40 gallon FOWLR

[seder710]

After months of research (and finally getting the ok from my husband) I finally have my first saltwater tank set Up and cycling.

The plans are a macroalgae tank but we will see where the journey takes us.

Filter: U4 fluval internal filter
lights: hyger full spectrum light
Two circulation pumps (not sure if I really need both or not)

F-zone ATO with 5 gallon reservoir
Got the RO Buddie system, but I bought water for initial fill up (yeah for curbside!)

35 pounds of reef ready rock
40pounds caribsea live sand

I’m pretty happy with my scape, the top bracing kid of restricted putting the rocks in.

I started cycling August 2, 2023 using Microbacter system

Current reading is as follows:

• Ammonia 0 (yeah!)
• Nitrite: 1ppm
• Nitrate: 20ppm

Nitrite has been steady for quite a few days so hopefully I see some movement on that soon.

I think I will start with a pair of clowns then add in clean up crew. Ultimately I want a Goby, but I’m not sure the best one for the size I have. I’m really struggling finding consistent information for stocking ideas.

 

[Peace River]

Congratulations on your new adventure! There are several macro algae threads and experts here on R2R so you should be able to find help and direction.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

After months of research (and finally getting the ok from my husband) I finally have my first saltwater tank set Up and cycling.

The plans are a macroalgae tank but we will see where the journey takes us.

Filter: U4 fluval internal filter
lights: hyger full spectrum light
Two circulation pumps (not sure if I really need both or not)

F-zone ATO with 5 gallon reservoir
Got the RO Buddie system, but I bought water for initial fill up (yeah for curbside!)

35 pounds of reef ready rock
40pounds caribsea live sand

I’m pretty happy with my scape, the top bracing kid of restricted putting the rocks in.

I started cycling August 2, 2023 using Microbacter system

Current reading is as follows:

• Ammonia 0 (yeah!)
• Nitrite: 1ppm
• Nitrate: 20ppm

Nitrite has been steady for quite a few days so hopefully I see some movement on that soon.

I think I will start with a pair of clowns then add in clean up crew. Ultimately I want a Goby, but I’m not sure the best one for the size I have. I’m really struggling finding consistent information for stocking ideas.

love the aquascape!

 

[seder710]

So nitrites are down to zero… but we decided to move it off the cabinet countertop and get its own stand. So once I get it moved I’ll add ammonia again to very it’s still processing that then get some clowns!!

Looking at. The picture again, I might add another piece of rock to the right side, it weird, it looks bigger in person than in the picture.

I guess it just depends on how well it does when I move it. Not looking forward to that!

 

[seder710]

Congratulations on your new adventure! There are several macro algae threads and experts here on R2R so you should be able to find help and direction.

I did some searching and found some good sources! Can’t wait for it to be mature enough to add some algae!

 

[seder710]

love the aquascape!

Thanks!

It’s my first time working with just rock and since the top of my tank is so restrictive I was worried about doing any big structure.

 

[seder710]

Got my first fish! One will be named Harold (my kids picked it) still need a name for the other one.

We moved the tank onto a dedicated shelf. My tank cycled pretty quickly (I used Microbacter kit), I had to wait a bit to get these guys since we moved the tank.

The dark one is very intent on staring at you. She’s(?) bigger that the other one. Offered a bit of food while drip acclimating and they did go after it, so that was hopeful.
They hung out in this corner most the time I stared at them, hopefully they will settle in and start exploring all over.

Very nerve racking getting my first salt water fish!

 

[seder710]

My Clownfish have been doing good for this past (almost) week. They stay pretty close to the filter right now. One of them ventured to the other side of the tank for a short period to time. From what I can see that is normal clown behavior. They have started to eat. I definitely need to turn off the filter in order for them to get to the food.

Current Parameters:

• Ammonia & Nitrite = 0ppm
• Nitrate =5ppm
• pH = 7.8 (a little concerned this is low, but I don't plan on doing coral, so maybe its ok)

I am ordering Hanna checkers for Nitrate and Phosphates to make testing "easier"

Right now I am debating about the amount of water movement I have and if I should get a Protein skimmer.

If any one is looking at the thread it would be great if you can look at the flow in my tank video and let me know if its too much. Its hard to see any movement, but you can see the 2 "wavemakers", the top circulates pretty fast.

 

[seder710]

Got Hanna testers for Nitrate and phosphate

Nitrate is 13.6 ppm
Phosphate is 0.02 ppm

I know the ratio should be 1:10, but since it’s a new tank I know it will take some time for these to build up. How long should that take?

My clowns are getting settled, and finally swimming across the tank. They stare at me when I walk by .

 

[seder710]

Got 2 new fish today… wanted to get some clean up crew but came the day before their shipment. Anyways, I got a fire goby and a neon dottyback… I should have take their pictures while acclimating… they dove into the rock right away and are hiding very well.

My clowns are checking them out, hopefully there won’t be any aggression and they adjust to the new additions quickly.

Now I just need to decide on and order some macroalgae, get a CUC and see what happens to parameters.

 

[seder710]

I seem to have lost my neon dotty back, I saw him a couple times last week but he has been MIA for a couple days. I am hoping he is just hiding.

I added snails and some small clippings of macroalgae (reds & caulperas)

I also added the hygger wavemaker, the fish seem to like it (maybe that is why my dottyback is MIA?)

The snails have taken care of my diatoms, hopeful they macroalgae will take off quickly. I would love to get some waving motion to the tank.

Before snails:

1 weeks later:

 

[seder710]

I have officially hit the uglies. I think I might have avoided them but over the Christmas break my school lost power and it completely messed up the schedule on my lights. They got left on for to long at full brightness.

I have ordered a new light (Fluval Aquasky 2.0) in hopes that the ability to see the schedule in the app will allow me to tweak the brightness and timing better. With my current light, they are turning on at full brightness for a good part of the night even though the program shows it should be a 0 brightness.

I am also getting an internal UV sterilizer because as part of all this my water is a cloudy green.

On a potentially good note (potentially bad) it looks like I have little red grape algae spawning all over my tank. I took one out and it was round like a grape so I'm hoping that is what it is. *fingers crossed*

I ordered some more pods from Dinkins Aquatics and now that they have a good source of food I am hoping they take off, I will do a better job feeding them phytoplankton this time. I am hoping they will help reverse the damage caused by the excess lights and shorten this episode of uglies.

All my parameters are staying pretty consistent. I need to order more phosphate test. Nitrate is staying around 20ppm.