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Okay so some things in my tank and life have changed since i last updated my post...Since december i havent done much to my tank... ill post pics soon.
the tank has been up since november... and has changed quite a bit

12gallon aquapod

Take the tank and fill in the middle and lower intake grates. This will greatly improve the surface skimming.

Throw out the carbon and bio rings. If your gonna use the sponge clean it every few days.

Then mix water as you should. Add sand, rock and then water. Turn on pump, wait for water to clear....Then the cycle will begin.

HTH

Thank you for the advice, but at the risk of sounded stupid, what do i use to fill in the middle and lower intake grates?



And I havent purchased live rock yet, should I wait until tomorrow when i can get the rock before i put th sand and water?

I used black aquarium silicone. Worked like a charm. Oh oh. You will need to seal the upper trim around the corners. DO THIS B4 YOU ADD WATER. These tanks are known to leak at those points. I am sure if you stick you head in the inside you'll see little or no silicone in there. You need to wait until you cannot smell the silicone b4 your add any water. That way you will be sure that its cured.

Most folks put in the rock and sand at the same time. But if your gonna mod this tank via silicone you need to wait on the rock as is. You always need to wet test any tank with regular water b4 your start to fill it up with the good stuff.

Okay great! I will have to wait til tomorrow to do that. i was reading the post you had about starting up one of these and it motivated the purchase for me. I had been interested in a tank and after reading i was compelled to go out and purchase. I appreciate the help thank you

Any time. I am glad that I can help. If you have any questions pm me or post in this or my thread. One other great addition esp being that your in hot ole TX is a Maxi Jet 900. They really move more water and at a much cooler temp.

I made the said silicone mods, picked up a maxi 900, and will get my LR tuesday..I am super excited about this

Post some pics when you get the live rock scaped!

Good deal. Did you remember to look at the inside top corners and see if more silicone needed to be added to that seam?


Need pitchers or it didnt happen.

I will def post pics tuesday as soon as the LR is in!



Also, i looked into the corners and decided that extra silicone is better than not enough, so i reinforced what was there..tonight i will be setting it and running tap water through everything to leak and flow test it. in the mean time im gonna gather the turkey baster, digital thermometer, heater(had my eye on a stealth mini that wont shatter cuz its plastic), and water test kit... also i picked up a dual outlet digital timer for the lighting system..not sure if i need it, but figured if im gonna do this i wont do it cheap.

Where'd you get it? local to you or online?

local here in El Paso at a place called the coral reef...

more than likely i will be acquiring everything locally. I am not a fan of online purchases..if i must order something ill prolly order through a LFS...can always haggle with locals and do business trade-outs lol

So i did the leak test, everything turned out fine, I also decided to cycle the lights and run the pump to get a feel for what temp the tank will operate at..during the day i had a high of 82.3 and in the morning it was at 76.2 so i guess i def need to get myself the heater, will do so today and the LR will be in tomorrow... I am already addicted to this!

wont be able to find time to make it to the LFS til thursday.. sucks. in the meantime i had to re-silicone the intake grates.fingers dont work nearly as well as a razor blade..glad i did so..looks much better..

So the tank has been cycling for 10 days, i came home from work today, and I have the Diatom bloom..or so i think its brown fuzzy stuff..I'll take a water sample by the LFS tuesday, and if parameters are good, I purchase my CUC!!! IM STOKED

I stopped by a new LFS on my lunch hour to pick up some hermits and snails... got a couple blue legged hermits, a few cerith snails, and a nas...i also got 3 astreas, but i tthink theyre just empty shells...the LFS only charged me 4 bucks... so yea not a big deal if the astreas are vacant

the Hermits immediately went to town... freakin cool little guys

love new projects

yes, this is my first time reefing! im having fun so far.. i gave up chinchilla for this hobby... its a nice break from the other hobbies in my life... in fact its the least deadliest i hope...

Well, this site has a ton of good info. You're in good hands here.

I am starting to notice that!!
eventually i will get around to becoming a paid member of this site...

It would be even more wickedly awesome if i were to acquire a starter frag of some sort! LOL... lets see, i can trade a smile, or even an Mp3 player...

SOOOOO!!! My Hermits seem to have made it through the night! yay.. and the snails.....ill throw down a water change tonight fa sho

got a few lbs of LR today, added them to the tank, about to do about a 3 gallon change and gonna re-scape the tank...also picked up a couple red legged hermits, and a couple nass snails...willl throw new pics in a bit

one of the new rocks...i like the coral stuff on it!
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Full tank shot, like the new scaping?
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another one..
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Did a water change and siphoned alotta crap off the sand....water is still clearing up

woke up this morning, tank has cleared up pretty well, everyone seems to be fine

Tank looks great! I like the aquascape design.

Thank You! I tend to be really indecisive and highly impulsive...I may change it up again before I start to stock it.. appreciate the comment though

..happens to the best of us

You mean to tell me im not the only person who goes to the LFS intending on one item and leaving with like 3 or 4?
those LFS places are some sneaky devils!!

