210g Reef at 5 months

[strykker]

Hey here is my 210g at 5 months sorry i didnt get to put it in the wall as planned my Father moved in.
I did how ever get to do most what i planned. this is the org 72 in t12 vho lights with home depot 48 dollar ballasts.
mostly all the stuff that came with what i bought. Reef dart gold pump and a mag 12.5 running the skimmer.
Been running about 5 months close to 6 actually but all is well,lost one clown i think the coral beauty was
a little aggressive at first but calmed down now. also just had to make sure i got all the test kits which was a waste
really only the main set is needed as all i need to do is keep the salt right and everything is always dead on and
calcium is always real high for corals used initialy instant ocean and the instant ocean reef crystal to maintain.
found a nice led setup but its 3300 buck found a way to make the same stuff for about 500 so thats soon
prob at first of year. and a new fuge will be making alot larger one with a larger terrarium area.
Anyway alot more than i thought but listen to all advice and definatly about taking your time and
plan will save lots of cash. i tried and still didnt listen constantly and was impulsive and it cost me most the time.
but also try to find all the deals you can upfront and all together before you start.!! thanks for checking it out!!
210g Reef Aquarium 5 months.mp4 - YouTube

 

[sedrostyle]

Looks good. Love the aquascape! I wish I had room in my tank to do something like that.
What led setup did u find so cheap?
And what are your tanks dimensions

 

[Peppie]

Tank looks really good
Dont underestimate the need for your test kits. You will soon find that you will need to keep your param. in check. You will need to test more than your salinity

 

[Holygral]

Tank looks really good
Dont underestimate the need for your test kits. You will soon find that you will need to keep your param. in check. You will need to test more than your salinity

That depends, (NOT RECOMMENDED FOR NOOBS), if your tank is stable (12-24 months), you dont make alot of changes or additions, and you dont use additives and do regular wc, you can do very little testing. Im luckily to test once a month except for specific gravity (only during wc), I use a ph monitor so I always know what that is, and everything in my tank thrives. When ever I do test, everything is where it should be. This tank has been up 5 years. Accurate auto top offs are also part of the equation, you just cant keep stable specific gravity manually. Temp, humidity, doors opened or closed to keep it stable. Now on the other hand if you start having issues, then yes test kits are the only way to figure out what is wrong.

 

[IPisces]

Tank looks great. I like the way you have the rock set up too. Yeah test kits are good to have. They are not a waist of $. You will need them. The tank is young yet and you will have a few hurtles to get over in the coming months. Calcium & Alkalinity tests you may not need very often until you start keeping SPS, but the rest you will want to have. Keep up on your regular water changes and dont feed too much and you shouldnt need to worry about testing much at all once the system is stable.