matskibanov
New Member
Hello everyone!
After several months in this hobby, I finally joined this forum but still as a silent reader, digging here and there for others' knowledge and experience. I gotta say that every single post and comment, even the contradictive ones, helped me much along the way as I slowly progressed in building my first tank.
After months and months of research, the tank was finally initiated around December 2022. I sketched how I wanted my tank to look at the start and sent it to a local reefer who then helped me realize this tank.
Here are pictures of the tank when it was in cycling. The bigger rockwork was added one day apart from the cycling start. Not exactly as I sketched (of course), but still pretty close I think hahaha
At that point, I still didn't know what kind of reef I wanted to build (hence the super simple sump). The idea of a mixed reef was there but I haven't embraced it, let alone a mixed reef with Acropora. But I let myself stay in this state for about three months so I don't rushingly put in corals or fish. One day, I saw a video on YouTube that featured Brandon McHenry's breathtaking AIO SPS reef which has a pretty close tank size to mine, and a very simple system. At that moment, the idea of a mixed nano reef with Acropora captivated me, which then slowly turned into obsession hahaha. It turns out good to me since it drives me to practice patience and do more and more research on specific topics. I understand why many would not recommend mixed reef for a beginner as it requires more experienced decision-making, but I see it as a challenge with an abundance of knowledge and experiences as the reward.
here are the pictures of the tank as it gradually filled with corals and fish.
Despite what I said before, I love to experiment with things. As you can see below, there are (then were
) pieces of corals and fishes that are generally known not supposed to be there at this stage of the tank, or even ever. That resulted in the loss of many of them, which then, again, in the name of the experiment, I rarely take the carcasses out. Hence the name of this tank, with the addition of 3 orange BTA that look like blazing fire with its tentacles waving around.
As the tank continues to evolve, many equipments I have changed, parameters I have managed to keep stable, and livestock I managed to keep alive and thriving. Here are the details about this tank:
Tank size: 60x40x50 cm, 150 liters in total with sump
Lighting: Noopsyche K7 Pro V3 140 Watt running with modified LPS/SPS setting
Wavemaker: 1 Jebao SLW 20 running at 50% speed with else mode, 1 Jebao SLW 5 running at 100% speed W2 mode
Skimmer: Star Reef DIY with Red Devil SP3 powerhead
Return pump: forgot the brand, it's DC 4800 lph running at 100%
Parameters:
1.024-1.026 SG
0,1 PO4
10-25 NO3
8,9-9,0 Alk
400-420 Ca
1320-1350 Mg
Here are pictures of what the main tank and sump look like now
Well, there you have it! I hope to learn and share more about this tank ahead. See you guys, thanks!
After several months in this hobby, I finally joined this forum but still as a silent reader, digging here and there for others' knowledge and experience. I gotta say that every single post and comment, even the contradictive ones, helped me much along the way as I slowly progressed in building my first tank.
After months and months of research, the tank was finally initiated around December 2022. I sketched how I wanted my tank to look at the start and sent it to a local reefer who then helped me realize this tank.
Here are pictures of the tank when it was in cycling. The bigger rockwork was added one day apart from the cycling start. Not exactly as I sketched (of course), but still pretty close I think hahaha
At that point, I still didn't know what kind of reef I wanted to build (hence the super simple sump). The idea of a mixed reef was there but I haven't embraced it, let alone a mixed reef with Acropora. But I let myself stay in this state for about three months so I don't rushingly put in corals or fish. One day, I saw a video on YouTube that featured Brandon McHenry's breathtaking AIO SPS reef which has a pretty close tank size to mine, and a very simple system. At that moment, the idea of a mixed nano reef with Acropora captivated me, which then slowly turned into obsession hahaha. It turns out good to me since it drives me to practice patience and do more and more research on specific topics. I understand why many would not recommend mixed reef for a beginner as it requires more experienced decision-making, but I see it as a challenge with an abundance of knowledge and experiences as the reward.
here are the pictures of the tank as it gradually filled with corals and fish.
Despite what I said before, I love to experiment with things. As you can see below, there are (then were
) pieces of corals and fishes that are generally known not supposed to be there at this stage of the tank, or even ever. That resulted in the loss of many of them, which then, again, in the name of the experiment, I rarely take the carcasses out. Hence the name of this tank, with the addition of 3 orange BTA that look like blazing fire with its tentacles waving around.As the tank continues to evolve, many equipments I have changed, parameters I have managed to keep stable, and livestock I managed to keep alive and thriving. Here are the details about this tank:
Tank size: 60x40x50 cm, 150 liters in total with sump
Lighting: Noopsyche K7 Pro V3 140 Watt running with modified LPS/SPS setting
Wavemaker: 1 Jebao SLW 20 running at 50% speed with else mode, 1 Jebao SLW 5 running at 100% speed W2 mode
Skimmer: Star Reef DIY with Red Devil SP3 powerhead
Return pump: forgot the brand, it's DC 4800 lph running at 100%
Parameters:
1.024-1.026 SG
0,1 PO4
10-25 NO3
8,9-9,0 Alk
400-420 Ca
1320-1350 Mg
Here are pictures of what the main tank and sump look like now
Well, there you have it! I hope to learn and share more about this tank ahead. See you guys, thanks!
