What’s up Jake! I’m a big fan of your channel. Your videos have inspired me to create my own aquariums and develop my passion for the hobby. Thanks to you I even started my own channel where I build fish tanks based on what I learned from your videos. Thanks for the great videos!
Fantastic series. Really surprised at how straightforward it is to set up a reef tank by seeing it done step-by-step. A lot of info online makes it extremely complicated to understand, and was beginning to put me off moving away from the tropical freshwater scene. However, now I've seen this series, it has definitely piqued my interest again to have a go at reef building. The tank in the video looks ideal to get started and looks superb 👌
I have had freshwater aquariums on and off (mostly on) for 20 years. I have always said since the beginning that I wished I could do a saltwater. My LFS almost had me convinced. So I have researched researched and researched and was so telling myself nope nope nope. LFS fibbed. Well after watching your videos and more research. I think I’m gonna make the plunge after the new year! Thank you
After this series of video I decided to order my own Max Nano. Can’t wait. I will use a way slower process to introduce fish and invertebrates but this series of video is gold and we see how passionate you are!
Fish-less cycling is awesome. Just started a reefer 425xl and used Tim's One and Only and the tank cycled in 3 days and has been stable ever since. I also used arag-alive live sand and the carib sea life-rock. Wow! is all I can say. No more waiting one or two months to add fish. Two of my Anthias died but that was due to them fighting each other to become the male or gain dominance.
Hey Jake! I'm a big fan from Westminster, CO. I'm an absolute beginner and looking to start my first tank so this series has been awesome. I was wondering if the studios is somewhat open to the public or anything in that regard. I've read up quite a lot but I learn much better with talking to an expert face to face.
In your one day tank set up Were you added the corals and fish, how did you make sure You didn't get an algae breakout? That ugly Brown or green phase that new tanks go through
Jake, Jake.... You got me considering setting up another small tank just because i have an empty glass box in my shed and 3 rammed reef tanks i need to offload some animals from... Thanks! lol
Hey Jake, love your channel mate, I’m setting up a little nuvo16 60lt tank for my daughter(me) and understand corals don’t have gills and won’t get burned like fish and shrimps, snails, crabs etc would, I’m using dr tims one and only for bacteria, and real reef rock and caribbsea Fiji pink sand, it will run a hydra 26hd, smart ato, and a Jebao rw4, question is, with pulling corals out of my main tank, does it matter if they are sps? I wouldn’t have thought so?? Cheers man from a long time Australian sub and fan 👌👊🤘🍺
Those clowns are nice and I can't believe how easy it was for you to catch those clowns. Mine would have hid and I could probably never get them our of mine lol.
Hi Jake love your videos. I want to bring something to your attention the nitro bacter that was used says it’s not supposed to be used with any other bacteria example the sand or your rock. Have you had any problems by doing so?
Hi Jake, just read this in the brightwell page for this xlm product and wondered what you thoughts are? “Do not use “live sand” or “dry seeded artificial live rock” until cycling with this product is complete for several weeks! (In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever.” Obviously this has worked with your situation and the tank has done very well.
What are your thoughts on adding a cleaning crew? I was going to start mine with cultured live rock and a cleaner crew of few hermit crabs and snails, maybe a sand sifting starfish. You think the cleaner crew will do more harm then good in a smaller nano tank?
@reefbuilders Hi Jake, quick question does the brightwell xport bio cube that you put in to boost the cycling process, I heard that it leaches aluminum into the tank overtime. What are your thoughts on how true that information is? Thank you 🙏🏻
Did you have to add any calcium, magnesium, et,c. Or increase your ph for those corals? I'm fishless cycling my 32 biocube with live sand and life rock and it looks like my pH is REALLY low. I bought my water from my LFS. So far my cycle is not going to plan. 😔
If you have acquired a running tank with somewhat unknown history.....would it help to add the brightwell micro bateria to an existing tank? My concern is that good bacteria may have died off.....and to answer my own question, if I'm exchanging little bits of water with water from reef store when placeing new fish or coral to tank...Im adding back in any bacteria that may have died off.
So if i got it right, u can set the tank up fast when u use live sand, live rock, good heated water and put a starter kid in it.. Then add corals and the day after or so later, the first 1-2 clown Fishes.. (yeah I got it normally take Ur time yadayada, some say let it marinade for 4 months without the light on but seriously who on this planet got time for that?) Been planning on setting a new max e 170 up end of the month and using this quick start method showcased in this video, I thought about like 5 days for everything.. What's your opinion? Salute
I have a question, is it ok to use that sand and rock you used with the Brightwell Microbacter starter xlm? On the bottle it says not to use the live sand and rock. I'd like to use all 3. Thanks!
