timnorthrop
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2026
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 2
- What state or country do you live in
- New York
Equipment
Starting my first SW aquarium with a $55 29 gallon tank from Petco. Previously (years ago) had a 20g long planted tank with dwarf gouramis and cardinal tetras and wanted to convert it, but the seal was done and I don't trust my resealing abilities.
I did, however, really want to reuse my Fluval 206 canister filter, since I upgraded to it late in the previous tank's life and didn't get to put it to good use. I saw lots of advice against using canister filters for a reef tank, but I've seen people make it work and am okay with regular maintenance, so we'll see how it goes. Could not get the thing to stop leaking, no matter what I tried (replacing the O-ring, the quick-release valve, using Vaseline, etc.), and eventually realized that I had been sealing it wrong. It looks crooked going on when the O-ring is seated properly. After I figured that out, it hasn't leaked once. Knock on wood.
Right now, the canister's first compartment is empty, the second holds filter floss, the third holds bio bricks, and the fourth holds ceramic bio media. I replace the filter floss and rinse the bio media every three days. I got the bio bricks from an LFS and kept them in the tank for a few weeks to let some pods establish, then moved them into the canister. I was concerned about things dying off the bricks from a lack of light and from the high flow in the canister, but each time I rinse off the bricks I inspect the water I rinsed in to see what's died and fallen off, and so far, not much has.
Besides the filter, the tank has a heater with a built-in controller from Amazon, a HOB protein skimmer (AquaReady HOB-1.5), and a single 530 GPH wave maker from Hygger. I had two in there, but the flow was too intense for the soft corals in the tank.
My quarantine tank is a 10 gallon rimless tank, also from Petco, with a hang-on-back filter, air stone, and a few 3D-printed hides (PETG, 100% infill so water doesn't seep in). Thus far, I've just been doing 2-week observation periods then moving the fish to the tank. I know this isn't really a sufficient quarantine process for treating things like ich and velvet, and I'll do a more thorough quarantine in the future, but the fish we've added so far are hardy and the tank is still only 2 months old, so I have the luxury of not worrying about a parasite wiping out thousands of dollars of established life.
Fish & Coral
Current Fish & Inverts:
2x Ocellaris Clowns (one captive-bred Darwin, one wild-caught regular Ocellaris) - these guys haven't left each other's side since we put them in the QT. They're very small - the Darwin about an inch and the orange one about an inch and a half, probably both still male for now.
1x Purple Firefish - I love this little fish. She's (80% sure it's a she lol) very adventurous for a rock-dwelling fish and will even swim right alongside the clowns :D
7x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
2x Baby Trochus Snails - I think these guys hatched from eggs that came in on the bio bricks because they are tiny - literally the size of a grain of sand.
Current Coral:
4 varieties of zoanthus with a few polyps each - Daisy Cutters, Pink Diamonds, Stratocasters, and Hot Shots
Jawbreaker Mushroom
Giant Bali Xenia - a variant of Xenia that also pulses but grows in tall stalks and slower than other Xenia
Toadstool Leather
There's also a good mix of pods, some tube worms, bristleworms, flatworms, and vermetid snails.
Planned Fish & Inverts:
Shrimp & Goby Pair - Looking to get a Randall's Goby and a Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp
Candy Basslet - Gotta save for one of these, they're awesome
Planned Coral:
Hammers and Frogspawn
Favia
Blastomussa
Goniopora
Alveopora
Acropora
Montipora
Parameters
pH: 7.5-8.0 - the pH has been fluctuating from 7.5 to 8 and back down again daily.
Alkalinity: 6.9 dKH
Nitrate: ~10ppm
Phosphate: 0.02ppm
Calcium: ~400ppm
Magnesium: ~1180ppm
Main Concerns
Low phosphate, I think because the dry rock is sucking it all up. I think because of this, the zoas (particularly the Hot Shots, which I got separately from the rest) and the toadstool leather have been finicky. I think I also accidentally squished the Hot Shots together a little because they detached from the glue they were on and were compressed when I glued them to this rock. Will they be okay? I've included a photo from the first day I got them, when most of them were fully open, and now, where they only kind of half open.
