New Tank Build - Re Entering the Hobby

[thesauce]

Hi all,

I am in the design phase getting ready to begin building my tank after a 10 year hiatus. I‘d love suggestions or guidance. I’m lucky enough to be able to build from scratch with about 6 years prior experience.

I am fairly confident about my equipment selections with two exceptions.

1.). I am torn between the Red Sea 70 Gallon Peninsula or the Waterbox equivalent. Any advice would be welcome.

2.). I am leaning towards two Radeon X15’s but I am unsure if I am missing out on better options.

I don’t see a lot of differentiations in protein skimmer options at this tank volume. I‘ll likely add that after the tank cycles along with one Vortech MP40. Once I’ve ramped up the bio load I’ll introduce a Reef Matt. At about the one year mark, once I’ve gotten my feet wet again, I’ll likely introduce a controller to automate testing and water changes. This will probably be the right time to introduce a calcium reactor.

Thoughts, suggestions, juicy rumors?

 

[AnthonyiLLMaTiC]

i have a 170 up for sale all in if interested, but two radeons on that small a tank is unnecessary i would say

 

[Josh]

I don't think you can go wrong with either tank.

2 X15s should be plenty, that is the top option. You can always swap one out for something else in the future if you want to play around with other lights.

You should setup the skimmer when you built the tank. It is a big part of the biological filtration balance, you don't want any major swings later on with that part of the tank. I would do it early so you get the plumbing perfect before you add any animals to the tank.

 

[thesauce]

I don't think you can go wrong with either tank.

2 X15s should be plenty, that is the top option. You can always swap one out for something else in the future if you want to play around with other lights.

You should setup the skimmer when you built the tank. It is a big part of the biological filtration balance, you don't want any major swings later on with that part of the tank. I would do it early so you get the plumbing perfect before you add any animals to the tank.

Thanks Josh. Good points. Do you think I should add the calcium reactor right away as well?…or wait until I have the livestock?

 

[Josh]

You don't need to add the reactor until you have some hard corals. I would take your time getting to that point.

 

[PalmTree]

Hello thesauce! Like you I took a few years off before getting back into it. I ended up getting a redsea 250 with a basement sump. Like others have said I would definitely plan your build with the protein skimmer in mind. It's a big piece of equipment that takes up a significant amount of space. I think it's worth planning around it so there's no surprises later on. RedSead and Waterbox are both popular choices and I'm sure you will be fine with either one. I have never had Radions so I can't really give you any insight on that. I have been running Kessils since switching over to LEDS back when they came out and they have served me well. I have an APX9 over my tank now and I love it. Good luck!!

 

[Timbo]

There has been a lot of talk about Red Sea tank seams failing so do your do diligence before deciding.

 

[Fred Scott]

Hey @Josh I see what you mean about the protein skimmer. It actually makes a lot of sense to get it up and running on to maintain a biological filtration balance. I think I'm leaning towards installing it during the setup to ensure we get the plumbing from the start. As, for the calcium reactor waiting until I have corals sounds like a move just as you suggested.

 

[thesauce]

There has been a lot of talk about Red Sea tank seams failing so do your due diligence before deciding.

I was hoping someone would chime in on this. I have been reading about this as well. I’m leaning towards waterbox.

 

[JackH]

Hey thesauce welcome back to the hobby! When it comes to choosing a tank both Red Sea and Waterbox have their advantages. However it's worth noting that there have been some discussions recently, about the tank seams of Red Sea. As for lighting the Radeon X15s would be an option for a tank of your size. They are highly efficient and quite popular within the reef community. Now lets talk about the protein skimmer. It's always an idea to incorporate it right from the beginning to ensure balance in biological filtration just as Josh suggested. As, for the calcium reactor it is generally recommended to wait until you have an amount of corals before considering adding one. Wishing you all the best with setting up your tank!

 

[thesauce]

Hey thesauce welcome back to the hobby! When it comes to choosing a tank both Red Sea and Waterbox have their advantages. However it's worth noting that there have been some discussions recently, about the tank seams of Red Sea. As for lighting the Radeon X15s would be an option for a tank of your size. They are highly efficient and quite popular within the reef community. Now lets talk about the protein skimmer. It's always an idea to incorporate it right from the beginning to ensure balance in biological filtration just as Josh suggested. As, for the calcium reactor it is generally recommended to wait until you have an amount of corals before considering adding one. Wishing you all the best with setting up your tank!

Thanks for all of the feedback. I am going with waterbox…the 4820.

 

[ViolentA79]

I would say check out the reefi uno 2.0 pros. I dumped all my other lights and have only these now and they are fantastic. Cheaper, stronger and longer warranty than the radeons. They def. give more pop to your colors as well!

ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com

 

[Любочка Лазебна]

The craft of assembling tanks is once again becoming an exciting hobby for many enthusiasts. The latest tank builds bring exciting possibilities to the hobby world for those who value technical detail and historical accuracy. go quickly why are podcasts so popular there is a lot of interesting things here!

 

[NL146]

I've heard horror stories about Red Sea tanks too, but I owned a RSM650 for a few years then upgraded to the S1000 just about 2 years ago and have not had any issues. Plus I've read that the design of new models make failure less likely now.