Hey Jake. I think you might have missed what Rico was saying. Brightwell says in their instructions regarding do not using “live sand” or “dry seeded artificial live rock” until cycling with this product is complete for several weeks! (In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever. ) brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php
Yeah I read that to, be interesting to see how it turns out. I assume it will work, might just take longer. Hopefully Jake reads/has already read the product sheet and is aware. Good pick up though!
How long did you let your tank run before adding any fish to it? This is the part I can never determine! I hear 2-6 weeks of cycling but I have no idea. I know you have to add ammonia when you add fish?
There's no specific time period - you need to test the water - that's the only way to know how the cycle is working. You never add ammonia to a tank either. You can add mollies to tank almost immediately to help cycle which are the fish that RB have in their clownfish tank in this video. I'm not trying to disrespect you but you should definitely do some more research before starting a reef tank. Don't be fooled by this video either. They've used a starter bacteria, live coral sand and live rock to kick start the cycle and they took longer than it appears before adding the fish. He also says in later videos that they don't change the water for 6 months even though there's no skimmer and minimal filtration. I wouldn't recommend that to a beginner. He even says how surprised he is how it turned out - that's because 9 times out of 10 if you tried this you'd have some serious problems. You need patience more than anything when starting a reef tank. Peace.
About the MicroBacter Start XLM they state this on their website, which goes against what you did: "5) Do not use live sand and particularly DO NOT USE dry seeded artificial live rock until cycling is complete. There are no dry bacteria species that will be compatible with this nitrifying bacteria product or that are useful to cycle an aquarium at all! To use a dry bacteria will only lengthen the time it takes to cycle by many weeks and increase your work many times! Wet cycled live rock or even previously cycled wet man made rock will work fine (although this may be a bad idea due to the possibility of introducing parasites or pathogens from another aquarium). Dry sand is fine to use, but not bagged, so called "live sand" because the manufacturer will usually introduce other bacteria species to replace the natural bacteria that will die during storage and these will be counterproductive to your cycle. Also, several so called "probiotic" salts are available. Again, there are no species of bacteria that are conducive to cycling that are available in a dry form. Therefore, do not use any salt that is labelled as probiotic or says it contains dry bacteria. Note: What to do if you must use live sand or dry seeded live rock - go ahead and use them with the MicrōBacter Start XLM, just realize the cycle will be impeded. It will take more XLM to seed the system (double the dose if you can) and the cycle will likely take 2 to 4 weeks longer to complete because you are working against the XLM, but when completed, will work just fine. 6) DO NOT USE CARBON IN YOUR FILTER until the aquarium has cycled fully or 30 more days has passed. DO NOT USE PHOSPHATE REMOVERS, FILTER RESINS, GFO or other non-biological filtration media until the aquarium is over 30 days old or then you register phosphates on your test kit over .04 PPM. If you do, you will lengthen the cycle. Bacteria require some phosphate to multiply rapidly! Use XportTM, MicroBacter LatticeTM or other filtration media that needs to be populated with bacteria! These will work well." I am confused about this info... Link to this info: www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php They also state this on their website: In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever. The best choices are aquacultured live rock, rock from the ocean, naturally cycled artificial rock sold wet, unseeded dry artificial rock, dry florida aragonite, other natural aragonite, marco rock and the like. Any rock that already contains a bacteria and is dry, will damage the cycling process and in our experience takes too long to cycle and cycles the wrong nutrients - dry seeded rock will not properly cycle ammonia because it is the wrong species of bacteria)
Why did you cut Rico's video off? he said that you probably shouldnt use this if you have rock that has bacteria as they wont play nice with each other, therefore prolonging the cycle - i have just bought this and infact it says on the bottle not to use with live sand either, thoughts?
Wait, so then why does Rico and Brightwell specify to not use Microbacter Start XLM with live sand/rock. They emphasize especially not live rock. And that’s what Rico was saying in the clip you took out of context. Just wondering.
Please Reef builders, world wide corals please try and help to make corals legal in India🇮🇳 i enjoy watching your videos and all coral related videos so much that now i am eager to get my own reef tank and give it a try
There seems to be so much bad information on cycling a tank on the internet and especially for Reef tanks!! Some people don't seem to have a clue about what is actually happening or what is needed to cycle a tank even
What’s up Jake! I’m a big fan of your channel. Your videos have inspired me to create my own aquariums and develop my passion for the hobby. Thanks to you I even started my own channel where I build fish tanks based on what I learned from your videos. Thanks for the great videos!
