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Well, finally after I had to take my last tank down to move, I'm getting back into the reef game and I am beyond excited! My goal this time around is to make careful, researched decisions rather than just trusting the word of one LFS owner. I had a lot more mistakes that could have been avoided with abit more research. But you live and learn! I got an Evo 13.5 second hand off a local reefer, it's a shame that I pulled the trigger too late for the 365 contest but oh well, I don't need a contest to keep me going with this. Here's the run down: Tank: Evo 13.5 with stock lid while cycling (keep evap down) Lights: Stock while cycling - might see if my old Maxspect Razor 120 W light fixture is still in good shape, it's been in storage for a while though and the lighting tech has advanced alot in 5 years so I might want to look at something new, we'll see though. Return: Stock for now, I want to see how it does/sounds - I'm planning on getting a pair of the VCA random flow generators to replace the stock return nozzles. Filtration: chamber 1 - InTank media basket with just floss on top for now but them chemiclean blue and purigen for the other sections; chamber 2 - TBD, we'll see what I need; chamber 3 - return, heater, ATO ATO: Probably won't need while running the stock lid as I've read evap stays very low but when I ditch the stock lid, I think I'll go with either AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro or the Tunze Nano Osmolator. Tell me, which is your fave? Heater: Hydor 50W Additional flow: I've got an old Hydor Koralia nano 240 from my old build that I can use if I need it Rock: Starting dry this time. I want to see how it goes as I did live rock the first time around and it was COVERED in nuisance algae Sand: CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Salt: Red Sea Coral Pro salt Mix Stocking: a pair of clowns, maybe a lil something else like a green banded goby or a pink streaked wrasse. We'll have to see what is available I think that's all the core things... I'm probably forgetting something! I've leak tested the tank, all good there! Got rid of the black honey comb around the top of the tank, I wanted it clean. Pain to do but worth it in the long run. Now I'm playing with rock scapes while I'm trying to get the right fitting to hook my RoDi unit to my shower (got the wrong one and with isolation, shipping says what I think will be the right fitting won't arrive until mid May at the earliest.... MUST FIND WATER! lol Anyways, here are some pictures of the scape I'm thinking of. Send me your feedback, the good and the bad. This is V2. V1 was scrapped when a local reefer looked at the pics and thought there weren't enough hidey holes.

Hello all, Been up and running full less than 24hours Finally have tank up red sea reefer 170 display 34g sump 9g reef saver dry rock Ocean direct sand approx. 1-1.5 in protein skimmer Bubble magus curve 5 (running as per reef mature pro instructions) Question; So today is going to be DAY ONE for reef mature pro kit. Instructions to let run for 24 hours stabilize SG and temp. Says to run lights 10 hours per day. All most everything I have read says leave lights off during the cycle. So why do they recommend 10 hour of lights? Is for the "coralline gro" part of the program? I was planning on not doing H coralline gro. I want to avoid coralline algae and non has been introduced. If not doing Coraline Gro should the lights be left off?