Ryan-Kee's very first 2ft Reef Tank

[Ryan-Kee]

Hello all, this is my first marine tank and frankly my first tank ever that's more than 1ft. I started from freshwater so I'm really new in saltwater tank and I hope all bros' will guide me through this exciting hobby. Reefclub feels like a huge family and I'm sure that I'll be able to pick up lots of knowledge from all the sifus here. Special shoutout to some bros here who have guided me through the beginning. You know who you are!

Without further ado, let me share more about my humble 2ft tank. I will be posting the photos in the next post. 

My Tank Specifications

• Brand. RevoReef Infinity V180
• Tank. 600x600x480 (mm)
• Sump. 510x280x415 (mm)
• Water Volume. Tank 130 (L), Sump 51 (L)
• Pump. AquaZonic Amphi 5000 (5000 L/H)
• Filtration Add-on. Hydra Stream 2
• Skimmer. None
• UV. None
• Chiller. Teco TK150 (set to 27C)
• Filter Medium. OF (Ocean Free) 3DM
• Lighting. LED + T5 stock lighting
• WaveMaker. Eheim streamON+ 2000 (set to lowest flow rate), Jebao RW-4 (set to speed 3 pulse mode)
• Water. Dechlorinated Tap Water

[Ryan-Kee]

Day 01 - Setting up

I went down to Pacific Reef at Pasir Ris Farmway with my wife around 11.00 a.m, and we saw a small crowd already gathering to choose from a new shipment of fishes. Pacific Reef provides quite a nice selection of Coralline encrusted rocks with a healthy ‘sea’ smell and it wasn’t long that I manage to find several pieces that I really liked. I’ve gotten around 8KG of Live Rocks in total for a good price. Fortunately for me, a Mantis Shrimp swam out while I was weighing the rocks! Well that’s 1 less hitchhiker to take care of.

We quickly headed home and proceeded to soak the rocks in freshwater. To my delight, crabs, worms and unknown stuff started swimming out from the Live Rocks. After 5 minutes, I proceeded to transfer the rocks into another pail of freshwater to conduct a second round of inspection. This time I focused on pinching out dead growth and removing as much detritus as I can with a toothbrush and pincer.

Here's my first setup. Thanks all for viewing!

 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Ryan-Kee
Oops inserted picture twice.

[xeneryx]

Better to get a skimmer bro 

 

[JMW]

Welcome!

Nice, look you managed to remove your hitchhikers with the freshwater dip.

Agree with bro xeneryx, conider investing in a skimmer, especially when you are using tap water for your top-ups & wc

Btw, great look to your tank too, looks very slick & polished! Camping here for updates

[ahchris]

Hi ryan, keep the photos coming!

[Ryan-Kee]

Better to get a skimmer bro 

 

Hi bro, thanks for your advise! I am considering that but have a small problem... with my small sump hehe. Currently there's a 100micron sock and filter media at the back. There's a small compartment in the front which I am putting a bio-mat temporarily, maybe I can put a small unit here?

Welcome!

Nice, look you managed to remove your hitchhikers with the freshwater dip.

Agree with bro xeneryx, conider investing in a skimmer, especially when you are using tap water for your top-ups & wc

Btw, great look to your tank too, looks very slick & polished! Camping here for updates

Thanks bro for your encouragement! I think I was lucky they came out haha. However there's another crab which I saw at night. However not sure whether it's my eyes playing tricks on me or not. Yes will seriously consider a skimmer as will like to reduce my water changes 

 

[Ryan-Kee]

Hi ryan, keep the photos coming!

Thanks bro, hehe nothing much to show now. Your tank and photography is an inspiration!

[xeneryx]

Nice sump bro.

where u got this tank from?

i don't think u can place any skimmer there. How about the place where behind your return pump? You can place those media where the mat is. If not you can get those hob skimmer on your display

[inwear]

You can potentially get a Reef octopus BH 1000 ( HOB skimmer ) . Cheers and have fun

[Admiraltian]

Nice scape & slick looking tank but sump space kinda restricted.

[Yono_Pranata]

The sump looks neat but too squeezy.. Maybe can re-organise the bacteria to the first compartment.

Nice scape you have there too  but maybe higher a bit.. Just in case no place for your coral in future.. Lols

Keep it up bro!

[shy88devil]

Nice set up Ryan 

Keep the photos coming in.

Maybe you can try to hunt for hob skimmer or maybe those skimmer with magnet on like tunze skimmer or skimz sh1 or hob sh2.

Please update the review for hydra too.

[Clement Chen]

I like ur scape very nice and simple. Using tap water is not a good idea. Will give u lots of algae problem in the future. Best is to get a DI unit at the very least. 

If u dun want to run skimmer also can, but u have to consider ur nutrient export. For now u dun seem to have any. I am running without skimmer also but i have a small refugium with macroalgae as well as marinepure block. Have heard good reviews about the marinepure block it supposed to help to build bacteria that can break down nitrates. Maybe can remove the biomat and replace with the block. Ur filter sock should be good enough for mechanical filter. Then the back compartment remove the bacteria media and place a skimmer

 

[SubzeroLT]

That's a nice tank & light set. Look forward to more photos!

I also look forward to the feedback on the Hydra Stream 2 as its supposed to be able to complement or even replace the biological filtration system. I've just started running a Hydra Stream3 myself & we can share notes.

 

[I love angel]

Remember to replace the metal clips with cable tie..

Keep the picture coming.

[vurbul]

I thought the RevoReef System does not need a skimmer. It uses the hydropure technology to remove protein.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Ryan-Kee]

Nice sump bro.

where u got this tank from?

i don't think u can place any skimmer there. How about the place where behind your return pump? You can place those media where the mat is. If not you can get those hob skimmer on your display

Yes the sump is nice and neat, the chiller is hidden at the compartment behind so the whole unit is quite sleek. However that also means the size of sump is reduced.. hmm so got good got bad. Oh yes, that could be possibility to move the media to where the mat is, it's such a simple and great idea! I will try that out tonight!

