andiesreef
Active Member
Andie's First Saltwater Aquarium
Hey everybody! Today I figured I'd start a build thread on the progression of my first reef tank. It is a tad late, as the tank is already 3 months old, but I reckoned I'd just start here. So, rewind to September 2020. I had just set up my first planted aquarium with the help of my dad. I learned so much from this tank, and it sparked my interest in the fish keeping hobby. I enjoyed this tank for a year and a few months before it started going downhill, and I relocated or sold all of my stock. This was what the tank looked like in the very beginning:
Kind of crude, but I loved it. After I sold the fish, I cleaned out the entire aquarium, filtration, and heating system with a vinegar/water mixture and filled the tank up with tap water, letting it run through the equipment for about 2-3 weeks to remove any lasting debris and vinegar.
So, now I had to decide what to do with the tank. I'd had this little dream of having a saltwater tank for a few months now, so my dad and decided I set one up together. I had a few main criteria in mind.
Simple. This tank needed to be beginner-friendly, easy to maintain, and not contain anything difficult to care for. That knocked essentially all SPS and picky eaters off the list. Additionally, the tank needed to be able to hold up with a neighbor coming over and feeding it when we were on vacation. I decided not to try and install any kind of sump.
Affordable. While I already had the aquarium and some freshwater equipment set up, the new equipment would need to be affordable. I wasn't looking to break the bank to set up this tank.
Interesting. Finally, the tank needed to be unique! Sure, it was going to be beginner-friendly, but I wanted the ability to keep some colorful corals like zoanthids, ricordea, acans, duncans, and possibly even an anemone down the road. The fish also needed to be small, hardy, peaceful, and colorful. Nothing that would nip at corals or inverts, because I wanted a large and varied clean-up crew.
After I had my criteria all laid out, it was time to start planning. I decided I wanted to keep softies and LPS in this tank. I would use a simple HOB filter and freshwater heater to keep the water clean. I would use dry rock to minimize the introduction of pests, but live sand to introduce beneficial bacteria. I also decided on the following stocking plan.
Fish
Simple. This tank needed to be beginner-friendly, easy to maintain, and not contain anything difficult to care for. That knocked essentially all SPS and picky eaters off the list. Additionally, the tank needed to be able to hold up with a neighbor coming over and feeding it when we were on vacation. I decided not to try and install any kind of sump.
Affordable. While I already had the aquarium and some freshwater equipment set up, the new equipment would need to be affordable. I wasn't looking to break the bank to set up this tank.
Interesting. Finally, the tank needed to be unique! Sure, it was going to be beginner-friendly, but I wanted the ability to keep some colorful corals like zoanthids, ricordea, acans, duncans, and possibly even an anemone down the road. The fish also needed to be small, hardy, peaceful, and colorful. Nothing that would nip at corals or inverts, because I wanted a large and varied clean-up crew.
After I had my criteria all laid out, it was time to start planning. I decided I wanted to keep softies and LPS in this tank. I would use a simple HOB filter and freshwater heater to keep the water clean. I would use dry rock to minimize the introduction of pests, but live sand to introduce beneficial bacteria. I also decided on the following stocking plan.
Fish
- One ocellaris clownfish (We ended up choosing a black snowflake clown)
- One easy-care goby or blenny (We ended up with a yellow watchman goby)
- One royal gramma (It sadly passed away due to ich)
- One springer's damselfish (To be added)
Clean-Up Crew
- 5 astrea snails (We ended up with 7, oh well)
- 5 dwarf blue-legged hermits
- 2 peppermint shrimp (We originally had 3, but one died in a filter malfunction)
- 1 skunk cleaner shrimp
- 1 emerald crab
- 1 fighting conch
Coral Choices
An asterisk denotes a coral that I haven't added yet, I plan to add, or is a more difficult coral I want to work towards.
- Discosoma, ricordea florida, or rhodactis mushrooms
- Zoanthids + palythoas
- Green star polyps
- Clove polyps
- Leather corals
- Acans
- Duncans
- Candy-cane corals*
- Euphyllia*
- Rock flower anenome*
- Favia/favites*
- Goniopora
Equipment
- 20lbs CaribSea live sand
- Aqueon QuietFlow 20 HOB filter
- Aqueon heater, rated up to 20 gallons
- Fluval Sea CP2 powerhead
- 20lbs dry rock
- AquaTop ATP surface skimmer
- Current USA Orbit Marine light
The gramma passed away about a month later after battling ich. I had attempted SeaChem ParaGuard in a 5g bucket for a week to cure it, but it didn't work. During this time, more corals, crabs, snails, and the goby were added. One frag died, an Acan, after being blasted with too much light. A few days ago, we purchased a goniopora frag along with a black snowflake clownfish. The Goni is stressing me out a bit, but seems ok so far. I hope I can keep it well-fed. This thread will be updated as the tank matures. You can check out my instagram @andiesaquatics for more frequent updates.
The tank 6 weeks ago:
The tank 1 week ago (corals were curled up for the night)
