Melody's New 4ft x 2ft x 2ft Reef (1st Timer)

[magical26]

Hi Fellow Reefers, i've started my tank about 10 months ago (started Nov' 2012), but too busy to start a thread. So now... After 10 months, i've decided to do so in order to track progress (before it gets too long). I've taken pictures of everything from set-up day till today.

Where do i begin? I've started a nano tank (24G cube) many years back (2007), but i wasnt very informed about this hobby back then. Needless to say, things did not go well and was forced to decomm because of high casualty rate.

After 6 years, i've decided to try again. However, this time round, i took my own sweet time to plan and read up a bit more. All in all, i took about 6 - 8 months of planning and reading before sourcing for various quotes.

Along the way, I've PM some very helpful seniors in this forum and i would like to thank them for their advises (although i've never met some of you guys before, but you guys provided great advises nonetheless). Thanks to Desideria, MadScientist, Solo77, Peacemaker, Dispar_Anthias, Kareen, and Tling.

Alright, before i began, i need to clarify one thing. In this thread, i try my utmost best to give honest good or bad reviews without mentioning any names of LFS here. My intent is NEVER to slam anyone, but to provide truthful opinions for future newbie reefers to take note in regards to what to look out for when getting into this expensive hobby.

OKOK.... Enough of the long intro... Here we go, beneath are my specs;

Tank: 4x2x2 (3 side crystal glass, chengai wooden stand)

Sump/Refugium: 40 inch x 1.5ft x 1.5ft

Lights: 2x120W Razor Maxspect (16K)

Wavemaker: 2 x Vortech MP40 Anti-Sync Mode

Chiller: JBJ 1/4hp Arctica

Skimmer: Bubble Magus Curve 7

Pump: Reef Octopus 5000L

FR: DD H2Ocean (with RowaPhos)

My First Day of Setup: Tank arrived on time (Good Job Tank Maker, No Delays)

Sump/Refugium (Ignore the Piece of Glass with newspaper, its not part of the sump)

Getting Busy while i snap away

Right Diagonal View

Left Diagonal View

Let there be sand & water

Chiller Box

Sufficient Air Vent Space Behind Chiller Box

All the Random Stuff & Equipments

Alrighty... Enough for now... I'll take a break here and will upload more very soon. One shot whack too many pictures quite sianz... Btw, please forgive my photography skills. I am using my phone to snap pictures and dont own any good cameras. All the pictures are from my phone. Feel free to comment... Thanks.

[surreal1228]

Looks awesome bro.

Be patient and look forward to ur updates

[hanafi_weeseng]

Nice bro

[Admiraltian]

Look well planned. Looking fwd to ur next update.

[Kelvin81]

Nice set up. Waiting for your next update.

[Evolutionz]

wow! well planned indeed! great choice of equipments too.. i see a big pocket burned! haha!

[magical26]

Thanks Bro kkk121, weeseng, Admiraltian, and Evolutionz. Thank you for your kind words.

wow! well planned indeed! great choice of equipments too.. i see a big pocket burned! haha!

Bro Evolutionz, thanks for your compliments, appreciate the encouragement!

Yes, i did spend quite abit on this project (Between $6K - $7K, quotes from 3-4 differing LFS). But then again, I've learnt from experience. In my first post, i mentioned about owning a cube 24G cube. Back then (6 years back), my budget was much smaller as compared to now. I purchased the cheapest of everything (cos i was only a NS Boy back then and got very limited $), and it was a mistake indeed!!!

In the end (back in 2007), I need to replace my T5 lights cos bulbs blew frequently, my cheapskate chiller needs frequent servicing and repair to perform its intended function, my water parameters were totally off cos i got the cheapest salt mix (and livestock died), and my wave maker also spoiled very soon. It made the hobby a NIGHTMARE and much less enjoyable.

I realized that in order to save, I rather get good equipments to start off with (although not 100% guaranteed, but it does come with proper product support and reassurances). Come to think of it, replacing low quality product is just as costly, if not, more troublesome if you take into consideration the hassle, time, worrisome time that you might need to go through. Not to mention, if you happen to lose livestock due to equipment failure! Super sianz at that point in time And my family keep saying 'see lah... act clever only, start a tank and in the end, cannot make it'.... Hahaha... Those were the days.

I rather set aside a comfortable budget that i am willing to spend and hopefully have lesser hassle in the future. Just my personal thoughts and principles. Come to think of it, no matter what, this hobby is a expensive one to start off with. Jus my 2 cents worth for ALL BEGINNERS...