Fantastic series. Really surprised at how straightforward it is to set up a reef tank by seeing it done step-by-step. A lot of info online makes it extremely complicated to understand, and was beginning to put me off moving away from the tropical freshwater scene. However, now I've seen this series, it has definitely piqued my interest again to have a go at reef building. The tank in the video looks ideal to get started and looks superb 👌
I have had freshwater aquariums on and off (mostly on) for 20 years. I have always said since the beginning that I wished I could do a saltwater. My LFS almost had me convinced. So I have researched researched and researched and was so telling myself nope nope nope. LFS fibbed. Well after watching your videos and more research. I think I’m gonna make the plunge after the new year! Thank you
What an amazing step by step setup Reef Tank vídeos! Turn out a beautiful nano reef!.. Congrats, Jake!... I'll be waiting for the next videos!
After this series of video I decided to order my own Max Nano. Can’t wait. I will use a way slower process to introduce fish and invertebrates but this series of video is gold and we see how passionate you are!
About how much does this tank setup cost?
Loved this series Jake, very cool. And i learned a lot about some of the new things in the hobby, so Thanks.
Thank you for the series. I am getting that tank. I appreciate your knowledge and all your videos. Hope you're having a great day
Turned out great! I also REALLY love that bright green hammer 🤤
This was a really good series that I will refer back to when I set up my next reef. So simple. Many thanks.
Love the logo with the peppermint angle. Looks sweet.
Merci Jake pour cette jolie petite aventure recifal !!! 👍👍👍
Thank you for the information. I've been binging your content and always great information. Awesome technique with the specimen cup. 100% agree
I enjoyed this little series of videos great job !!
Nice video, Jake. I like that you reminded everyone about the screen top. It’s super important for ANY tank; all fish can and will jump at some point.
never seen my seahorses jump, how ironic
Such a cool and inspiring tank setup
Fish-less cycling is awesome. Just started a reefer 425xl and used Tim's One and Only and the tank cycled in 3 days and has been stable ever since. I also used arag-alive live sand and the carib sea life-rock. Wow! is all I can say. No more waiting one or two months to add fish. Two of my Anthias died but that was due to them fighting each other to become the male or gain dominance.
Awesome video! Great information and key points.
Water so crystal clear. 🤗 looks very good
Just binged watched this its addicting and informative. Subd.
Hey Jake! I'm a big fan from Westminster, CO. I'm an absolute beginner and looking to start my first tank so this series has been awesome. I was wondering if the studios is somewhat open to the public or anything in that regard. I've read up quite a lot but I learn much better with talking to an expert face to face.
Looks superb! I love those fish 👍🏽
Left side of small clown has a upside down smiley face.. awesome fish
Nice tank. Beautiful clowns and coral
so many information about cycling a tank.Thank you so much and really apreciate that.Btw im still learning about reef tank
Great series. Now wanting a coral tank.
Absolute awesome adition.
I have that same screen top and I love it🔥
Great video series! Can you share the settings for your light schedule on this? I’m trying to do a similar setup with my IM Nuvo 20.
In your one day tank set up Were you added the corals and fish, how did you make sure You didn't get an algae breakout? That ugly Brown or green phase that new tanks go through
Jake, Jake.... You got me considering setting up another small tank just because i have an empty glass box in my shed and 3 rammed reef tanks i need to offload some animals from... Thanks! lol
Hey Jake, love your channel mate, I’m setting up a little nuvo16 60lt tank for my daughter(me) and understand corals don’t have gills and won’t get burned like fish and shrimps, snails, crabs etc would, I’m using dr tims one and only for bacteria, and real reef rock and caribbsea Fiji pink sand, it will run a hydra 26hd, smart ato, and a Jebao rw4, question is, with pulling corals out of my main tank, does it matter if they are sps? I wouldn’t have thought so?? Cheers man from a long time Australian sub and fan 👌👊🤘🍺
Those clowns are nice and I can't believe how easy it was for you to catch those clowns. Mine would have hid and I could probably never get them our of mine lol.
Nice, those sea and reef clowns are Maine bred fish right from my home state!
Sexy mini-reef! Love that clown pair as "highlight" makes that lil cube complete ✌
Hi Jake love your videos. I want to bring something to your attention the nitro bacter that was used says it’s not supposed to be used with any other bacteria example the sand or your rock. Have you had any problems by doing so?
Awesome fish
Great looking pair of clownfish.
Do you have cold water corals and what temperature would you suggest to start a cold water aquarium? Thank you very much for your videos.
Great stuff.
Hi Jake, just read this in the brightwell page for this xlm product and wondered what you thoughts are? “Do not use “live sand” or “dry seeded artificial live rock” until cycling with this product is complete for several weeks! (In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever.” Obviously this has worked with your situation and the tank has done very well.
