Hey all,
Nothing impressive here, mainly lurk and read, read, read... I like the thought of cataloging my progression and potentially making connections in the hobby so here we go.
About me:
I grew up around both saltwater & freshwater. My father was in the hobby off and on my whole childhood so I had the awe and excitement instilled in me from 200G arowana tanks to smaller mixed reefs. We always had at least one tank running growing up, although i had little to do with the success of these tanks lol.
Fast forward to current day equipped with a strong inclination towards expensive hobbies (Cars, Skiing, Computers..) & an extremely supportive partner, who conveniently is really into marine wildlife and aquariums, I'm fortunate enough to join you all here.
The Tank:
31 Gallon Tideline (Planet Aquariums) AIO Lagoon
Lighting:
Radion XR15 Blue Gen 6
3DReefing Wide Shade
Filtration:
2.5in 200 micron filter socks
Flow:
2x AI Nero 3's
Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 Return Pump
Control:
Hydros XP8
Hydros Minnow
IM Helio Dual 100W PTC
Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO
Dosing/Maintenance:
Weekly 4-5 gallon water changes rotating between siphoning sand & cleaning aio chambers.
IO Reef Crystals mixed to 1.024 SG.
ESV B-Ionic 2 Part - 0.8ML each 10 mins apart every hour.
ESV Magnesium - 100ML to 125ML added to water change water.
Water Chemistry Targets:
Salinity: 1.024 SG. Refractometer & Tropic Marin Hydrometer.
Alkalinity: 9.0 - 10.0DKH range, try to pin it at 9.5DKH. Hanna Checker.
Calcium: 450 - 480 PPM. Salifert.
Magnesium: 1350 - 1400 PPM. Salifert.
Phosphate: 0.3 - 1.0 PPM. Hanna Checker.
Nitrate: 5 - 10 PPM. Hanna Checker.
Fish:
(10/30/24) 2x ORA Ocellaris Clownfish.
(12/19/24) Spotted Watchman Goby.
Sixline Wrasse (in QT).
Valentini Puffer (in QT).
Inverts:
(1/22/24) Rainbow BTA
Tiger Conch.
Blue Legged Pistol Shrimp.
Berghia Nudibranch.
3x Nassarius.
3x Pitho Crabs.
3x Trochus.
12ish assorted med/large Ceriths.
???x Dwarf Ceriths.
3-5x Stomatellas.
Micro Brittle Stars.
Bristle Worms.
Corals:
(10/30/24) Green Centered Candy Cane
(10/30/24) Green Star Polyp
(10/30/24) Metallic Red Discasoma Mushroom
(11/14/24) Green Branching Hammer
(12/5/24) Purple Tip Hammer
(12/5/24) Green Button Scoly
(12/12/24) Pink Tip Birdsnest
(12/12/24) Forest Fire Digitata
(12/12/24) Green Anacropora
(12/12/24) Yellow Tipped Austera
(12/12/24) Birds of Paradise BN
(12/24/24) Gold Branching Hammer
(1/22/25) Dragon Soul Torch
(1/29/25) JF Fox Flame Acro
(1/29/25) PC Rainbow Acro
(1/29/25) Hugo's Rainbow Stag Acro
(1/29/25) Leng Sy Monti Cap
(1/29/25) Purple Polyp Monti Cap
(1/29/25) JF Sweet Tooth Monti
Set Up & Leveling:
Initial Dry Rock Scape:
The unintentional "55 hour work week exhaustion but gotta take a cycling picture" selfie.
Ammonia In!
Absolute unit of a clam. Taken at Reef Systems Inc. in New Albany, OH.
Home with the little ones and the wife has affectionately named them "Pee Pee" & "Poo Poo". :crying-face:
Lights on! Rock Scape V1. Live rock intentionally added. Bubble algae, Aptasia, & Vermetid snails unintentionally added.
...Aaaand I ordered sticks from TSA. Opened up the rockwork for more lighting mid to low in the Tank. Liked the look more prior but learned the lesson to scape for coral growth/looks and not because pretty rocks.
I added Hydros and automatic dosing around this time as I was losing almost 1 DKH daily. Coraline was just starting to grow.
The wife has dubbed thee "Clive"
Poo Poo modeling pose.
There is a whole tank to claim and heres everyone huddled in the corner.
This one is new: Button scoly absolutely MUNCHING on an Aptasia. My only guess is the Berghia irritated it enough to move within striking distance. I was so perplexed at this, eventually I grabbed tweezers and yanked the aptasia out but was oh so tempted to watch it go. A bit cathartic.