Nonetheless, i still face small issues here and there. I will be sharing these issues shortly... In the meantime, cheers to all reefers!

[Evolutionz]

Well said! i also started my tank with a very small budget, but end up still burned a big pocket! hahaha

[magical26]

After setting up the equipments, it was time for Rock Scape. Initially, i wanted to diy the rock scape. But tank maker helped me do it after asking me what my preference was. I remembered telling tank maker that i want;

1. enough space to put corals

2. enough flow underneath the rocks (cannot be dead flow beneath a stack of rocks)

With that, tank maker scaped for me and i modify it by just a little bit later on.

Left side Rock Scape

Right side Rock Scape

Center Portion Rock Scape

FTS of the Rock Scape (Subsequently, i added 2 more pieces of rock to cover up the 2 return pipes)

FTS without Lights (messy Sump on 1st Day)

With Lights Blasting (water still blurry)

With Lights toned down (water still blurry)

With Blue Lights (water cleared up a bit)

[magical26]

Well said! i also started my tank with a very small budget, but end up still burned a big pocket! hahaha

Its unavoidable to some extent... Bo Bian

[Evolutionz]

nice rock scape but abit too much rocks IMO. may have detritus stuck in them. they are not leaning on the back glass right?

[magical26]

nice rock scape but abit too much rocks IMO. may have detritus stuck in them. they are not leaning on the back glass right?

Not completely leaning, but some parts did touch the back glass. As for detritus, still manageable. I run NTM mode on my vortech to 'suck it up' every now and then...

[peacemaker]

[Dispar_Anthias]

Nice tank!

[magical26]

A few hours after the set up was completed this happened.

A minor leak in the pipe, i immediately inform tank maker, and it was settled the next day ASAP.

So far, tank maker has been quite helpful and nice. Everything on time, and all equipments were there on set up day. Really no complains except for one issue, air bubbles in silicone.

I asked about it and the reply was, 'cant be perfect, sure will have a bit one'... So i just let it go... Till now, no issue or leakage with the silicone, just to check with all seniors out there, is this really normal?

Other than these small issues, everything else was fine.

Next up, my bubble magus curve 7 skimmer. To be honest, i was very skeptical about the performance at first. But in the end, i was quite impress. It actually broke in within a few hours, i shall let the pictures do the talking.

First Day

No choice, got to clean already.

After a tiring day, managed to tidy up my cables before heading to bed.

[magical26]

After cycling for about 3 weeks, i placed some Chaeto Algae in my sump/refugium with 5-6 inch DSB. Hopefully this would help in reducing my nitrates and phosphates. Using T5 as my refugium light, and i've programmed it on a opp light cycle to my main display. Its on 16 hours per day...

Since i am using 2 x 120W Razor Maxspect Lights, i connected them with the steel connector rods. It does look neat, but i realised that the entire length of the light tends to bend at the center portion.

Therefore, i did a bit of diy to straighten it out. Used a simple piece of wood and egg crate to add to the support of the struture. Since everything is under the hood, aesthetically i did not mind if it was a little less stylish.

I only started adding livestock after 1 month of cycling with NSW. Along the way, I've added microbacter 7 as well.

[youdontnowm]

Swee hahah! Tank how month old liao? the overflow there, u put the stainless steel mesh as overflow teeth?

[magical26]

Swee hahah! Tank how month old liao? the overflow there, u put the stainless steel mesh as overflow teeth?

Hi Bro, my tank is about 10 months old already, but only started this thread very recently to keep track. Currently, my tank is already quite stocked. Those are not stainless steel but are plastic mesh... And no, i did not put them. They were made this way from my tank maker.

[marinecreatures]

Hi Bro, my tank is about 10 months old already, but only started this thread very recently to keep track. Currently, my tank is already quite stocked. Those are not stainless steel but are plastic mesh... And no, i did not put them. They were made this way from my tank maker.

Hi magical26

Are u using the reef octopus Water Blaster as ur return pump???

May I know how much u bought ur JBJ 1/4 chiller???

I'm still comparing the price???

Thanks in advance

[magical26]

Hi bro marinecreatures

Yes i am using the Water Blaster (5000). Kindly check your PM too.

[Meldon Hong]

Nice tank

[Meldon Hong]

Nice tank

And Scape

[bobkemejan]

Very nice set up

Waiting for more pic

[karlyau]

nice tank ...

[magical26]

Nice tank!

And Scape

Very nice set up

Waiting for more pic

nice tank ...

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.