I'm back....and ready to jump back in, feet first in the deep end, speedo, everything!

[Niven]

Years ago, back in 2000 AD, I had a 120g tank with a hang on overflow that drained to my basement sump. My tank had a plenum, 4-6 inches of sand covering an inch or so of space for anaerobic bacteria to break everything down. Metal halides surrounded by actinic vho's in a Hamilton lighting setup. After a few years of forgetting to turn the rodi water off and dumping 55g trash cans in the living room and not having the cash to keep it going, I decided to piece it out and sell it.

My last tank was a 60g cube back in 2011. My wife and I had just gotten married and bought a house. Then we proceeded to have 2 kids a year apart, waited 2 years and had 2 more a year and a half apart.....needless to say, the tank did not thrive and was removed from the house.
Well, its been long enough, there's no more diapers and formula to buy, my youngest is 10 and I'm ready to start again!

I've already ordered a 120 Planet aquarium with an external overflow box. I also realized I could put the sump in the basement in a storage room with water and drain access. I think I have two and half weeks to wait for the tank....so I have time to dream about the setup.

Lights (the app integration on these looks impressive)
2 AI Hydra?
Radion?
Reef Breeders?


Protein Skimmer
Bubble Magnus Curve 3?
Reef Octopus?
(What's with the extra electronics on these now?)

Return pump
Iwaki?

Filter socks are new to me. We avoided all mechanical filtration (at least I did)
Are the fleece rollers worth it?

How much sand?
I imagine and inch or two? Just enough to hold the live rock up.

And live rock....can't seem to buy it anymore? I mentioned bristle worms to the LFS guy today and he seemed surprised I wanted some. Does the Tropic Eden stuff workout pretty good?

Powerheads
Vortech still some of the best?

A lot has changed and I look forward to learning more about it all. I've been reading through here the last month or so, its great to see some of the same people here from years ago. I'll try to keep this build updated.
Thank you!
Niven

 

[griss]

Oh my, holy hell, Niven is back!!!!! Welcome back my friend. I'm still mostly old school so, a lot of your questions I cannot answer but I'll try. I think a lot of this will depend on your budget.

I'm just dipping my toes into LED lighting. Up until recently, I was still using MH. But, the slow phase out of bulbs and ballasts made me decide to switch. A group of us bought some old/new stock of Euroquatics LEDs off of eBay and I'm currently using them on my 40B and will use them on my 150 once the upgrade is complete. So, I can't offer a whole lot of insight on LED but, @oreo57 and @Reefing102 seem to have a good handle on LED. I know @Nanook likes the Radions and has great success with SPS with those lights.

I don't know about the skimmers either. I'm still using an old eShopps Gen 1 cone skimmer lol. A lot of people (like @Timfish)these days run skimmerless with great success.

Iwaki are still a good pump but, it seems a lot of people are going with DC controllable pumps these days. I got a used Jebao with a lot of used equipment I bought and plan on using that on the upgrade. Jebao is a budget (Chinese) brand that actually has a pretty damn good reputation in the hobby.

I'm still using filter socks but, I change the out frequently. Never used the fleece rollers. IMO, neither are needed.

Live sand is still a debate in the hobby...you've got your bare bottom people, shallow bed people and mid bed people. I haven't seen a lot of deep beds these days, if any. I plan to go with mid depth as I do want to have Jawfish.

Live rock is very limited. Tampa Bay Saltwater and Gulf Live Rock have Gulf of Mexico aquacultured rock that I've heard good things about. KP Aquatics has Fl Keys aquacultured rock that I used for the current 40B and have been extremely happy with. Livestock USA sells Walt Smith man-made rock that is aquacultured in Fiji. And Aquarium Specialty sells Australian live rock that is stunning but, it's $25/lb and I've heard (not sure) they only ship it ground.

Powerheads, as I mentioned, Jebao is a solid budget brand. However, I'm going with Reef Octopus controlled by a Hydros Wave Engine on the upgrade. I got a really good deal on a used Hydros system from a friend who left the hobby. If you're curios about Hydros controllers, reach out to Carlos at CoralVue. Yes, the same Carlos who used to participate here (and chat) back in the day with the soccer ball avatar. He quit participating in boards when he went to work for CoralVue as he didn't want to appear biased.

