peacemaker

Upz for you, bro!

Another great setup in the making. Looking forward to more updates!

Hmmm.. from the shape of the body, it doesn't seem like the mantis shrimp... nevertheless, hope you nailed it. It ranks high in the top most wanted list in reef crime.

Sweet blueface, bro!

I would wait for a month of so more before adding livestock. Let your tank stabilize. Use this time to do research on the type of fish suitable for pico tanks. You probably have room for only one more fish, so choose wisely.

I was told the same thing when I first started this hobby... I must admit I was attracted to the colours. Salifert is a reliable brand of test kits, and many reefers have been using it around the world, so you can give it a try. You might wanna consider LEDs with higher output. PAR30s should be sufficient for your tank size. Once the beneficial bacteria have been established, it is not necessary to dose bacteria. I'm not sure what the stock filtration consists of, but ChemiPure is like a form of carbon, so it serves as a chemical filtration. Different purpose. For a tank this small, it may be more beneficial compared to the stock filtration.

The ammonia indicator that you are hanging on the left is pretty useless, so you can get rid of it. You might wanna consider removing the lid on really hot days to help reduce heat build up. If you plan to keep other corals, do note that the stock light might not be sufficient to keep more light demanding corals. It is a nice start, just learn along your reefing journey. Cheers!

I loled at this. Nice build! I'm learning along as well.

Very nice DIY and detailed writeup! If he makes a nice casing, it will be perfect.

Most people will put it as a counter-measure for any imbalance in the setup, which might crack the tank when it is under pressure. If you have a good tank maker, they should level everything for you with a level gauge and add shims whenever necessary.

How big is your tank? Maybe it is just making more rounds to make up for the marathon distance...

Jia lat leh... if that's the case, how long then, should we cycle our tanks? FOWLR in the first year, then add corals after 1 year anniversary? IME, a stable system (or you could say, aged) does make a better reef.

You might wanna try Petmart.

Sweet setup, bro! Looking good.

You are using probably one of the best T5 light sets in the hobby, so 4 tubes is more than enough for your tank width. Electricity expensive lah, don't overkill.

Nice!

Wow... what a good find! I'm definitely getting one offspring from you if you are successful in getting a breeding pair.

One of the past nTOTM in Nano-reef.com. I would love to post a link, but unfortunately, the website doesn't work very well for us anymore. A lot of local IP addresses are banned.

Five AIs? Wow... that is some power lighting.

Your skimmer will go crazy, so lower the water level during dosage.

IME, the most effective method to rid nuisance algae as compared to CUC.

Lol...

Black can hide a bit of spare tire...

Sounds reasonable.