Photos
Starting my first SW aquarium with a $55 29 gallon tank from Petco. Previously (years ago) had a 20g long planted tank with dwarf gouramis and cardinal tetras and wanted to convert it, but the seal was done and I don't trust my resealing abilities.
I did, however, really want to reuse my Fluval 206 canister filter, since I upgraded to it late in the previous tank's life and didn't get to put it to good use. I saw lots of advice against using canister filters for a reef tank, but I've seen people make it work and am okay with regular maintenance, so we'll see how it goes. Could not get the thing to stop leaking, no matter what I tried (replacing the O-ring, the quick-release valve, using Vaseline, etc.), and eventually realized that I had been sealing it wrong. It looks crooked going on when the O-ring is seated properly. After I figured that out, it hasn't leaked once. Knock on wood.
Right now, the canister's first compartment is empty, the second holds filter floss, the third holds bio bricks, and the fourth holds ceramic bio media. I replace the filter floss and rinse the bio media every three days. I got the bio bricks from an LFS and kept them in the tank for a few weeks to let some pods establish, then moved them into the canister. I was concerned about things dying off the bricks from a lack of light and from the high flow in the canister, but each time I rinse off the bricks I inspect the water I rinsed in to see what's died and fallen off, and so far, not much has.
Besides the filter, the tank has a heater with a built-in controller from Amazon, a HOB protein skimmer (AquaReady HOB-1.5), and a single 530 GPH wave maker from Hygger. I had two in there, but the flow was too intense for the soft corals in the tank.
My quarantine tank is a 10 gallon rimless tank, also from Petco, with a hang-on-back filter, air stone, and a few 3D-printed hides (PETG, 100% infill so water doesn't seep in). Thus far, I've just been doing 2-week observation periods then moving the fish to the tank. I know this isn't really a sufficient quarantine process for treating things like ich and velvet, and I'll do a more thorough quarantine in the future, but the fish we've added so far are hardy and the tank is still only 2 months old, so I have the luxury of not worrying about a parasite wiping out thousands of dollars of established life.
Fish & Coral
Current Fish & Inverts:
2x Ocellaris Clowns (one captive-bred Darwin, one wild-caught regular Ocellaris) - these guys haven't left each other's side since we put them in the QT. They're very small - the Darwin about an inch and the orange one about an inch and a half, probably both still male for now.
1x Purple Firefish - I love this little fish. She's (80% sure it's a she lol) very adventurous for a rock-dwelling fish and will even swim right alongside the clowns :D
7x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
2x Baby Trochus Snails - I think these guys hatched from eggs that came in on the bio bricks because they are tiny - literally the size of a grain of sand.
Current Coral:
4 varieties of zoanthus with a few polyps each - Daisy Cutters, Pink Diamonds, Stratocasters, and Hot Shots
Jawbreaker Mushroom
Giant Bali Xenia - a variant of Xenia that also pulses but grows in tall stalks and slower than other Xenia
Toadstool Leather
There's also a good mix of pods, some tube worms, bristleworms, flatworms, and vermetid snails.
Planned Fish & Inverts:
Shrimp & Goby Pair - Looking to get a Randall's Goby and a Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp
Candy Basslet - Gotta save for one of these, they're awesome
Planned Coral:
Hammers and Frogspawn
Favia
Blastomussa
Goniopora
Alveopora
Acropora
Montipora
Parameters
pH: 7.5-8.0 - the pH has been fluctuating from 7.5 to 8 and back down again daily.
Alkalinity: 6.9 dKH
Nitrate: ~10ppm
Phosphate: 0.02ppm
Calcium: ~400ppm
Magnesium: ~1180ppm
Main Concerns
Low phosphate, I think because the dry rock is sucking it all up. I think because of this, the zoas (particularly the Hot Shots, which I got separately from the rest) and the toadstool leather have been finicky. I think I also accidentally squished the Hot Shots together a little because they detached from the glue they were on and were compressed when I glued them to this rock. Will they be okay? I've included a photo from the first day I got them, when most of them were fully open, and now, where they only kind of half open.
Photos
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