Story Time:
So upon LFS visit I just wanted a shrimp goby pair, brought them home and plopped them in. Well after researching the exact species i narrowed the shrimp down to a Caribbean Blue Legged Pistol shrimp (John Wayne)... which does NOT pair with Watchmans (Clive) and is sometimes considered an unwelcomed addition. Oh Crap.
Now my mentality is very much deal with whatever is accidentally introduced calmly without worrying too much. If something ought to be removed, it should be through a natural predator. Well i see the writing on the wall, or rather the clicking in the tank. The thought of John Wayne pistol snapping Clive or Pee Pee in half was horrifying and unacceptable. Now I am worrying and I am become the natural predator.
Bottle trap were set day and night. Inside of the cozy hidey hole was sand, rubble, and the tastiest selection of mysis and brine. "Irresistible!" I thought. This will surely subdue John Wayne...Yeah he didn't fall for it. David Attenborough could narrate my shame and defeat as the should-be predator. I pulled the trap out and nervously awaited the day i became responsible for a wet pet death...
Wait... Huh? The internet said it could not be. Is that 2 peas in a pod that I see?
Anyways, they hang out now and I'm letting it happen. Not sure why or how, but if I have a takeaway it's that friendship transcends hate and fear.
Most recent update:
Torches scare me for some reason. I love them so much but feel like I'm going to kill them. So I bought one last week because the wife pointed and said "get that one".
Ooohhh Aahhhh...
What's Upcoming:
1 week vacation coming up i need to figure out a camera & feeding. I will most likely just pull out the filter sock and feed every other day vs. Daily.
More sticks coming. I'm getting growth and color all of the previously added SPS along with coraline growth becoming exponential. Hoping I'm not moving too quickly here but everything has felt very stable and I monitor/test constantly.
Now here's where I sow some doubt -
I feed a mix of pellet and frozen daily, but my nitrates have been undetectable for weeks. I'm cleaning glass every day and pulling GHA from the AIO chambers along with the corals looking healthy. I think this all points towards enough nitrate availability to not worry about it and telling myself do not chase a number. I bought sodium nitrate at the LFS to dose, and subsequently dropped it and shattered the glass pipette which I promptly took as a sign.
Phosphate slowly creeps up before the water change. Usually it bottoms out at .02 - .03 PPM and climbs to .10 - .14 before the change. I imagine Nitrate/ammonia dosing will help balance this over time but I'm most likely not reassessing nutrients until after I add the last 2 fish.
Nothing impressive here, mainly lurk and read, read, read... I like the thought of cataloging my progression and potentially making connections in the hobby so here we go.
About me:
I grew up around both saltwater & freshwater. My father was in the hobby off and on my whole childhood so I had the awe and excitement instilled in me from 200G arowana tanks to smaller mixed reefs. We always had at least one tank running growing up, although i had little to do with the success of these tanks lol.
Fast forward to current day equipped with a strong inclination towards expensive hobbies (Cars, Skiing, Computers..) & an extremely supportive partner, who conveniently is really into marine wildlife and aquariums, I'm fortunate enough to join you all here.
The Tank:
31 Gallon Tideline (Planet Aquariums) AIO Lagoon
Lighting:
Radion XR15 Blue Gen 6
3DReefing Wide Shade
Filtration:
2.5in 200 micron filter socks
Flow:
2x AI Nero 3's
Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 Return Pump
Control:
Hydros XP8
Hydros Minnow
IM Helio Dual 100W PTC
Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO
Dosing/Maintenance:
Weekly 4-5 gallon water changes rotating between siphoning sand & cleaning aio chambers.
IO Reef Crystals mixed to 1.024 SG.
ESV B-Ionic 2 Part - 0.8ML each 10 mins apart every hour.
ESV Magnesium - 100ML to 125ML added to water change water.
Water Chemistry Targets:
Salinity: 1.024 SG. Refractometer & Tropic Marin Hydrometer.
Alkalinity: 9.0 - 10.0DKH range, try to pin it at 9.5DKH. Hanna Checker.
Calcium: 450 - 480 PPM. Salifert.
Magnesium: 1350 - 1400 PPM. Salifert.
Phosphate: 0.3 - 1.0 PPM. Hanna Checker.
Nitrate: 5 - 10 PPM. Hanna Checker.
Fish:
(10/30/24) 2x ORA Ocellaris Clownfish.
(12/19/24) Spotted Watchman Goby.
Sixline Wrasse (in QT).
Valentini Puffer (in QT).
Inverts:
(1/22/24) Rainbow BTA
Tiger Conch.
Blue Legged Pistol Shrimp.
Berghia Nudibranch.
3x Nassarius.
3x Pitho Crabs.
3x Trochus.
12ish assorted med/large Ceriths.
???x Dwarf Ceriths.
