Beginner Tank to the Reef Life!

ReefLife_Guy · Apr 21, 2022

1 Month Progress! CaribSea LifeRock Arches makes a huge difference!

Current residents include:
-1 peppermint shrimp
-2 emerald crabs
-2 turbo snails
-2 tongan nassarius snails
-1 trochus snail
-2 clownfish
-1 yellow watchman goby
-1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp
-1 Lawnmower Blenny
-1 Montipora Frag
-1 Orange Ricordea Mushroom

New resident waitlist

:
-1 cleaner shrimp
-1 royal gramma

Next on the "to do" list is to fit this non-drilled tank with a HOB Overflow and sump! (not ideal but tank upgrade is not feasible at the moment

)

More pictures/videos on my instagram @ReefLife_Guy

lapin · Apr 21, 2022

blaxsun · Apr 21, 2022

The arches are definitely a nice touch.

Lost in the Sauce · Jun 2, 2022

ReefLife_Guy said:
Next on the "to do" list is to fit this non-drilled tank with a HOB Overflow and sump! (not ideal but tank upgrade is not feasible at the moment)

Instead of moving forward installing a not ideal solution, why not just drill the tank and install an overflow?

Your stock list is small, everything there could be removed into a Rubbermaid tub or two, the tank moved outside, drilled/overflow installed, then reassembly in a day.

Drilling glass sounds a lot scarier than it is in practice.

ReefLife_Guy · Jun 2, 2022

Lost in the Sauce said:
Instead of moving forward installing a not ideal solution, why not just drill the tank and install an overflow?

Your stock list is small, everything there could be removed into a Rubbermaid tub or two, the tank moved outside, drilled/overflow installed, then reassembly in a day.

Drilling glass sounds a lot scarier than it is in practice.

Yeah I agree, I would have probably done that if I wasn’t planning to upgrade to a bigger tank. I wanted to dip my toes in the water so to speak to see if I could manage a successful reef tank before going bigger. I made the rookie mistake of buying the tank because it was on sale before i really dug deep into researching reef tanks. Once i realized i should have got a drilled one or drilled it myself, i already had it setup and decided i would just use it as an excuse later to upgrade to a bigger tank.

Also, i guess i need to update my build thread because I’ve added a lot since my last post!

ReefLife_Guy · Jun 2, 2022

3 month update: cleaner shrimp and gramma have both joined the reef family

Added 2 nems: 1 green and 1 interstellar bubbletip nem and a sexy shrimp

Lots of new corals: kenya tree, pulsing xenia, GSP, zoas, torches, a hammer, an octospawn, a goniopora, a birds nest, and two more mushrooms.

ReefLife_Guy · Jun 2, 2022

Bought some awesome frogspawn from a local reefer @vcollins9850 and he was kind enough to give me this huge chunk of red monticap! I think ill upgrade to a bigger tank before the year is over!

bnord · Jun 2, 2022

applause applause

Lost in the Sauce · Jun 2, 2022

ReefLife_Guy said:
Yeah I agree, I would have probably done that if I wasn’t planning to upgrade to a bigger tank. I wanted to dip my toes in the water so to speak to see if I could manage a successful reef tank before going bigger. I made the rookie mistake of buying the tank because it was on sale before i really dug deep into researching reef tanks. Once i realized i should have got a drilled one or drilled it myself, i already had it setup and decided i would just use it as an excuse later to upgrade to a bigger tank.

Also, i guess i need to update my build thread because I’ve added a lot since my last post!

I think starting, and realizing you want something MOAR, is a pretty standard Reefing protocol.

I went through 3 tanks in a year.