rjmaxey
New Member
I'm a college student in Texas returning to school to finish a my degree after some time off and I'm setting up my first saltwater tank! I'm excited to begin this journey, why don't you come along for the ride with me? I've been eyeballing this project for over a year, but I kept putting it off for one reason or another. Either I didn't have the time, space, money, or stability to invest the resources needed to be successful. I've finally settled into a life rhythm that I can sustain long term in the same place until I graduate. I'm only working 4 days a week this summer and spending a lot of time at home alone because of covid, so if ever there was a time to start a tank, its now! What better time to make an investment in joy? Lets begin!
I needed something small, easy to move and maintain. There was a size limit imposed by the dorms, which I believe was 20 gallons. There are only a few surfaces to place tanks around the room, like desks, dressers and what have you. The rooms come pre-furnished and while I'm allowed to add my own furniture, I'm not allowed to remove anything from the room. Being already so space constrained, adding a tank stand wasn't really an option. I needed something I could put on my desk. I eventually settled on a Waterbox 10 gallon cube AIO. I was considering the 20 gallon cube or the 20 gallon lagoon from Innovative Marine, but decided against it for two reasons; the first is that I move into a different room during the summers and more gallons means more moving difficulty and the second being the need for a QT tank that takes up more real estate. I know it might seem strange to have a QT set up for such a small DT, especially for someone as space constrained as I am, but I am determined to keep this little reef tank for as long as possible, even after I graduate. The fish and corals I put in this tank have the potential to be decade long pet ownerships. I'd never knowingly expose a beloved pet dog to the risk of heart worms, so why should my fish and coral be any different? I plan on quarantining mostly according to Humblefish's protocol.
With that in mind, I picked up a cheap 10 gallon tank from Petco, a HOB filter, cheap power head, 50 watt heater, a couple PVC joints and an ammonia alert badge. I filled it with water and started the cycle with a bottle of Fritz Turbostart and began checking out a few LFS around town. I went to The Fish Place in Ft Worth, Ocean Avenue in south Arlington and Franks Tanks in south Fort Worth. Of the three I was most impressed with Franks Tanks. Frank and his employees were very friendly and knowledgeable. I asked about their QT process and they let me know that they dose all of their fish for sale tanks with copper. Knowing that, I had my eye on a pair of juvenile Wyoming White Clowns that had been their own tank for about 6 weeks.A week later, once my tank finished cycling I picked them up. I've named them Cookies and Creme! I'm fairly certain that Cookies is female because she's kinda mean to Creme and chases him away from the PVC hides every so often. No excessive biting or prolonged fights, just some squabbles over hosting rights of the hides! They didn't seem to have any signs of illness or pests, but I'm continuing to quarantine them anyways. Since they'd effectively been dosed with copper all alone for six weeks before I got them, I figured I could truncate the amount of time I spend in the copper only stage of Humblefish's protocol to about a week. That week has passed and I gave the water column its first dose of API General cure tonight. I'm a little worried about oxygen depletion because I don't have an air stone, but between the HOB filter and power head, the entire surface of the water is agitated so hopefully that's enough for sufficient gas exchange. If all goes well I'll be moving Cookies and Creme to the Waterbox cube in the next 2 weeks or so.
Ah yes, the Waterbox, I nearly forgot. I've got it set up right next to my computer monitor. I've equipped it with an AI Prime HD, and a Hydor Slim Skim and a Vortech MP10 and some nano packets of Chemipure Blue. I'm using the included return pump and filter sock. For rock, I went with Marco's Reef Saver Dry Rock and an 1 inch bed of live sand from Two Little Fishies. I also got a Tunze Osmolator Nano and a 5 gallon reservoir for an ATO set up. I'd like to be able to leave the tank alone for a few days to take the occasional weekend camping trip and wanted to avoid the huge salinity swings that come with not topping of for a few days. I've got an RA that actually keeps Beta fish so I can trust her to come feed the fish while I'm gone.
In terms of livestock, I'm not sure how far I can reasonably go. Of course Cookies and Creme will be the first residents, but I'm also pretty committed to the idea of a Pom Pom Crab. What I'm not sure about is a third fish and a second invertebrate. If I did get a third fish, I think its fair to say that it'd need to be a bottom dweller like some kind of Goby. As far as invertebrates, I'd also like to get at least one shrimp. I worry about available real estate in the tank as well as accumulating a bio load to large for the filtration. I do plan on doing a 10 percent weekly water change as well as siphoning the sand, but the last thing I want is to create an environment too crowded or polluted to be comfortable for my babies.
I plan on starting with some easy soft corals and LPS once I achieve some stability with the fish in the tank. I'm thinking some Zoanthids, a leather coral, a torch or hammer of some kind, a candy cane and maybe some mushrooms. I definitely have the equipment needed to graduate to more difficult SPS, but I feel like I need to spend some time honing my skills first.