Yes, a LOT has changed and a lot has stayed the same. The worst these days is the prices. Everything is scary expensive.

One of the biggest changes IMO, is that we no longer strive to keep Nitrate and Phosphate at zero. Here's a handy chart I use when testing.

 

[JohnL]

Welcome back Niven!

 

[oddiseus]

Hi Niven, I am also coming back after 20 years out. What's this about live rock not being available? I have been lugging tons of now dried tonga, fiji and other rock around from move to move ALL THESE YEARS since I knew I would be back, but go figure they are 1700 miles away now that I want a tank LOL. I figured no big deal, I can grab a few pieces the LFS... if there is even one in my area, but hearing this just diminished the prospect of potentially spending way to much money on soggy rock hehe.

 

[griss]

Hi Niven, I am also coming back after 20 years out. What's this about live rock not being available? I have been lugging tons of now dried tonga, fiji and other rock around from move to move ALL THESE YEARS since I knew I would be back, but go figure they are 1700 miles away now that I want a tank LOL. I figured no big deal, I can grab a few pieces the LFS... if there is even one in my area, but hearing this just diminished the prospect of potentially spending way to much money on soggy rock hehe.

Yep, it's true unfortunately. I miss the Fiji, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Kaelini, etc we could get back in the day.

But, here's some sources where you can get live rock.

Tampa Bay Saltwater - Gulf of Mexico
KP Aquatics - Florida Keys
Gulf Live Rock - Gulf of Mexico
Livestock USA - Walt Smith Manmade Fiji Rock
Aquarium Specialty - Australian

Oh, and I forgot, Marco Rocks aquacultured live rock as well.

 

[Reefing102]

Welcome back to the hobby. @griss hit the live rock aspects pretty good.

I’m skimmerless so can’t really hit that much except I ran reef octopus when I did but it was basic (no fancy stuff).

I’m barebottom on my 40 with a shallow sand bed in my wife’s 32 and crushed coral in my 13.5. I personally believe it’s preference but feel it took a lot longer for my 40 to settle in bacteria wise without a sand bed.

I’m a Jebao guy as well. They have also “knocked off” Vortech with their DMP wavemakers. I’ve heard their app is relatively user friendly but can have hiccups.

As for lighting, metal halide is limited but still available (I think the only “fixture makers” in the game specifically for aquariums is and Geissman(has to be ordered from Germany)).

If you’re wanting LED, most of your reef LED systems nowadays will work, it just depends on budget and controlability. I run reef breeders photons on my 40 and love them (they’re not wifi so I don’t have the app but yea) . I also run smatfarm (Amazon) on my wife’s 32 Biocube and it does just fine too.

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the top brands really. Many coral farms run Radions, others I know run ReefBreeders, an LFS here runs a variety of Radions, ReefBreeders, Neptune Sky (discontinued), and ATI Straton Pros (I think).

The biggest hurdle you’ll have is coverage of the tank. Many of the fixtures (except ReefBreeders) typically have a coverage area of about 24x24-30x30 so you’d likely need 2 fixtures at a minimum.

In addition to LED many will also run T5 hybrid fixtures as well to help with the shadowing that LED can have.

Hope this helps some!

 

[Niven]

Hi Niven, I am also coming back after 20 years out. What's this about live rock not being available? I have been lugging tons of now dried tonga, fiji and other rock around from move to move ALL THESE YEARS since I knew I would be back, but go figure they are 1700 miles away now that I want a tank LOL. I figured no big deal, I can grab a few pieces the LFS... if there is even one in my area, but hearing this just diminished the prospect of potentially spending way to much money on soggy rock hehe.

I heard it from the LFS guy. I'm starting to think he meant no "real" live rock. Sounds like the aquacultured is still available. I always loved the variety you could get with live rock, bristle worms, pods, mini starfish, heck, I had squid/octopus eggs on the live rock in my first tank!

