ReefCheef
Active Member
My tank turns one year old today. I still havent made a build thread as my first corals (sps) have just recently started encrusting.
Just looking to put some things out there to new people or anyone starting a new tank. I feel like a lot of details get brushed over in startup guides and anecdotal experience only takes you so far if it isn’t shared and consumed en masse, so I’m going to start posting the relevant takeaways I wish I was more conscious of early on.
1. Have all your water circulation devices in place day one.
I made a mistake here that resulted in what, I in retrospect, deemed to be an unecessary challenge - hair algae. My rocks are almost 100% algae free because I cooked them for 9 months in a 300 gallon vat while I waited for my tank and sump to arrive. However, the few additional rocks I added to the tank on startup to balance my big pieces have patches of algae growing on them, and my sandbed is COMPLETELY covered. I’ve dialed in my flow the last couple of months and started running GFO this week. Going to go through and scrape it all out sometime soon. That is going to be a big task though as my tank is roughly 7x4x2.
My mistake was not having my powerheads installed day 1. I have two closed loops running big red dragon pumps (one 230w and one 100w) and an oversized return pump (230w). I knew I was going to be extra patient building out my ecosystem before adding any coral this time. I figured my red dragon pumps would suffice for water flow until I could catch Ecotech MP60s on sale. That didn’t end up happening for 6 months. This lack of foresight resulted in my current algae plague.
My tank is a peninsula, and without the Vortechs on the weir blowing down the length of the tank, I did not have enough lateral current to aerate the sandbed properly, and the algae ensued.
Takeaway: If possible, start with all your endgame water movement devices on day 1 or risk ending up like this..
Just looking to put some things out there to new people or anyone starting a new tank. I feel like a lot of details get brushed over in startup guides and anecdotal experience only takes you so far if it isn’t shared and consumed en masse, so I’m going to start posting the relevant takeaways I wish I was more conscious of early on.
1. Have all your water circulation devices in place day one.
I made a mistake here that resulted in what, I in retrospect, deemed to be an unecessary challenge - hair algae. My rocks are almost 100% algae free because I cooked them for 9 months in a 300 gallon vat while I waited for my tank and sump to arrive. However, the few additional rocks I added to the tank on startup to balance my big pieces have patches of algae growing on them, and my sandbed is COMPLETELY covered. I’ve dialed in my flow the last couple of months and started running GFO this week. Going to go through and scrape it all out sometime soon. That is going to be a big task though as my tank is roughly 7x4x2.
My mistake was not having my powerheads installed day 1. I have two closed loops running big red dragon pumps (one 230w and one 100w) and an oversized return pump (230w). I knew I was going to be extra patient building out my ecosystem before adding any coral this time. I figured my red dragon pumps would suffice for water flow until I could catch Ecotech MP60s on sale. That didn’t end up happening for 6 months. This lack of foresight resulted in my current algae plague.
My tank is a peninsula, and without the Vortechs on the weir blowing down the length of the tank, I did not have enough lateral current to aerate the sandbed properly, and the algae ensued.
Takeaway: If possible, start with all your endgame water movement devices on day 1 or risk ending up like this..
