Nearly four years ago we had a plumbing accident here at home, and, because there was no longer space to house my 55 gallon reef aquarium (8 years old)...
... I gave the inhabitants to an lfs and we broke down the tank. I had elevenish years of reefkeeping experience, and thought either I would pursue other hobbies or have a freshwater planted aquarium after we renovated the house. We moved things around as needed, and the insurance clean-up crew came in and did the cleanup. Hubby decided we need to renovate the house in general (yay!), and then he remembered he wasn't retired yet and was too busy. Sigh.
So, this year, while recovering from knee replacement surgery, I whiled away some time watching YouTube aquarists, initially freshwater aquascaping and such. Then, for the fun of it, I watched some reef hobbyists as well, and then I stumbled across a few websites advertising fresh premium Gulf live rock, shipped to your door submerged in ocean water. That was about two weeks ago, and last week I made the final decision to go ahead and do it. I already had a Fiji Cube AIO box, so after the sticker shock wore off, I found a tank with the dimensions (sort of) that would allow me to use it, an FZone ten gallon rimless beauty, 17.7x11.8x11.8 (inches). It arrived Sunday, a day after the pump (Sicce) and heater (Cobalt). The light (Fluval Nano) arrives Thursday. Other necessities are also on their way, but those are the basics.
The tank arrived well packed, double boxed, with the leveling mat already underneath, and I managed to hoist it up in place myself on Monday. Not bad for three and a half months after surgery!
And partially filled for the leak test:
Here's the plan: Nine pounds of live sand, also fresh from the Gulf via Tampa Bay Saltwater, and eleven pounds of premium Gulf live rock, same source, put together from two of their Treasure Chest packages. Lots of work left to do before I order. The Red Sea Marine test kit and other such things are on their way. This will be a much slower, more patient process than the 55; it taught me a lot of lessons. i also had a couple of nanos along the way, the contents of both ending up eventually in the 55.
Fish: a citron clown goby, and either a rainford goby or a tailspot blenny, assuming they would be compatible, which is something I don't know yet. Inverts: undecided. I'm going to let the tank tell me what it needs and go with it.
And now, a question (help!)
... I gave the inhabitants to an lfs and we broke down the tank. I had elevenish years of reefkeeping experience, and thought either I would pursue other hobbies or have a freshwater planted aquarium after we renovated the house. We moved things around as needed, and the insurance clean-up crew came in and did the cleanup. Hubby decided we need to renovate the house in general (yay!), and then he remembered he wasn't retired yet and was too busy. Sigh.
So, this year, while recovering from knee replacement surgery, I whiled away some time watching YouTube aquarists, initially freshwater aquascaping and such. Then, for the fun of it, I watched some reef hobbyists as well, and then I stumbled across a few websites advertising fresh premium Gulf live rock, shipped to your door submerged in ocean water. That was about two weeks ago, and last week I made the final decision to go ahead and do it. I already had a Fiji Cube AIO box, so after the sticker shock wore off, I found a tank with the dimensions (sort of) that would allow me to use it, an FZone ten gallon rimless beauty, 17.7x11.8x11.8 (inches). It arrived Sunday, a day after the pump (Sicce) and heater (Cobalt). The light (Fluval Nano) arrives Thursday. Other necessities are also on their way, but those are the basics.
The tank arrived well packed, double boxed, with the leveling mat already underneath, and I managed to hoist it up in place myself on Monday. Not bad for three and a half months after surgery!
And partially filled for the leak test:
Here's the plan: Nine pounds of live sand, also fresh from the Gulf via Tampa Bay Saltwater, and eleven pounds of premium Gulf live rock, same source, put together from two of their Treasure Chest packages. Lots of work left to do before I order. The Red Sea Marine test kit and other such things are on their way. This will be a much slower, more patient process than the 55; it taught me a lot of lessons. i also had a couple of nanos along the way, the contents of both ending up eventually in the 55.
Fish: a citron clown goby, and either a rainford goby or a tailspot blenny, assuming they would be compatible, which is something I don't know yet. Inverts: undecided. I'm going to let the tank tell me what it needs and go with it.
And now, a question (help!)
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