Current fav shot of tank:
Firstly a note to wifey: Dear wife, futuretotm is not my account. The monetary amounts I have listed here are inflated and are to throw off the IRS. Also I love you.
Customary: I’ve had a aquarium of sort sincebirth a young age. My dad had a black molly tank in the 90s and it has since progressed from there. Graduated from FW, to planted FW, and now finally marine. When we purchased our home, I had the wife agree to let me have a marine tank in life. I have been researching and learning about marine tanks for the last few years now. Here is a FW planted I used to have during residency.
Tank
For my first tank I wanted something big, for stability and to avoid the cost of upgrades in a few years. In terms of cost a six foot was a bit out of reach, while there were plenty of four foot choices, however the RedSea 450 was an idea tank for the cost. However it was discontinued through my years of planning so I made the switch to the 525xl.
Redsea 525xl – sweet spot for cost vs dimensions
SCA – same cost as above, however the cabinets are bit dated looking, not an easy plug and play (ie plumbing)
Waterbox – 5 foot tank is more expensive than Redsea
Winner: 525xl, woke up one day and checked marine depot to find out that the reefer was on sale! Trigger pulled 2519$
Lights
This one is a PITA, and I still wake up in the middle of the night as to what I should get.
ATI Sunpower T5 was my first choice, good price, excellent track record. However, I got greedy, need shimmer.
Winner: I chose Reef Breeder Photon v2 50” for my 59” tank. I might run two in parallel in the future vs bars on the side. Cost was a big factor here. I am doing well in life, but I just can’t seem to justify the cost of some of these LED units. 715$
Went with Noopsyches k7, four units total, purchased from aquariumlowcost 568$
Skimmer:RSK300 300$ Aquamaxx ConeS CO-2 242$
Return pump: Jebao DCP10000 x2 (one as backup) 100$x2
Heater:Finnex 300W Eheim jager 36$x1
LR:TBS 100 lbs 600$ Salty Bottom 90 lbs 470$
Powerhead:Gyre xf350x2 for 520$ vs Jebao CP150x2 for 220$
Sand: Caribesea special grade
Salt: Instant ocean reef crystals 200g 63$
ATO: autoaqua 210$
AWC: above
ATS: DIY HOB filter ?
Reactor:BRS Dual w sicce 95$ Amazon RO canister DIY 15$each
Controller: Apex el 500$ + Trident 600$
Dosing: Neptune DOS 300$ + Jebao Wifi 80$
UV steril: Lifegaurd25W 220$ 90W 233$
Lidcover:clearview 200ish Redsea DIY lid 85$
Refugium light: Amazon CF grow 100W 35$
Misc:
VCA return line RFG 46$
Under cabinet lights 30$
Brute 44gal x2 45x2
Powerhead for Brutes - Jebao DCP10000 (above)/serves as backup for main return
BRS RODI150gpd w water saver 250 Chloramine special Buckeye hydro 320$
Refractometer hanna digital 70
Cycline additive Microbacter 7 7
Glass cleaner Flipper ½” 37
Test kits: Redsea 57$ for cycling and Nitrates , and Hanna professional
Fish Meds: ?
Coral dips: Bayer ?
Firstly a note to wifey: Dear wife, futuretotm is not my account. The monetary amounts I have listed here are inflated and are to throw off the IRS. Also I love you.
Customary: I’ve had a aquarium of sort since
Tank
For my first tank I wanted something big, for stability and to avoid the cost of upgrades in a few years. In terms of cost a six foot was a bit out of reach, while there were plenty of four foot choices, however the RedSea 450 was an idea tank for the cost. However it was discontinued through my years of planning so I made the switch to the 525xl.
Redsea 525xl – sweet spot for cost vs dimensions
SCA – same cost as above, however the cabinets are bit dated looking, not an easy plug and play (ie plumbing)
Waterbox – 5 foot tank is more expensive than Redsea
Winner: 525xl, woke up one day and checked marine depot to find out that the reefer was on sale! Trigger pulled 2519$
Lights
This one is a PITA, and I still wake up in the middle of the night as to what I should get.
Winner: I chose Reef Breeder Photon v2 50” for my 59” tank. I might run two in parallel in the future vs bars on the side. Cost was a big factor here. I am doing well in life, but I just can’t seem to justify the cost of some of these LED units. 715$
Went with Noopsyches k7, four units total, purchased from aquariumlowcost 568$
Skimmer:
Return pump: Jebao DCP10000 x2 (one as backup) 100$x2
Heater:
LR:
Powerhead:
Sand: Caribesea special grade
Salt: Instant ocean reef crystals 200g 63$
ATO: autoaqua 210$
AWC: above
ATS: DIY HOB filter ?
Reactor:
Controller: Apex el 500$ + Trident 600$
Dosing: Neptune DOS 300$ + Jebao Wifi 80$
UV steril: Lifegaurd
Lidcover:
Refugium light: Amazon CF grow 100W 35$
Misc:
VCA return line RFG 46$
Under cabinet lights 30$
Brute 44gal x2 45x2
Powerhead for Brutes - Jebao DCP10000 (above)/serves as backup for main return
BRS RODI
Refractometer hanna digital 70
Cycline additive Microbacter 7 7
Glass cleaner Flipper ½” 37
Test kits: Redsea 57$ for cycling and Nitrates , and Hanna professional
Fish Meds: ?
Coral dips: Bayer ?
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