Anyone get Scutus or chitons anymore?

One of the LFS here has a trough with live rock, but I think its dried rock they put in there to get bacteria to grow on it.

 

[Niven]

Welcome back Niven!

Good to see you here JohnL!

 

[Niven]

Oh my, holy hell, Niven is back!!!!! Welcome back my friend. I'm still mostly old school so, a lot of your questions I cannot answer but I'll try. I think a lot of this will depend on your budget.

I'm just dipping my toes into LED lighting. Up until recently, I was still using MH. But, the slow phase out of bulbs and ballasts made me decide to switch. A group of us bought some old/new stock of Euroquatics LEDs off of eBay and I'm currently using them on my 40B and will use them on my 150 once the upgrade is complete. So, I can't offer a whole lot of insight on LED but, @oreo57 and @Reefing102 seem to have a good handle on LED. I know @Nanook likes the Radions and has great success with SPS with those lights.

I don't know about the skimmers either. I'm still using an old eShopps Gen 1 cone skimmer lol. A lot of people (like @Timfish)these days run skimmerless with great success.

Iwaki are still a good pump but, it seems a lot of people are going with DC controllable pumps these days. I got a used Jebao with a lot of used equipment I bought and plan on using that on the upgrade. Jebao is a budget (Chinese) brand that actually has a pretty damn good reputation in the hobby.

I'm still using filter socks but, I change the out frequently. Never used the fleece rollers. IMO, neither are needed.

Live sand is still a debate in the hobby...you've got your bare bottom people, shallow bed people and mid bed people. I haven't seen a lot of deep beds these days, if any. I plan to go with mid depth as I do want to have Jawfish.

Live rock is very limited. Tampa Bay Saltwater and Gulf Live Rock have Gulf of Mexico aquacultured rock that I've heard good things about. KP Aquatics has Fl Keys aquacultured rock that I used for the current 40B and have been extremely happy with. Livestock USA sells Walt Smith man-made rock that is aquacultured in Fiji. And Aquarium Specialty sells Australian live rock that is stunning but, it's $25/lb and I've heard (not sure) they only ship it ground.

Powerheads, as I mentioned, Jebao is a solid budget brand. However, I'm going with Reef Octopus controlled by a Hydros Wave Engine on the upgrade. I got a really good deal on a used Hydros system from a friend who left the hobby. If you're curios about Hydros controllers, reach out to Carlos at CoralVue. Yes, the same Carlos who used to participate here (and chat) back in the day with the soccer ball avatar. He quit participating in boards when he went to work for CoralVue as he didn't want to appear biased.

Yes, a LOT has changed and a lot has stayed the same. The worst these days is the prices. Everything is scary expensive.

One of the biggest changes IMO, is that we no longer strive to keep Nitrate and Phosphate at zero. Here's a handy chart I use when testing.
View attachment 32416353

Griss! Awesome to see you and thank you for all that info! I'm getting so excited to get this things going and I know....my kids....aren't going to want to be patient. but it'll be good for them.
I tried to get ahold of Carlos a week ago, but he didn't respond to my text. I may call him this weekend. I did talk to Phil just the other day, if you remember him. There's no such thing as iirc anymore is there?

 

[Niven]

@griss, the prices of fish are crazy!

 

[griss]

I heard it from the LFS guy. I'm starting to think he meant no "real" live rock. Sounds like the aquacultured is still available. I always loved the variety you could get with live rock, bristle worms, pods, mini starfish, heck, I had squid/octopus eggs on the live rock in my first tank!

Anyone get Scutus or chitons anymore?

One of the LFS here has a trough with live rock, but I think its dried rock they put in there to get bacteria to grow on it.

You can get Chitons from quite a few vendors in Florida.

 

[griss]

Griss! Awesome to see you and thank you for all that info! I'm getting so excited to get this things going and I know....my kids....aren't going to want to be patient. but it'll be good for them.
I tried to get ahold of Carlos a week ago, but he didn't respond to my text. I may call him this weekend. I did talk to Phil just the other day, if you remember him. There's no such thing as iirc anymore is there?

