Antonio.dejesus
Community Member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2018
- Messages
- 87
- Reaction score
- 66
I just joined R2R and have seen a few posts. Overall, great community here!On the other post people suggested me to make a thread to see the progress on the newbie nano tank.
As a little background of my tank and me, it was set up on December 2,2017. Its my second tank, first one being a freshwater a 29g(High) that was set on December 17, 2016. I always was intrigued by the fish on salty side but thought that it was too difficult. Then I started seeing corals, the variety and colors, that was the selling point for me. I decided to join the "dark" side [emoji23]
The only major problem I have is that not many people nearby have salt tanks, plus many LFS have closed since hurricane María(I live in Puerto Rico). So I can't go to someone and ask quick questions about something that may pop up.
So here is how I started with my current tank, is a 20g(high), decided to go with some live rock and live sand. Live sand was the Hawaiian Black CaribSea.Added Bio Spira as bacteria.Also had to buy the stand for it.
Thats how it looked when it was first set.After a week the order on the Hydor Koralia(425gph) and the AquaClear 50 arrived(aqua clear has filter floss, carbon, bion rings and phosguard for now. The phosguard will be changed for chemipure Blue and the reason for the rings is that im still low on live rock)Added some more live rock and a blue background which eventually I took down cause to my eye it felt like less space.
By this time around I bought some Blue Leg Hermits, 3 of them. I got some shells from the beach, I cleaned them well and added them later. The same day the hermits where switching shells, had to stop fights here and there, they are really curious animals but fun to watch.
^This one switched right there^
After some research on lights and RODI system(when the tank was filled for the first time it was tap water and top offs with ro water from supermarket) I decided to go with the Aqua fx Barracuda 50gpd.( I had to sell my PS4 [emoji17]) But the hobby is more rewarding!
That same night the lights arrived, the Vipar Spectra 165 Watt. Saw some good reviews and people that had them for almost 2 years.
At last, things were lookig good. I needed now a way to put the lights up since it only had hooks to be hanged. I told my grandpa to help me with his tools. That I wanted to use some arms and set them up to the wall. We had to drill so we covered the tank.
After some quick math to find the perfect center for the light we had it. Not the prettiest setting but it does the job.
Back to the rodi, it produces around 4:1 ratio meaning that for 1 gallon of good water, it produces 4 that is not "good".
We put containers below and that water my grandpa uses it for watering his plants on the backyard.(Dont waste water people there are many uses)
As for stocking, I waited some time to add something.Out of all the options I knew I wanted a cleaner shrimp. It was a must have for me. So 3 days ago I got the cleaner shrimp with a Turbo snail.
Here I was using the drip method, for around an hour and half. My salinity is 1.023. Taken by refractometer.(If you are also a newbie just get the refractometer, its precise not like the cheap hydrometer that I used. You had to dip it like 6 times to make a conclusion of salinity, big no no for me since some animals/corals are sensitive if not given proper conditions)
^My hermits where molting also^
Dont be scare if you have hermits and find this. Also he got stuck... in a small cave. Had to get some wire and get him out. It was a pain but got him. Filled the cave with smashed rock and sand. Just in case if you have hermits.
And that is how my tank looks so far.
My next arrivals are a koralia 565gpd( which I got for $21) that will make a total of 990gpd in terms of wavemakers. The heater, 100 watt(i had one but got damaged there is not a heater on the tank at the moment but my temps are pretty stable so im cofident there's not gonna be trouble while it arrives) It should be here around tomorrow or tuesday.In the future I will be adding a hangback refugium with a 1gal breeder box, but that's later on.
Any tips, info, ideas on what should I stock are welcome! That's why Im here to get help and tips. As soon as I get the new stuff I'll keep posting. If you want to know any of the equipment I have feel free to ask.Hope to see your tanks and builds also. Happy Reefing everyone!
As a little background of my tank and me, it was set up on December 2,2017. Its my second tank, first one being a freshwater a 29g(High) that was set on December 17, 2016. I always was intrigued by the fish on salty side but thought that it was too difficult. Then I started seeing corals, the variety and colors, that was the selling point for me. I decided to join the "dark" side [emoji23]
The only major problem I have is that not many people nearby have salt tanks, plus many LFS have closed since hurricane María(I live in Puerto Rico). So I can't go to someone and ask quick questions about something that may pop up.
So here is how I started with my current tank, is a 20g(high), decided to go with some live rock and live sand. Live sand was the Hawaiian Black CaribSea.Added Bio Spira as bacteria.Also had to buy the stand for it.
Thats how it looked when it was first set.After a week the order on the Hydor Koralia(425gph) and the AquaClear 50 arrived(aqua clear has filter floss, carbon, bion rings and phosguard for now. The phosguard will be changed for chemipure Blue and the reason for the rings is that im still low on live rock)Added some more live rock and a blue background which eventually I took down cause to my eye it felt like less space.
By this time around I bought some Blue Leg Hermits, 3 of them. I got some shells from the beach, I cleaned them well and added them later. The same day the hermits where switching shells, had to stop fights here and there, they are really curious animals but fun to watch.
^This one switched right there^
After some research on lights and RODI system(when the tank was filled for the first time it was tap water and top offs with ro water from supermarket) I decided to go with the Aqua fx Barracuda 50gpd.( I had to sell my PS4 [emoji17]) But the hobby is more rewarding!
That same night the lights arrived, the Vipar Spectra 165 Watt. Saw some good reviews and people that had them for almost 2 years.
At last, things were lookig good. I needed now a way to put the lights up since it only had hooks to be hanged. I told my grandpa to help me with his tools. That I wanted to use some arms and set them up to the wall. We had to drill so we covered the tank.
After some quick math to find the perfect center for the light we had it. Not the prettiest setting but it does the job.
Back to the rodi, it produces around 4:1 ratio meaning that for 1 gallon of good water, it produces 4 that is not "good".
We put containers below and that water my grandpa uses it for watering his plants on the backyard.(Dont waste water people there are many uses)
As for stocking, I waited some time to add something.Out of all the options I knew I wanted a cleaner shrimp. It was a must have for me. So 3 days ago I got the cleaner shrimp with a Turbo snail.
Here I was using the drip method, for around an hour and half. My salinity is 1.023. Taken by refractometer.(If you are also a newbie just get the refractometer, its precise not like the cheap hydrometer that I used. You had to dip it like 6 times to make a conclusion of salinity, big no no for me since some animals/corals are sensitive if not given proper conditions)
^My hermits where molting also^
Dont be scare if you have hermits and find this. Also he got stuck... in a small cave. Had to get some wire and get him out. It was a pain but got him. Filled the cave with smashed rock and sand. Just in case if you have hermits.
And that is how my tank looks so far.
My next arrivals are a koralia 565gpd( which I got for $21) that will make a total of 990gpd in terms of wavemakers. The heater, 100 watt(i had one but got damaged there is not a heater on the tank at the moment but my temps are pretty stable so im cofident there's not gonna be trouble while it arrives) It should be here around tomorrow or tuesday.In the future I will be adding a hangback refugium with a 1gal breeder box, but that's later on.
Any tips, info, ideas on what should I stock are welcome! That's why Im here to get help and tips. As soon as I get the new stuff I'll keep posting. If you want to know any of the equipment I have feel free to ask.Hope to see your tanks and builds also. Happy Reefing everyone!
