Rex's Reef Build

Preme · Jan 19, 2017

Hey Everyone,

I've been lurking on R2R for quite some time now. I've always enjoyed looking at others tanks and seeing the progress they've made over time with their reefs. So I decided to start my own thread for my upcoming build. I've had one other reef tank in the past that was a 30 gallon long, but I lost everything due to a crash. So this time around I decided to setup my 56 gallon as a "sumpless reef", and yes I said sumpless. I know majority of people don't encourage a sumpless tank, especially a reef. But I've decided I want to give it a go and see just how good I can do.

Equipment
• 56 Gallon Aquarium 30L x 18W x 24H
• ATI sunpower 24"
• Vortech MP10qWD x 2
• AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro With 5 Gallon Reservoir
• Aquatop CF400UV Canister Filter
• Aquatop CF300 Canister Filter Used As Biological Filter.

So I'm going to be with mainly SPS corals with a small island of zoanthinds. Yes I know a sumpless reef and SPS probably don't go together the best, I've seen it be done, and I also want to try this. So therefore that's what led me to pick the ATI sunpower and MP10s.

Zero Nitrates · Jan 20, 2017

Sounds like a good plan.
Post some pics when you get a chance.
What's your maintenance schedule going to look like?

Preme · Jan 20, 2017

Zero Nitrates said:
Sounds like a good plan.
Post some pics when you get a chance.
What's your maintenance schedule going to look like?

Since I'm going sumpless I'll have to pay more attention to water conditions then usual. The larger canister will use carbon and other types of resins and will be cleaned weekly. The smaller canister will be used as a biological filter and I'll be running ceramic rings, bio balls, and crushed live rock. This will be cleaned out every few moths as I want the bacteria to grow. Not sure exactly on amounts of dosing I'll do, but when I'm first starting I'm sure it will be less, but I'll be manually dosing calcium, alk and probably a few other things. The tank will also be cleaned weekly.