PM/DM me to make sure you have Los’ correct number. He’s very busy with work and it sometimes takes him a while to respond to me.

I have Tim’s (Therman) as well.

I reconnected with Phil about a year ago on Facebook.

Yes, prices are insane.

Iirc/mirc is pretty much dead. I think Jim @MiNdErAsR stopped maintaining it a while back. I had to drop out of it due to kids activities and work a long time ago.

 

[Niven]

My tank is 2+ weeks out, would it be worth it to start cycling some LFS live rick with some Premium Aquatics dry rock in a trash can or something?

 

[griss]

My tank is 2+ weeks out, would it be worth it to start cycling some LFS live rick with some Premium Aquatics dry rock in a trash can or something?

Couldn’t hurt if you want to speed up the cycle. I will say, when I got the KP premium rock back in 2017 it reminded me of Fiji rock from back in the day. Lots of life, lots of hitchhikers, and some Caribbean stony corals. In fact, I’ve got Porites growing like crazy from the rock.

To add, I also bought bristleworms a while back to add diversity.

IPSF is still a great source for diversity as well.

 

[MiNdErAsR]

I think Jim @MiNdErAsR stopped maintaining it a while back.

I handed over the entire AfterX irc network (which hosted the #ReefCentral channel) to one of the other IRC admins a few years back. I have no idea if it still exists or not.

 

[Niven]

Trying to decide between....
Tropical Eden Morroca dry rock
Liferock
Marco Rock Coraline Rock

Or maybe a combination? The Tropic Eden has some caves and "montistack" pieces that look nice.

I figure I'll get ~60 lbs on dry rock and then get some live rock when the tank is a few weeks into cycling.
Thank you!
Niven

 

[griss]

I’d get a variety of each type. Or, reach out to Scott at Aquarium Speciality. I ordered Caribsea Moani from him and his supplier was out of stock so, he put together a custom 50 pound package for me that was awesome:

 

[vlangel]

Years ago, back in 2000 AD, I had a 120g tank with a hang on overflow that drained to my basement sump. My tank had a plenum, 4-6 inches of sand covering an inch or so of space for anaerobic bacteria to break everything down. Metal halides surrounded by actinic vho's in a Hamilton lighting setup. After a few years of forgetting to turn the rodi water off and dumping 55g trash cans in the living room and not having the cash to keep it going, I decided to piece it out and sell it.

My last tank was a 60g cube back in 2011. My wife and I had just gotten married and bought a house. Then we proceeded to have 2 kids a year apart, waited 2 years and had 2 more a year and a half apart.....needless to say, the tank did not thrive and was removed from the house.
Well, its been long enough, there's no more diapers and formula to buy, my youngest is 10 and I'm ready to start again!

I've already ordered a 120 Planet aquarium with an external overflow box. I also realized I could put the sump in the basement in a storage room with water and drain access. I think I have two and half weeks to wait for the tank....so I have time to dream about the setup.

Lights (the app integration on these looks impressive)
2 AI Hydra?
Radion?
Reef Breeders?

Hi Niven, my name is Dawn and I am an old school reef keeper which probably means I am just old. I have a pretty simple set up so probably can't help with much but I did make the leap from T5s to LEDs. I was intimidated by the tech to set up so I watched the BRS LED showdown and that helped me decide on ReefBreeder Photons. They were more competitively priced than Radions but seem like they can grow anything. The one down side is the shimmer is what some call 'disco ballish'. It doesn't bother me but I can understand if it bothers some folks. I took a super quick video of my tank this morning so you can judge for yourself. The lights still were not at peak daylight.

 

[Niven]

Dawn, the tank looks great! I have always liked the shimmer. I think that's what we used to go for with metal halides. I think that's what it looks like if you're diving.
- Niven

 

[griss]

Dawn, the tank looks great! I have always liked the shimmer. I think that's what we used to go for with metal halides. I think that's what it looks like if you're diving.
- Niven

Agree completely.