Hello,
We are brand new to the forum and this will be our first salt water build. I only had freshwater growing up due to lack of funds and maturity. Now that I have convinced myself that I have those in check I am diving into this hobby full on. I hope that this thread can help somebody else who is interested in a similar setup.
We live in a studio apartment in NY so space is very limited. We do have access to some quality LFS in Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey which has really been nice.
The idea was to build a sleek looking tank which is located in the living area / bedroom as far away from the windows as possible. We wanted to start with baby fish and coral frags so that we can grow out the tank from "scratch".
We decided to go with an all-in-one system as this appears to be the easiest for beginners and also seems to be best for limited space. I wish I had space for a sump, but that is just not possible in our current apartment.
The tank cycled about 3 weeks ago with levels all in check. We added some Peppermint Shrimp to deal with some Aiptasia about 1 week before adding our 2 baby Clowns. After 2 weeks of having those we added the rest of the livestock that is currently in the tank. We will now wait another month or so to add another fish and/or coral.
The aquascape continues to progess. I think we will buy another 5 or 6 lbs of rock to build up the back some more. We are trying to achieve as many caves and underpasses as possible while not creating too much shade.
Below is the equipment and livestock purchased to date. This weekend we will order the Apex Gold package.
Tank:
IM Nuvo 40 Fusion Aquarium
IM Nuvo 40 Fusion Stand
IM Skkye Light Dimmable DUAL Strip 24" (26 Watts)
IM Ghost Protein Skimmer (MidSize)
IM Nuvo Universal SpinStream Nozzle (2)
IM Custom Caddy (2)
IM Accudrip Acclimator
Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 Auto Top Off
Airtight Container 10" X 8" X 9" (ATO container)
HPS-200 Finnex Digital Submersible Heater
EHEIM Everyday Fish Feeder Programmable Automatic Food Dispenser
Water Changing:
BRS 6 Stage Chloramines DELUXE RO/DI System - 75GPD
5-Gallon Water Container (2)
100W Jager Aquarium Heater
Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Aquarium Circulation Pump 425 GPH
HDE LCD Digital Fish Tank Aquarium Thermometer
Care & Maintenance:
Tropic Marin PRO REEF Salt
ESU Pad Pureflo 100 MIC 30x36
IM 3 Stage Media Storage Sponges - Triple Combo Pack
RIO Coral Feeder, 4 pc. Deluxe Set
Hagen Marina 6" Blue Fine Nylon Fish Net w/12" Handle
Python No Spill Clean and Fill 25 ft. Gravel Vac
Kent Marine Pro Scraper II 24" w/ Plastic, Stainless & Cloth Blades
Milwaukee MA887 Digital Saltwater Refractometer with Case
Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit
Specimen Container, Large
Livestock:
CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand (~30 lbs)
Cured Live Rock from LFS (33.6 lbs)
Peppermint Shrimp (4)
Emerald Crab (1)
Hermit Crab (2)
Various Snails
Ocellaris Clownfish (2)
Yellow Watchman Goby (1)
Banggai Cardinal Fish (1)
Green Fluorescent Mushroom (1)
Green Star Polyp (1)
Pulsing Xenia (1)
We are feeding the fish Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets and just picked up some Dr G's Mysis Shrimp Gut Loaded. We will also begin dosing Iodide for the new Corals.
Below are some pictures to show the progress thus far. Sorry for how large they are -I do not know how to make them smaller.
Here we added another 5 lbs of Cured Live Rock, the 3 Corals, the tidy up crew, the Cardinal and then Goby.
Here is a shot of the back of the Nuvo and in the stand. Here you can see the ATO, the Ghost Protein Skimmer and the 2 Custom Caddy's. I must say that everything fits nicely. I have the Finnex 200W heater in the center slot pushed down towards the bottom near the pump.
Here is a shot of the 6 Stage RODI system filling 1 of my 5 Gallon water tanks.
So far we are very satisfied with everything except the stand and the light. The stand is the design we were looking for, but I just do not feel that it is that well made. For the amount of money next time I will either buy something from a nice furniture store or have something built. Since it fits the tank perfectly we are ok with it for now. Just wish the doors were more aligned, the screws were more snug and and the paint would not chip as easily. The light is awesome besides one very important aspect that I did not consider while purchasing - it has digital dimming. This means that when we purchase the Neptune Apex Gold package this weekend that we will not be able to control the dimming function with the Apex - only from the dials on the light fixture itself. The Apex will only be able to turn the lights on or off which is really a bummer. I believe there is a way around this, but that requires disassembling the LED fixture and re-wiring which I am not confident in doing myself.
The tank runs nearly silent and the ATO keeps it at the perfect level. Thus far things have been very smooth and easy. We are doing weekly 10% water changes which takes 10 minutes. The most difficult thing thus far is waiting and watching the bank account deplete. Patience is truly a virtue when it comes to the salt water tank.
Thanks for any recommendations or comments you may have. Cheers.
