Sean Shimer
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2016
- Messages
- 118
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Living in eastern Oregon where there are no fish shops for miles around and no clubs with that, being in this hoby has been a difficult challenge.
I got into keeping fish about 3 years ago with a 10 gallon freshwater tank that changed to a 55 planted freshwater tank within the year. I moved into a bigger apartment in the same complex and got rid of the 10 in January of 2016. Because of my fiancé's schooling and job opportunities for me, we moved back to the town we graduated from and I got rid of my freshwater fish, plants, and substrate to start my own saltwater tank.
I already had a power filter and heater that I could also use with my new selection of fish. And obviously the tank and my stand which was a good stand for a freshwater tank, but for saltwater it was lacking the ability of using a sump. So I was in need of a protein skimmer, test kit, salt, glass canopies, lights, sand, rock, and powerheads. The protein skimmer I started with was the Instant Ocean SeaClone Protein Skimmer and this was a piece of crap that never stopped cycling so it got tossed. For a test kit a got the Instant Ocean Hydrometer and I'm looking at getting a refractometer right now (don't rip on the hydrometer because I've heard enough) and for chemicals I got API tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, calcium, and hardness. For marine salt I started with Kent marine salt and am going to be switching to Salinity in the month. Glass canopies were simple enough to get and I also got a wood canopy to hide to equipment hanging on the back. Lights took me a while to decide on, I was debating either T-5s, LED, or both but ultimately ended with two
WIFI Dimmable 165W LED Aquarium Light Full Spectrum For Live Fish Tank Reef Coral by PopularGrow. I ended up with oolite sand from caribsea and their South Sea Base Rock. For powerheads I got two maxi jets 900.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the process and I'm going to save the current status for another posting.
I got into keeping fish about 3 years ago with a 10 gallon freshwater tank that changed to a 55 planted freshwater tank within the year. I moved into a bigger apartment in the same complex and got rid of the 10 in January of 2016. Because of my fiancé's schooling and job opportunities for me, we moved back to the town we graduated from and I got rid of my freshwater fish, plants, and substrate to start my own saltwater tank.
I already had a power filter and heater that I could also use with my new selection of fish. And obviously the tank and my stand which was a good stand for a freshwater tank, but for saltwater it was lacking the ability of using a sump. So I was in need of a protein skimmer, test kit, salt, glass canopies, lights, sand, rock, and powerheads. The protein skimmer I started with was the Instant Ocean SeaClone Protein Skimmer and this was a piece of crap that never stopped cycling so it got tossed. For a test kit a got the Instant Ocean Hydrometer and I'm looking at getting a refractometer right now (don't rip on the hydrometer because I've heard enough) and for chemicals I got API tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, calcium, and hardness. For marine salt I started with Kent marine salt and am going to be switching to Salinity in the month. Glass canopies were simple enough to get and I also got a wood canopy to hide to equipment hanging on the back. Lights took me a while to decide on, I was debating either T-5s, LED, or both but ultimately ended with two
WIFI Dimmable 165W LED Aquarium Light Full Spectrum For Live Fish Tank Reef Coral by PopularGrow. I ended up with oolite sand from caribsea and their South Sea Base Rock. For powerheads I got two maxi jets 900.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the process and I'm going to save the current status for another posting.
