My First Reef - Lifegard 10gal AIO

[1 Salty Nerd]

Hello all! This is my first reef tank and first build thread and I'm excited to document my journey.

I've had freshwater tanks for a while, but I've always wanted to do saltwater for a couple of years now. And then, my husband got me the tank and light for my birthday in March! I'm starting a little bit late here as I first put up the tank on March 31st, so it's been up and running for about a little over a month, but I'll give you the run down.

The Build - Current Status​

(photo taken 5/9/2023)​

Start Date: March 31, 2023 Equipment: Tank - Lifegard Aquatics 10 gallon AIO Light - Fluval Marine 3.0 Nano, 20W Pump - stock pump (Quiet One) Heater - Eheim 50W Powerheads - TBD ATO - TBD Skimmer - TBD Filtration Media: First chamber - heater Second chamber, from top to bottom - small filter sponge, activated carbon in a small bag, filter floss Third chamber, from top to bottom - bio bricks, coarse sponge

March 31, 2023 - The Setup​

I first got the tank and light on March 22 (my birthday!). I knew it was better for beginners to get bigger tanks, but...oh well, I was up for the challenge. So I quickly set off to researching and visiting my lfs to browse. Once I had everything I needed - rocks, sand, water, heater - I put everything together on March 31.

I started with dry rock, live sand, some filtration media (coarse sponge, fine sponge, filter floss, charcoal, and bio bricks), the stock return pump, and the Eheim 50W glass heater. To kick off the cycle, I added MicroBacter Start XLM and Dr. Tims ammonia up to 1.5ppm. Lights were off at this point.

April 22 - First Fish!​

By April 22, the nitrogen cycle was complete and all ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all reading 0ppm. Need ammonia to keep the new bacteria fed, after all. So I set out to get my first saltwater fish - a pair of bullethole clownfish. And I gotta say - I am in LOVE! They are so cute! Truly a rush of dopamine. My cat, Osiris, was also very interested.


Note: I use an app on my iPhone called Aquarium Log to keep track of parameters and any changes I make to the tank. I'm using an API Master Test Kit so it's not as accurate...but still, I can add a graph here of what the numbers looked like over time if anyone is interested in seeing that? Perhaps I will later.

April 29 - The Ugly Phase Begins​

After getting the clowns, I turned the lights on. On April 29, I started to see the first signs of brown diatoms. Sometimes at night, I could hear the fish splashing around, so I did some research and built a mesh lid. I got the Neat Aquatics rimless screentop frame corners and a feeding portal off BRS, some clear screen off Amazon, a everything else at Home Depot. How do you like my handiwork?

May 3 - Diatoms!​

Took this picture with the light off because it was easier to see. Looking pretty yucky now. I'm guessing it's all diatoms. I remember looking at diatom fossils in my paleontology class...they have neat little skeletons. Fun fact: most of the Earth's atmospheric oxygen comes from these guys. Ahem, anyway.

May 9 - Cleared Up​

And they're gone! That was faster than I thought it would be. What's next? Cyanobacteria? Or does this conclude the "ugly phase"? Guess I'll wait and see!

Clownfish are still doing great. I feed them mysis shrimp and occasionally flakes when I'm feeling lazy. The larger one bullies the smaller one at meal time and tries to keep him away from the food, so now I have to feed on two sides of the tank.

I've also noticed a thin colorless "film" on top of the water. Kinda slimy if you touch it. I'm guessing this is protein. Looks like protein from freshwater. I've just skimmed the water myself with a small measuring cup then replaced the lost saltwater. Bit of an impromptu water change, I guess. It works for now. The tank has an overflow in the back (left side), but I guess it's not working that well. Maybe I need to adjust something and/or maybe a skimmer would help...and a powerhead would help break the surface tension. Definitely about time I get a powerhead to prepare for corals.



To be continued...

 

[Auto-pilot]

Nice! What fish do you plan on adding in the future??

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Your cat looks like my cats when I show them my tank

 

[1 Salty Nerd]

Nice! What fish do you plan on adding in the future??