Jonathan
We are brand new to the forum and this will be our first salt water build. I only had freshwater growing up due to lack of funds and maturity. Now that I have convinced myself that I have those in check I am diving into this hobby full on. I hope that this thread can help somebody else who is interested in a similar setup.
We live in a studio apartment in NY so space is very limited. We do have access to some quality LFS in Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey which has really been nice.
The idea was to build a sleek looking tank which is located in the living area / bedroom as far away from the windows as possible. We wanted to start with baby fish and coral frags so that we can grow out the tank from "scratch".
We decided to go with an all-in-one system as this appears to be the easiest for beginners and also seems to be best for limited space. I wish I had space for a sump, but that is just not possible in our current apartment.
The tank cycled about 3 weeks ago with levels all in check. We added some Peppermint Shrimp to deal with some Aiptasia about 1 week before adding our 2 baby Clowns. After 2 weeks of having those we added the rest of the livestock that is currently in the tank. We will now wait another month or so to add another fish and/or coral.
The aquascape continues to progess. I think we will buy another 5 or 6 lbs of rock to build up the back some more. We are trying to achieve as many caves and underpasses as possible while not creating too much shade.
Below is the equipment and livestock purchased to date. This weekend we will order the Apex Gold package.
Tank:
IM Nuvo 40 Fusion Aquarium
IM Nuvo 40 Fusion Stand
IM Skkye Light Dimmable DUAL Strip 24" (26 Watts)
IM Ghost Protein Skimmer (MidSize)
IM Nuvo Universal SpinStream Nozzle (2)
IM Custom Caddy (2)
IM Accudrip Acclimator
Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 Auto Top Off
Airtight Container 10" X 8" X 9" (ATO container)
HPS-200 Finnex Digital Submersible Heater
EHEIM Everyday Fish Feeder Programmable Automatic Food Dispenser
Water Changing:
BRS 6 Stage Chloramines DELUXE RO/DI System - 75GPD
5-Gallon Water Container (2)
100W Jager Aquarium Heater
Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Aquarium Circulation Pump 425 GPH
HDE LCD Digital Fish Tank Aquarium Thermometer
Care & Maintenance:
Tropic Marin PRO REEF Salt
ESU Pad Pureflo 100 MIC 30x36
IM 3 Stage Media Storage Sponges - Triple Combo Pack
RIO Coral Feeder, 4 pc. Deluxe Set
Hagen Marina 6" Blue Fine Nylon Fish Net w/12" Handle
Python No Spill Clean and Fill 25 ft. Gravel Vac
Kent Marine Pro Scraper II 24" w/ Plastic, Stainless & Cloth Blades
Milwaukee MA887 Digital Saltwater Refractometer with Case
Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit
Specimen Container, Large
Livestock:
CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand (~30 lbs)
Cured Live Rock from LFS (33.6 lbs)
Peppermint Shrimp (4)
Emerald Crab (1)
Hermit Crab (2)
Various Snails
Ocellaris Clownfish (2)
Yellow Watchman Goby (1)
Banggai Cardinal Fish (1)
Green Fluorescent Mushroom (1)
Green Star Polyp (1)
Pulsing Xenia (1)
We are feeding the fish Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets and just picked up some Dr G's Mysis Shrimp Gut Loaded. We will also begin dosing Iodide for the new Corals.
Below are some pictures to show the progress thus far. Sorry for how large they are -I do not know how to make them smaller.
Here we added another 5 lbs of Cured Live Rock, the 3 Corals, the tidy up crew, the Cardinal and then Goby.
Here is a shot of the back of the Nuvo and in the stand. Here you can see the ATO, the Ghost Protein Skimmer and the 2 Custom Caddy's. I must say that everything fits nicely. I have the Finnex 200W heater in the center slot pushed down towards the bottom near the pump.
Here is a shot of the 6 Stage RODI system filling 1 of my 5 Gallon water tanks.
So far we are very satisfied with everything except the stand and the light. The stand is the design we were looking for, but I just do not feel that it is that well made. For the amount of money next time I will either buy something from a nice furniture store or have something built. Since it fits the tank perfectly we are ok with it for now. Just wish the doors were more aligned, the screws were more snug and and the paint would not chip as easily. The light is awesome besides one very important aspect that I did not consider while purchasing - it has digital dimming. This means that when we purchase the Neptune Apex Gold package this weekend that we will not be able to control the dimming function with the Apex - only from the dials on the light fixture itself. The Apex will only be able to turn the lights on or off which is really a bummer. I believe there is a way around this, but that requires disassembling the LED fixture and re-wiring which I am not confident in doing myself.
The tank runs nearly silent and the ATO keeps it at the perfect level. Thus far things have been very smooth and easy. We are doing weekly 10% water changes which takes 10 minutes. The most difficult thing thus far is waiting and watching the bank account deplete. Patience is truly a virtue when it comes to the salt water tank.
Thanks for any recommendations or comments you may have. Cheers.
Jonathan
