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I'm mulling over what livestock to get once the tank cycles. I'm not going to get everything at once of course but I figured I would start with: few hermit crabs some snails maybe a peppermint shrimp (later) Then probably a Clownfish and/or a Goby of some sort. I want the clown to keep the...

It looks a little empty but with the low/no cure time on the MasterEmaco 488CI cement, it should be straight forward to make more rock once I learn what is good and/or what I want.

I ordered the Biospira and some Dr Tim's ammonium chloride from Amazon. The tank cleared up with the protein skimmer. I need to clean the glass but not rushing that (never had a tank with sand and want to avoid scratching it recklessly). I used MasterEmaco 488CI to make my rock along with...

That sounds much better than rotting shrimp. I'll do that. Thanks!

The tank cleared up a bit while the main pump was off. Still cloudy (as expected). The replacement bulkheads are perfect. I replaced the cracked one and got the system back up. Then drilled some holes in the water inlets to break the siphon when the main pump is turned off. My bubble trap in the...

Well hard to believe that much time has past but life got in the way for a bit. I switched employers and then my son was born (now almost 4 months old). I put the water in the tank this evening. I accidentally cracked a bulkhead while moving the tank around before putting in the sand, rock...

It seems okay -- I only ran it for an hour to do the initial clean out. My goal is less waste (and not needing to upgrade later). I don't know if my pressure is high enough to get me to 1:1. I'll test it with two 5 gallon buckets. I am making sure if anything overflows, it'll be outside in the...

Thanks! I didn't mention it but BRS included a float valve in the kit (really amazing extras to be honest -- everything I needed except the Y adapter for the washer hookup). I mounted it on the trash can. I need the waste water setup though so I can set it and forget it. It looks like my...

Almost forgot the RO/DI unit. I hooked it up with a 3 way ball valve so I can skip the DI for drinking water/flushing. My plan is to hook some PEX tubing up to that 5 gallon Home Depot bucket with a run down to another Brute garbage can in the garden. Then the waste water can go into the 5G...

I drilled the tank last week and got most of the plumbing figured out. Glass-holes sent me one wrong piece but Home Depot came through with a (hopefully) temporary replacement for the wrong 90 degree return elbow (Glass-Holes sent one 3/4" and one 1/2" instead of two 3/4"). I filled it up with...

So it took a while but stand 2.0 is nearly done. I still need to mount the door and cut some holes in the back for the glass-holes kits (in and out): Mounting the door with hinges on the right to hide the wonky cut on the upper right opening! Used a plane to smooth out the top 2x4s to...

Have you used the Red Sea phosphate test?

Thanks to everyone -- I think that helps me out quite a bit. This is my first reef tank and I'm not going for anything specific yet (so not ULNS). Now I get why the API tests work for some people but not for others. It sounds like they would work fine for me as a beginner and now I know why I...

I'm a frugal person (*) that doesn't like to buy things twice and I've read that the API tests are pretty bad and the Salifert are good. Is that true? The part that confuses me is that there are quite a few Salifert tests and they all seem to be sold separately. So what do I really need? What is...

I forgot to ask -- what sand did you use while making rock? Can I just buy some play sand from the store? Or should I be careful to avoid something with silica in it? I'm a bit clueless about this and it seems like some people are just using bulk sand. I want to avoid problems so I was mulling...

The Emeryville one didn't have even Water Softener salt -- the Home Depot guy said there wasn't much call for it (due to the local water being good). I was going to try the same technique as you. I've been watching Youtube videos to see different approaches. I'm also pondering doing a rear wall...

I've read about the door trick and I think I'd go with that -- sounds good. Thanks again for pointing out the pitfall. I really appreciate it.

Ah crap... I get it now. I'm glad I posted here :). Hrmm... I think my options are: 1) Put it the other way around and put a removable panel on the front. Con is that it is harder to open than a door so emptying the skimmer/getting in the sump will be harder (I like keeping things easy so there...

I want the wider opening to the rear because it just fits a 10G in. I am indeed setting the tank down on those inner 2x4's -- that is the only reason they are there. The front will be skinned and I'll plunge cut an opening out -- my door isn't wide enough to cover the whole front. I agree it...

For rock supplies, I purchased these items: 50lb bag of crushed oyster shells from Concord feed ~ $12 (or $2.99/lb if you wanted less) 25lb bag of bright white Polyblend grout from Home Depot ~$16 I'm still looking for rock salt. I assumed it would be easy to get locally in Oakland at hardware...