3 of my 4 hermits... The one in the middle is sooooo tiny!! he's smaller than a thumb tack!
They do some serious work.. and in an attempt to keep them civil, I have 4 or 5 vacant shells on the sandbed...lets hope they notice!

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agreed

SOOOOOO...Cheers to friday...I hate being at work now..All I want to do is go stare at my tank... Im now contemplating a 10g AGA built for my office......I know im new to this, but the aquapod just seems to be too easy..I would stick the 10g on my desk at work... and just have colorful stuff...yes schtuff... we'll see...I may buy impulsively this weekend

Speaking of buying impulsively. Someone had suggested keeping track of things that didn't work, poor purchases, mistakes, etcetera... and reviewing it before heading out to the LFS. I plan on doing this today, as I'm going to get a fish for my 46g FW tank.

Hopefully I don't come home with a lot of stuff.....

that is def. advice one should heed, as I've already learned the LFS will try to sell just to make a buck and not care about a) the livestock or your tank.. Now I am a true capitalisst and sell things to make a living, but I disagree with selling living things to a less than desireable circumstance

Have fun at the LFS though i love going and browsing...in this city i live there are like 6 dif LFS, and so far ive only been to 2

Just got back, didn't buy anything! I'm so proud of myself.

I had to actually talk my girlfriend out of buying stuff! sweet, I'm getting good at this.

I agree they want to make a buck, and there's nothing wrong with that (except for livestock as you've suggested.) But I honestly believe they just don't know any better themselves. The most likely situation though, is that they are going to tell you what you want to hear and/or skew things that way......

dude... youre supposed to let her stock your tank!!!

hahah..yeah you make a good point with the LFS people...I prefer to deal strictly with the main person, ie the owners, as they are thought to be the most intelligent, but then again in business you hire people who are smarter than you to run your operation...but thats besides the point...\

how the heck did you not purchase anytrhing you brave soul..

Yeah, she has done a fair amount of stocking in my Tanganyikan cichlid tank. She really likes aquariums though too, just doesn't like the upkeep.

How you ask did I not buy anything? Well, I just thought about the two junky extra 10 gal tanks I have at home, the 46g FW tank I have set up, the SW NC6 tank I'm cycling and the third one I'm setting up as a frag grow out.

I then thought about the two boxes of crap I have... asst heaters decorations and worthless stuff i.e. broken auto feeder, four air pumps, the list goes on. I need to get back on Craigslist.

I also thought about the one time I overstocked a 10 gallon tank as a 13 year old, I never even cycled it.. I brought the tank home with the fish, sad story.

whoa dude that is some deep twisted stuff...

It is better to wait and research what you're buying so you do it right the first time. I keep learning that lesson.

I also learned the wait till the tank cycles lesson the hard way too..

runnin stock at the moment?

for the most part yeah, but I did upgrade to the Maxi900, took out the bio balls and ceramic crap, cut the sponge in half and topped it with about an inch of floss, and im running the stock carbon bag, will go with that chemipure stuff when I start stocking... I also siliconed the lower and middle intake grates as I was instructed by another member, in an attempt to up the surface skimming...which might I say worked like a charm




Touche, I was half asleep when I posted the deep twisted comment, lol... But yea, I kinda bought my tank and supplies on impulse, and have slowed down a bit while the tank does its thing...I bought 11lbs of fully cured LR at first, went back and bought another 3lbs, and also started it with 20lbs of CaribSea live sand... So i think my cycle came and went over 2 weeks, the CUC seems to be doin just fine, Im gonna vaccuum some ship off the sand and do another water change this evening, and hopefully tuesday or wednesday get my first zoa frag...we shall see

I started with some LR from a friend this time and added live sand as well. Just got my diatom bloom today, it's been about a week since I started the tank.

nice I think my blooms appeared in 10 days, and it took me like another 3 days to get half of my CUC

how's it coming along?

Paul, since this thread is turning into your tank thread, you have 2 choices, I can move it to Member's Aquariums for you, or you can start a new thread there yourself. LMK what you want.

It would be awesome if you could move it for me, I actually had the intentions of trying to move it to another category, but wasnt sure how. I would greatly appreciate if you did move it..Thank You

*POOF*

Scott, that was some serious magic I like your style!





So far so good.. Water is crystal clear, still need to buy a test kit..im kinda winging it on water params...umm the hermits are doing serious work on my rocks, and the snails are moving about the sandbed..I think i got me some smart critters...lol..Im thinking maybe tuesday I can get to the LFS and pick up some zoas.. as well as a test kit...

BTW....Nice anenome tank..Im already thinking of taking an old 10gallon tank thats sitting in my garage and taking the rim off and starting a second tank..but idk yet..dont wanna bite off more than I can chew just yet

ran by a new LFS today, when i say new i mean one ive never been to... Place smelled funky..maybe becuz the dogs n cats, but the saltwater tanks looked sad...nothing but LR...helll the lighting looked like crap too.. needless to say it was my first, and last visit to that black hole....