First Tank Ever! JBJ RL 45

[BigEZ77]

Hi All,

This will be the first tank I have ever put together, apart from a small betta tank...actually, that's what got me into this and its definitely turned into an addiction already. After lots of research and learning online (a lot from this site) I have put together the following...

-JBJ RL 45 with stand
-Running stock pumps with JBJ Ocean Pulse Duo Wavemaker (seems like I'll need more powerful pumps to make it do anything substantial)
-Cheapy powerhead/utility pump...soon to purchase the Maxspect Gyre XF130
-Kessil a160we Tuna Blue with controller
-Tunze 9004 skimmer
-Tunze Nano Osmolator ATO
-Aquamarine Minimax reactor (not installed yet, will run biopellets)
-2 150W heaters
-3 stage RO Buddy
-Approximately 45 lbs of cured RealReef rock (like that its manmade so not taking from reefs)
-40 lbs Aragalive Fiji pink sand
-Bunch of maintenance, water change and acclimation stuff
-Soon to add a screen top

Planning on initiating a cycle to generate bacteria throughout the sytem then add small CUC made up of trochus snails, blue leg hermits and a couple shrimp...and the following fish (as many captive bred as possible)...

-Ocellaris Clownfish (maybe 2)
-Citrinis Clown Goby
-Royal Gramma
-Banngai Cardinal
-Tanaka Pygmy Wrasse
-Court Jester Goby
-Helfrichi firefish

Here are some pics of the tank set up and the aquascape. Lovin it so far, looking forward to seeing it come alive over time and learning much much more...might be able to offer someone else help on this forum eventually This is a great forum!

Russell

 

[NYCSTORMTROOPER]

Great start and choice of equipment .....I'm looking at the minimax myself my sump space is kinda tight and the small print is perfect for my setup...GL

 

[Bogue Chitto]

Looks like a nice set up. Good luck with it.

 

[BigEZ77]

Great start and choice of equipment .....I'm looking at the minimax myself my sump space is kinda tight and the small print is perfect for my setup...GL

Thanks. Yeah, I got the midsize and it fits in the back no problem. Only thing is, I've read that its best to have the skimmer after the reactor before it hits the return pumps. Unfortunately the skimmer is so tight in the second chamber that it doesn't do much of anything in there, so I will either have them in reverse order or completely separate on either end. Not sure how I'm gonna work that one out.

 

[sixpackgarage]

you can put both media baskets on one side and put the skimmer on the other. I did that on my JBJ30RL..which I think used the same size media baskets. That single 160 looks so clean and utilitarian. Such a great little light. Reminds me of my old setup

 

[sixpackgarage]

Forgot a pic

 

[BigEZ77]

you can put both media baskets on one side and put the skimmer on the other. I did that on my JBJ30RL..which I think used the same size media baskets. That single 160 looks so clean and utilitarian. Such a great little light. Reminds me of my old setup

Thanks for the tip...but I ditched the media baskets in favor of a reactor. Can I put the reactor on one end of the rear chamber and the skimmer on the other, or will that cause problems?

Yeah, I wanted something that looked clean and modern in the livingroom...plus, it gives more than enough juice for the size of the tank. PS. Nice setup!

 

[BigEZ77]

Update/Review - Pulled the trigger on the Gyre XF130 today. Good thing I did, the distributor was about to increase the cost by $20 across Canada due to how poorly our dollar is doing. Installed it today, got rid of the cheap powerhead. Its a wonderful device. As soon as I turned it on, a bunch of stuff lifted up into the water column from the sand bed and LR. Put a cube of frozen food in to watch the flow, pretty amazing what this thing does. I have it in pulse mode with a few seconds in between to simulate waves crashing. Only complaint is that there is an audible hum/vibration sound when it kicks in if having it over 50%...kind of annoying. No issues other than that.

 

[Fiver]

Nice job! Good luck!

 

[mgoulding]

Following along

 

[BigEZ77]

Updates...

Two clowns (one orange, one black), cleaner shrimp and first coral (toadstool). Also completely changed my aquascape...There was too much rock, not enough room for the fish to swim and I feel this way is much better to have shelves for different corals. A couple new pieces of fully cured live rock from LFS went in to promote coraline algae growth on my other rock.