You can potentially get a Reef octopus BH 1000 ( HOB skimmer ) . Cheers and have fun

Thanks for the recommendation Inwear, I will go look it up! 

Nice scape & slick looking tank but sump space kinda restricted.

Thanks for your kind encouragement Admiraltian! Yes... the sump is really restricted  Some bros coming over to help me look at how I can improve it.

The sump looks neat but too squeezy.. Maybe can re-organise the bacteria to the first compartment.

Nice scape you have there too  but maybe higher a bit.. Just in case no place for your coral in future.. Lols

Keep it up bro!

Hello Yono! Thanks for encouragement, still so much to learn. Haha yes it is... I realized it when I looked at the size of other equipment during my Sunday visit to pasir farmway. Some bigger than my whole sump lol.

[Ryan-Kee]

Nice set up Ryan 

Keep the photos coming in.

Maybe you can try to hunt for hob skimmer or maybe those skimmer with magnet on like tunze skimmer or skimz sh1 or hob sh2.

Please update the review for hydra too.

Thanks for encouragement bro! I'll look into the HOB skimmers (although it will be hang on side for mine hehe). I have already done the water test and will update everyone soon!

I like ur scape very nice and simple. Using tap water is not a good idea. Will give u lots of algae problem in the future. Best is to get a DI unit at the very least. 

If u dun want to run skimmer also can, but u have to consider ur nutrient export. For now u dun seem to have any. I am running without skimmer also but i have a small refugium with macroalgae as well as marinepure block. Have heard good reviews about the marinepure block it supposed to help to build bacteria that can break down nitrates. Maybe can remove the biomat and replace with the block. Ur filter sock should be good enough for mechanical filter. Then the back compartment remove the bacteria media and place a skimmer

 

Thanks Clement! Yes I read that many impurities and possibly PO4 will be introduced into the system. I am considering getting one but need to wait for the hole in my pocket to heal first haha. Very deep hole... I will be removing the bio-mat as many have feedback it is of little use when I have a sock. Can share with me your tank thread bro, I'm interested to find out more about skimmerless systems! Really appreciate your help! 

That's a nice tank & light set. Look forward to more photos!

I also look forward to the feedback on the Hydra Stream 2 as its supposed to be able to complement or even replace the biological filtration system. I've just started running a Hydra Stream3 myself & we can share notes.

 

Thanks Leon! Your tank and DIY stuffs are super inspirational... hope we can party at your house someday haha. I've done some water tests on salifert and NH3/4 is zero, NO2 is zero, but NO3 is around 10-25. Glad to know another Hydra user, yes we can compare notes and findings! 

Remember to replace the metal clips with cable tie..

Keep the picture coming.

Wow you got sharp eyes bro! Thanks for your advise and I will replace it tonight with cable tie! 

I thought the RevoReef System does not need a skimmer. It uses the hydropure technology to remove protein.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes bro, that's the theory hehe. I was using the Hydra in my freshwater tank with great results but not sure how it will perform in Marine. I did some tests and NH3/4, NO2 is zero, and about 25mg/l of NO3 but my tank is just 1 week old so I will continue to update the bros here!

[Ryan-Kee]

The posts are backdated as the tank was setup on 2 Oct, sorry for any confusions bros! 

Day 06 (Rearrangement and Water Tests) - 10 Oct 2015

I went out to get new Salifert test kits (NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4 and pH) and also a Jebao RW-4. The RW-4 was added as there were some dead spots at the back of my rock formation. The pulsing mode of the Jebao RW-4 is just great as it’s creating some interesting flow patterns that the Eheim streamON+ was not able to create, and it's affordable... what a fantastic wavemaker! The streamON+ is also too strong so I am considering removing it, meanwhile I've turned it off.

The flow from the main return pump seems to be rather strong so I reduced the flow by using some clothes peg (kindly 'donated' by my mother) on the pipe hehe.  I've also rearranged the rocks to create more 'caves'. Still need more rocks...

The test results are as follows. NO3 is quite high...

[tofubox]

Biggest benefit to your system: A Rodi system or a DI system at least. U will be battling algae issues all day long with those lights blasting down with tap water. *unless ur house tap has low TDS. 

Assuming u do 20% wc a week, a DI unit will suffice. Just have to replace the media when its exhausted (again depending on ur tap water tds)

That was my newbie mistake running tap water, and having issues all the time. 

Would recommand looking out for 2nd hand DI units on this forum, and get ur replacement media from madpetz. A 3 stage DI will do a good job reducing the overall TDS.

 

Edited October 12, 2015 by tofubox

[Ryan-Kee]

Hi Tofubox! The little ugly algae filaments are popping up on the glass and sand already. Given a limited budget between a skimmer and RO/DI system, should I make RO/DI the priority? Thanks in advance

[shy88devil]

Hi Tofubox! The little ugly algae filaments are popping up on the glass and sand already. Given a limited budget between a skimmer and RO/DI system, should I make RO/DI the priority? Thanks in advance

Ryan .. I would say depend on yr budget .. I'm using DI personally .. so of our bros use RODI .. but I will recommend to invest for a long run and enjoy the process of reefing hahaha

[Guest]

Or you can use dislitued water till you get a proper Ro Di unit

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

[shy88devil]

Or you can use dislitued water till you get a proper Ro Di unit

 

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

 

 

yeah is another option ... get from NTUC Life Distilled water or Iwarna also selling too.

[MarcoVan]

Skimmer for small tanks are yes and no. I vote for RODI or DI system as priority