musaabi
Well-Known Member
Setting up a new tank after moving and selling my old one. I originally wanted a peninsula style tank but considering I’m leasing my apt I decided on a smaller tank. I went to my new LFS and saw a Neptunian tank setup. After examining it a fair bit, I decided to go with them. I liked the sump setup and under cabinet organization seemed great. The cabinet is made of PVC and covered with acrylic to prevent any water damage and the actual stand is made from aluminum? Some things I struggled with the brand, there’s barely any information on these tanks! The website is very low quality and there’s no actual pictures, just 3D models. The products I could find were mostly from Australia but they seem like a different model than here in the states. This is a bit worrying to invest $1900 in a product that will house hundreds of dollars Of fish and coral without knowing much about the brand and their reputation. I also wanted a 54 gallon cube that was marked as the S series but the series is no where on their site and again little to no information available. I ultimately decided on the M90 as that’s their smallest tank that was “available” soon and the S series was more like “we know they exist but we don’t know if there are any available and they only import them in the US every quarter.” I later found out that they changed the name of the series and my LFS said “oh yeah we COULD have ordered it for you” but the M90 was already ordered and was on its way to be delivered. So I put a deposit down and just heard it’ll be here between Saturday and Monday but I’ll be picking the tank up Oct 5th once I move into my new spot.
I’m coming from a Redsea Reefer 300XL and only 3 of my 5 fish survived the relocation, my Biota bred yellow tang, and my mocha and black storm clowns. I also lost a couple of coral during the move but luckily the majority survived. My yellow possum wrasse(which i bought for like $40 now seeing them upwards of $100!) died a couple of weeks ago, I think do to aggression from the tang and clowns. I did have a Biota captive bred blue mandarin that somehow disappeared from my display and couldn’t find it anywhere! Non of my corals were big enough to eat it and I didnt find him sitting outside the tank so that’s a weird one.
Coming from literally just building my old tank before having to move, i learned what I need to do and have a better idea of how to go about this tank. I kept all my equipment and just sold my old tank. I’ll be using Apex since i still have a majority of the stuff. Some new additions I’m looking to add; Apex trident, I didnt have that on my old tank and between work and travel, checking all my parameters become a choir with too many fluctuations and chasing numbers, hopefully this makes it easier although some reviews say the test work great for a month then start being erratic. I currently have a DOS that i will most likely use for water changes and add the readsea dosing pumps as they are the most cost efficient for the number of pumps. I’m also looking at the Sicce DC pump since I want the tank as quiet as possible as well as integration with Apex. The Apex pump is more expensive and reviews aren’t great either and not nearly the flow rate of Sicce. I hated turning off the pump in my old tank during feeding and have to readjust the gate valve whenever starting the pump back up again so hoping that reducing the flow instead of just flushing the drain pipe would help at all? I’m also debating on adding flow sensors to the return pump and the main drain to get a better idea of my flow but not sure if I honestly need it, its one of those “it’s nice to have” things so any feedback on useful and practical use of flow sensors would be great. I‘m also looking at a fleece roller to reduce cleaning filter socks and that way when I travel or can’t service the tank, that it’s maintained, I would appreciate recommendations on this as well. I have a Apex ATK already however if I can run a line directly from my RODI to my ATO, I plan on using the Apex solenoid valve to directly supply water to the ATO rather than using the ATK to fill the ATO from a jug, feedback would be appreciated on this as well. I also want to add an IO breakout box and switch set from adaptive reef because using a touch screen every time I want to manually feed or do maintenance is a huge pain with wet hands! That’s about it for “New” add on.
I’m attaching a floor plan for my apt as well to gather more feedback. The tank will live in the den/home office. I like having the closet there to hide my gear OR I’ll add a mini cabinet next to the tank for controls and such. Hoping to drill a wall to the kitchen where I can run the RODI water supply behind the fridge if there’s a water supply. Alternatively, I can try and go from the bathroom across the hallway into the closet. This is still up for debate and I will have a better idea once I actually move in and see the space and what not but open to suggestions as well.
