Man v Reef Tank

[rainblood]

Oh dear god...here we go

[jimfish98]

I always liked the idea of reef. You going nano or massive?

[gray cat]

Oh dear god...here we go

[rainblood]

I always liked the idea of reef. You going nano or massive?

I got a used Nuvo 40 with stand and some misc items for $300 and then I got AI Prime LED for $150.
I ordered an RODI unit and 40 lbs of reef rock.
My running total is currently $685 which is basically a used tank with sand and rock

Its a giant learning curve and nothing from the koi world translates. Its funny b/c individually, things aren't super expensive but once you add them up...yikes.
I'm thinking about adding nano skimmer and wave maker. And then I'll have to test my water which I never ever do for koi.

Every blob of color in the tank is an individual coral that behaves and eats. Frags. LPS. SPS. Refugiums. Sumps. Skimmers. Blah, blah, yikes, wth, blah, its an endless learning curve.

When I first joined the reef forum, people were giving away corals (prolly low quality stuff) and I thought wow what a tight group. Much nicer than koi people.
But then I realized that if you have a successful tank - your corals will grow and multiple or you have to frag them ie, you have to set up a frag tank, sell them, throw them away or give them away. So reef people aren't actually nicer...they just have abundance. But they are nice people.

[rainblood]

I always liked the idea of reef. You going nano or massive?

Do it.
or just wait until I give up and I’ll give you all my equipment lol

[jimfish98]

Do it.
or just wait until I give up and I’ll give you all my equipment lol

I can have one tank right now due to space and its not ideal for salt, nor is salt water ideal for my septic tank.

With yours the wave maker is pricey up front and electrical costs over time. Given the small tank, you could probably use Innovative Marine's Spin Nozzle which uses the water flow to spin the return nozzles creating a distributed flow more like a current. Also since everything is at a premium space wise, a HOB protein skimmer will use a little less space. Media wise, check out Marine Pure's cermedia gems. They are harder than the koi material and can help you maximize bio filtration beyond the live rock and sand. Also keep an eye out for an ATO to maintain flow and you can probably just use a 5g bucket of RO under the stand to hook that up to vs some pricey bucket from a hobbies store.

For some fun viewing you can get on Youtube and check out:

Marine Depot- Lots of product demos, information on specific tanks, sized equipment for tanks, etc. Here is a search on the Nuvo 40 on their channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/MarineD...?query=nuvo+40
CJ's Aquarium- He has done large saltwater but moved to a JBJ 45 and then the JBJ 65 which are similar in size. He is open on issues, errors, and such for managing the small volume of water. https://www.youtube.com/user/cjfaulk03

[rainblood]

Ive been watching inappropriate reefer and brs and reading a lot of forums.
There’s kind of mixed reviews on nano skimmers...so I might just have wait. A tiny media reactor came with my “kit” and honestly I haven’t been able to figure out what it does.
I just watched a video about dosing and it sounds like a pita. I’ll try everything manually at this point (dosing, top offs) and see how it goes.

But I’m still waiting on the rock and RODI to come.

[tbullard]

I have almost pulled the trigger on a setup a few times but everytime I start digging into the work needing to keep the tank going I back out. Sounds like it needs constant attention or things go south fast. Probably true with any aquarium but more so with a reef.

I like koi pond with RDF and shower which just kind of takes care of itself.

[rainblood]

Stopped by LFS and looked at some fish. I have to be pretty stingy on fish selection due to size constraints.
So far I am thinking:
2 clowns
yellow coris wrasse
orchid dottyback
randall's goby & pistol shrimp pair
maybe a coral beauty angel

Clown prices are from $15 to the moon for designer varieties.

Reef rock and RODI should be coming this week.
Ordered a bucket of Reef Salt & hydrometer. Because I forgot saltwater tanks need salt
Running total is currently $740...

[jimfish98]

Stopped by LFS and looked at some fish. I have to be pretty stingy on fish selection due to size constraints.
So far I am thinking:
2 clowns
yellow coris wrasse
randall's goby & pistol shrimp pair
maybe a coral beauty angel

Clown prices are from $15 to the moon for designer varieties.

Reef rock and RODI should be coming this week.
Ordered a bucket of Reef Salt & hydrometer. Because I forgot saltwater tanks need salt
Running total is currently $740...

I would stick to basic banded shrimp over the pistol shrimp. The size and build of the pistol makes it harder for them to navigate and clean some areas. Pajama Cardinals are nice too.

[rainblood]

RODI unit came!
Ironically, I’ve never ever measured or tested my koi pond water and apparently reefs may require daily dosing

[jimfish98]

I was half tempted to join in on this adventure. Local club had a posting of someone moving and they had the nuvo 60 w/ stand, UV, and protein skimmer for $400. If I had a basement to house tanks I would be in trouble lol.

[rainblood]

I was half tempted to join in on this adventure. Local club had a posting of someone moving and they had the nuvo 60 w/ stand, UV, and protein skimmer for $400. If I had a basement to house tanks I would be in trouble lol.

Thats a good price...you should do it. We can kill corals and inverts together, lol.
But seriously, the rimless aquariums are so much more beautiful than the ones I had growing up.

[rainblood]

Omg i can’t believe I paid $80 for these rocks. The best price i could find was $2.56/lb.
This is reef rock not live rock.

[rainblood]

These rocks are like giant tank-breaking legos
Let’s hope they don’t fall over.
I know nothing about rockscaping but after a couple of tries I settled on what I think looks ok

[rainblood]

Chewy packed a 45lb bucket of salt in an oversized box with a plastic hydrometer.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the hydrometer broke in transit
I’ll contact them for a replacement.

[jimfish98]

For the rock look up putty or the gel epoxy they make to keep them secure to each other.

[rainblood]

There’s a lot of waste water doing RODI...it’s looks like 5:1 initially but now it’s getting a little better I think.

[rainblood]

I wonder if you really even need RODI water to make reef tanks work

[rainblood]

For the rock look up putty or the gel epoxy they make to keep them secure to each other.

Everyone in reefing lives superglue for some reason.
But they are stacked pretty well. I don’t think anything will be falling.
I didn’t glue bc I may be changing the layout over time.