Jestersix

PizzaOven '25 Budget Build

PizzaOven said:
December update
  • Corals are doing OK for the most part, some better than others. Most are just surviving, rather than thriving. The favia/favites and green digi seem to be the exception. They are doing really well. Digi has started to encrust the back glass.
  • Moved the Weeping Willow Leather and Red Death Palys to my macroalgae tank.
  • Clown goby passed away from ich/velvet (not sure which) =(
I'll probably break this down soon and transfer livestock to my other tanks (after finishing 8-week fallow period). It was a fun challenge with plenty of lessons learned. This was significantly harder than I thought it would be, the tank never really took off like I hoped. I would go for something bigger in the future for better stability.

Final Cost: $356.48

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After the full year, what would be your top things you would have done differently vs. what worked well?
 
Darkxerox said:
After the full year, what would be your top things you would have done differently vs. what worked well?
Click to expand...
Things that I think worked well:
  • HOB filter with a surface skimmer. This thing worked great to keep biofilm away.
  • Noo-Psyche k7 mini. Love this light and very affordable. The app sucks, but this goes for most lights.
  • Gravity fed ATO. These are cheap, simple, and work great (although unsightly).
  • Starting with mature rock/substrate. I think it would have been an even more uphill battle with dry rock.
Things that didn't work well.
  • Dosing N/P. The first time I did this kicked off a weird bacterial bloom which I never really recovered from. It's still there although more manageable now. I suspect this made it difficult for good bacteria to thrive. This is just speculation on my part.
  • Small, cheap rimless tank. It eventually started leaking.
  • Flow. I found it really hard to get good flow with small pumps and HOB filters. The USB powered wavemaker was nice, but kind of noisy and drove me crazy (I removed it). At this size, it doesn't seem like there are many good options for wavemakers.
  • Stability. I blame the small water volume, but I could have made more of an effort. I think breaking up the 70% water change into two 35% water changes might have worked better (so 2 smaller water changes per week instead of one big one). Idk, I'm speculating again.
It was a humbling experience, but I had fun!
 
I was wandering around Home Depot and saw these tiny totes for $2.50. They were so darn adorable that I had to take a few home.
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I decided to make a HOB filter out of it.

Drilled a hole for a bulkhead:
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Created a divider with egg crate. The section on the left will hold the heater, ceramic media, and a sponge. Section on the right will be for frags.
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Full of water without any leaks. Had to ditch the white bulkhead (designed for a water heater drain pan) with a proper one. So much room for activities!!
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The left compartment holds a big bag of ceramic media and a filter sponge.
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Next I built a box to hold the doser and the inkbird. Found the unfinished wooden box on Amazon ($13).
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added a shelf and a few holes and gave the whole thing a nice millennial gray paint job with a polyurethane clear coat.
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Full tank shots (also added a very appropriately sized ATO):
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Currently not dosing anything yet but plan to do some N/P in one and AFR in the other.

Thanks for reading, happy reefing.

-Andrew
 

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