Sean.G

Ended up getting a viparspectra brand black box off amazon was only $129 and has an average review score of 4.5 with around 100 reviews so I am pretty hopeful its a decent setup. Thanks for the advice everyone. Arrives next Monday.

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I'm probably gonna go with a "black box" since it seems like they aren't just trash and will get me by fine for now. Or if I can find a used Ocean Revive or a used AI prime but I'm not expecting much on those fronts.

Is black box just a generic name for Chinese LED fixtures? I looked at those but wasn't sure if they would be okay or just trash.

So to keep things short my old light (Orbit USA Pro something or the other) broke, salt corroded a wire and I was not able to make a lasting repair on it. I'm trying to find some cheap lighting I can get away with for my ~2 foot cube (Reefer Nano) and I really just want to keep what I already have alive, all softies right now. Ideally I could keep some higher light requirement stuff towards the top of my tank but I'm looking for cheap not perfect. I don't really have a hard price limit, but around $150 is what I am trying to find. I've looked at T5 setups but the price of bulbs and need to replace them relatively often turns me off to them. Any advice appreciated.

Ended up tearing it all down once I was basically finished and had it working. I didn't like the way everything looked and my plumbing skills could definitely use some work, my solutions where less then elegant. The sump was also very crowded with so many extra tubes and pipe stuffed inside. It was still fun to try and get it all working i just need to spend more time planning and need a better place for it all.

Setting up a frag tank! My excuse is that it will add another 20 gallons of water to my system and move me from 28 to 48 so stability should be better. So far I have repaired my old diy LED thing so it works again, running all blues at the moment. I just finished drilling the 20 long and now I am going to work out the plumbing hopefully all goes well this will be up by tonight! First time drilling a tank and I did mess up my second hole on the first tank I tried. I think i could repair it with silicone but I didn't want to have a janky looking tank so I used another one that was hanging around and it went smoothly. Can't decide if I wan't to keep it bare bottom or add a substrate, any thoughts?. It will be plumbed into my reefer sump.

What do you all do for water changes? I am pretty lazy when it comes to doing them and i'm like 90% sure that's why my corals just exist in my tank rather then grow. What sort of schedule are you on? My tank is 28 gallons total volume. When I do change the water I do 10 gallons ish. Would 10 gallons every two weeks be good or maybe 5 every week, although the more infrequently I can get away with the better. I don't change water in my two fresh water tanks and it works for them but my reef needs better then changing the water just when I feel like it. Sort of a noobie question for having this tank for over a year now but nothing really grows it just chills at the same size/number.

A few more my last post stopped letting me edit it. Done spamming pictures for now =p.

Some Pictures! BLUE

Sean.G's Reefer Nano I spent 20 mins typing a tank thread then my web browser crashed and I lost it, so here is my new one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway this tank is a Red Sea Reefer Nano. Its a pretty good tank that is pre-drilled with a sump. The display is 21 gallon 18 inches cubed, with something like an 8 gallon sump for 29 gallon total volume. I go to university at OSU and don't have tones of money to throw at it but its doing pretty good about a year in. Besides the tank nothing else is too fancy. Lighting is the Marine Orbit Pro LED, thinking about adding a 2 bulb T5 to supplement it and get some different colors. An Aquamaxx Skimmer, 175 GPD RODI, Cheap Powerhead return pump all that jazz. Things I would like to add in the future, the T5's or maybe another or different LED setup. Maybe a Calcium Reactor if I start keeping more SPS, I already have a CO2 tank from past planted freshwater tanks. I have also thought about turning a canister filter into a GFO chamber. Possibly adding dosing equipment again if I get into a heavier stock of corals. Also an Auto Top off because adding two mason jars of water a day get annoying. Anyway here is what I have in my tank and then some Pictures at the end! CUC 5 Nassarius Snails 4 Astraea Snails 2 Nerite Snails 1 Tiger Conch 1 Emerald Crab 1 Bee Snail Fish & Stuff 1 Blood Orange Misbarr Clown 1 Occelarris Clown 1 Madarin Dragonet 1 Cleaner Shrimp Coral & Stuff Birdsnest Orange Ricordia Purple Mushroom Hairy Blue Mushroom Green Mushroom Duncan pompom xenia tricolor Acan Green Toadstool Leather A bunch of "plain" Zoas Orange Rock Flower Nem Maximini Nem Pictures coming soon I want to post this so the text is all saved!

I personally hate bristle worms. I just think they are ugly and the thought of touching one makes me not want to put my hand into the tank. I thought my tank didn't have any since I used mostly dry rock and I had dipped my two pieces of live rock in a freshwater dip. Definitely got a few of them out that way but a few weeks ago I saw one crawling around the back of my tank. Its the only one I have seen since starting this tank about a year ago but I know hes in there somewhere. I wouldn't bother trying to get rid of it though too much hassle and they don't really do any harm.

I have a Frehswater tank I haven't done a water change on for at least the last 2 years. It just doesn't need it. I top off what evaporates but thats it. I don't think I could do that to my Reef but thats really crazy how long you where able to go.

That's funny you haven't met dale yet I don't think I have ever gone in and not seen him there. In my opinion Nassarius aren't the greatest. They do eat left over food quite well but they don't touch algae in my tank, or stir the sand bed too much (I was always told they are good sand sifters). They also steal food from my corals when I feed them! Someone above mentioned a tiger conch, I just got one a week or two ago and he has been great at cleaning up the sand and lower parts of the rock. Although I don't think animal house has them, I got mine up in Salem. Cleaner shrimp are awesome and mine is one of my favorite parts of the tank but they don't really clean much. Just your hands/arms when ever you reach into the tank. This is what I have in my tank anyway its a 21 gallon display. 5 Nassarius snails, 4 Astraea snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 emerald crab, and 1 beesnail. They do a pretty god job for me. I wouldn't add all these right after the cycle though maybe just start with some Nassarius and algae eating snail like Turbos, Astraea or the many others. Some Hermit crabs if you are into them.

Hello everyone! My name is Sean I have been going to OSU for 2 years going on 3 now and started up a reef about a year ago. I went to the ORE today and figured i would make an account here to maybe meet some local people. I don't have any current picture of my reef otherwise I would post one but maybe soon.