Newbie with a DeskMate 4.8

[marcus9246]

Hello everyone that reads, I’m new to doing this whole reefing thing and haveing a tank after lurking on here for several years with inspiring builds, especially the DeskMate done by @Haggisman14
I’ve always wanted a reef tank and finally convinced the wife to let me set one up, albeit she wanted it to be small and not smell.
When I was a kid, I had a 40 gallon African cichlid tank in my room that was upkept by my father until the crash of ‘08. It was that tank or upkeep on his 180 gallon FOWLR tank, that of which later failed as well. So needless to say my experience with fish keeping is not there yet, but I want to learn and hopefully convince the wife to let me get a little bit bigger of a tank in time.

Anyway, I ended up purchasing the Eshopps DeskMate 4.8 gallon starter kit from @Bulk Reef Supply during there Labor Day sale last week. This setup seemed to have everything to get me started on my journey.
Along with that order I picked up:
-Thermostat controller from ink bird
-Hanna Marine Multi-test
-AI Prime 16HD with tank mount
-Refractometer
-Media Cup from @Kraken Reef
-Glass cut to size for lid at Lowe’s
With all of this I was ready to go, and stopped by my LFS to get RODI water to mix my own salt, that of which IDK if I want to stay with the salt that came with the starter kit but I digress. Anywho after that I officially got water in the tank this last Friday the 5th, after spending two hours rearranging the 5 rocks that came with the kit. Below are shots of the tank with lights on.

I’ve been dosing 1ml of Microbacter 7 every day since start up and am excited to get the nitrogen startup cycle completed.
Plans for the future include upgrading the return pump, needs some help here deciding which one. Adding an Tunze Osmolator 3 nano ATO.

Livestock Goals:
1-2 Clowns,either a black misbar or a snow
CUC crew to include a tiger conch, blue leg hermits and snails, don’t know amount on hermit crab or snails
Would love to do a shrimp but understand that may push bio limit

As far as coral I want to do:
Zoe
Monti
GSP
Mushrooms
Pipe Organ
Hammers
Wife wants a torch
With this list I want beginner friendly but also want some of a challenge.
Anyway enough with the rambling on, I really look forward to the help and will post test results when I do my first tests for the big three im concerned about at this stage.
Thanks for stopping by:)

 

[Calmwaters]

Looks great! In my opinion and I'm still learning as well I think it's too small for a clown fish from what I have researched for my own roughly 5 gallon pico tank that I have had setup since February. Zoas, mushrooms, and a hammer should be OK I think but a torch may be pushing the limits a bit unless you can keep them far enough away from all the other corals so it can't sting then. Maybe your wife would like duncans?Duncan's? Keep in mind GSP grows pretty fast so it can cover other corals. I look forward to seeing your build as you go forward!

 

[marcus9246]

Looks great! In my opinion and I'm still learning as well I think it's too small for a clown fish from what I have researched for my own roughly 5 gallon pico tank that I have had setup since February. Zoas, mushrooms, and a hammer should be OK I think but a torch may be pushing the limits a bit unless you can keep them far enough away from all the other corals so it can't sting then. Maybe your wife would like duncans?Duncan's? Keep in mind GSP grows pretty fast so it can cover other corals. I look forward to seeing your build as you go forward!

Thank you for the input it does help and I can’t wait to see its development. Yes I was thinking a Duncan over the torch (haven’t seen one at the LFS and wife saw that and like the movement of it) but won’t add for some time until the tank is more established.

 

[Bright Corals]

I agree about the aggressiveness of the torch but I think as long as you can keep it away from the ones that you don't want to get killed, then you should be fine. I myself sometimes use the torch or hammer to keep other things like zoas at bay . People usually don't like GSP but it's bright and easy to keep. I actually like it because it can brighten up dark spots in the tank. I usually would keep it on a separate rock. Just don't grow it on the main rock then you'll have a tough time scrubbing it off ... Duncan can be easier to keep and also adds movement to the tank but they can also get pretty big. But if we do it right, everything will get big anyway. Duncan is one of those hardier LPS compared to torch, which can be finicky to me. But torch with its movement and variety of colors, is more appealing to most people though.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Thank you for the input it does help and I can’t wait to see its development. Yes I was thinking a Duncan over the torch (haven’t seen one at the LFS and wife saw that and like the movement of it) but won’t add for some time until the tank is more established.

