Josh's Starting Over Reef Tank Build | BRStv Series
Starting Over follows the setup of a personal reef tank built around a simple goal: create a stable, colorful Euphyllia garden without overcomplicating the process. The tank for this build is a lightly used JBJ RF-25 all-in-one aquarium, giving it a second life as the foundation for a thoughtful, real-world reef system.
Rather than rushing to add every piece of gear at once, this series focuses on making the right decisions in the right order. From cleaning up used equipment and dialing in the essentials to aquascaping, cycling, stocking, and eventually adding coral, each episode follows the process of building a reef tank with stability, consistency, and long-term success in mind.
About Josh
Josh has been in the reefing hobby for 14 years and has spent the last eight of those at Bulk Reef Supply. He started in customer service, spent three years as the BRStv tank tech, and now works behind the scenes helping produce reefing education for BRStv.
Over the years, Josh has worked on a lot of tanks, helped a lot of reefers, and talked through just about every reefing problem you can imagine. This series brings that experience into a personal build of his own, showing the choices, tradeoffs, and thought process behind setting up a reef tank that is designed to last.
Episode 1: I Have a Used Reef Tank...Now What?
Josh introduces himself, the build, the story behind the tank, and the goal of creating a stable, colorful Euphyllia garden reef.
In This Episode
- Why Josh is returning to the reefing hobby with a personal tank build.
- How a lightly used JBJ RF-25 all-in-one aquarium became the foundation for the series.
- Why the goal is a stable, colorful Euphyllia garden reef.
- How intentional choices, consistency, and patience shape the direction of the build.
Related to This Episode
Episode 2: Initial Gear Choices, Aquascaping & Sand
Setting the foundation before the tank ever gets livestock. Josh walks through the early decisions that matter most in a new reef tank, including temperature stability, return flow, salinity stability, aquascaping, sand, and getting the system filled and running.
In This Episode
- Why Josh isn't installing everything right away, including lights and powerheads.
- How temperature stability supports bacteria during the earliest stage of the build.
- Why the undersized used return pump is being replaced with a controllable DC return pump.
- Why he's adding an auto top off system now instead of waiting.
- How all these decisions support the long-term goal of a Euphyllia garden.
Related to This Episode
Episode 3: Aquarium Cycling & Biome Building
The tank officially begins cycling, but the focus is bigger than just converting ammonia into nitrate. Josh explains why a successful reef tank depends on building a diverse, stable biome from the beginning, then walks through the bacteria, pods, phytoplankton, and live filter media being added before livestock goes in.
In This Episode
- Why cycling a reef tank is about more than ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
- How building biodiversity early can help support long-term reef tank stability.
- Why Josh is layering multiple biological sources instead of relying on one bottled bacteria product.
- Why keeping the tank lights off for now is a smart decision.
- How patience, monitoring, and time remain critical even when seeding the tank with diverse biology.
Related to This Episode
Episode 4: Coming Soon
We're taking a short break while this tank settles in, but we'll be back with Episode 4, where Josh will move into the next phase of the build.
Coming Up
- Adding the first fish to the system.
- Introducing a cleanup crew.
- Choosing the first test coral or two.
- Getting lighting on the tank.
Adam has been reef keeping since 2010 and got his start on the Bulk Reef Supply Customer Service team. He believes the best tanks are built around what you enjoy, not what’s trending. Adam is especially interested in simplifying the hobby, exploring the latest gear, and helping others focus on long-term success over chasing perfection.
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