Hello!
I'm Alan and I have been reefing for 2 years now. I started off on the wrong foot and have learned so much these past few years. My first was a 40gal Aqueon (FOWLR) that crashed after 6 months. I stepped away and told myself there's a lot more to the hobby than just water changes and needed to take a pause. Months later, I started an Evo 13.5 build and have had her running for almost a year. I'm beginning to get a little bit of overcrowding and planned on upgrading the tank
I picked her up from an LFS that had it on sale. The previous owner upgraded their tank and brought theirs to the store for store credit. I hesitated for a few hours after spending some time inspecting it. On the drive back home, I decided to turn back around and purchase it!
She was a tight squeeze, but it fit perfectly in my Optima! I secured it by crossing both seatbelts across the center and tieing it. Paper towel rolls were added on each side to add some cushioning.
Once we got it home, it went straight outside for a leak test and combined the evolution with a diluted citric acid and water blend to clean the spionid worms, patches of coralline algae, and some precipitation off of the glass. Once done, I drained and refilled the tank with water only to continue the leak test.
I went through my shed and picked up old dry rock (some previously live) and began the bleaching process on the rocks. I'm not going for a completely white look, but a few days to kill whatever may be on it. After that, it'll go through several rinses and a last soak with Seachem Prime. One new thing I want to try is drilling the rock in several areas to facilitate easy "frag plug to rock" placement. I knew I would eventually upgrade on the nano tank and most corals are still on plugs. I like the freedom of having that early control in case corals aren't happy where I place them. For those staring that the floaties - the duckweed on the top came from a rock in my planted aquarium.
[NEXT TO COME]
-Setup (IM APS Stand reassembly, aquascaping, filling, and beginning of cycle)
I'm Alan and I have been reefing for 2 years now. I started off on the wrong foot and have learned so much these past few years. My first was a 40gal Aqueon (FOWLR) that crashed after 6 months. I stepped away and told myself there's a lot more to the hobby than just water changes and needed to take a pause. Months later, I started an Evo 13.5 build and have had her running for almost a year. I'm beginning to get a little bit of overcrowding and planned on upgrading the tank
I picked her up from an LFS that had it on sale. The previous owner upgraded their tank and brought theirs to the store for store credit. I hesitated for a few hours after spending some time inspecting it. On the drive back home, I decided to turn back around and purchase it!
She was a tight squeeze, but it fit perfectly in my Optima! I secured it by crossing both seatbelts across the center and tieing it. Paper towel rolls were added on each side to add some cushioning.
Once we got it home, it went straight outside for a leak test and combined the evolution with a diluted citric acid and water blend to clean the spionid worms, patches of coralline algae, and some precipitation off of the glass. Once done, I drained and refilled the tank with water only to continue the leak test.
I went through my shed and picked up old dry rock (some previously live) and began the bleaching process on the rocks. I'm not going for a completely white look, but a few days to kill whatever may be on it. After that, it'll go through several rinses and a last soak with Seachem Prime. One new thing I want to try is drilling the rock in several areas to facilitate easy "frag plug to rock" placement. I knew I would eventually upgrade on the nano tank and most corals are still on plugs. I like the freedom of having that early control in case corals aren't happy where I place them. For those staring that the floaties - the duckweed on the top came from a rock in my planted aquarium.
[NEXT TO COME]
-Setup (IM APS Stand reassembly, aquascaping, filling, and beginning of cycle)
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