Background
I began keeping aquariums when I was 10 years old like most of us! When I was 15 years old, my birthday gift was scuba certification! I grew up on the south Texas coast so the beach and water was ALWAYS in my blood. My first checkout dive on an abandoned oil rig was something I will NEVER forget.
Through the years, marrigage, kids, jobs and moves, reef keeping was ALWAYS on my mind as the ultimate goal. I tried to make it work many times over, but life tends to get in the way of that! Fast forward to 2022, I jumped head first into the high-tech planted freshwater tank as an "intro" into the high tech aquarium world. I had been keeping African Cichlids for years prior, but that was pretty simple. My family and I had moved to the Pacific NW a couple of years prior and I finally was able to jump head-first into the hobby.
First "Legit" Aquarium
In June 2022, I purchased a Waterbox 4820 Clear (BUILD THREAD). It is a 72g high-tech tank with T5 lighting, CO2 injection and auto fert dosing. It has had it's ups and downs, and everything in between. It's now at a point of being somewhat "autopilot".
Second "Legit" Aquarium
In February 2024, I purchased my 2nd 'legit' aquarium, a UNS 60U (BUILD THREAD). This is a 20g ADA inspired nature aquarium that is in my home office. It has all of the bells and whistles that a high-tech freshwater tank has and sits ~4 feet away from the new nano reef, but it still didn't quite calm the 'itis'.
THIRD *MY WIFE IN MY EAR what the heck DO YOU NEED A 3RD AQUARIUM FOR* "First!!!!!!" Reef Tank
I finally bit the bullet and re-purposed a 7g 12"x12"x12" cube I purchase a few years ago and converted it into my first real reef - albeit on the smaller side!
Equipment
Tank: 7g Tideline 12"x12"x12" Cube
Filtration: Seachem Tidal 35 (Added nano chemipure elite)
Lighting: Kessil a80 w/ Spectral Controller
Pumps/Flow: Jebao SLW-10
Temp Control: Hygger 100W w/ Integrated Temp. Control
pH Monitor: Milwaukee MC122 (Not sure if I 100% need this as the pH reading is ALL OVER THE PLACE. I think the CO2 injection in the 20g next to this is really throwing this off - more to come on that)
ATO: Amazon optical sensor w/ 5g RODI jug
Electrical Control: ALL critical equipment (flow/temp) is connected via Enbrighten programmable plubs
RODI: 5 stage w/ dual DI
Water Storage: All 3 tanks are on RODI water from a 20g storage container w/ float in my office closet connected via pump. The 20g has Caridina shrimp in it w/ specific gH/kH requirements. All 3 tanks have 5g RODI ATO. None of the storage RODI is cross contaminated.
Current Salt: Fritz Red-Line High Alk
Livestock
Hardscape
~25 lbs fully cured/cycled liverock from my LFS
~5 lbs aragonite
Fish
2x Oscellaris Clowns
1x Lawnmower Blenny
Hermit Crabs/Snails
Corals (5/23/24)
WWC Soloman Hairy Leather
WWC Fireworks Clove Polyps
TBD Star Polyps
Red Hornet Zoanthids
Jungle Juice Zoanthids
Tubbs Stellata Montipora
Green Hirsuta Montipora
Forest Fire Monitpora Digitata
TBD Stylophora (LFS Didn't know exact)
Twilight Merletti Blastomussa
Tyree Fire Echino Chalice
WWC Frank Zappa Platygyra
WWC Rajun Cajun Echinata
UFO Aussie Lord
WWC Butterscotch Cyphastrea
Flame Tongue Micro Goniopora KIA (MAY 2024)
WWC Electrified Goniopora
TBD Golden Hammer
TBD Green/Blue Tip Hammer
TBD Red/Green Blasto
Neon Green Nepthea Leather
Purple/Green Tip Torch KIA (MAY 2024)
TBD Neon Green Chalice
TBD Red/Green Favites
Up to this point, the tank completed a quick cycle over ~3 weeks due to the already cured live rock. I'm doing a 3g water change every week and have had what I think is decent success at stability. The tank is going on ~6 weeks old. Here are the numbers as of 5/12 based off Salifert tests:
I'm feeding the clowns an extremely small pinch of Hikari Marine S twice a day, and the lawnmower blenny keeps himself very occupied in cleaning up algae.
Thanks for looking! Here are some pictures as the tank cycled and up to now.
