Noob's barebottom

reefer_noob · Feb 26, 2020

Hopefully my tank thread doesn't spark the wrong idea.

Long time reader/lurker. Been tankless for a year and a half after a heater incident system crash on 60 gallon frag tank. Recently was gifted a 25G Nuvo Fusion so it's time to get back into the hobby. Looking forward to all the challenges and beauty of owning a reef tank again. Sorry for the poor photo this was in my garage during water test.

Equipment and substrate:

IM 25G Lagoon with black APS stand
OceanRevive T247-B Led
IM stock 211gph return pump
Jebao PP-8 wavemaker
Cobalt 100W NeoTherm heater
InTank caddies filled with filter floss, MarinePure gems
InTank refugium caddy (No macroalgae until I get a fuge light)
AutoAqua Smart ATO
Innovative Marine DIY Screen
LFS and MarcoRock from prior build ~15 lbs

FIsh and inverts:

3 Chromis Viridis (blue-green) - Larry Curly and Moe
1Tailspot Blenny - Mister Bean

2 Astrea snails
2 Red-Banded Trochus snails

Corals: (wishlist)

Acans or is it micromussa now? Lords and micros welcome in my tank.

GSP background - Would like to try to keep on back wall.
Duncans - Had these in my last tank and greatly enjoyed feeding these.
Zoanthids and Palys - Seems like a staple for most tanks to fill in. Entertaining idea of keeping some clear frag racks on the sides for zoas.
Mushrooms - Love the ricordeas never kept any except for some simple blue ones (actinodiscus?) in prior tank. They simply thrived on their own. Need to research husbandry.

Lessons learned (or relearned):

Tank screens - All fish and mobile critters can and will leave an open tank. Larry is no longer with us. RIP Larry.
update 022920: Screen cover has been assembled and installed. Larry has been cloned (just HAD to visit LFS today) and is now back with his sidekicks. 2 Astreas and 2 Red-Banded Trochus added for cleanup as well.

Todays conditions:

Temp 78F|Sal 1.025|Ph 8.0|NH3 0ppm|NO2 0ppm|NO3 >5ppm

Reefer40b · Feb 26, 2020

Great to see you back at it! Happy reefing!

nickkohrn · Feb 26, 2020

Welcome back to the best hobby of all.

Ruben's Reef · Feb 26, 2020

!!! Welcome to R2R !!! That's a great start...

Reefnman2 · Feb 26, 2020

Welcome to R2R!

Deep dive coral · Feb 26, 2020

Welcome back. You will fall right back into the flow of things.

reefer_noob · Feb 26, 2020

Thanks for all the warm welcomes folks. Things are doing well so far. I jump-started the tank with Dr. Tim's last week and have been closely watching ammonia and nitrites as I added 3 chromis this past weekend. Diatoms starting to kick off and keeping lights OFF except for maybe 15 mins in evening for some tank tv with the kids

Please excuse the format of the thread and let me know if you have any suggestions as this is for my own benefits as well as to share my experience with others.

Water parms need some work. PH was low on tank kickoff but seems to have stabilized as well as salinity however this was a good thing as the chromis were brought home and this was very close to the water in the bag. I am currently topping off with saltwater periodically to bring the salinity up to ~1.025 but no rush there. I have Alk and Phosphate kits on the way. These will get tested this weekend.

I am also thinking of adding a few snails as a CUC this weekend but have concerns with hitchhikers and undesirable algae.
If you have any fool-proof methods or suggestions when adding new please let me know. Also if you have any barebottom tank invert advice please share as I know there are some critters that need that sandbed.

Temp 78F|Sal 1.022|Ph 8.0|NH3 0ppm|NO2 0ppm|NO3 >5ppm

reefer_noob · Mar 6, 2020

It's been well over a week and I'm overdue an update! All water parms are stable for now. I have 4 fish and 4 snails currently and the tank is staying very clean. Diatoms gone nothing ugly yet but I'm sure it's on it's way. Maybe Mr. Bean will stay on top of the algae breakouts. Fingers crossed.

Keeping with parameters, salinity will be at 1.025 soon with every other top-off is being done with saltwater.

Ph has been a bit low but I have been doing the testing at night and even with lights off I assume that daylight in the house is going to drive it up slightly. I still have red sea Alk kit showing me ~8dkh but the colors aren't even close. Test kits should arrive this weekend for Ca/Mg/Alk however I still haven't ordered the Phosphate test kit. Guess that will wait as my budget for the week is spent!

Ammonia and nitrates still at 0 so the Dr. Tim's and time have seemed to keep up with the bio-load. Nitrates have been 5-10ppm and I will need to keep up weekly water changes for a bit. Hoping to move this to a less frequent schedule later on when refugium is set up. Also have hopes that this will better stabilize pH.

That's all for now. I will try and get some pics up on next update. Thanks for following!

Temp 78F|Sal 1.024|Ph 8.0|NH3 0ppm|NO2 0ppm|NO3 ~5ppm