3-5x Stomatellas.
Micro Brittle Stars.
Bristle Worms.
Corals:
(10/30/24) Green Centered Candy Cane
(10/30/24) Green Star Polyp
(10/30/24) Metallic Red Discasoma Mushroom
(11/14/24) Green Branching Hammer
(12/5/24) Purple Tip Hammer
(12/5/24) Green Button Scoly
(12/12/24) Pink Tip Birdsnest
(12/12/24) Forest Fire Digitata
(12/12/24) Green Anacropora
(12/12/24) Yellow Tipped Austera
(12/12/24) Birds of Paradise BN
(12/24/24) Gold Branching Hammer
(1/22/25) Dragon Soul Torch
(1/29/25) JF Fox Flame Acro
(1/29/25) PC Rainbow Acro
(1/29/25) Hugo's Rainbow Stag Acro
(1/29/25) Leng Sy Monti Cap
(1/29/25) Purple Polyp Monti Cap
(1/29/25) JF Sweet Tooth Monti
Set Up & Leveling:
Initial Dry Rock Scape:
The unintentional "55 hour work week exhaustion but gotta take a cycling picture" selfie.
Ammonia In!
Absolute unit of a clam. Taken at Reef Systems Inc. in New Albany, OH.
Home with the little ones and the wife has affectionately named them "Pee Pee" & "Poo Poo". :crying-face:
Lights on! Rock Scape V1. Live rock intentionally added. Bubble algae, Aptasia, & Vermetid snails unintentionally added.
...Aaaand I ordered sticks from TSA. Opened up the rockwork for more lighting mid to low in the Tank. Liked the look more prior but learned the lesson to scape for coral growth/looks and not because pretty rocks.
I added Hydros and automatic dosing around this time as I was losing almost 1 DKH daily. Coraline was just starting to grow.
The wife has dubbed thee "Clive"
Poo Poo modeling pose.
There is a whole tank to claim and heres everyone huddled in the corner.
This one is new: Button scoly absolutely MUNCHING on an Aptasia. My only guess is the Berghia irritated it enough to move within striking distance. I was so perplexed at this, eventually I grabbed tweezers and yanked the aptasia out but was oh so tempted to watch it go. A bit cathartic.
Story Time:
So upon LFS visit I just wanted a shrimp goby pair, brought them home and plopped them in. Well after researching the exact species i narrowed the shrimp down to a Caribbean Blue Legged Pistol shrimp (John Wayne)... which does NOT pair with Watchmans (Clive) and is sometimes considered an unwelcomed addition. Oh Crap.
Now my mentality is very much deal with whatever is accidentally introduced calmly without worrying too much. If something ought to be removed, it should be through a natural predator. Well i see the writing on the wall, or rather the clicking in the tank. The thought of John Wayne pistol snapping Clive or Pee Pee in half was horrifying and unacceptable. Now I am worrying and I am become the natural predator.
Bottle trap were set day and night. Inside of the cozy hidey hole was sand, rubble, and the tastiest selection of mysis and brine. "Irresistible!" I thought. This will surely subdue John Wayne...Yeah he didn't fall for it. David Attenborough could narrate my shame and defeat as the should-be predator. I pulled the trap out and nervously awaited the day i became responsible for a wet pet death...
Wait... Huh? The internet said it could not be. Is that 2 peas in a pod that I see?
Anyways, they hang out now and I'm letting it happen. Not sure why or how, but if I have a takeaway it's that friendship transcends hate and fear.
Most recent update:
Torches scare me for some reason. I love them so much but feel like I'm going to kill them. So I bought one last week because the wife pointed and said "get that one".
Ooohhh Aahhhh...
What's Upcoming:
1 week vacation coming up i need to figure out a camera & feeding. I will most likely just pull out the filter sock and feed every other day vs. Daily.
More sticks coming. I'm getting growth and color all of the previously added SPS along with coraline growth becoming exponential. Hoping I'm not moving too quickly here but everything has felt very stable and I monitor/test constantly.
Now here's where I sow some doubt -
I feed a mix of pellet and frozen daily, but my nitrates have been undetectable for weeks. I'm cleaning glass every day and pulling GHA from the AIO chambers along with the corals looking healthy. I think this all points towards enough nitrate availability to not worry about it and telling myself do not chase a number. I bought sodium nitrate at the LFS to dose, and subsequently dropped it and shattered the glass pipette which I promptly took as a sign.
Phosphate slowly creeps up before the water change. Usually it bottoms out at .02 - .03 PPM and climbs to .10 - .14 before the change. I imagine Nitrate/ammonia dosing will help balance this over time but I'm most likely not reassessing nutrients until after I add the last 2 fish.
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