illumnae's 422 adventure

[illumnae]

After 8 years of keeping discus, including 6 years of wild discus tanks, it is time for a change. Was recommended against using my current 422 for a marine setup due to it being made of 10mm glass so I sold it to a friend at a good price (for him, haha!) and commissioned a new 422 using 12mm glass, with crystal glass front panel. My old 422 is the subject of another journal in this forum

Ordered the tank and almost all equipment via Iwarna and the entire setup process was awesome. They were very responsive and gave me good and practical advice, helping me save money where possible based on my needs. Despite my many questions and changes along the way, they never lost patience and kept up with the top quality service. Definitely highly recommended for anyone looking to do a new setup.

As I already have kind of a reef tank at home (my wife's) plus I dabbled in nano reefs previously, I decided to head a different direction this time and went with a predator comm tank instead, keeping as many different species of a certain type of predator as possible. What predator is this? Watch out for updates!

Specs are as follows:

Tank: 4x2x2 120 gallons with 40 inch sump (inc refugium compartment)

Return pump: Eheim 1264

Lights: Maxspect Razor 300W

Chiller: Hailea HS-90a with Eheim 1260 pump

Skimmer: Bubble Magus c9

Wavemakers: Jebao WP-40 x2 with twin controller

Sand: Caribsea Aragonite Reef Sand 80lbs

Hardscape: Aquaroche ceramic designer live rock

FR: Enductor FR-45 with Eheim Compact+ 2000 pump running NPX biopellets

Here's a picture of the tank now. I'm cycling it using ATM colony, Prodibio Biodigest, Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II and Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter 7. Will dose the latter 3 daily till cycle is complete.

[Clement Chen]

Sounds very interesting, waiting for more updates!

[kenyee]

Bro, nice tank with nice rock scape..depend on what predator fish u keeping, what size n how many..the rocks a bit too much if keeping big predator fish. Nevertheless, hope to see ur chio predator tank progressing soon..cheers n happy reefing

[illumnae]

The predators I'm keeping got large, medium and small types. I'm collecting medium and dwarf types as in the long run the dwarf types can get eaten by the large types. This scape was specially designed by Iwarna with my potential inhabitants in mind, so the structures are meant to emulate the kind of structures theses guys like in nature. Enough clues yet?

[mtx]

After tank cycled , ATM outbreak will be next in line(maintenance purpose).keep posting.

[Evolutionz]

bro! nice to see you back! your equipments sounds good for SPS dominated leh!

[hanafi_weeseng]

The rocks are nice,guessing lion or frog fish?

[tofubox]

Nice tank set up! May i ask whats the light setting on the razor you had on that picture? Seems like alot of shading on the lower portions, defeating the rock work / platforms at the lower tank. Seems like only 4 or 5 areas getting normal amount of light

[illumnae]

bro! nice to see you back! your equipments sounds good for SPS dominated leh!

Haha bro, I just get good enough equipment setup for anything, then can easily change projects anytime without having to get new equipment. Its definitely overkill for a predator tank.

The rocks are nice,guessing lion or frog fish?

Yes! One of the above

Nice tank set up! May i ask whats the light setting on the razor you had on that picture? Seems like alot of shading on the lower portions, defeating the rock work / platforms at the lower tank. Seems like only 4 or 5 areas getting normal amount of light

Switched the lights to max for the photo. Why does the shading defeat the rock work? Depends on the purpose of the rock work ma. My purpose is a predator tank for crepuscular predators so for me, the shading is ideal. As mentioned previously, the rock work was specially scaped with the tank inhabitants in mind

[tofubox]

Switched the lights to max for the photo. Why does the shading defeat the rock work? Depends on the purpose of the rock work ma. My purpose is a predator tank for crepuscular predators so for me, the shading is ideal. As mentioned previously, the rock work was specially scaped with the tank inhabitants in mind

Arhhh! ok! That explains alot bro! Than it shouldn't be an issue. With a 300w maxspect lightset....thought u had plans in keeping corals, i guess its like you mention, flexibility to switch in future

[illumnae]

Bad habit of mine la,like I mentioned to bro Evo. I tend to just set up "once and for all". Buy the best I can afford now and next time can easily switch projects with no hassle. I also have 2 freshwater 2ft dwarf cichlid biotope tanks running razor 8000K 120w literally at 10% power. Just in case I switch the tanks to planted I can just do it without upgrading gear. I may still put some corals in to colour uo the tank as the predators are reef safe. Im toying between that or adding butterflyfish as tankmates for colour. See how, but its definitely not a reef themed tank.

[Evolutionz]

a few octo, hammer, elegance & frogspawn here and there will definitely add some color to your tank!

[reefaquaria]

Nice setup... Rock on the left looks unstable, wondering how you secure it...

[Admiraltian]

Nice setup... Rock on the left looks unstable, wondering how you secure it...

Bro, He's using aquaroche designer rocks. The whole rock is shaped like this.

[kenyee]

The predators I'm keeping got large, medium and small types. I'm collecting medium and dwarf types as in the long run the dwarf types can get eaten by the large types. This scape was specially designed by Iwarna with my potential inhabitants in mind, so the structures are meant to emulate the kind of structures theses guys like in nature. Enough clues yet?

Nice bro..the stages look r good for frogfish..cheers

[reefaquaria]

Bro, He's using aquaroche designer rocks. The whole rock is shaped like this.

Ooh I see, thanks for info, new to this hobby and never heard about aquaroche designer rock, it certainly looks nice

[Admiraltian]

No worries, everyday u learn something new when u reef.

[illumnae]

Time for the grand unveiling...here's one of the stars of the show, currently in QT: Pterois mombasae!

I currently have 3 species in QT, 1 species on order for delivery this week and suppliers helping me look out for the last 3 species common to the hobby. Hope to be able to keep all 7 species and maybe more in future!

[reefaquaria]

Nice!

[kenyee]

Nice lionfish..really excited to see all of them in ur tank swimming ard video..*subscribe

[illumnae]

Thanks I'm excited to get the fish into the tank too! Currently doing QT + cycling at the same time.

[Siowaro]

Woo... Camping camping

[qianjun]

Nice!!. Lion fish is reef safe?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[illumnae]

Yup! Lion fish are reef safe since they don't touch corals, clams etc. However, any crabs or shrimp you may keep are touch and go and may be consumed by the lions at any time. Some have had success with cleaner shrimp, some haven't

[Admiraltian]

Time for the grand unveiling...here's one of the stars of the show, currently in QT: Pterois mombasae! I currently have 3 species in QT, 1 species on order for delivery this week and suppliers helping me look out for the last 3 species common to the hobby. Hope to be able to keep all 7 species and maybe more in future!

Nice lionfish.