Pictures will be coming soon, but its nearly 2 am and I'm going to bed. I'll be updating this thread regularly as thing progress so keep your eyes peeled!
I needed something small, easy to move and maintain. There was a size limit imposed by the dorms, which I believe was 20 gallons. There are only a few surfaces to place tanks around the room, like desks, dressers and what have you. The rooms come pre-furnished and while I'm allowed to add my own furniture, I'm not allowed to remove anything from the room. Being already so space constrained, adding a tank stand wasn't really an option. I needed something I could put on my desk. I eventually settled on a Waterbox 10 gallon cube AIO. I was considering the 20 gallon cube or the 20 gallon lagoon from Innovative Marine, but decided against it for two reasons; the first is that I move into a different room during the summers and more gallons means more moving difficulty and the second being the need for a QT tank that takes up more real estate. I know it might seem strange to have a QT set up for such a small DT, especially for someone as space constrained as I am, but I am determined to keep this little reef tank for as long as possible, even after I graduate. The fish and corals I put in this tank have the potential to be decade long pet ownerships. I'd never knowingly expose a beloved pet dog to the risk of heart worms, so why should my fish and coral be any different? I plan on quarantining mostly according to Humblefish's protocol.
With that in mind, I picked up a cheap 10 gallon tank from Petco, a HOB filter, cheap power head, 50 watt heater, a couple PVC joints and an ammonia alert badge. I filled it with water and started the cycle with a bottle of Fritz Turbostart and began checking out a few LFS around town. I went to The Fish Place in Ft Worth, Ocean Avenue in south Arlington and Franks Tanks in south Fort Worth. Of the three I was most impressed with Franks Tanks. Frank and his employees were very friendly and knowledgeable. I asked about their QT process and they let me know that they dose all of their fish for sale tanks with copper. Knowing that, I had my eye on a pair of juvenile Wyoming White Clowns that had been their own tank for about 6 weeks.A week later, once my tank finished cycling I picked them up. I've named them Cookies and Creme! I'm fairly certain that Cookies is female because she's kinda mean to Creme and chases him away from the PVC hides every so often. No excessive biting or prolonged fights, just some squabbles over hosting rights of the hides! They didn't seem to have any signs of illness or pests, but I'm continuing to quarantine them anyways. Since they'd effectively been dosed with copper all alone for six weeks before I got them, I figured I could truncate the amount of time I spend in the copper only stage of Humblefish's protocol to about a week. That week has passed and I gave the water column its first dose of API General cure tonight. I'm a little worried about oxygen depletion because I don't have an air stone, but between the HOB filter and power head, the entire surface of the water is agitated so hopefully that's enough for sufficient gas exchange. If all goes well I'll be moving Cookies and Creme to the Waterbox cube in the next 2 weeks or so.
Ah yes, the Waterbox, I nearly forgot. I've got it set up right next to my computer monitor. I've equipped it with an AI Prime HD, and a Hydor Slim Skim and a Vortech MP10 and some nano packets of Chemipure Blue. I'm using the included return pump and filter sock. For rock, I went with Marco's Reef Saver Dry Rock and an 1 inch bed of live sand from Two Little Fishies. I also got a Tunze Osmolator Nano and a 5 gallon reservoir for an ATO set up. I'd like to be able to leave the tank alone for a few days to take the occasional weekend camping trip and wanted to avoid the huge salinity swings that come with not topping of for a few days. I've got an RA that actually keeps Beta fish so I can trust her to come feed the fish while I'm gone.
In terms of livestock, I'm not sure how far I can reasonably go. Of course Cookies and Creme will be the first residents, but I'm also pretty committed to the idea of a Pom Pom Crab. What I'm not sure about is a third fish and a second invertebrate. If I did get a third fish, I think its fair to say that it'd need to be a bottom dweller like some kind of Goby. As far as invertebrates, I'd also like to get at least one shrimp. I worry about available real estate in the tank as well as accumulating a bio load to large for the filtration. I do plan on doing a 10 percent weekly water change as well as siphoning the sand, but the last thing I want is to create an environment too crowded or polluted to be comfortable for my babies.
I plan on starting with some easy soft corals and LPS once I achieve some stability with the fish in the tank. I'm thinking some Zoanthids, a leather coral, a torch or hammer of some kind, a candy cane and maybe some mushrooms. I definitely have the equipment needed to graduate to more difficult SPS, but I feel like I need to spend some time honing my skills first.
Pictures will be coming soon, but its nearly 2 am and I'm going to bed. I'll be updating this thread regularly as thing progress so keep your eyes peeled!