What are your thoughts on adding a cleaning crew? I was going to start mine with cultured live rock and a cleaner crew of few hermit crabs and snails, maybe a sand sifting starfish. You think the cleaner crew will do more harm then good in a smaller nano tank?
Magnífico meu sonho um reef desse😍... pena que no Brasil tudo é caríssimo😣
@reefbuilders Hi Jake, quick question does the brightwell xport bio cube that you put in to boost the cycling process, I heard that it leaches aluminum into the tank overtime. What are your thoughts on how true that information is? Thank you 🙏🏻
Binged watched the series mate! Thank you and thank you also for making it in 4K so I could watch on my new monitor atb :-)
I love this fish
How would it all work if you wanted to do a nano or small tank without gravel?
with this new tank, do you have to dose it with coral food or calcium?
Nice one thanks for explaining how that was possible bud lol 😂 love the video's
Hello Jake do you just throw the media in the tank instead of the rear of the tank?
Jolie aquarium 👍🏼
So I don’t need to cycle my tank? Like if I do not have to
What a big piece of biomedia! I'm impressed! XDDDD
Awww the guppy was like, nooo my friends!
If you don’t ad fish would you need the tips and tricks? Routine maintenance and water changes?
Could you talk about the measurements of the aquarium ??
Did you have to add any calcium, magnesium, et,c. Or increase your ph for those corals? I'm fishless cycling my 32 biocube with live sand and life rock and it looks like my pH is REALLY low. I bought my water from my LFS. So far my cycle is not going to plan. 😔
Those clowns are super awesome! They don’t even look like clowns.
If you have acquired a running tank with somewhat unknown history.....would it help to add the brightwell micro bateria to an existing tank? My concern is that good bacteria may have died off.....and to answer my own question, if I'm exchanging little bits of water with water from reef store when placeing new fish or coral to tank...Im adding back in any bacteria that may have died off.
Hi jack how about set up a sps tank in one day?
What up RB! What's the intro music here? Love it!
beautiful
So if i got it right, u can set the tank up fast when u use live sand, live rock, good heated water and put a starter kid in it.. Then add corals and the day after or so later, the first 1-2 clown Fishes..
(yeah I got it normally take Ur time yadayada, some say let it marinade for 4 months without the light on but seriously who on this planet got time for that?)
Been planning on setting a new max e 170 up end of the month and using this quick start method showcased in this video, I thought about like 5 days for everything.. What's your opinion? Salute
So lucky the molly go out from the specimen cup.
what are the fish in the quarantine tank with the clowns?
I have a question, is it ok to use that sand and rock you used with the Brightwell Microbacter starter xlm? On the bottle it says not to use the live sand and rock. I'd like to use all 3. Thanks!
This is what i have messaged twice to the rb's but have had no answers did you ever find out about this?
that was fire catching those clowns
How do the coral stick to the rock?
What about drip acclimation
What is the maintenance of this tank entail?
What is the level of water to the tank.Can Fill it up,1 inch from the top? Fill it up lowers the noise.
What was the fish that was in the quarantine tank together with the clowns? Looked like a freshwater fish to me
They are called Molly (Poecilia sphenops) and can be kept in brackish water too.
Hey Jake. I think you might have missed what Rico was saying. Brightwell says in their instructions regarding do not using “live sand” or “dry seeded artificial live rock” until cycling with this product is complete for several weeks! (In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever. ) brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php
Yeah I read that to, be interesting to see how it turns out. I assume it will work, might just take longer. Hopefully Jake reads/has already read the product sheet and is aware. Good pick up though!
How long did you let your tank run before adding any fish to it? This is the part I can never determine! I hear 2-6 weeks of cycling but I have no idea. I know you have to add ammonia when you add fish?
There's no specific time period - you need to test the water - that's the only way to know how the cycle is working. You never add ammonia to a tank either. You can add mollies to tank almost immediately to help cycle which are the fish that RB have in their clownfish tank in this video. I'm not trying to disrespect you but you should definitely do some more research before starting a reef tank. Don't be fooled by this video either. They've used a starter bacteria, live coral sand and live rock to kick start the cycle and they took longer than it appears before adding the fish. He also says in later videos that they don't change the water for 6 months even though there's no skimmer and minimal filtration. I wouldn't recommend that to a beginner. He even says how surprised he is how it turned out - that's because 9 times out of 10 if you tried this you'd have some serious problems. You need patience more than anything when starting a reef tank. Peace.
Prodibio BioDigest doesn't have expiry date. and it comes in vials. You do not have to refrigerate either.
