It really is an addiction…

[sharkyahd]

Welcome to R2R! My advice to anyone that says they are leaving the hobby is always to hold on to any equipment you like. You will probably be back sooner or later.

Gosh I wish I had this advice lol I’ve given friends whole setups just to rebuy every single thing. I’ve learned my lesson though and the wife has been really supportive of my addiction lol

 

[Sean Clark]

Welcome to R2R.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and back to the salty world Aiden.

 

[larryl]

Welcome to R2R, what a great addiction.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello there, and welcome to the channel.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Twinsies!!

 

[Reefer1978]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hi my name is Aiden and I have a problem…

just kidding, sort of. Hello everyone! To preface I have tried and tried to get out of the hobby a couple times now but I guess I just can’t fight it. I’m meant to glue live animals to rocks and burn money on salt.

I’m here to learn from and share my experience with the community and I really want my tiny tank to thrive. Right now I’ve got a small (but mighty) 5 gallon DT. I’m constantly on here but it’s time to actually join the community. No pictures of the tank yet because I don’t wanna blind y’all’s eyes with the blue. Filters coming soon hopefully!

My AIO 5 gallon fluval evo V has the following upgrades/equipment:
- inTank media basket with floss, ceramic, and in the future maybe chemipure blue.
- Kraken reef lid with feeding cup attachment.
- AI Prime HD running pirates of the carribean (was looking at Aaron Young’s Palancar as well)
- some sort of Egg crate mat to balance rocks on and stick frags into
- some frag stands for the substrate level corals I don’t want getting beat up by the sand moving around
- generic 50 watt heater —> eventually will upgrade to an ink bird with titanium heater or something with a separate temp probe.
- generic wave maker —> hoping to save up for a Nero 3 but also really like the Jebao SLW 10, I wish the SCP series fit but it’s just too small of a tank.
- 7lb ish of Rock, adding more tiny islands as we go
- less than 1” sand bed (more for aesthetics than beneficial)
- for salt I default to Red Sea Coral Pro but was kindly gifted Reef Crystals by someone during the holidays. (They aren’t in the hobby at all and don’t know much about salt mixes and spent too much $$$ on the 45lb bucket of it) so we’re gonna be running that for awhile. #gratitude

When I test, I use the Red Sea marine care test kit, Hanna salinity checker, and Hanna ULR phosphate checker. That being said I only check Salinity every other day right now and do weekly 30% water changes.

I’m looking into getting an ATO soon but it’s silly looking to have a 5 gallon ATO res for a 5 gallon display. Especially when I do water changes to keep up with the elements.

LFS(s) I buy from keep their tanks around 1.024 so that’s where I keep mine. Corals seem very happy and puffy so I haven’t tested other params since adding them.

In the past I was constantly chasing numbers and that ultimately led me to giving up other hobbies to have “pristine tank conditions”, in theory this is fine but it wasn’t practical and I felt bad for it. this time around I want to enjoy my tank and just keep my hands out of it as much as possible. It’s only as complicated as you make it right?

Live Stock:
- powder blue tang
- long horned cow fish

JUST KIDDING all my coral and softies are just little frags right now but I’m very proud of them anyway:
- a red and orange variety of Acan Lords
- FL ricordia shroom
- meteor shower cyphastrea

And as of 1/10/2023 pending from a recent order:
- snakeskin purple torch (1 head)
- bluish colored hammer (1 head)
- zoa frag with some Gatorade polyps on it. (Never done Zoas so we’ll see how this goes)

I know it’s EXTREMELY hard to stock just a small tank when it comes to fish, shrimp and CUC so I’m looking for recommendations. My wife would like some kind of creature besides coral.

I spot feed everyone benepets coral food, just seems a little cleaner than when I did reef roids. Same powdery consistency and corals seem to love the stuff. (Once I get heavier munchers I’ll probably also add in pellets. What can I say I’m a creature of convenience.) I cast a VERY tiny bit of a watery mix into the power head and wait for a feeding response, I might switch to polyp lab polyp booster for this. I turn off everything but the light then mix the powder into a thick paste and give it to all my heads/polyps.

Just did my first feeding as of 1/10/2023 and everyone in the tank reacted positively. Will probably start with 1x a week to see how water chemistry is and whether anything is crashing by tomorrow.

Wrapping up, if you’ve made it this far THANK YOU for reading my long winded post. Like I said I’m so excited to be an active part of this community now and I can’t wait to hear from others and start interacting with y’all.

Welcome! Glad you joined. I have an ATO for my 4.7 gallon tanks, so I don't think it is a funny idea at all - its about convenience (and not burning out my pumps and maintaining salinity more consistently each day (I wasn't good about every day manual top off, but you may have more discipline than me))

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread under Forum > Member Aquariums and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID). I've found orange reef sunglasses over my phone filter out the blue, or turn up the white light, or turn up the room light - given it is a small tank. What you have above is perfect to start your thread, as you can always add photos later. it will be/is YOUR build thread!

This might help you find people local to you in Colorado:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[sharkyahd]

Welcome! Glad you joined. I have an ATO for my 4.7 gallon tanks, so I don't think it is a funny idea at all - its about convenience (and not burning out my pumps and maintaining salinity more consistently each day (I wasn't good about every day manual top off, but you may have more discipline than me))

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread under Forum > Member Aquariums and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID). I've found orange reef sunglasses over my phone filter out the blue, or turn up the white light, or turn up the room light - given it is a small tank. What you have above is perfect to start your thread, as you can always add photos later. it will be/is YOUR build thread!

This might help you find people local to you in Colorado:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

I just created a thread last night. Thank you so much for the information I’m still finding my way around but I’ll link it now!

 

[sharkyahd]

Welcome! Glad you joined. I have an ATO for my 4.7 gallon tanks, so I don't think it is a funny idea at all - its about convenience (and not burning out my pumps and maintaining salinity more consistently each day (I wasn't good about every day manual top off, but you may have more discipline than me))

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread under Forum > Member Aquariums and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID). I've found orange reef sunglasses over my phone filter out the blue, or turn up the white light, or turn up the room light - given it is a small tank. What you have above is perfect to start your thread, as you can always add photos later. it will be/is YOUR build thread!

This might help you find people local to you in Colorado:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

Sorry to sound dumb how do I link it to my account? Thanks

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Sorry to sound dumb how do I link it to my account? Thanks

This is the info and link they gave me when I was new (there are NO dumb questions):

Once you have created a build thread then you can get your VERY FIRST USER BADGE! YAY! It's easy to do and I have created a thread that tells you how to do it here: BUILD THREAD BADGE

 

[sharkyahd]

This is the info and link they gave me when I was new (there are NO dumb questions):

Once you have created a build thread then you can get your VERY FIRST USER BADGE! YAY! It's easy to do and I have created a thread that tells you how to do it here: BUILD THREAD BADGE

Awesome!!!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Awesome!!!!

let me be among the first to say ... <drum roll> ...

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BUILD THREAD BADGE !!!!!

I SEE IT!! WAHOO!!!

 

[sharkyahd]

let me be among the first to say ... <drum roll> ...

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BUILD THREAD BADGE !!!!!

I SEE IT!! WAHOO!!!

Thank you thank you. Got some help I hope you like the thread too. I’m gonna try to update as much as I can

 

[dlsorensen]

 

[G Santana]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome!glad you are here! Your on your way to recovery, the first step is to admit you have a problem.

 

[FreshSaltH2o]

 

[Buckster]

Hello Aiden, Welcome to R2R!

 

[Nano_Man]