Kiernan's 5gal AIO

[imDarrin]

...and so it begins!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What is your goal with the tank?

Following along!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I see some neat corals in there!

 

[imDarrin]

What is your goal with the tank?

Following along!

A small scale experiment before I get a much larger tank. Goals I think for this one are to learn and have fun. I'm leaning towards adding a small zebra hermit crab in the next few days, followed by a candy-cane shrimp and yasha goby shortly after that. Still researching some of the LFS near me.

 

[JumboShrimp]

That would be an interesting experiment to change-out a tiny Dixie Cup's worth of new salt water each day ('after' topping off with RODI to account for evaporation) and run the tank like that (in conjunction with your AIO chambers, of course.)

 

[imDarrin]

Live sand added last night. Moved a few of the frags around to give more stretching room for them. Plan is to get a dwarf zebra hermit crab (Calcinus laevimanus) and small candy cane pistol shrimp (Alpheus randalli) in the coming week or so.

 

[imDarrin]

Noticed some wispy tissue looking material on my toadstool I recently added to the tank - almost looked like a thin layer of skin. Quick google search mentioned that leather coral has a shedding cycle, and was removing accumulated debris and algae. Likely after I carefully added the live sand. Happy to report that its polyps are finally emerging!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Saw the video-- perfectly normal. Adequate flow is key to success with them.

 

[imDarrin]

Pistol shrimp added. Pretty active little guy right out the gate. Per a recommendation in another thread, I stopped by a LFS in Pasadena (Art's underwater reef) and really liked the place. Nice selections available, and a very clean/tidy store.

 

[imDarrin]

Had an explosion of what I believe to be micro brittle starfish (Amphipholis squamata) over night. Not sure where they came from, but from what I've read they're beneficial to my tank. Surprisingly difficult to get a clear shot of, so apologies for the poor video quality.

 

[imDarrin]

Boxer crab added! Pretty cute little guy with his pom-poms in hand. Side note, I need to stop upgrading my wife's phone and get myself one w/ a better camera