Rishu's Really Ridiculous Reef: a 96x20x20 penny tank build

.bubbles · #1 02-07-2015, 11:26 PM

Update:

On Tuesday we picked up a RSM 130 from a fellow reefer in Coquitlam. It didn't fit into our car (oops!) and he ended up delivering it over to us. (Yay for kind reefers!) We had originally planned to use it as a temporary home to our current livestock but after setting it up and seeing how nice it was, we've decided to keep it as a secondary tank to house 'aggro' fish that would not be safe to keep in the main tank. (Possible candidates atm: small eel, puffer, baby box fish, another mantis...any suggestions?)

On Wednesday we tore down our current tank and moved everyone over to the RSM. It went relatively smooth but still took the two of us about 5 hours to get it done. There were a few moments when I was accessing the state of our living room: endless buckets of water, equipment strewn all over the floor, a pungent smell of wetdog - I questioned whether it was really worth all this trouble. It is

Currently everyone seems to be adjusting to th RSM well...it is a little bit of a tight fit but only for a month, then they'll move into a much more spacious penny tank

Curiously I've developed a rash on the back of my hands..I think it is from handling our 10" sebae anem...she was stinging me like mad when I was coaxing her out. Anyone experienced this before?

rishu_pepper · #2 02-09-2015, 06:14 AM

Procured some equipment, a Tunze Osmolator ATO and three Radion G2s. I'm thinking we will need another one but may roll with just the three for the beginning.

Someone has offered me a Reef Keeper Elite package with all the goodies that could possibly be included, at the price of a new set of Apex. Should I go with the RKE? I know everyone raves about the Apex (with good reason) but I haven't heard much from users of the RKE. Anybody with experience that can chime in?

hunggi74 · #3 02-09-2015, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper

Procured some equipment, a Tunze Osmolator ATO and three Radion G2s. I'm thinking we will need another one but may roll with just the three for the beginning.

Someone has offered me a Reef Keeper Elite package with all the goodies that could possibly be included, at the price of a new set of Apex. Should I go with the RKE? I know everyone raves about the Apex (with good reason) but I haven't heard much from users of the RKE. Anybody with experience that can chime in?

Buy the Apex. The ability to monitor and control your tank's components via your mobile device is something you will never be able to do with RKE. Most new electronics products coming out have or will have Apex connectivity, not so with RKE. The reason you don't see many RKE peeps chiming in is because there isn't one reason to buy an RKE over an Apex besides price. I speak from experience. I have an RK and I want to switch over to an Apex. I chose to go the cheaper route and have regretted it since. HTH.

rishu_pepper · #4 02-09-2015, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunggi74

Buy the Apex. The ability to monitor and control your tank's components via your mobile device is something you will never be able to do with RKE. Most new electronics products coming out have or will have Apex connectivity, not so with RKE. The reason you don't see many RKE peeps chiming in is because there isn't one reason to buy an RKE over an Apex besides price. I speak from experience. I have an RK and I want to switch over to an Apex. I chose to go the cheaper route and have regretted it since. HTH.

Ha, the guy sold it anyway, so I guess I don't have to make the decision anymore

Saving up for an Apex then.

rishu_pepper · #5 03-04-2015, 07:27 PM

A bit of a set back with the fish. Diagnosed the hippo tang with ich (rapid breathing, white dots on and off), which means the whole RSM 130 is infected.

What I plan to do is to move all the LR and corals from the RSM to the big tank once it's up and leave it fallow for 72 days. At the same time, I will do TTM with the fish to eradicate the ich, then once they are healed, they will stay in the QT and enter the system after 72 days.

It's a little frustrating, especially I wanted the fish to enjoy the big tank soon, but the silver lining is, we can get rid of this problem now rather than killing all fish, new and old, one day in the future. This will also give tons of time for the tank to cycle and stabilize for them.

What do you think of this strategy?

.bubbles · #6 03-04-2015, 07:38 PM

You forgot to mention another perk: I can now aquascape to my heart's content for 72 days without having to worry about squishing any fish