Reef under Siege - Waterbox AIO 50.3
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As I work in tech, I had to make sure I knew how to use it. I was a manager at the time it hit the scene, and heavily encouraged my team to learn it, pronto. My mother occasionally uses it for research help when writing sermons, my wife for all sorts research, and my oldest son (not quite 12) is also just starting to use it as he goes through his AI course at Code Ninja.
It has its limitations that one needs to be keenly aware of (mainly that it hallucinates on occasion, and is a repository of internet-based knowledge, with all the flaws that implies) depending on how they are going to use it, but boy does it have its uses. I'm not keen on paying subscription fees, but given the use I get from it, it's been worth every penny for the paid-for version.
100% my intent. I just need to get a healthy and diverse population in the system at the start. They'll be going in the 14g 'fuge, where they should hopefully be fruitful and multiply without any predation. I'll introduce some CUC inverts into the fuge pretty early on, but I have no plans to put fish in it, just a nem, a coral or three (maybe) and eventually a sexy shrimp or three.
Really, I'm more interested in the ecosystem at large, than any specific fish, which I hope my livestock plan reflects - I've gone to no little pain to establish daphnia, freshwater copepods and scuds in my other tanks. The one fish I am kinda set on having is a Mandarin, and I definitely don't want to be buying pods all the time to feed it.
BRS did a test series years back, and isolated having a strong pod population as being one of the keys to a quick, healthy start with the shortest possible "ugly phases", without a lot of heroic interventions, expensive UV, chemicals, etc.
I am indeed intending to stick with my preferred LFS as much as humanly possible. I've never bought saltwater fish from them before, but I've bought plenty of freshwater livestock, never had a mortality or even a hint of illness.
Still, as the tank matures and accumulates hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of stock over time, I fully intend to do proper QT. Especially since I think I'd eventually like to add 3 - 5 blue-green chromis, which will absolutely require prophylactic treatment for uronema, for example. I've been very lucky in the past, so far, but while I'm happy to be lucky, I'm one who would rather count on skill, and hope for a dash of luck, rather than count on luck only for it to run out at the worst time.
I have an ammonia kit already I use for my freshwater tanks. Admittedly, I probably don't need the nitrite tests, but, as before, you can't manage what you can't measure. As the tank goes through each of its phases, I intend to monitor and log quite a lot, especially water quality. With just shy of 30 years as an IT professional (where "visibility and control" is the name of the game, especially in my current role), despite my ADHD, I have definitely learned the value of note-taking and record-keeping, particularly with my background/interests in science and engineering. If I can't measure it, it becomes an unknown that will weigh on my subconscious, especially any time something seems off. Plus that way I can quantify my otherwise qualitative observations.
Yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking. With mature bio-media in a HOB filter, I should hopefully not need to do as many water changes in QT, or at least maybe not stress so much if I wind up getting a Sev1 outage and have to work an 18 hour day in the middle of a quarantine cycle. Definitely not a primary filtration method for the display tank, but it can't hurt to have a little space dedicated to it.
(Left-to-right: 29g bow, 20g long, 10g, 3.5g. My office is that doorway to the left of the oven, "above" the left side of the 10g tank. In the hallway in the center you can see the open door to the laundry room and the mostly-closed bathroom that abut my office. A friend suggested this counter is where the 220g should go - my wife looked at me like I'd grown a second and third head.)
Mmmmmyep
Room for at least one more in my office... though on consideration, while I think I can fit it in here...I'm not sure the floor in here can hold that 220 gallon tank I just picked up. And I intend to use the 75g I have for the sump for that tank, so, well over a metric ton of water alone, just in one spot 
Maybe I need to find another 75g for in here. I'm sort of interested in trying my hand at discus fish, but would only want to do them in a large, heavily planted and mature tank, to see if I can buck the conventional wisdom that they need a 20% - 50% water change every 2 - 3 days... because I patently am not doing that. Not if it's not push-button, anyway.
I might have a sickness. Or maybe I'm just down with the fish-ness.
Fair, but... the bandaid is meant to stop the bleeding while I figure out how to treat the wound. Still, I'll put this down at the bottom of the list as lowest priority.
Also fair, on review. I have soda ash already for this express purpose. pH and TA on the water coming out of my filters is already at the bottom end of or below what my test strips read.
I was planning to go with bottled enzymes on advice from a few others here because they're supposed to provide an immediate source of live nitrifying bacteria, which should help stabilize the tank faster and support early livestock. I know there are multiple ways to cycle, but I figured this method would give me the best shot at a smooth live-start.
Yeah, I did wind up moving them to the "Later" list. I'll want them all before my second round of fish so I can QT properly, but they shouldn't be needed for at least a month or two after I put water in the tank.
Yeah, it came well recommended, especially to use while starting the tank with a couple of mushrooms, xenia, or whatever I happen to wind up with.
Oh, no chance I'm using LFS water. There aren't any remotely close enough for that even if I wanted to... plus the cost, transport...
No, my last reef tank taught me very well to have my own RO/DI filter. It was one of my absolute requirements, and I'm glad to have picked up a 7-stage as a package deal with the tank I bought.
The Tropic Marin hydrometer did indeed seem like the "pro" choice, as it were. My primary concern is that its accuracy is dependent on temperature... I guess there are conversion charts, but that's why I figured I should maybe have a refractometer as well, just in case I didn't have the time and wherewithal to adjust the water temp or needed another opinion. I'll have an Apex salinity probe in the tank, but that won't help me with mixing, etc.
Hey, huge thanks for your time and input!
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Heh. That's actually a little bit further, no matter which way I cut the drive. The nearest places to me are still 30 - 45m away, unfortunately. I did reach out to two to see if they happen to stock pods.
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