Kalebos
Active Member
Intro:
Hello all! Thank you for taking a look at my build thread! Aside from the obvious, I want to show an open and honest experience with you all. I will be sharing pricing for for equipment & livestock as well as my successes and failures along this journey. This is my second tank ever. My first tank was an absolute disaster (dinos, pests, etc) and I have learned a lot from my previous mistakes. So theoretically, this attempt will be much more successful.
Equipment:
I do not have the means of quarantining a fish myself so I will be buying my fish from www.DrReefsQuarantinedFish.com. I've heard good things about him and he has been very responsive to my emails.
I want to control as much stuff that enters my tank as I can. That is why I decided to start with dry rock. The risk of unwanted algae and hitchhikers just does not seem worth it for me. I do not have the means of quarantining livestock myself, so I will be limited in that department. All fish and most inverts will be purchased from DrReef in lieu of quarantining myself. Yes, I understand the risk of not doing it myself and I accept that. As for coral, I plan to buy mostly aquacultured frags and will replace their plug, dip, and thoroughly inspect/clean them before adding them to my tank. I understand that my risk for something unwanted getting is far from 0%, but again I accept that and will deal with whatever hardships may arise. I also do not have a protein skimmer as I am sure many of you have noticed. I plan to hone in on a precise feeding quantity/schedule and potentially provide live mysis shrimp feedings from time to time in order to maintain lower water parameters. This is also why I will be feeding live phytoplankton to my copepods. If I do ever begin spot/broadcast feeding corals, I will probably do so the night before a water change.
Cycling Method:
(Lights Off) - I am dosing Dr. Tim's ammonia to 2PPM and using his bacteria as well. I will test my ammonia levels every few days. Once those levels reach 0PPM I will add a mix of copepods (mentioned above in livestock) and feed them live phytoplankton daily (for now). Aside from all of the other benefits of copepods, I plan on getting a yellow banded possum wrasse and know how timid they can be. I figure have added some copepods who have had quite a lot of time to reproduce may help my wrasse eat incase he takes a bit to take to my feedings. At this point I will also add ARC Reef's pink fusion coralline algae spores. I understand how unnecessary this is, but I love coralline algae and considering that I started with dry rock I figured it wont hurt to give it a head start over other algae that will eventually enter my tank. At this point I am hoping that my house lights, natural sunlight and turning on my LED's for an hour tops once a day will be enough to sustain some coralline growth.
Tank Progress:
February 20 - Filled tank with water. Dosed ammonia to 2PPM and added bacteria. Checking ammonia levels every other day.
March 4 - Ammonia his 0PPM. Added coralline algae spores & copepods. Adding 5ml of live phytoplankton daily to feed copepods.
March 11 - Ordered first fish from DrReef. No sign of coralline growth (wasn't expecting any yet). Copepods are alive and well. I do not see a ton, but I always find some in my filter sock. I think I will shake my filter sock into the main display before I add my first fish since they will all just probably die when I eventually rinse it.
Hello all! Thank you for taking a look at my build thread! Aside from the obvious, I want to show an open and honest experience with you all. I will be sharing pricing for for equipment & livestock as well as my successes and failures along this journey. This is my second tank ever. My first tank was an absolute disaster (dinos, pests, etc) and I have learned a lot from my previous mistakes. So theoretically, this attempt will be much more successful.
Equipment:
- Tank, Lid, & Return Pumps - IM Nuvo Fusion 20G AIO - Brand New - $171.98
- Heater - IM Helio 100 Watt - Brand New - $110.39
- Wave Maker - Jebao SW-2 - Brand New - $48.70
- Light & Holder - AI Prime 16HD - Second Hand, But Unused - $215
- ATO - Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 Auto Top Off - Brand New - $124.48
- RODI - Aquatic Life RO Buddy 4-Stage - Brand New - $70
- Auto Feeder - Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder - Brand New - $43.49
I do not have the means of quarantining a fish myself so I will be buying my fish from www.DrReefsQuarantinedFish.com. I've heard good things about him and he has been very responsive to my emails.
- 5280 Algae Barn Copepods ~ $25
- Firefish Exquisite - $142.76 (Fish was $70 but overnight shipping is just as much) (Order placed. Fish not yet received.)
- TBD
I want to control as much stuff that enters my tank as I can. That is why I decided to start with dry rock. The risk of unwanted algae and hitchhikers just does not seem worth it for me. I do not have the means of quarantining livestock myself, so I will be limited in that department. All fish and most inverts will be purchased from DrReef in lieu of quarantining myself. Yes, I understand the risk of not doing it myself and I accept that. As for coral, I plan to buy mostly aquacultured frags and will replace their plug, dip, and thoroughly inspect/clean them before adding them to my tank. I understand that my risk for something unwanted getting is far from 0%, but again I accept that and will deal with whatever hardships may arise. I also do not have a protein skimmer as I am sure many of you have noticed. I plan to hone in on a precise feeding quantity/schedule and potentially provide live mysis shrimp feedings from time to time in order to maintain lower water parameters. This is also why I will be feeding live phytoplankton to my copepods. If I do ever begin spot/broadcast feeding corals, I will probably do so the night before a water change.
Cycling Method:
(Lights Off) - I am dosing Dr. Tim's ammonia to 2PPM and using his bacteria as well. I will test my ammonia levels every few days. Once those levels reach 0PPM I will add a mix of copepods (mentioned above in livestock) and feed them live phytoplankton daily (for now). Aside from all of the other benefits of copepods, I plan on getting a yellow banded possum wrasse and know how timid they can be. I figure have added some copepods who have had quite a lot of time to reproduce may help my wrasse eat incase he takes a bit to take to my feedings. At this point I will also add ARC Reef's pink fusion coralline algae spores. I understand how unnecessary this is, but I love coralline algae and considering that I started with dry rock I figured it wont hurt to give it a head start over other algae that will eventually enter my tank. At this point I am hoping that my house lights, natural sunlight and turning on my LED's for an hour tops once a day will be enough to sustain some coralline growth.
Tank Progress:
February 20 - Filled tank with water. Dosed ammonia to 2PPM and added bacteria. Checking ammonia levels every other day.
March 4 - Ammonia his 0PPM. Added coralline algae spores & copepods. Adding 5ml of live phytoplankton daily to feed copepods.
March 11 - Ordered first fish from DrReef. No sign of coralline growth (wasn't expecting any yet). Copepods are alive and well. I do not see a ton, but I always find some in my filter sock. I think I will shake my filter sock into the main display before I add my first fish since they will all just probably die when I eventually rinse it.
Last edited:
