My journey started 5 years ago with a fresh water tank and is the tank I started with on my first saltwater build. I used the tank for approximately 2 years and in that span I had a good amount of mollies however my wife was mad at the location of the tank in the house and I had to move it. Being as I was very inexperienced (and still consider my self very inexperienced) I lost all the fish in the move. I then put the tank in the garage for the last 3 years. Flash forward to June 2023 while cleaning the garage I found the old tank and that coupled with wanting a new challenge I decided saltwater was the way to go. So this is likely the first of many saltwater tanks I hope to build one day considering the tank is just too small for the saltwater hobby. Having said that I don’t plan on actually buying a new tank anytime soon but rather making it a part of house in laid in the walls as I am somewhat of a handyman and will hopefully be able to be a new home in the near future. Regardless here is my current setup:
30”L x 23”H x 12”D - from what I remember it was $150 for tank and stand can’t wait to get a larger one eventually
40lb of Dry Rock - $70
20lb of Caribsea Arag Alive Sand - $25
Instant Ocean Sea Salt - Purple (plan to start phasing it out to orange when I want to start my reef) 200lbs - $40 bought more so I could use in water changes
Top fin Power 50 HOB Filter - $45 old one that came with tank broke
Orlushy Submersible Aquarium Heater 300W - $30
Jebao MP 70 Smart Crossflow Pump -$140 can buy it cheaper on Amazon but wanted to support my LFS
Currently ordered:
NooPsyche K7 PRO III kit with arm bracket - $190
- Shout out to @90’s reefer for the light recommendation we will see how it goes
Livestock
2 Ocellaris Clownfish - Dancy Dory aka Double D and Ruby are their names (kids named them)
1 Flame Hawkfish - Knuckles
1 Yellow Watchman Goby - Tails
EDIT
2 Hermit Crabs
If you’re wondering about Sonic, I bought a blue tang but it passed away. RIP. I have an entire other post about this fish. I plan to replace Sonic with another blue fish sometime in another month or 2 but haven’t decided which type of fish I am getting.
Wishes
Potentially a hang on back skimmer or if I can DIY a sump to fit in my cabinet a skimmer that is custom fit for the job.
Plan to use a bunch of softies when I start putting in corals but haven’t decided which yet.
If all goes well with softies my try my hand at SPS and LPS but I would imagine this will be in 1-2 years assuming I can grow softies. Maybe by then I’ll have a much bigger tank
Feel free to comment
30”L x 23”H x 12”D - from what I remember it was $150 for tank and stand can’t wait to get a larger one eventually
40lb of Dry Rock - $70
20lb of Caribsea Arag Alive Sand - $25
Instant Ocean Sea Salt - Purple (plan to start phasing it out to orange when I want to start my reef) 200lbs - $40 bought more so I could use in water changes
Top fin Power 50 HOB Filter - $45 old one that came with tank broke
Orlushy Submersible Aquarium Heater 300W - $30
Jebao MP 70 Smart Crossflow Pump -$140 can buy it cheaper on Amazon but wanted to support my LFS
Currently ordered:
NooPsyche K7 PRO III kit with arm bracket - $190
- Shout out to @90’s reefer for the light recommendation we will see how it goes
Livestock
2 Ocellaris Clownfish - Dancy Dory aka Double D and Ruby are their names (kids named them)
1 Flame Hawkfish - Knuckles
1 Yellow Watchman Goby - Tails
EDIT
2 Hermit Crabs
If you’re wondering about Sonic, I bought a blue tang but it passed away. RIP. I have an entire other post about this fish. I plan to replace Sonic with another blue fish sometime in another month or 2 but haven’t decided which type of fish I am getting.
Wishes
Potentially a hang on back skimmer or if I can DIY a sump to fit in my cabinet a skimmer that is custom fit for the job.
Plan to use a bunch of softies when I start putting in corals but haven’t decided which yet.
If all goes well with softies my try my hand at SPS and LPS but I would imagine this will be in 1-2 years assuming I can grow softies. Maybe by then I’ll have a much bigger tank
Feel free to comment
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