My Reefing Journey

[Farhana]

Hi Everyone!

Have been wanting to 'blog' about my reefing experience so far for the past 6/7 months and recently one of the reefers said I should go for it due to my very simple-but-still-able-to-grow-corals setup so here it is! Had been into freshwater since 2013 and was influenced to step into saltwater. I have a simple 60cm x 30cm x 35cm tank that was previously housing my discus. I started this tank on 17th March 2018 and it will be 7 months old tomorrow! Here are some photos of the tank. Please don't flame as I understand I'm running a budget system here and apologies for the bad photos  

This was my initial set up at 6 days old and was running with a canister filter and BMQQ skimmer. 

1 month later, I added a budget sump which is just another 2 ft tank.

 

2 months ago, i upgraded my t5s to an AI Prime HD.

 

This is a recent photo of my tank system now, taken on the 5th of October. 

 

Corals are closing up as the lights were ramping down for the day.

 

And, thats it! Not sure if anyone will read this but if you did, thank you for taking the time to read this 

F.

[Guest]

very simple and beautiful tank !


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[Farhana]

@Willy Guccivera Yap thank you for dropping by! 

[MichelReef]

Your "Budget System" looked 10 times better than the one I first setup years ago. The tank inhabitants looked radiant and healthy. Congratulation!

[Farhana]

@MichelReef haha thank you very much! 

[fuzzlesc]

Hi Farhana. Nice system! Hows the AI Prime HD. Btw your sump have no partition?

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[Mahesh]

Simple and Nice tank setup..

[bernardhoo]

nice


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[SubzeroLT]

That's a nice set up. Do share more pics.

Any issues with the skimmer performance as the water level in the sump varies (bcos there is no panel)

 

 

 

[Farhana]

@fuzzlesc cos its a budget system so my sump is basically just another tank so no baffles or anything. AI Prime HD is doing great for the tank! My corals have doubled in size in the past 2 months, especially the zoas 

@Mahesh @bernardhoo Thank you for dropping by!

@SubzeroLT Thanks! Will definitely share more pics in future when I have time  As for the skimmer, I ensure that my water level in the sump is at a certain range so it doesn't affect the skimmer too much. So far its always been skimming wet! 

 

 

[fuzzlesc]

@Farhana Wow... Now you are tempting me to get the AI Prime HD. got a cheap LED but I have to constantly turn it on and off manually and set blue light etc.  What corals do you have in there.. more photos! 
Your sump just inspired me . I used to think I lack the space and partition in my sump.. seeing yours now I think I should just throw in the Chaeto.

[Farhana]

Hey @fuzzlesc! I think the Prime HD is doing well for me as I've only got mostly LPS and softies and a couple of SPS. The corals I have now are frogspawn, wall and branching hammers, green mushrooms, red mushroom, toadstool, finger leathers, neon kenya, xenia, green star polyps, yumas, fox, duncans, lime in the sky, bali slimer, red monti cap, zoas, blasto, lobo, acan and candy cane (wow i didnt realise i had that many alr). 

My nitrates were very high the first couple of months but with the chaeto doubling and tripling in size, my nitrates are now at 5!  

As for the light, go for it! One of the best (and most ex) thing I've bought for my budget system  If you have money to spare, maybe the Hydra 26HD could be a better option (if you keep SPS or for future setups). I'm planning to upgrade to that someday  

Will post more photos over the weekend!

[fuzzlesc]

Hi Farhana how much did you spend on all your corals? and where do most of it come from? LFS or fellow Reefers?

[Farhana]

@fuzzlesc I've spent about ~$500 on corals, give or take. Some from LFS, most are from fellow reefers 

 

 

[Farhana]

Tank update as of last Sunday. The scopas tang has died though yesterday  #rip

[fuzzlesc]

Wah nice.. i see some nice acans..  what is your chiller settings?

 

[peedeers]

Farhana - nice looking tank


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[Farhana]

@peedeers thank you!  

@fuzzlesc thank you! my yellow goby is annoying the acans though haha. I set the chiller at 25 degrees! 

[fuzzlesc]

So I guess your chiller kicks in at 26? How long does it take to cool from 26-25

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[Nick Liu]

looking good ! no sophisticated sump nor equipments . so much easier for maintenance ! 

[Farhana]

@Nick Liu thank you! 

@fuzzlesc yes thats right. it takes about 45mins to cool 1 degree with this setup. 

[Admiraltian]

Nice and simple setup.

[Farhana]

@Admiraltian thank you!

 

Hello everyone again! 

Some photos of my tank  Please excuse the bleached SPS. the yellow goby (given away) has been perching on it and it just slowly died, but I left it in the tank anyways (oops!) 

Btw, the tank cover was DIY as well. A kind reefer gave me some mesh netting and I cut to size and attached it to the wooden frames from daiso. Doesn't look very good but it does the job! 

 

Have a great weekend! 

[Farhana]

After 9 months and finally "upgraded" my budget setup to a proper set. Below is a 1.5ft cube system that was set up on the 17th. Pics were taken approximately a week later! Also, incredibly happy that all my fishes are finally accepting pellets

 

Just some shots of the tank.