A Mick's Journey Through Reefing (10gal)

[MickoftheSea]

Hello all!

I have been meaning to build this thread for a while now, due to numerous setbacks I have been delayed. BUT I am here at last! I am creating this thread to highlight and document my new journey into saltwater aquariums. A journey that has been a headache and painstaking at parts but overall fun. My goal is to make this thread interactive so I can learn a lot from the experienced reefers. So, feel free to ask for pictures, info, or anything!

My journey through reefing started 6 months ago in August, 2021. Since then I have been through 3 reef due to tough luck (also me being cheap but that's beside the point). My first was a 1gal pico tank, then a 5.5gal, then finally my current tank a 10gal. Thankfully this community has gotten me through all the troubles. But continuing with my journey.

Tank #1
The journey of my 1gal pico can be found here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-pico-aquarium.857960/
I bought this tiny tank just dip my toes into handling saltwater aquariums and before I knew it, I was hooked. I got some xenia, zoa, and even a clean up crew of 2 nerite snails and 2 hermit crabs. The thread in the link above also highlights funny stories of my two hermit crabs, Darth Goober and Obi-Wan Krab-obi. These two hermits were absolutely crazy and I loved every minute of it.

Due to the fact the tank was a cheap knock off of a mini complete tank, the sump pump starting dying and the plastic was deteriorating fast. Finally, tank stopped working but none of the livestock was harmed. Due to financial issues, my next step was one that I DO NOT recommend. I put everything in a tupperware container until I can save enough money to get a new tank set up... It lasted only two weeks before I picked up a new tank and all my equipment was delivered. And this brings us to my next tank, a 5.5gal.

*EDIT* ( The next post will come by the end of the day, I am waiting for my 5.5 gal photos to upload to my laptop)

 

[MickoftheSea]

Tank #2: 5.5gal

Setting up the 5.5gal was a blast. From the little stuff as mixing the water, to researching anything and everything. But I finally got the 5.5 set up (see the first two pictures). I was running a Kingbo LED 18w light with a DIY rig and shelf that you can see in the background. I originally bought a 25w heater that was having trouble heating the tank so I picked up a 50w to use as a primary heater and just left the 25w as a back up. For heating control I grabbed my NICREW temp controller. For aqua scape, normally I was really fond of the cycle process with dry rock, but due to the fact my coral was paying rent in my roommates tank and my clean up crew was living in the Tupperware RV for over a week (again I DO NOT recommend), I decided to get all live rock from the local store. But all and all everything was coming together, I ended up adding a little hang on the side filter to take care of debris floating in the water.


Everything was rolling smoothly, the clean up crew was happy, and after some time of waiting I moved my coral in and they really flourished. I had a mushroom but it really just popped off the frag and disappeared in my roommates tank. It was a cool golden era but I was shortly smacked in the face with the ugly stages. White hair algae took over my tank (see photos 3-5). To try and control it I went to buy a turbo snail but failed because I came home with two astreas and a peppermint shrimp named Shrimperton (see photo 6). I never really won that battle because it ended up being killed off by Dino’s due to my tank being too clean. So I started feeding heavy to dirty my tank in effort fight the Dino’s.

After a while of feeding heavy, my water still remained too clean. But my roomate and I traveled to a store about an hour and a half away to check out corals and fish. I ended up picking up a new mushroom (forgive me, I’m still learning names), a rainbow Monti, and a watchmen goby named Goby. I got them acclimated and in the tank, and everything was really happy! THE VERY NEXT DAY, Sunday Feb. 6, 2022. I woke up to water all over my table. My tank cracked on bottom and was leaking. Luckily I had time to act because overnight the water level only dropped an inch and was leaking super slowly. I was very sad because It was a sad end to my first tank, but I guess I beat the Dino’s. (See picture 7 for my last picture of my 5.5 gal).

 

[MickoftheSea]

Tank #3: 10gal (Third Time's a Charm).

After scrambling all day to find a replacement tank and set up, I saw Pet Smart had their Top Fin 10gal on sale. So I picked that up and ended up getting their 10gal tank stand because my old table could not handle the weight of the 10gal. But I quickly got home so I can start the process in moving everything over. Luckily enough, I had enough water to fill the tank and accidently ordered too much live sand when I was ordering everything for my 5.5gal. But I quickly got the stand set up and and got to work on the tank. I ran into an issue early on because I found out the heater for my water change bucket died so I had to wait until the water in the tank to heat up, I threw every heater I had in the new tank to get the process moving quickly (minus one I kept in the 5.5gal to keep it warm). Once the tank was warmed up, I ran into my second issue, it was WAY to cloudy to see where I was putting my aqua scape (see picture 1), so I had to wait longer for the tank to clear some in order to safely place items without crushing any livestock attached to the rocks. But after putting two hang on filters, and waiting 2 hours, I could finally see enough to place rocks in.

