rebeccajst
New Member
Hi all! I recently upgraded my tank in May and wanted to share my progress with everyone. I started with a JBJ 45 that I built back in March 2021. Now, in 2024, I've outgrown that tank—especially with my bristle tooth tang needing more space as it matured. I purchased him very small, knowing I would eventually upgrade to a larger tank, and now I've followed through with that plan.
Our first step was to have a structural engineer evaluate our space to determine the weight capacity. Due to the layout of our home, with limited wall space because of numerous windows, our options were few. After receiving the report, we concluded that we needed to keep the tank close to the original spot, as the floor couldn't support both the new and old tanks simultaneously. To be safe, we decided on the Red Sea 425 G2+, which essentially doubles the size of the JBJ 45.
We ordered the tank from Biggs Lagoon in Firestone, Colorado, in May (happy Mother's Day to me!). To save time and potential headaches, we opted to have the team there handle the heavy lifting, assembly, installation, and transfer. It was an expensive choice, but worth it for the peace of mind, knowing this is likely my forever tank since I can't go any bigger.
The installation was completed on June 7th and took the team a full day. I'm currently letting the tank cycle and allowing the corals, fish, and clean-up crew (CUC) to adjust to their new environment before adding any new livestock.
The biggest stressor has been worrying about my Biota mandarin pair, which I've had since September 2021. Though they eat frozen food, they prefer grazing on copepods all day. The JBJ 45 had a very healthy population of pods and other critters in the sand bed, but with the new tank, I opted for new sand. I've been seeding the tank with copepods from AlgaeBarn and will continue until I see more pods in the sand bed at night with my red light.
Also New:
Our first step was to have a structural engineer evaluate our space to determine the weight capacity. Due to the layout of our home, with limited wall space because of numerous windows, our options were few. After receiving the report, we concluded that we needed to keep the tank close to the original spot, as the floor couldn't support both the new and old tanks simultaneously. To be safe, we decided on the Red Sea 425 G2+, which essentially doubles the size of the JBJ 45.
We ordered the tank from Biggs Lagoon in Firestone, Colorado, in May (happy Mother's Day to me!). To save time and potential headaches, we opted to have the team there handle the heavy lifting, assembly, installation, and transfer. It was an expensive choice, but worth it for the peace of mind, knowing this is likely my forever tank since I can't go any bigger.
The installation was completed on June 7th and took the team a full day. I'm currently letting the tank cycle and allowing the corals, fish, and clean-up crew (CUC) to adjust to their new environment before adding any new livestock.
The biggest stressor has been worrying about my Biota mandarin pair, which I've had since September 2021. Though they eat frozen food, they prefer grazing on copepods all day. The JBJ 45 had a very healthy population of pods and other critters in the sand bed, but with the new tank, I opted for new sand. I've been seeding the tank with copepods from AlgaeBarn and will continue until I see more pods in the sand bed at night with my red light.
Livestock Moved Over:
- Bristle Tooth Tang – Jalapeño
- Clown Pair – Splish and Splash
- Mandarin Pair – Nǐ hǎo & Zàijiàn
- Pistol Shrimp – (nameless and rarely seen)
- Pink Sea Urchin – Thorn
- Turbo Snail – Other Garry
- 3 peppermint shrimp, 2 small hermit crabs, and a variety of nassarius and other snails.
Corals Moved Over:
- Octospawn
- Frogspawn
- Candy Cane
- Multiple types of Zoas
- Green Star Polyps
- Long-suffering Blastomussa
- Multiple encrusting Montipora
- Branching Montipora
- Pulsing Xenia
- Purple Stylo
- Sun coral
- Multiple Mushrooms
- 3 Rock Flower Anemones
- 1 clam
Original Equipment Moved Over:
- Lighting: 2 Kessil A360X with controller
- Flow: 2 IceCap 2K Gyre Flow pumps with Controller
- Heat: 400 Watt Helio PTC Smart Heater
- Dosing: Simplicity 4-Head Dosing Pump
New Equipment:
- ReefMat 1200 Fleece Roller
- Tunze 10000L LED Fixture
Also New:
- I used cycled wet rock from my LFS (FishCrew)
- Carib Sea Live Sand
Future Stocking Plans:
- Yellow Watchman Goby: Hoping it bonds with my pistol shrimp.
- Multibar Angelfish: My second favorite fish after my mandarins, so I'm willing to let it nip at my corals.
- Maybe in 6 months to a year:
- Fairy Wrasse or Sexy Shrimp (I don't think I can have both).
- Lemon Peel Angel, depending on how things go with the Multibar Angelfish.
Last edited:
