Beginner here -- I have this setup (pic inside) and a few questions

[socool111]

So I got this tank installed on August 8th. This is from working with a local reputable shop (+ custom cabinetry from a friend). We have 2 clown fish, and a Royal Gamma Just some questions and opinions I'm looking for.

1) First, how do you think it looks The cabinet came out so well we thought. The only thing was we didn't know that we needed so many mounting points, and we coulda had that all added and ready to go so the wiring could be clean and such below. But regardless we think it looks sweet.

2) Currently the tank is still cycling. We have the lights on for 4 hours a day (UV Light is unplugged for now, and the reef dosers are not on, because obviously not yet ready for live reefs). I was told from reddit that the light should not be used at all at this time. Is this true? I have it on for 4 hours from the advice from the shop I work with. is the shop completely wrong? Is the advice from reddit wrong? Or is it sort of in between, and not a big deal either way and opinions can be split.

3) I have mostly Red Sea products (as you can see), just curious the opinion of this forum on their products. I have following red sea products: Wave maker, Doser, auto-top off, Mat filter, Return pump and Skimmer.

 

[shakacuz]

the reason why people say not to turn the lights on is so you don't encourage algae growth. you can have the lights running at a lower frequency just to viewing pleasure. overall everything looks great, except maybe the cable management but you knew that!

 

[Formulator]

I love it! Beautiful finish on the stand/hood, and I really like your rock scape. Regarding the lights, having them off won’t hurt anything and it is a good strategy for reducing some of the ugly algae that will almost always come with a new tank before you get the good stuff growing.

Red sea makes mostly good products. They are a bit infamous for tank issues, but I’ve had good luck with their accessory products and customer service has been great in my experience.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So I got this tank installed on August 8th. This is from working with a local reputable shop (+ custom cabinetry from a friend). We have 2 clown fish, and a Royal Gamma Just some questions and opinions I'm looking for.

1) First, how do you think it looks The cabinet came out so well we thought. The only thing was we didn't know that we needed so many mounting points, and we coulda had that all added and ready to go so the wiring could be clean and such below. But regardless we think it looks sweet.

2) Currently the tank is still cycling. We have the lights on for 4 hours a day (UV Light is unplugged for now, and the reef dosers are not on, because obviously not yet ready for live reefs). I was told from reddit that the light should not be used at all at this time. Is this true? I have it on for 4 hours from the advice from the shop I work with. is the shop completely wrong? Is the advice from reddit wrong? Or is it sort of in between, and not a big deal either way and opinions can be split.

3) I have mostly Red Sea products (as you can see), just curious the opinion of this forum on their products. I have following red sea products: Wave maker, Doser, auto-top off, Mat filter, Return pump and Skimmer.

Love you tank stand! Just out of curiosity, what else are you wanting to add to your tank?

 

[socool111]

I love it! Beautiful finish on the stand/hood, and I really like your rock scape. Regarding the lights, having them off won’t hurt anything and it is a good strategy for reducing some of the ugly algae that will almost always come with a new tank before you get the good stuff growing.

Red sea makes mostly good products. They are a bit infamous for tank issues, but I’ve had good luck with their accessory products and customer service has been great in my experience.

good! The tank itself is Acrylic and made by a different manufacturer.

It's actually sort of a cautionary tale for people -- All the accessories +lights + installation + Custom cabinetry + custom acrylic tank. Only came out to be ~$900 more than the Red Sea Tank (which as a percent of total cost isn't too bad. Considering how much better it looks than the Red Sea tank).

 

[socool111]

Love you tank stand! Just out of curiosity, what else are you wanting to add to your tank?

Live reef -- and I know NOTHING about what kind. All I know is that we like reef that has movement with the tank (that "wavy" feel), we like colorful, and lights up at night under the light. We also ruled out Anomenies (spelling?), as we hear they can move, and destroy other reefs if you dont move it back. As we go away for a week or so at a time multiple times a year this ruled it out for us (plus clown fish not from the ocean dont even use them most of the time as a home).

We are open to ideas of fish but the current plan is: Diamond Goby (to filter and clean sand), a few shrimps/starfish/snails, a banggai, maybe a wrasse of some kind, definitely one Tang (likely blue)--but we know this one takes a longer time before we can get one.

We want colorful fish, that are mostly or all on the same diet (maybe we are ok if ONE of the fish is "harder", which we hear is true of the Tang) that are all Reef friendly. it's a 77 gallon tank, so we were told we wouldn't want to have more than 6 or 7 total fish in the tank (excluding shrimps and stuff), is that right?

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Tank and stand look great. I've had a red sea skimmer for almost 6 years now and its worked great. I've had my red sea roller matt for 1 year and it also worked well, too well. I ended up shutting it off because I was bottoming out my nutrients. I think red sea products overall are pretty good, minus the actual tank itself (you can look up many threads about redsea tank leaks).

I think you are much better off paying the additional $900 for the acrylic tank. Sure they scratch easier, but the peace of mind knowing I don't have to worry about tank leaks makes it all worth it.

In regards to lighting, I would just turn the lights on now. The ugly stage is going to happen regardless, might as well start it early.