Hello! Mr. Matzah here. Jumping back into keeping reef tanks after about a decade. Excited to share my progress so far and looking forward to hearing your feedback.
First Things First - The Tank
Around early June my awesome wife surprised me with a 40G cube made by Aquatop. The aquarium itself came with a stand, and was set up with a built in overflow and filtration chambers at the back of the tank. The tank itself was really well-built, and seemed like it would work well for a reef tank.
It came with an LED light offering two settings, and two glass covers for the top. It also came with a small in-tank skimmer, but I'd imagine there are better options out there for those.
The Progress So Far
To get things started I purchased 40 lbs of Arag Alive sand, around 50lbs of base rock, and a few lbs of live rock to start seeing the base rock. I then let this sit for about 2-3 weeks to get the tank cycled.
After about 2-3 weeks I tested the ammonia and nitrite and saw that they were zero, and nitrates were under 5ppm, so I decided to go get my first fish. I picked up a few hermits and snails, and then decided to pick up an algae blenny. He's been doing awesome, and has been eating some of the brown algae that was left over from the cycle. He's also eating some frozen food and algae sheets really well. We call him Lenny da Blenny.
He stayed hidden for the most part - I suppose because he was the only one in the tank aside from the few hermits and snails. He provided quite a bit of enjoyment and amusement, though, peeking out from behind the rocks and roaming the aquarium.
After waiting another week or so we tested the water again and saw that we were still at 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and around 5ppm nitrate, so we decided to pick up another small fish. This time we had our eyes set on something more colorful and something that would add some movement to the aquarium. We ended up purchasing a small, lively Pink Fairy Wrasse.
We also picked up a small cleaner shrimp.
As expected, after adding these critters Lenny da Blenny is out much more. He now sits front and center in the tank and keeps an eye on the Fairy Wrasse and the shrimp. It's quite comical.
After monitoring the fish and the critters for a few days, I decided to go ahead and do my first water change and re-test the water. As expected, seeing a slight increase in ammonia, but I'm sure that's from just adding the new fish, shrimp, and some large turbo snails. I'm going to keep an eye on it and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia in check while the bacteria catch up.
All in all, it's been a great experience so far and I'm really enjoying getting into saltwater tanks again. I'm going to let the tank stabilize for a few months then purchase a larger light and some coral frags. Really looking forward to adding some color!
Thanks for reading and happy reefing!
Mr. Matzah
First Things First - The Tank
Around early June my awesome wife surprised me with a 40G cube made by Aquatop. The aquarium itself came with a stand, and was set up with a built in overflow and filtration chambers at the back of the tank. The tank itself was really well-built, and seemed like it would work well for a reef tank.
It came with an LED light offering two settings, and two glass covers for the top. It also came with a small in-tank skimmer, but I'd imagine there are better options out there for those.
The Progress So Far
To get things started I purchased 40 lbs of Arag Alive sand, around 50lbs of base rock, and a few lbs of live rock to start seeing the base rock. I then let this sit for about 2-3 weeks to get the tank cycled.
After about 2-3 weeks I tested the ammonia and nitrite and saw that they were zero, and nitrates were under 5ppm, so I decided to go get my first fish. I picked up a few hermits and snails, and then decided to pick up an algae blenny. He's been doing awesome, and has been eating some of the brown algae that was left over from the cycle. He's also eating some frozen food and algae sheets really well. We call him Lenny da Blenny.
He stayed hidden for the most part - I suppose because he was the only one in the tank aside from the few hermits and snails. He provided quite a bit of enjoyment and amusement, though, peeking out from behind the rocks and roaming the aquarium.
After waiting another week or so we tested the water again and saw that we were still at 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and around 5ppm nitrate, so we decided to pick up another small fish. This time we had our eyes set on something more colorful and something that would add some movement to the aquarium. We ended up purchasing a small, lively Pink Fairy Wrasse.
We also picked up a small cleaner shrimp.
As expected, after adding these critters Lenny da Blenny is out much more. He now sits front and center in the tank and keeps an eye on the Fairy Wrasse and the shrimp. It's quite comical.
After monitoring the fish and the critters for a few days, I decided to go ahead and do my first water change and re-test the water. As expected, seeing a slight increase in ammonia, but I'm sure that's from just adding the new fish, shrimp, and some large turbo snails. I'm going to keep an eye on it and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia in check while the bacteria catch up.
All in all, it's been a great experience so far and I'm really enjoying getting into saltwater tanks again. I'm going to let the tank stabilize for a few months then purchase a larger light and some coral frags. Really looking forward to adding some color!
Thanks for reading and happy reefing!
Mr. Matzah
