A Griswold Family Nano Reef

[clark griswold]

Hello R2R. First time build thread so hopefully this doesn't suck. I wanted to document my progress here. I've had saltwater tanks on and off since I was a kid. I've been out of the hobby for almost a decade and my last tank was a 100 gallon FOWLR. This will be my first ever reef tank.

It's been a long round about journey to get to this point but finally getting some progress. I had purchased a JBJ45 AIO and stand from someone in my local reef club about two months ago. I invested in a RODI from BRS, purchased an auto top off, refractometer, and about 50+ lbs of Marco Rock. When I went to start working on the tank I discovered that the plastic in the sump had badly warped while being in my garage and split off from the silicone. I attempted to fix it to no avail and ended up scrapping the tank.

I then decided to buy a bigger tank with a sump but fate was against me as my AC went out at the beginning of the summer so I was left with about $1000 investment in equipment with no tank to use it with. Also, complicating matters was I had to promise the wife we'd do a bathroom remodel she'd (and I) have been wanting for years if I was to get a big reef tank. So the big dream tank isn't in the budget for awhile and I didn't want to just sit on this equipment and rock I'd bought. So I ended up buying a IM Nuvo Fusion 20 and just poaching all the equipment off the JBJ tank I scrapped. The big dream tank is still in the works but figured I'd get my feet wet with something smaller and easier as I build up funds again.

So here is where I'm at now.

Painted the JBJ stand white after seeing 'eat sleep reef' do it on youtube. 24 hour leak test has been completed. And I'm currently working on the aquascaping. Shout out to @chefjpaul for the inspiration. Mine probably won't be anywhere near as good as his awesome works of art but trying my best to come up with something cool. I will be using a mix of stax, and marco shelf and prime cuts.

Basic dry fit structure.

Equipment So Far:

IM Nuvo Fusion 20
JBJ Stand
BRS 6 stage deluxe RODI
Milwaukee Digital Refractometer
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 return pump
InTank Custom Caddie
Pond Matrix
IM Spin Nozzles

 

[clark griswold]

Quick question, about to start mortaring the rock. Is there any danger in dipping the rock in the tap water I used to leak test the tank? Or should I avoid that and wait until it's RODI water?

 

[hwntunda]

Nice looking scape, do you know your tds in your tap water? If they’re low you should be fine, what are you planning on using to secure your rock work

 

[clark griswold]

Nice looking scape, do you know your tds in your tap water? If they’re low you should be fine, what are you planning on using to secure your rock work

I'm not sure of the TDS. According to my water report they use no chloramines only chlorine.

I bought some E-Marco 400 when I bought the rock.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I'm not sure of the TDS. According to my water report they use no chloramines only chlorine.

I bought some E-Marco 400 when I bought the rock.

I pulled up our city website and they had the annual water report breaking down everything in it. You might check and see if your city has the same info.

 

[chefjpaul]

Quick question, about to start mortaring the rock. Is there any danger in dipping the rock in the tap water I used to leak test the tank? Or should I avoid that and wait until it's RODI water?

Congrats on the build, and thanks for the shout out!

You can dip / soak the rock in tap, add vinegar to clean them up a bit - the acid will help with a little p04 removal .

Looks awesome

 

[clark griswold]

Well after six hours of aquascaping today this is what I ended up with. I don't love it, don't hate it. I guess for my first real aquascape it's okay. Messed up setting the base of the left structure and it all kinda went downhill from there. Also, didn't anticipate how quickly the emarco dry up. Oh well. Gonna roll with it. I'm sure once I get a Kessil and fish in coral in there it won't bother me.

 

[hwntunda]

Looks really good, how close is that piece to the front glass? Looks pretty close by your pic...

 

[WV Reefer]

Well after six hours of aquascaping today this is what I ended up with. I don't love it, don't hate it. I guess for my first real aquascape it's okay. Messed up setting the base of the left structure and it all kinda went downhill from there. Also, didn't anticipate how quickly the emarco dry up. Oh well. Gonna roll with it. I'm sure once I get a Kessil and fish in coral in there it won't bother me.

Hi!

I think it looks good so far. . I like the white stand.

 

[clark griswold]

Looks really good, how close is that piece to the front glass? Looks pretty close by your pic...

Pretty close. About half an inch.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Pretty close. About half an inch.

Have you considered how you will clean the inside glass? That doesn't give you much room for cleaning and I guarantee you will have to clean it. In my builds I always make sure I can get my hand, magnet cleaner and vacuum in between the glass and scape. Just something to think about.

 

[clark griswold]

Have you considered how you will clean the inside glass? That doesn't give you much room for cleaning and I guarantee you will have to clean it. In my builds I always make sure I can get my hand, magnet cleaner and vacuum in between the glass and scape. Just something to think about.

I did think about that. Unfortunately not until I'd already mortared that big piece together. LOL

It's so wide if I twist it one way to get away from the glass it hits the side glass on the back end. Definitely a design flaw on my part.

 

[mattgsa]

Nice tank, looking forward to following along.

 

[clark griswold]

RODI is set-up. Currently flushing the filters. Had a bit of scare as my PSI dropped from 45 to 25. Went outside to test with my hose and realized my sprinkler system had turned on. That'll do it.

Hoping to get this tank salty tomorrow.

 

[clark griswold]

I did think about that. Unfortunately not until I'd already mortared that big piece together. LOL

It's so wide if I twist it one way to get away from the glass it hits the side glass on the back end. Definitely a design flaw on my part.

Played with the scape a bit and got it situated to where I think I can clean my glass easily.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Played with the scape a bit and got it situated to where I think I can clean my glass easily.

That's great! I figured it would have been a real challenge the way it was. But it did look good.

 

[clark griswold]

 

[clark griswold]

Just wanted to give a quick update. After playing with my scape this is what I ended up with that will allow me to clean all of the glass.

Tank is a month old today. Been cycling for four weeks. Just added some biospira to start and I've been ghost feeding pellets and frozen mysis every day since. Tank has been cycled for several weeks but I'm doing my version of the BRS ULM cycle. No lights have been added though I did add a IM Chaetomaxx refugium light to the back of the tank. Just haven't been running it yet.

 

[clark griswold]

Should be getting a shipment of pods, phyto, and chaeto from Algae Barn early next week. I'll add those and give the pods a chance to seed. Hopefully the chaeto survives. There should be enough nitrates and phosphates in the water to keep it going then I'll fire up the fuge light a few hours a day.

 

[clark griswold]

Hoping to add my first fish, a clownfish pair at the 6 weeks mark.