What do you know, I got this thing up finally! After many months of spending money on what could be many other things, I have finally bought everything for my 10G reef. Everything is going to be explained along the way. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, whatever, I am open to anything. :smile: This will be updated constantly.
Tank Specs:
10G AGA Tank
Current Sunpaq 96W Retrofit Kit
About 17lbs of Tahitian Moon Sand
About 23lbs of Live rock
Koralia Nano+Via Aqua 180 (adds up to 320gph)
In december, I want to upgrade this bad-boy to a Current USA Solana. But that is far off, and I have this to experiment with.
Photos!
FTS from side:
FTS:
Left Side Close-up:
Middle:
Right Side:
I have many hitchhikers, but I have 1 very cool hitchiker that I want to know what it is. It is obviously a coral of some sort, becuase I see it extend, "feed", and close up on an almost regular cycle. It is orange in the middle, white on its "branch," and has very small purple dots near its head on its branch (if that makes sense). Pic:
Another thing:
I also found an Aptasia on on of my back rocks. . Got to go back to the LFS for some Joe's Juice, and to pick up some Macroalgea (keep forgetting that stuff).
looking great man lots of life in there already, did you get the cured rock? i couldnt afford it so it will take me a bit longer to get that look. what do you have for a filter??
I don't know if it was cured or not. I have rock from two LFS's in there (I also have Fiji and Flordia). I think I will have a lot of die-off from one set, ad it was out of water for almost an hour, while one batch was out of water for only 5 minutes.
I orgianlly had an Ac110 for a fuge. It is actually a lot louder than I can handle, and it is on the dresser right next to my bed. I may end up selling it because right now, I am happy with my powerheads. I am going to run with a "natural" filtration for now (only powerheads and manual water changes, I read it on an articale somewhere).
I am going to post all of my water params tonight for the first time ever. :lol: We will see what is goin' on.
'Trates, 'trites, and ammonia make me happy. pH and SG, not so much. :roll: . I will do a WC tommorow to get the SG down and pH up, after I go to the LFS for some buffer.
Well, I have found many, many, many more hitchikers. :smile:
I have found a black feather duster (really pretty, but hard to take a pic of because it is on my back rock facing the back wall), a couple of sponges, some spaghetti/hair worms (saw the tentacles out feeding) and 3 more aiptasia ( ). I also saw like a little worm-like thing that was poking its head out of a tiny hole in a rock and looking around. Whenever it saw me, it went back to hiding. And like a little brown worm/branch type thing with an orange head that is stuck to rock. Oh, and a really cool squishy thing again. . It is clear with white tips on it's tentacles, and very small. (any ideas on these last three?) I also think I found a tiny majano anenome. Too much! I will try to post pictures later.
Cody your Nano tank looks really cool! I don't have any saltwater yet...someday. I like your descriptions of the "hitch-hikers" you keep finding! They make me smile. I wish I could help you identify them, but since I don't know a thing about saltwater, I can't.
We'll just have to keep checking to see what other people have said!
My bloom is HUGE now. Hair algea on rocks, green and brown algea on glass everywhere, and rocks are much more browner. Pictures and params to come tommorow.
me too on the mag float but im going to have to get a cucumber or a sand sifter star because i got the white sand and its getting turned to brown sand!
This is a great idea. I hope you keep posting regularly so that we can be "part of" the process.
Honestly, I have selfish reasons. I have been wanting to set up a 10 gallon reef, but really just don't have a spot for it. Hopefully watching the development of your reef will be enough to satisfy my urge!
Blue, I plan on adding them once my cycle is done. Maybe a few days after. Or, once we can make a trip to the LFS after the cycle.
Pasfur, thanks! I hope it is.
Sorry for no pics/params today. I was out all day and didnt have the time. Tommorow I will though. You guys can see my lovely green and brown on my glass. Not cleaning it just for you guys.
Well, I took some pictures before I cleaned off all the nasty stuff on my tank (and cleaned off the powerheads, heater, etc), but I will upload them later as my camera died on me.
I did a very small water change, maybe...3/4 gallon, but I had to top-off at least 1/2 gallon, so almost 1.5 gallons in the end. I only did the change because my SG was a bit high. Right now, I am loving my Params! Why? Because...
THE CYCLE IS ALMOST DONE!!!
Thats right! I obviously got cured rock, because I am looking at...
PARAMS:
-0ppm Ammonia
-0ppm Nitrite
-13-15ppm Nitrate
-8.0 pH (went up finally, still a bit low though)
-1.024 SG
I am looking at a possible CUC this weekend. Corals is definately not untill at least 2 more weeks.
Really neat. I like how you're keeping us updated on the process. This is making me really want a saltwater tank! I've wanted one for awhile, but I'm supposed to be downsizing. We're trying to sell our house. ::sigh:: I'll just keep watching yours for now. 8)
I'm sorry for lack of pictures; our camera has been broken and will be repaired soon.
I am getting half of my CUC tommorow. I will be picking up 4 snails, and 1 or 2 hermits for now, so I dont overload the bioload too much. Eventually, I want 8 snails, 3 hermits, and 1 shrimp (and maybe a PomPom/Porcleain Crab). Will post params before I leave to make sure it is ok.
sounds like a good idea, you should def get one of the listed crabs, i got a porcelain crab and hes so neat, you just have to make sure to feed him that kent marine stuff... it comes in a purple bottle and says for marine inverts... god ill remember the name in a sec. whenever i feed that he comes out and does that little dance thing its funny.
My params as of yesterday are
Ammonia: 0ppm
'trites: 0ppm
'trates: 7ppm (a bit high)
SG: 1.024
pH: 8.0 (low)
Went to the LFS yesterday and picked up 2 Astrea Snails and 2 Scarlet Reef hermits. They didnt have a big selection on Snails (only Astrea and Turbo), so I only picked up 2. Still have to find Cerith, Nerite, and Nassarius Snails (and one or two more hermits).
They are really helping my algea go down! My snails are almost full though; they are just sitting on the glass. Ah, backup is coming soon.
Anyways, I just picked up 1 more Astrea Snail and 1 more Hermit Crab. My HC's ar done, and I plan to pick up 2 Nassarius Snails and 2 Nerite Snails from a fellow reefer here soon.
I also ordered a Subcurrent Internal Filter; it has a built-in surface skimmer, that holds filter pads and has a 160gph return nozzle. This will really help me out. Should be here on June 10th.
Oh, and I plan to add a 2.5G fuge soon. Just got to get some more cash for the plumbing, return pump, tank, baffles, etc.
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