My cheap 125

[Gtinnel]

Lol you actually tasted it?

Yes, and then still wasn’t willing to use it in the tank. It tastes like sugar water.

 

[tbrown]

I have absolutely nothing to add about the tank other than I’ve started dosing Acropower, and all of my corals seem happier because of it. I don’t know if it’s the Acropower but my nitrates have now been staying constant between 5-10 which is great. I normally struggled to keep them above 2. I’m not sure if my corals are reacting to the Acropower or extra nutrients but either it’s getting results.

Also when I got the bottle of Acropower from Amazon the bottle wasn’t sealed, so I contacted Two Little Fishies asking how to make sure what I had was actually Acropower and not someone replacing it with water and returning it to Amazon. So without me asking Two Little Fishies just sent me a replacement bottle. I also learned that Acropower tastes really sweet like sugar water. My wife said it was stupid for me to taste the mystery liquid that I was afraid someone tampered with. Is it sad that I tasted it but wasn’t willing to put it in my tank?

I was looking at Acropower. I have such a hard time with sticks but I've heard it can be good for Gonis and Alves as well. My wife says I have too much coral food so it's a no go for now.

 

[Gtinnel]

Everything in my tank looks happier since I started dosing, although I honestly think it has more to do with the nitrates, and I’m just guessing those are from the Acropower. I’ve always struggled with low nitrates until a week ago when I started dosing Acropower.

Next I think I’m going to start trying phyto and see how that goes.

 

[tbrown]

Everything in my tank looks happier since I started dosing, although I honestly think it has more to do with the nitrates, and I’m just guessing those are from the Acropower. I’ve always struggled with low nitrates until a week ago when I started dosing Acropower.

Next I think I’m going to start trying phyto and see how that goes.

Mine tend to love Phyto and I use the cheap dead stuff.

 

[Gtinnel]

Mine tend to love Phyto and I use the cheap dead stuff.

I was going to start buying it from the user on here that sells it. I’ve heard nothing but good things about his. The only reason I haven’t started using it yet is because it’s supposed to stay refrigerated so I cant easily put it on a dosing pump. I’ve been considering it for a long time now.

 

[tbrown]

I was going to start buying it from the user on here that sells it. I’ve heard nothing but good things about his. The only reason I haven’t started using it yet is because it’s supposed to stay refrigerated so I cant easily put it on a dosing pump. I’ve been considering it for a long time now.

Reef Chasers grows it and sells it for a decent price. Shipping on live phyto is what's expensive. I've got a local guy that used to sell it but now only sells pods. However, Reef Chowda (previously Reef Stew) is local and I can get it at most LFS around. Good mix of phyto, rotifers, copepods, and brine shrimp. I don't think it has any amphipods but it's decently cheap.

 

[Gtinnel]

Reef Chasers grows it and sells it for a decent price. Shipping on live phyto is what's expensive. I've got a local guy that used to sell it but now only sells pods. However, Reef Chowda (previously Reef Stew) is local and I can get it at most LFS around. Good mix of phyto, rotifers, copepods, and brine shrimp. I don't think it has any amphipods but it's decently cheap.

Here is where I was planning on buying it. I have only heard good things about his phyto

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fresh-live-phyto-8-species-blend-–-free-shipping.796578/

 

[tbrown]

Here is where I was planning on buying it. I have only heard good things about his phyto

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fresh-live-phyto-8-species-blend-–-free-shipping.796578/

I just drove through Eagle Idaho today!!! I could have stopped and grabbed a batch.

 

[Gtinnel]

So I did some much needed maintenance in my tank. I siphoned out some bubble algae and used kalk and lye to kill a few aiptasia. I killed one aiptasia that was at the base of my toadstool. Since killing the aiptasia the toadstool is leaning over sideways. I wonder how much damage I did to it while killing the aiptasia. I took a few somewhat decent pics of some of my newer acros

 

[Gtinnel]

Wow I haven’t updated this thread in a long time. The sad thing is the last pictures of corals are still on that frag rack almost a year later. Anyway there is another giveaway where I get entries for posting water parameters so here they are.

clearly they were taken with my apex.

 

[Mschmidt]

 

[ILikeFish!]

My tank is a cheap 125g rimmed reef ready tank that I bought used about 3 years ago. I diy almost everything that I can and I figured I would do this build as cheaply as possible. Having been in the hobby for a little over a decade starting about 20 years ago, I was aware that this hobby can be very frustrating at times, so I didn't want to spend a fortune in case I don't stick with it.
So I started with building my own stand.

Here it is mostly finished without the doors, and some of the electrical hanging out the front while trying figure out where to put the controller box for my jebao gyre pump

Here is my tank after about 2 years and I can honestly say I'm happier with this tank than any I have had in the past

Also, at around the 2 year mark I finally gave in and bought into an Apex controller, with a trident and dos. One of my biggest regrets with my current tank is that I didn't buy it sooner. The system is well worth the cost. I no longer have room under my stand so I had to build a controller box to sit beside the tank. It isn't finished yet, but it will ultimately be skinned with the same pallet wood as the stand is.

I'm now changing my stance on trying to buy the cheapest equipment possible. I would love to upgrade to a custom built tank in the 300g range but the only reasonable location for the tank is where my 125 is and I really don't want to have to transfer everything over to a new tank quickly. I'd be much more comfortable setting up a new tank and letting it mature for a while before transferring corals. Idk maybe someday I'll figure something out and can start a build thread for a much bigger tank.

What’s the dimensions of your tank?

 

[Gtinnel]

What’s the dimensions of your tank?

72” wide, 18” deep, and 21” tall. It’s the basic rimmed 125g tank.

 

[billyocean]

72” wide, 18” deep, and 21” tall. It’s the basic rimmed 125g tank.

The 18" is killing me.

 

[tbrown]

The 18" is killing me.

I almost wish I had gone with the 110 Lobster for the 30".

 

[Gtinnel]

The 18" is killing me.

Me too. When I bought and setup this tank I was trying to be cheap so I went with the cheapest basic “big” tank that I could. Had to do over again I would’ve bought a custom tank with much different dimensions. I’d love to have a 8’ or 10’x2’x2’ tank

 

[billyocean]

Me too. When I bought and setup this tank I was trying to be cheap so I went with the cheapest basic “big” tank that I could. Had to do over again I would’ve bought a custom tank with much different dimensions. I’d love to have a 8’ or 10’x2’x2’ tank

Those are my plans. 8x2x2 or 8x30"x2. My 125 was given to me so I can't complain but the corner overflows are killer.

 

[Gtinnel]

Those are my plans. 8x2x2 or 8x30"x2. My 125 was given to me so I can't complain but the corner overflows are killer.

I bought mine for a few hundred from a lfs, that unfortunately closed as soon as I got my tank setup. I did get my Red Sea tank for free though.

 

[billyocean]

I bought mine for a few hundred from a lfs, that unfortunately closed as soon as I got my tank setup. I did get my Red Sea tank for free though.

Honestly, when I got it I thought it was huge! Went from a 28 jbj reef, so it was quite the jump. Had a 125 freshwater tank when I was a teenager but saltwater was a different story.

 

[tbrown]

I pulled my 125 out of a dumpster...