About the MicroBacter Start XLM they state this on their website, which goes against what you did: "5) Do not use live sand and particularly DO NOT USE dry seeded artificial live rock until cycling is complete. There are no dry bacteria species that will be compatible with this nitrifying bacteria product or that are useful to cycle an aquarium at all! To use a dry bacteria will only lengthen the time it takes to cycle by many weeks and increase your work many times! Wet cycled live rock or even previously cycled wet man made rock will work fine (although this may be a bad idea due to the possibility of introducing parasites or pathogens from another aquarium). Dry sand is fine to use, but not bagged, so called "live sand" because the manufacturer will usually introduce other bacteria species to replace the natural bacteria that will die during storage and these will be counterproductive to your cycle. Also, several so called "probiotic" salts are available. Again, there are no species of bacteria that are conducive to cycling that are available in a dry form. Therefore, do not use any salt that is labelled as probiotic or says it contains dry bacteria. Note: What to do if you must use live sand or dry seeded live rock - go ahead and use them with the MicrōBacter Start XLM, just realize the cycle will be impeded. It will take more XLM to seed the system (double the dose if you can) and the cycle will likely take 2 to 4 weeks longer to complete because you are working against the XLM, but when completed, will work just fine. 6) DO NOT USE CARBON IN YOUR FILTER until the aquarium has cycled fully or 30 more days has passed. DO NOT USE PHOSPHATE REMOVERS, FILTER RESINS, GFO or other non-biological filtration media until the aquarium is over 30 days old or then you register phosphates on your test kit over .04 PPM. If you do, you will lengthen the cycle. Bacteria require some phosphate to multiply rapidly! Use XportTM, MicroBacter LatticeTM or other filtration media that needs to be populated with bacteria! These will work well."
I am confused about this info...
Link to this info: www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php
They also state this on their website: In fact, Brightwell recommends that you do not use dry seeded artificial "live rock" ever. The best choices are aquacultured live rock, rock from the ocean, naturally cycled artificial rock sold wet, unseeded dry artificial rock, dry florida aragonite, other natural aragonite, marco rock and the like. Any rock that already contains a bacteria and is dry, will damage the cycling process and in our experience takes too long to cycle and cycles the wrong nutrients - dry seeded rock will not properly cycle ammonia because it is the wrong species of bacteria)
Muito lindo 😁
Everything looks great
We're beatifyl 🤩🤩🤩🤗🤗🤗
Aren't those fish in the tanks (together with the clownfish) mollies? They are freshwater fishes no?
Reef Builders, will you be giving updates on this tank?
Yes absolutely, will be working one into the schedule very soon.
Why did you cut Rico's video off? he said that you probably shouldnt use this if you have rock that has bacteria as they wont play nice with each other, therefore prolonging the cycle - i have just bought this and infact it says on the bottle not to use with live sand either, thoughts?
Wait, so then why does Rico and Brightwell specify to not use Microbacter Start XLM with live sand/rock. They emphasize especially not live rock. And that’s what Rico was saying in the clip you took out of context. Just wondering.
is it possible to use freshwater bacteria in fresh water to start off the nitrogen cycle in a marine aquarium as long as the water get turns salty ?
I don’t think it works that way
Nope.different BB
When catching the clowns, those 2 other white fish really wanted to come too lol
What kinda fish were they?
why u choose a black silicone tank?not a transparant silicone tank?
Transparent silicone shows algae/can discolour over time
Wow 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️
👏👏👏👏👏
How much gallon?
I've read many things that indicate Nitrite is completely harmless to saltwater aquaria by the very nature of saltwater. Thoughts?
Colin Klimowski people who say Nitrite is harmful are IMO either totally uneducated and or of freshwater background.
Yup, nitrite is of no concern in marine aquaria!
Are glass tops bad to use?
No yes lol? You liked without reading haha
Beautiful! Don't mind if i ask, can i have it ? Lol!
Is that a guppy in a salt water tank?
👍🏾👍🏾
How many liters is the aquarium
75
that molly looks like it was attached to those clowns...
Please Reef builders, world wide corals please try and help to make corals legal in India🇮🇳 i enjoy watching your videos and all coral related videos so much that now i am eager to get my own reef tank and give it a try
There seems to be so much bad information on cycling a tank on the internet and especially for Reef tanks!! Some people don't seem to have a clue about what is actually happening or what is needed to cycle a tank even
You never covered the the filtration in this series, other than that enjoyed the videos.
Honestly the only fishes i had jump out on me was gobies.
Its Any pisibilty to have saltwater aqarium for 650 euro
Used