c4haskett
Active Member
I guess it's time to document my journey/current build. Before I jump into where I am now, I'd like to take a minute to explain my series of unfortunate events as to what got me to set up my current 13.5 system. I've been in the hobby now for around 3 years. I started with a prostar 90 which is a 65 gallon display and 20 gallon sump. I bought all new equipment which consisted mainly of Ecotech, A.I and Reef Octopus. Like most reefers, especially impatient ones like myself, I had a lot of ups and A LOT of downs. Near the end I was finally getting the hang of it and taking things slow. Corals started growing and things were going well. One day I brought home a nice aussie gold torch and within 24 hours it started RTN'ing and it looked like BJD was taking over. That ended up spreading to my other Euphyllia and with a few days I'd lost roughly 15 pieces. I was bummed but determined to chug forward. Well a couple weeks later as I was in the kitchen cooking, I looked in my living room to see smoke near the ceiling and a second later I saw blueish/green sparks emitting from behind my tank. I knew immidiately what was happening and rushed to flip the breaker. I ran back to the tank to see my surge protector, floor and wall on fire. Luckily I caught it in time and was able to rip the cords out of the wall and throw everything in the yard and put out what was left on the floor and wall. It turned out to be very minor because I just so happend to be home to catch it and the family was outside talking to a neighbor. After accessing the damage and having the fire department clear everything, I tried moving outlet locations and turning things back on. NOTHING was working. In a split decision I decided to remove all livestock and transport them to a friends for safe keeping. I ended up breaking down the entire tank, cleaning all the equipment and storing things away. I never found out why nothing was working because besides a few cords, everything seemed to be in working order. We are also in the process of trying to by our first house, so I decided not to set the big system back up until we move. That lasted a couple weeks before I started missing the hobby. I had to get something!! I went on Marketplace and ended up scoring a never used 13.5 evo, kraken lid and intank media baskets for 200 bucks. I wanted something to look at and and tinker with and this was perfect until we find a house. It's small enough I can drain a few gallons, pick it up, throw it in the truck and move it. The new tank has been going for around 4 months now. I added most of my corals back (what was left) and a couple of my fish. I ended up leaving several fish at my friends until we move due to the small tank.
The current set up is:
Tank: Evo 13.5
Wavemaker: Jebao SLW-10
Return: Sicce 1.0
Light: Radion XR15 (May switch back to Kessil A360x.
Controller: Hydros, which is controlling temp and ATO as well as having it control everything else.
Filtration: In-Tank Media baskets with marine pure gems, carbon, phosguard.
Jebao Wifi Doser: Kalkwasser
Salt: RC but once that runs out im switching to ESV due to price increase of Reef Crystals.
RODI: BRS 7 Stage (fully automated)
Refractometer: Veegee
Testing: Salifert for everything
Livestock:
2 Snowflake Clowns
1 Yellow Goby and Pistol Shrimp Pair
Assorted hermits
Conch
The intial cycle went great as I started with one live rock and live marine pure gems. No hiccups as of yet minus a few aptasia. The hardest thing about this tank so far is salinity. I've noticed that flow throughout the rear chambers tends to change due to clogged filters/deritus buildup and drops the water level in the return chamber causing my ATO to refill more than whats needed. This throws my salinity off and fills the tank quite high. I'm currently trying to remedy this problem.
Whenever the housing market allows us to purchase a home, I'll use this thread to rebuild my Prostar 90 and potentially my dream tank. (I already know what size and equipment)
Follow along if you'd like
The current set up is:
Tank: Evo 13.5
Wavemaker: Jebao SLW-10
Return: Sicce 1.0
Light: Radion XR15 (May switch back to Kessil A360x.
Controller: Hydros, which is controlling temp and ATO as well as having it control everything else.
Filtration: In-Tank Media baskets with marine pure gems, carbon, phosguard.
Jebao Wifi Doser: Kalkwasser
Salt: RC but once that runs out im switching to ESV due to price increase of Reef Crystals.
RODI: BRS 7 Stage (fully automated)
Refractometer: Veegee
Testing: Salifert for everything
Livestock:
2 Snowflake Clowns
1 Yellow Goby and Pistol Shrimp Pair
Assorted hermits
Conch
The intial cycle went great as I started with one live rock and live marine pure gems. No hiccups as of yet minus a few aptasia. The hardest thing about this tank so far is salinity. I've noticed that flow throughout the rear chambers tends to change due to clogged filters/deritus buildup and drops the water level in the return chamber causing my ATO to refill more than whats needed. This throws my salinity off and fills the tank quite high. I'm currently trying to remedy this problem.
Whenever the housing market allows us to purchase a home, I'll use this thread to rebuild my Prostar 90 and potentially my dream tank. (I already know what size and equipment)
Follow along if you'd like
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