I began keeping aquariums when I was 10 years old like most of us! When I was 15 years old, my birthday gift was scuba certification! I grew up on the south Texas coast so the beach and water was ALWAYS in my blood. My first checkout dive on an abandoned oil rig was something I will NEVER forget.
Through the years, marrigage, kids, jobs and moves, reef keeping was ALWAYS on my mind as the ultimate goal. I tried to make it work many times over, but life tends to get in the way of that! Fast forward to 2022, I jumped head first into the high-tech planted freshwater tank as an "intro" into the high tech aquarium world. I had been keeping African Cichlids for years prior, but that was pretty simple. My family and I had moved to the Pacific NW a couple of years prior and I finally was able to jump head-first into the hobby.
First "Legit" Aquarium
In June 2022, I purchased a Waterbox 4820 Clear (BUILD THREAD). It is a 72g high-tech tank with T5 lighting, CO2 injection and auto fert dosing. It has had it's ups and downs, and everything in between. It's now at a point of being somewhat "autopilot".
Second "Legit" Aquarium
In February 2024, I purchased my 2nd 'legit' aquarium, a UNS 60U (BUILD THREAD). This is a 20g ADA inspired nature aquarium that is in my home office. It has all of the bells and whistles that a high-tech freshwater tank has and sits ~4 feet away from the new nano reef, but it still didn't quite calm the 'itis'.
THIRD *MY WIFE IN MY EAR what the heck DO YOU NEED A 3RD AQUARIUM FOR* "First!!!!!!" Reef Tank
I finally bit the bullet and re-purposed a 7g 12"x12"x12" cube I purchase a few years ago and converted it into my first real reef - albeit on the smaller side!
Equipment
Tank: 7g Tideline 12"x12"x12" Cube
Filtration: Seachem Tidal 35 (Added nano chemipure elite)
Lighting: Kessil a80 w/ Spectral Controller
Pumps/Flow: Jebao SLW-10
Temp Control: Hygger 100W w/ Integrated Temp. Control
pH Monitor: Milwaukee MC122 (Not sure if I 100% need this as the pH reading is ALL OVER THE PLACE. I think the CO2 injection in the 20g next to this is really throwing this off - more to come on that)
ATO: Amazon optical sensor w/ 5g RODI jug
Electrical Control: ALL critical equipment (flow/temp) is connected via Enbrighten programmable plubs
RODI: 5 stage w/ dual DI
Water Storage: All 3 tanks are on RODI water from a 20g storage container w/ float in my office closet connected via pump. The 20g has Caridina shrimp in it w/ specific gH/kH requirements. All 3 tanks have 5g RODI ATO. None of the storage RODI is cross contaminated.
Current Salt: Fritz Red-Line High Alk
Livestock
Hardscape
~25 lbs fully cured/cycled liverock from my LFS
~5 lbs aragonite
Fish
2x Oscellaris Clowns
1x Lawnmower Blenny
Hermit Crabs/Snails
Corals (5/23/24)
WWC Soloman Hairy Leather
WWC Fireworks Clove Polyps
TBD Star Polyps
Red Hornet Zoanthids
Jungle Juice Zoanthids
Tubbs Stellata Montipora
Green Hirsuta Montipora
Forest Fire Monitpora Digitata
TBD Stylophora (LFS Didn't know exact)
Twilight Merletti Blastomussa
Tyree Fire Echino Chalice
WWC Frank Zappa Platygyra
WWC Rajun Cajun Echinata
UFO Aussie Lord
WWC Butterscotch Cyphastrea
WWC Electrified Goniopora
TBD Golden Hammer
TBD Green/Blue Tip Hammer
TBD Red/Green Blasto
Neon Green Nepthea Leather
TBD Neon Green Chalice
TBD Red/Green Favites
Up to this point, the tank completed a quick cycle over ~3 weeks due to the already cured live rock. I'm doing a 3g water change every week and have had what I think is decent success at stability. The tank is going on ~6 weeks old. Here are the numbers as of 5/12 based off Salifert tests:
| Date | pH | Alkalinity (dKh) | Nitrate (ppm) | Phosphate (ppm) | Calcium (ppm) | Magnesium (ppm) |
| 5/12/24 | 8 | 12.1 | 15 | 0.1 - 0.25 | 415 | 1400 |
I'm feeding the clowns an extremely small pinch of Hikari Marine S twice a day, and the lawnmower blenny keeps himself very occupied in cleaning up algae.
Thanks for looking! Here are some pictures as the tank cycled and up to now.
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