I will second a Duncan over a torch!

 

[marcus9246]

Hello all, today I decided to do some testing of my parameters and got the following bellow.

• Ammonia is .76ppm
• Nitrite is .126
• Nitrate is 3.7ppm
• Calcium is 458ppm
• Magnesium is 1385ppm
• Alkalinity is 7.9 dkh
• Ph is 7.6
• Phosphate is .06

I have been dosing 1ml of Microbacter 7 every day and have been running lights off. I’ve ordered the media cup offered by @Kraken Reef and waiting on delivery.
I’m hoping to be cycled in the next two weeks, my son has been wanting to see a fish in the tank, but only until the cycle has finished.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

Super cool I want one :p. I can’t wait to see what this tank turns into!

 

[marcus9246]

Hello all wary travelers, today I did a 2 gallon water change and have added my first inhabitant, a black clownfish. My son has affectionately named him Nemo, even though I wanted to name him Grant. I have a picture of him but it’s not the greatest and will get a better pic soon.

I’ve also received my kraken reef filter cup in my favorite color green, I took filter sock out and have added some bio balls into cup with filter floss on top. I’ve made another order from BRS that will have chemipure blue in it. Hope this helps with clarity and any recommendations on this product use or not using it are greatly appreciated. Also in the order is my Tunze ATO nano and a Red Sea reef can that way I don’t have to continue to top off. We also are planning on being out of town at the end of the month so I’ve also picked up a cheap ATO feeder from Amazon and will get it working and giving right amount of food with some modifications.
Currently I’m feeding Nemo some pellet and rods sea food and plan on only doing frozen food twice a week.
Next week I have some coral coming in that includes some Zoa’s, Acans, and Duncan. May add some trumpets, favia, and hammer to this order but am undecided as of now. Any help with this would be great.
Going forward I plan on testing parameters twice a week on Wednesday and Sunday and any other times I see where I’m questioning numbers.
Anyway thanks for stopping by wary travelers and giving this newbie some more info as I learn more.

 

[Haggisman14]

I'm honored to have been one of your inspirations to get you into this tank!!

I"ve had mine going for over 2.5 years, and it's really filled in nicely! A few quick suggestions:

-Bring your aquascape up a little bit higher
-Raise your water line so that the etched "Deskmate" in the upper left hand corner is at least in the middle of it
-Make sure all your rocks are AWAY from the walls so you can get a magnet in to keep the acrylic clean
-If you have GSP, make sure it's by itself....I put mine on the back wall, and it's since crept onto the rock work.
-Be patient, and allow things to grow, you can do a lot with these tanks
-If possible upgrade your light (I see you have a prime, but I'd say go a bit higher power if possible especially if you want to go with any SPS

Please feel free to tag me with any questions you may have! I just posted a picture the other day of what 2.5 years of a Deskmate looks like!

Get after it!

 

[codypom]

Looks great! In my opinion and I'm still learning as well I think it's too small for a clown fish from what I have researched for my own roughly 5 gallon pico tank that I have had setup since February. Zoas, mushrooms, and a hammer should be OK I think but a torch may be pushing the limits a bit unless you can keep them far enough away from all the other corals so it can't sting then. Maybe your wife would like duncans?Duncan's? Keep in mind GSP grows pretty fast so it can cover other corals. I look forward to seeing your build as you go forward!

if you have tik tok i would reccomend looking at saltyyreef, he has a clown and a torch and a bunch of other stuff in there

 

[Calmwaters]

if you have tik tok i would reccomend looking at saltyyreef, he has a clown and a torch and a bunch of other stuff in there

Just because he is doing it doesn't make it right. As I said just my opinion my clowns in my 125 are big enough that I wouldn't want to keep one in a 5 gallon tank.

 

[codypom]

Just because he is doing it doesn't make it right. As I said just my opinion my clowns in my 125 are big enough that I wouldn't want to keep one in a 5 gallon tank.

gotcha i was just saying the clown looks happy in there