Yes, a reef tank. I know this doesn't happen often on BCA any more and there are other forums that is more specialized for Salt water aquariums. However, BCA is where I got lots info when I first getting into the hobby 16 years ago and I enjoy the vibe here more than some other larger forum. So here we go!
Little bit about myself to start. I am treating myself a newbie (kind of), because the last time I was keeping any type of aquarium was almost 3 years ago.
16 years ago when I moved out from my parent's place after I got married, I started my first 20G tank that I got from metrotown's Pet Habitat. At that time, all I was keeping is guppies. One day, I walked into Big Al near Lougheed Mall with my wife, both of us were amazed by all the marine fish and corals and how keeping a piece of ocean in your living room is no longer a dream. Like most newbies, I rushed into getting live sand, live ROCK and almost immediately put my fish in after just 2 weeks of cycling with my 20G ( all our guppies were given to our friends at that time). After some issues with algae due to the new tank not fully cycled, I start to really research everything. This was how I started my journey in Salt water fish keeping. Over the next 13 years, I have upgrade and downgrade multiple times. Going from 20G to 75G to a BioCube 29G then back up to a 120G and back down to 60G. Finally 6 years ago, I sold my 90G tank and pretty much convinced myself would never get back to the hobby due to my health took a down turn and I want to spend more time and money on my family.
I moved to a bigger last year and with my health getting better, I decide to take another shot at reef keeping. So I am back!
The differences for this time is that I want to take it real slow and make informed decision on pretty much everything.
1) Tank selection.
This is a tough choice. I am a cube tank lover and I also like the idea of shallow tank. So I always looking for rimless cube or semi cube tank. The space I have is roughly 36x36 so I was looking around for something that can fit to that area be a center piece of my living room. After poking around on Craigslist and Kijiji without success, I came across couple tanks in JL aquatics after a drop-by visit just to see how things are. Two tanks caught my eyes. One is the Innovative-Marine's EXT 75G tank and the other is the Red Sea Reefer 250. I end up going with the IM EXT 75G tank because the larger size and the idea where the overflow is outside of the tank to give my display tank a very clean space to work with. It also a lot cheaper compare to the Red Sea Reefer 250.
I have to say this tank has really good quality in general, very sick glass and smooth silicon work in general. It is also very heavy, my son and myself took almost an hour to move both the tank and the stand into our 2nd floor living room.
We did it and I am super please with how it look.
![tank1.jpg]()
Back overflow box
![tank2.jpg]()
2) Sump
This is another hard choice, I want to have proper plumbing this time. In my past tanks, I always use flex tubing for return pump and overflow intake. I want this setup to be as professional looking as possible. Because of that, I have been doing plenty research on what might be a good options for this size of cabinet. Many of the pre-made sump such as those Esshopps or Trigger sumps doesn't have the dimension I want and those that fits the cabinet would have no refugium space. So at the end, I decide to buy a DIY kit from EBAY that would give the proper setup I will update this one once I received the kit and completed the transformation of my old 29G tank to the sump.
3) Protein skimmer
I decide to go with the Bubble Magus Curve 5 which I also picked up from JL today. When I last keeping proper corals, I had an old Bubble Magus and it was quiet and efficient so I decide to go back to them again.
After I take it out of the packaging, I am surprised by how simple the setup is and how small the footprint it is.4 years ago, it is impossible to find a small footprint like this to be able to support anything more than 50g.
![skimmer.jpg]()
4)Lighting.
Those that know me from before, knows that I used to sell LED light fixtures from a brand call Zetlight. Ever since my health went down hill, I basically stopped all the LED business as I do still work full time and I can't really afford to spend that kind of time and effort to do this side business any more. That being said, I still have some LED in stock with me that I never bother to sell them. For this build, I am going to use a ZT6500. It is 90W and small fixture that I will raise a bit higher to cover most of the tank. My idea for this tank is going to be a Zoa garden so I don't need blazing bright LED coverage here.
![tankwithLED.jpg]()
I am still yet to fully decide on the return pump and the powerhead/wave maker. So more to come...
Little bit about myself to start. I am treating myself a newbie (kind of), because the last time I was keeping any type of aquarium was almost 3 years ago.
16 years ago when I moved out from my parent's place after I got married, I started my first 20G tank that I got from metrotown's Pet Habitat. At that time, all I was keeping is guppies. One day, I walked into Big Al near Lougheed Mall with my wife, both of us were amazed by all the marine fish and corals and how keeping a piece of ocean in your living room is no longer a dream. Like most newbies, I rushed into getting live sand, live ROCK and almost immediately put my fish in after just 2 weeks of cycling with my 20G ( all our guppies were given to our friends at that time). After some issues with algae due to the new tank not fully cycled, I start to really research everything. This was how I started my journey in Salt water fish keeping. Over the next 13 years, I have upgrade and downgrade multiple times. Going from 20G to 75G to a BioCube 29G then back up to a 120G and back down to 60G. Finally 6 years ago, I sold my 90G tank and pretty much convinced myself would never get back to the hobby due to my health took a down turn and I want to spend more time and money on my family.
I moved to a bigger last year and with my health getting better, I decide to take another shot at reef keeping. So I am back!
The differences for this time is that I want to take it real slow and make informed decision on pretty much everything.
1) Tank selection.
This is a tough choice. I am a cube tank lover and I also like the idea of shallow tank. So I always looking for rimless cube or semi cube tank. The space I have is roughly 36x36 so I was looking around for something that can fit to that area be a center piece of my living room. After poking around on Craigslist and Kijiji without success, I came across couple tanks in JL aquatics after a drop-by visit just to see how things are. Two tanks caught my eyes. One is the Innovative-Marine's EXT 75G tank and the other is the Red Sea Reefer 250. I end up going with the IM EXT 75G tank because the larger size and the idea where the overflow is outside of the tank to give my display tank a very clean space to work with. It also a lot cheaper compare to the Red Sea Reefer 250.
I have to say this tank has really good quality in general, very sick glass and smooth silicon work in general. It is also very heavy, my son and myself took almost an hour to move both the tank and the stand into our 2nd floor living room.
We did it and I am super please with how it look.
Back overflow box
2) Sump
This is another hard choice, I want to have proper plumbing this time. In my past tanks, I always use flex tubing for return pump and overflow intake. I want this setup to be as professional looking as possible. Because of that, I have been doing plenty research on what might be a good options for this size of cabinet. Many of the pre-made sump such as those Esshopps or Trigger sumps doesn't have the dimension I want and those that fits the cabinet would have no refugium space. So at the end, I decide to buy a DIY kit from EBAY that would give the proper setup I will update this one once I received the kit and completed the transformation of my old 29G tank to the sump.
3) Protein skimmer
I decide to go with the Bubble Magus Curve 5 which I also picked up from JL today. When I last keeping proper corals, I had an old Bubble Magus and it was quiet and efficient so I decide to go back to them again.
After I take it out of the packaging, I am surprised by how simple the setup is and how small the footprint it is.4 years ago, it is impossible to find a small footprint like this to be able to support anything more than 50g.
4)Lighting.
Those that know me from before, knows that I used to sell LED light fixtures from a brand call Zetlight. Ever since my health went down hill, I basically stopped all the LED business as I do still work full time and I can't really afford to spend that kind of time and effort to do this side business any more. That being said, I still have some LED in stock with me that I never bother to sell them. For this build, I am going to use a ZT6500. It is 90W and small fixture that I will raise a bit higher to cover most of the tank. My idea for this tank is going to be a Zoa garden so I don't need blazing bright LED coverage here.
I am still yet to fully decide on the return pump and the powerhead/wave maker. So more to come...
