Cobalt neo-therm 100wATO: Included gravity-fed ATO Secondary ATO: Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 (topping off the tiny 1.2g Red Sea reservoir) Secondary reservoir: Trigger Systems Ruby 5g RODI: 6-stage BRS Salt: Aquaforest (picking up a tub of Red Sea Coral Pro this week) Sand: Pink Fiji Arag-Alive Rock: Reef Cleaners dry Test Kits: Red Sea Marine Care (NH3/NH4, NO3, NO2, pH, KH)... for now... At some point, I'd love to add an Apex . But, considering I'm new to this, my game plan has been to buy nice equipment (not including the return pump..), and add the bells and whistles down the road once I have this thing under my belt a bit. In terms of lifestock, I haven't made any decisions yet. I'm thinking some combination of... a clown, royal gramma, red firefish, yellow watchman. Any suggestions? For coral, I'm looking to keep it simple (but I'll install a dosing system at some point). Softies, zoas and LPS. I'm a good month into my cycle, which appears to be about complete. I kickstarted with Dr. Tim's One & Only, plus Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride solution (spiked ammonia twice, and steadily dosing just a few drops per day). Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0-.02 Nitrate: ~30 pH: 8.2 Salinity: 1.026 Getting ready to do a big water change, test for a few more days to make sure it's stable, then in goes the CUC! Feedback, tips, words of wisdom are all welcome! Here are a couple of shots from the build so far... Let's get to work... The final(ish) product... Post leak test, ready to get wet... And we're wet... Obligatory sump shot... Wired up some LEDs from Amazon to a switch on the back... This will make life much easier.. Here's a shot of the secondary ATO (topping off the stock Reefer ATO... which is tiny). And yes, I have some cable clean-up yet to do... More to come! Link to comment
thomas8man Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 looks great thinking for getting myself a red sea set-up from my 40 gallon tank. Link to comment
TristanC Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Love the equipment list, love the aquascape, excellent job. I'll be following. Link to comment
acrapp Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 looks great thinking for getting myself a red sea set-up from my 40 gallon tank. With the exception of the shotglass-sized reservoir that comes stock (was refilling it every 2 days), I have 0 complaints about this thing. Link to comment
acrapp Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Love the equipment list, love the aquascape, excellent job. I'll be following. Thank Tristan! I noticed in your build thread you're using the Sicce Syncra 2 return pump. How's it working out for you? Is it quiet? I need to replace the piece of junk I have asap... Link to comment
TristanC Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Thank Tristan! I noticed in your build thread you're using the Sicce Syncra 2 return pump. How's it working out for you? Is it quiet? I need to replace the piece of junk I have asap...The sicce is dead silent and is the perfect amount of flow for the tank. With the cabinet door closed I can't even hear it, highly recommended. Link to comment
acrapp Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 The sicce is dead silent and is the perfect amount of flow for the tank. With the cabinet door closed I can't even hear it, highly recommended. Say no more, it's on the way! Link to comment
acrapp Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 You won't be disappointed! The Sicce arrived last week and, man, what a good investment. Much quieter than whatever thing is now collecting dust in my closet. It has been a while since the last update - I have been playing the waiting game. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, with nitrates low (post water change... I upgraded to Coral Pro salt as well). I placed an order with THE snail man (John) at Reef Cleaners and the CUC is getting to work! Can't say enough great things about John - both the rock and CUC came from Reef Cleaners. He has a lifelong customer. I have a carbon/phosphate reactor on the way. Later this week, I'll be adding the first fish! Any suggestions? Here's what I'm looking at as far as stocking (probably in this order, but tell me if I may be off the rails...) Red Firefish (May sub for a Yellow Watchman) Royal Gramma True Percula Clown Pistol Shrimp Does this look like too big of a bioload for my 21g cube? Ideally, I'd love both the yellow watchman and the firefish, but I'm thinking that might be pushing it... Looking to start with some softies in the next few weeks as well. Would love any thoughts or suggestions... A few pics below - more to come! My snails need to cut the funny business and start eating algae. Eggs on day 2 in the tank. FTS 6/6 - trying to keep the first algae outbreak at bay. Apparently I now need to invest in a better camera Link to comment
VstyLe09 Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Nice, I've been looking into upgrading to a Red Sea already.. I'm only 6 weeks into the fusion 10 lol Link to comment
acrapp Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 Nice, I've been looking into upgrading to a Red Sea already.. I'm only 6 weeks into the fusion 10 lol The IM10s are great... You could always use it as a QT tank if you upgrade! Link to comment
TristanC Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I'm glad you're digging the sicce! I have to say I love your rock work, this tank is going to be so awesome. Link to comment
acrapp Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 I'm glad you're digging the sicce! I have to say I love your rock work, this tank is going to be so awesome. Thanks for the vote of confidence... let's hope I don't blow it Link to comment
TristanC Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Thanks for the vote of confidence... let's hope I don't blow it Haha I have faith! Our tanks will be close to the same age, I get my live rock tomorrow!! Link to comment
mtmurphy85 Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 What fittings are you using to connect the sicce to he stock return pipe since they are 3/4 and 5/8 respectively Link to comment
HuyHa114 Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 How are you liking that skimmer? I was thinking of getting it for my RSR 170. Link to comment
William Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 How are you liking that skimmer? I was thinking of getting it for my RSR 170. I was about to ask the same question, I was considering the Aquamax CO-1, but if this one works well, i may consider it Link to comment
acrapp Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 I was about to ask the same question, I was considering the Aquamax CO-1, but if this one works well, i may consider it Sorry for going dark for so long. I'll try to make the posts more frequent, and pictures to come (many moves have been made!). You've probably already purchased something, but the skimmer seems to be working pretty well. It's not pulling out much but, at the moment, I only have 2 fish in the tank (a Royal Gramma and a Snowflake Clown, which was just added yesterday) and I keep up with regular water changes. Nitrate has consistently been between 0-5 since the tank cycled (I took my sweet time and added a bunch of coral). I'll post some pictures tomorrow.. Happy New Year! Link to comment
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