MrPillow
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hello my fellow denziens of the deep. After a long number of months sans tank, I am finally embarking on getting back into the aquarium life. Figured I might as well post up the mandatory build thread to appease the masses, so here we go -
I am putting together a pretty simple 40B build that is going to house a dwarf lion, a dwarf angel, and a small group of Banggai cardinals. Going to do some simple corals, primarily GSP, but maybe some others as well just to break up the landscape and add some color here and there.
Here is the component list as it stands -
- 40 breeder
- glass top
- Eshopps RS100 sump
- CPR CS50 Overflow w/Aqualifter
- Mag 5 return pump
- 2x Tunze Nanostream 6025
- Reef Octopus NWB-110 skimmer
- ViaAqua Polyreactor
- Finnex 200W analog heater
- ~45lbs dry rock
The PolyReactor is just on emergency standby, my tap is testing 0ppm phosphates reliably so I hope not to run it anywhere near often. The tank currently has a 24" Marineland DB LED fixture on it, but I have ordered a cheap 4xT5HO fixture off Ebay that should be here in the next couple of days. Good ol Brute bin for mixup water with a MJet 1200 to pump it wherever it needs to go.
Tank is currently a couple of days into the cycle using fresh shrimp, last I checked water parameters were at -
- 75*F
- 35ppt Salinity
- ~8.1 pH
- 0ppm phosphates
- 0.75ppm NH3
- 0ppm NO2
- 0ppm NO3
Not bothering with calc/alk at this point, don't see much reason to.
Here are a few pictures of how things are coming along -
Sand and rock in, tank empty -
Tank full with powerheads running, pre-cycle. The LED beams look pretty funky. The sand and background turned out well and blend seamlessly - the powerheads are nearly invisible -
Power center setup with switches for all outlets run back to a GFCI panel on the wall outlet. Need to get a timer for the T5 fixture, but that will probably mount on the back of the stand or the wall -
Everything crammed in/around sump for a group shot. Plumbing should be up and running tomorrow, forgot a couple pieces at Home Depot so need to make a return trip -
Lonely little overflow waiting to get plumbed into his home -
Just planning to do hose lines for the overflow and return, should have everything ready to go by tomorrow evening once I get by Home Depot after work. Will post some pictures of that and hopefully the new light fixture as well.
I have a couple of test bottles of Dr. Tims One-and-Only coming on Friday, will see how they do. I have used it in FW systems before with decent results (start to nitrites in one day, etc.), and being the impatient little tyke that I am I figure I might as well spend $20 on some false hope instead of beer.
Will keep this updated as time goes, Happy Fishing to you all.
I am putting together a pretty simple 40B build that is going to house a dwarf lion, a dwarf angel, and a small group of Banggai cardinals. Going to do some simple corals, primarily GSP, but maybe some others as well just to break up the landscape and add some color here and there.
Here is the component list as it stands -
- 40 breeder
- glass top
- Eshopps RS100 sump
- CPR CS50 Overflow w/Aqualifter
- Mag 5 return pump
- 2x Tunze Nanostream 6025
- Reef Octopus NWB-110 skimmer
- ViaAqua Polyreactor
- Finnex 200W analog heater
- ~45lbs dry rock
The PolyReactor is just on emergency standby, my tap is testing 0ppm phosphates reliably so I hope not to run it anywhere near often. The tank currently has a 24" Marineland DB LED fixture on it, but I have ordered a cheap 4xT5HO fixture off Ebay that should be here in the next couple of days. Good ol Brute bin for mixup water with a MJet 1200 to pump it wherever it needs to go.
Tank is currently a couple of days into the cycle using fresh shrimp, last I checked water parameters were at -
- 75*F
- 35ppt Salinity
- ~8.1 pH
- 0ppm phosphates
- 0.75ppm NH3
- 0ppm NO2
- 0ppm NO3
Not bothering with calc/alk at this point, don't see much reason to.
Here are a few pictures of how things are coming along -
Sand and rock in, tank empty -
Tank full with powerheads running, pre-cycle. The LED beams look pretty funky. The sand and background turned out well and blend seamlessly - the powerheads are nearly invisible -
Power center setup with switches for all outlets run back to a GFCI panel on the wall outlet. Need to get a timer for the T5 fixture, but that will probably mount on the back of the stand or the wall -
Everything crammed in/around sump for a group shot. Plumbing should be up and running tomorrow, forgot a couple pieces at Home Depot so need to make a return trip -
Lonely little overflow waiting to get plumbed into his home -
Just planning to do hose lines for the overflow and return, should have everything ready to go by tomorrow evening once I get by Home Depot after work. Will post some pictures of that and hopefully the new light fixture as well.
I have a couple of test bottles of Dr. Tims One-and-Only coming on Friday, will see how they do. I have used it in FW systems before with decent results (start to nitrites in one day, etc.), and being the impatient little tyke that I am I figure I might as well spend $20 on some false hope instead of beer.
Will keep this updated as time goes, Happy Fishing to you all.