SoonerBerrios
Community Member
Finally getting around to starting up a tank thread. Hope this ends up being a good thread to track my progress and look back on and also maybe provide some lessons learned for others that are starting out. One thing I've learned thus far....I need to take pictures! I guess I should start off with the story of getting my first tank going (Warning: I can be long winded).
About 6-months ago my wife won a little goldfish and bowl at a work event. They gave us some food, a bowl and some water. Needless to say, the poor goldfish didn't make it past day 3 while we were in the midst of researching goldfish care and looking for a tank. We both do not agree with handing goldfish out as prizes so we wanted to make as good a home as possible. After "the passing", we both talked about always wanting a saltwater fish tank and I took it upon myself to begin my research.
Since I was a kid I have always enjoyed research and currently work as an analyst for energy company, so getting a build going was right up my alley and I quickly got hooked...even with zero equipment.
The other side to this is the calming effect research and caring for things has on me. As a former infantryman in the Marine Corps I do suffer from PTSD and struggle with anxiety, mood swings and occasional depression and have been looking for years for something that can occupy my mind, calm me down and help distract me when it gets a little tough. So far, the research, maintenance and testing procedure and caring for livestock has been serving me well and has been a great help to my overall well being. I can fully say....I AM ADDICTED!
Now, on to the build.
Equipment (Still in use):
Aqueon 40B (bought during $1/gal Petco special)
50lbs of Florida Reef Rock from Reefcleaners.org (great rock, very porous and great company)
2lbs of live rock from the LFS to seed the tank with (very good coralline growth)
40lbs of Carib Sea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink live sand (wish I would have went with an additional 10-20lbs)
2 Hydor Koralia Evolution powerheads (850 gph each)
Current Orbit Marine LED (will more than likely have to upgrade)
Equipment (original/replacement)
Tunze Comline 9004 Protein Skimmer/Reef Octopus BH-1000 HOB
- I kept having issues with microbubbles and the skimmer was way too sensitive to slight changes
in water level. I also had issues with nitrates increasing rapidly. The RO has solved both issues
Eheim 150W heater/Aqueon Pro 250W heater
- Eheim was difficult to setup and not powerful enough to make up for the ambient temp-water
differential. Love the Aqueon Pro, use the Eheim for warming up water change water
Equipment (future purchase)
Fluval 406 canister. Going to use it for carbon, GFO and as a vacuum post tank maintenance. I really like my Aquaclear, but since turning that off, I've noticed a significant drop off in evaporation. I wanted to do my first tank on a budget (hahahahahaha) so I did not do a sump and have no room in the cabinet for one. We will eventually move to a bigger tank and that definitely will have a sump. Lesson Learned.
Livestock
- Mated pair of Gold-dot Maroon Clownfish
- Handful of assorted snails and crab (CUC once hair algae started)
- Just now bough a frogspawn, small candy cane frag and what the LFS said is a montastrea
Process
- Tank cycled in approximately 3 weeks. I started off with ammonia dosing up to 2ppm and accidentally ended up using ammonia that contained surfactant. After going to ACE Hardware and picking up the proper ammonia I decided to not change out the water and continue my dosing. After about 2 weeks I upped the ammonia to a 3ppm and then a 4ppm dose and called the cycle good after ammonia and nitrites would register 0ppm withn 24-30 hours. I then did a 50% water change and have done about 4 20% water changes since. So far, so good. Lesson learned.
Well, congrats to those of you that made it through the entire 1st post...I'm sure those after this will not be as long winded. Now for the pictures. Thanks for reading!
Initial Aquascape (final ended up with some work from my wife)
Excited to get going
Final aquascape and tank cycled
Ben (Other one is a little skittish)
Current View
About 6-months ago my wife won a little goldfish and bowl at a work event. They gave us some food, a bowl and some water. Needless to say, the poor goldfish didn't make it past day 3 while we were in the midst of researching goldfish care and looking for a tank. We both do not agree with handing goldfish out as prizes so we wanted to make as good a home as possible. After "the passing", we both talked about always wanting a saltwater fish tank and I took it upon myself to begin my research.
Since I was a kid I have always enjoyed research and currently work as an analyst for energy company, so getting a build going was right up my alley and I quickly got hooked...even with zero equipment.
The other side to this is the calming effect research and caring for things has on me. As a former infantryman in the Marine Corps I do suffer from PTSD and struggle with anxiety, mood swings and occasional depression and have been looking for years for something that can occupy my mind, calm me down and help distract me when it gets a little tough. So far, the research, maintenance and testing procedure and caring for livestock has been serving me well and has been a great help to my overall well being. I can fully say....I AM ADDICTED!
Now, on to the build.
Equipment (Still in use):
Aqueon 40B (bought during $1/gal Petco special)
50lbs of Florida Reef Rock from Reefcleaners.org (great rock, very porous and great company)
2lbs of live rock from the LFS to seed the tank with (very good coralline growth)
40lbs of Carib Sea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink live sand (wish I would have went with an additional 10-20lbs)
2 Hydor Koralia Evolution powerheads (850 gph each)
Current Orbit Marine LED (will more than likely have to upgrade)
Equipment (original/replacement)
Tunze Comline 9004 Protein Skimmer/Reef Octopus BH-1000 HOB
- I kept having issues with microbubbles and the skimmer was way too sensitive to slight changes
in water level. I also had issues with nitrates increasing rapidly. The RO has solved both issues
Eheim 150W heater/Aqueon Pro 250W heater
- Eheim was difficult to setup and not powerful enough to make up for the ambient temp-water
differential. Love the Aqueon Pro, use the Eheim for warming up water change water
Equipment (future purchase)
Fluval 406 canister. Going to use it for carbon, GFO and as a vacuum post tank maintenance. I really like my Aquaclear, but since turning that off, I've noticed a significant drop off in evaporation. I wanted to do my first tank on a budget (hahahahahaha) so I did not do a sump and have no room in the cabinet for one. We will eventually move to a bigger tank and that definitely will have a sump. Lesson Learned.
Livestock
- Mated pair of Gold-dot Maroon Clownfish
- Handful of assorted snails and crab (CUC once hair algae started)
- Just now bough a frogspawn, small candy cane frag and what the LFS said is a montastrea
Process
- Tank cycled in approximately 3 weeks. I started off with ammonia dosing up to 2ppm and accidentally ended up using ammonia that contained surfactant. After going to ACE Hardware and picking up the proper ammonia I decided to not change out the water and continue my dosing. After about 2 weeks I upped the ammonia to a 3ppm and then a 4ppm dose and called the cycle good after ammonia and nitrites would register 0ppm withn 24-30 hours. I then did a 50% water change and have done about 4 20% water changes since. So far, so good. Lesson learned.
Well, congrats to those of you that made it through the entire 1st post...I'm sure those after this will not be as long winded. Now for the pictures. Thanks for reading!
Initial Aquascape (final ended up with some work from my wife)
Excited to get going
Final aquascape and tank cycled
Ben (Other one is a little skittish)
Current View