For the stocking list, I’m not exactly sure what I want, I’m more of “go piece by piece” type of person but figured I should work on an idea. my yellow Tang is still small maybe bigger than a dollar coin as well as my clowns. I’m debating on a white bristle tooth tang as well but wondering if that’s overkill for a 71 gallon. I plan on getting a bigger tank next year when I buy a house. Other than that, I really liked my yellow banded possums wrasse so plan on getting another on of those and maybe a few other wrasses. I want to get another mandarin as well but I will have to seed the tank with copepods well before adding one in. I would also love a couple of holy grail fish such as the Blotched Anthias or Golden Cuban basslet. Any other favorite fish that you guys can think of? I want a healthy buzzing with life aquarium with brightly colored fish! I will keep this updated as I receive the tank and complete the buildout!
I’m coming from a Redsea Reefer 300XL and only 3 of my 5 fish survived the relocation, my Biota bred yellow tang, and my mocha and black storm clowns. I also lost a couple of coral during the move but luckily the majority survived. My yellow possum wrasse(which i bought for like $40 now seeing them upwards of $100!) died a couple of weeks ago, I think do to aggression from the tang and clowns. I did have a Biota captive bred blue mandarin that somehow disappeared from my display and couldn’t find it anywhere! Non of my corals were big enough to eat it and I didnt find him sitting outside the tank so that’s a weird one.
Coming from literally just building my old tank before having to move, i learned what I need to do and have a better idea of how to go about this tank. I kept all my equipment and just sold my old tank. I’ll be using Apex since i still have a majority of the stuff. Some new additions I’m looking to add; Apex trident, I didnt have that on my old tank and between work and travel, checking all my parameters become a choir with too many fluctuations and chasing numbers, hopefully this makes it easier although some reviews say the test work great for a month then start being erratic. I currently have a DOS that i will most likely use for water changes and add the readsea dosing pumps as they are the most cost efficient for the number of pumps. I’m also looking at the Sicce DC pump since I want the tank as quiet as possible as well as integration with Apex. The Apex pump is more expensive and reviews aren’t great either and not nearly the flow rate of Sicce. I hated turning off the pump in my old tank during feeding and have to readjust the gate valve whenever starting the pump back up again so hoping that reducing the flow instead of just flushing the drain pipe would help at all? I’m also debating on adding flow sensors to the return pump and the main drain to get a better idea of my flow but not sure if I honestly need it, its one of those “it’s nice to have” things so any feedback on useful and practical use of flow sensors would be great. I‘m also looking at a fleece roller to reduce cleaning filter socks and that way when I travel or can’t service the tank, that it’s maintained, I would appreciate recommendations on this as well. I have a Apex ATK already however if I can run a line directly from my RODI to my ATO, I plan on using the Apex solenoid valve to directly supply water to the ATO rather than using the ATK to fill the ATO from a jug, feedback would be appreciated on this as well. I also want to add an IO breakout box and switch set from adaptive reef because using a touch screen every time I want to manually feed or do maintenance is a huge pain with wet hands! That’s about it for “New” add on.
I’m attaching a floor plan for my apt as well to gather more feedback. The tank will live in the den/home office. I like having the closet there to hide my gear OR I’ll add a mini cabinet next to the tank for controls and such. Hoping to drill a wall to the kitchen where I can run the RODI water supply behind the fridge if there’s a water supply. Alternatively, I can try and go from the bathroom across the hallway into the closet. This is still up for debate and I will have a better idea once I actually move in and see the space and what not but open to suggestions as well.
For the stocking list, I’m not exactly sure what I want, I’m more of “go piece by piece” type of person but figured I should work on an idea. my yellow Tang is still small maybe bigger than a dollar coin as well as my clowns. I’m debating on a white bristle tooth tang as well but wondering if that’s overkill for a 71 gallon. I plan on getting a bigger tank next year when I buy a house. Other than that, I really liked my yellow banded possums wrasse so plan on getting another on of those and maybe a few other wrasses. I want to get another mandarin as well but I will have to seed the tank with copepods well before adding one in. I would also love a couple of holy grail fish such as the Blotched Anthias or Golden Cuban basslet. Any other favorite fish that you guys can think of? I want a healthy buzzing with life aquarium with brightly colored fish! I will keep this updated as I receive the tank and complete the buildout!