I started with the smaller rocks, building a rock island on the right side of the tank and finally placing the xenia in to give them their own place to conquer. Next, since it was a bigger tank, I took a piece of dry rock I had laying around and placed it on the left side of my tank and placed all my Zoa's on it in effort to give them their own little home. My next struggle was my center piece. In my old tank, the 5.5gal, I have two large pieces of live rock in the center that placed perfectly to create two little cave systems. Even though my tank was semi cleared up, I still could not figure out for the life of me to recreate the same thing. I ended up putting the large flat rock on the bottom, digging out some sand to create a small cave for the Goby. I then created a base using the left over small rocks and stacked the second large rock on top, luckily it worked out because I love the angled look and it even created a larger cave for my cleanup crew and fish. Next, I moved on to the left over coral, my GSP was already attached to the angled rock and had a nice place in the flow. I had trouble finding a home for my rainbow monti but its sitting pretty next my GSP in a place where it can get alot of light. Finally my new mushroom didn't move off the frag so he was easy to move, I put him out in the open on the main rock so he can move where ever he pleases. But in the end everything started opening back up and looked really happy.

Finally I got to moving my clean up crew and Goby. I moved over the Nerite Snails first, placing them on the glass so they can stay out of reach from the hermits. Next, I moved the Nessarius Snails so that they can pop their snorkels and get to digging, and that they did. Next up was the Astrea's who were stubborn and took alittle to get them off the glass of the old tank without harming them. Finally, my Peppermint Shrimp aka Shrimperton, moved over easy (he is super friendly and I have been hand feeding him since I got him). Last but not least, I got my Goby over. He was very ticked off and did not like the move, but shortly made a home in the caves.

 

[MickoftheSea]

UPDATE:
Since that sums up my first 6 months of my saltwater hobby, I will be continuing this thread with updates on my 10 gal. My current set up is:

- 10gal Top Fin rimmed tank
- Two 50watt heaters (one is a backup)
- NICREW temp controller
- Top Fin hang on side filter
- KINGBO LED light (soon to be replaced with a AquaKnight)
- For flow I have a Aquaneat pump with a duckbill nozzle attached

Coral in the tank:
- Two different colors of Xenia (they got depressed after the move but are looking better by the day)
- Three types of Zoa's
- GSP
- Rainbow Monti
- Mushroom (forgive me but I forgot the name)

Livestock:
- Two Hermit Crabs
- Two Nerite Snails
- Two Astrea Snails
- Two Nessarius Snails
- One Peppermint Shrimp
- One Watchman Goby

 

[MickoftheSea]

Update:

Just got my Aquaknight in and I love it. To be honest I’m not really a fan of deep blue and was struggling to find a cheaper light that has just enough blue to make coral color pop. Currently I’m running it at 80% blue and 20% white. I’m probably going to run it at 30% white while keeping it at 80% blue. But here are some pictures of my tank and coral under the new light!

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Update:

Just got my Aquaknight in and I love it. To be honest I’m not really a fan of deep blue and was struggling to find a cheaper light that has just enough blue to make coral color pop. Currently I’m running it at 80% blue and 20% white. I’m probably going to run it at 30% white while keeping it at 80% blue. But here are some pictures of my tank and coral under the new light!

can you take a pic under 100% whites im considering the aquaknight and i wanna see it under 100% white

 

[MickoftheSea]

can you take a pic under 100% whites im considering the aquaknight and i wanna see it under 100% white

Here it is under 100% whites. The photo does little justice. It looks to terrible and dirty but it looks 10x better in person. I love white light over blue and running 100% white with 20% blue is enough to keep that white feel and make the corals pop.

 

[MickoftheSea]

My reply posted twice and I don’t know how to delete a message so here is a smiley face.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Here it is under 100% whites. The photo does little justice. It looks to terrible and dirty but it looks 10x better in person. I love white light over blue and running 100% white with 20% blue is enough to keep that white feel and make the corals pop.

thank you