I'd really like to have a goby and pistol shrimp pair, and probably a snail or two. I think that might be about all that can go in there.

 

[darthMeerkat]

How did you get rid of the diatoms?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'd really like to have a goby and pistol shrimp pair, and probably a snail or two. I think that might be about all that can go in there.

Not bad options!

 

[1 Salty Nerd]

How did you get rid of the diatoms?

I didn't do anything! I just let it run it's course.

 

[1 Salty Nerd]

Update! - First Coral​

I was at Aquashella Dallas this weekend and got some coral to add to the tank. Got 4 zoanthids and 1 rhodactis mushroom. All added on Saturday, May 20th. I dipped them all in coralRx then rinsed in tank water and glued them in. I neglected to drip acclimate them...or acclimate at all, really. Oops.

Two days later, one of the zoas hasn't opened yet and a couple of them are mostly open, but not fully opened yet. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all at 0 ppm. Salinity is 0.025. Temperature is right at 80.3F according to my digital kitchen thermometer (the glass one in there appears to not be accurate and is reading 76F). The pH is at a stable 7.8. Haven't tested calcium or phosphates as I haven't purchased a kit yet.

Money happens to be my limiting factor here. Going to order a cheap powerhead for now and see how that goes - the Hydor Koralia Nano 240 gph. When I have more money, I'd like to get the Nero 3, but alas. But I'm thinking the coral need more flow? I'm worried about the one zoa that hasn't opened but maybe it'll be fine. It's a beautiful yellow color.

Anyway, here's the pictures!
PS. I also ordered a cool lens for my iPhone to take photos! You can see a feather duster worm in one of them too.

 

[1 Salty Nerd]

Oh! I forgot to mention...gosh, this was a week or so ago. I found a solution for the protein film that I had on top of the water. I had too much filter media in the first chamber. I took that out, put the heater in the first chamber and put filter floss, activated carbon, and a small fine sponge in the second chamber. Basically swapped those two chambers. Now the overflow works properly and I don't have any yucky film on the water!

 

[Mav88]

Looks like a great start. The zoas might not be opening because of an aptasia. I believe I see it on the second picture (side view) there might be more on other plugs.

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

I'd really like to have a goby and pistol shrimp pair, and probably a snail or two. I think that might be about all that can go in there.

I also have a nano tank (15 gal) and I love goby and shrimp combos! I would also recommend looking into something that would eat aiptasia, like a peppermint shrimp

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update! - First Coral​

I was at Aquashella Dallas this weekend and got some coral to add to the tank. Got 4 zoanthids and 1 rhodactis mushroom. All added on Saturday, May 20th. I dipped them all in coralRx then rinsed in tank water and glued them in. I neglected to drip acclimate them...or acclimate at all, really. Oops.

Two days later, one of the zoas hasn't opened yet and a couple of them are mostly open, but not fully opened yet. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all at 0 ppm. Salinity is 0.025. Temperature is right at 80.3F according to my digital kitchen thermometer (the glass one in there appears to not be accurate and is reading 76F). The pH is at a stable 7.8. Haven't tested calcium or phosphates as I haven't purchased a kit yet.

Money happens to be my limiting factor here. Going to order a cheap powerhead for now and see how that goes - the Hydor Koralia Nano 240 gph. When I have more money, I'd like to get the Nero 3, but alas. But I'm thinking the coral need more flow? I'm worried about the one zoa that hasn't opened but maybe it'll be fine. It's a beautiful yellow color.

Anyway, here's the pictures!
PS. I also ordered a cool lens for my iPhone to take photos! You can see a feather duster worm in one of them too.

Great looking corals!

 

[Ryebreadiest]

Don’t worry about not acclimating, it’s really not important for corals. Go watch a YouTube of someone like FragboxTV unboxing. They pull a bag of cold corals from the shipping box, cut it open and drop corals in their tank.

 

[1 Salty Nerd]

Don’t worry about not acclimating, it’s really not important for corals. Go watch a YouTube of someone like FragboxTV unboxing. They pull a bag of cold corals from the shipping box, cut it open and drop corals in their tank.

I'm glad to hear it!