gkarris Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Well, I'm doing a tank again. I had a 20 Gal long back in the day of undergravel tow filters, and was laughed at for having a saltwater tank under 55 Gal... I did use two really powerful powerheads and good lighting (at the time) as well as an external filter box. I did really well with it with a few fish, then a LFS started getting something called "live rock" in and that really made the tank do well. But had to take it down since I needed my desk for telecommuting. Well, now with all these LFS with Corals, Fish, Inverts, Live Rock, even pre-mixed saltwater. Gosh, where's the effort? All this high-tech stuff like lighting, small external filtering, small powerheads, enables small and pico reef tanks - I just couldn't resist! Well, finally got my tank all set up tonight (had to get a GFCI plug) and ready for live rock and live sand tomorrow! Whoo, hooo! After this, on to a 1.5 Gal Pico!!! Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 back the hobby! glad to see you here... Link to comment
gkarris Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 ^^^^ Thanks! Now with live rock and live sand. Experimenting with the water flow and direction - changes the sandscape!!! Link to comment
gkarris Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Test water today -tank has cycled. Want mainly Corals and a couple clean-up critters. Any suggestions? Trip to LFS on Wed... Link to comment
demonclownfish Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 i can tell you one thing although your params read out ok your tank is not cycled. you still have some phases to go through. once you get to the hair algae phase then you can add in some cuc but you should add anything except a zoa frag and a mushroom or two till then... sorry i know but it is worth the wait to have everything happy and healthy. Link to comment
gkarris Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 i can tell you one thing although your params read out ok your tank is not cycled. you still have some phases to go through. once you get to the hair algae phase then you can add in some cuc but you should add anything except a zoa frag and a mushroom or two till then... sorry i know but it is worth the wait to have everything happy and healthy. Thanks for the feedback! I know things are much different now compared to UG filters and using a Damsel to cycle... So what is a good first livestock to add? I was looking at some frags just earlier today at a LFS.... I know it takes a lot of time... got some wierd tubular polyp starting up from one of the rocks... Link to comment
demonclownfish Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 try getting a couple zoa frags and a green striped mushroom. will make your tank very colorful.(you can try a ricordea if you like but not sure how long in the cycle that they need). Link to comment
gkarris Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 try getting a couple zoa frags and a green striped mushroom. will make your tank very colorful.(you can try a ricordea if you like but not sure how long in the cycle that they need). Thanks, going to my favorite LFS to get a frag. Nice to have it so far away and a special trip is needed - helps to space out stocking the tank. AFA CUC, I was looking at that little polyp this evening and right by it is a tiny snail doing his thing... MY PICO IS ALIVE!!! Link to comment
klarion Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Agreed on the Green striped mushrooms. I think the blue mushrooms are pretty hardy too. They're the fastest growing in my tank and very pretty too. Just make sure to add things a little bit at a time at first because your tank will have a mini cycle every time you add life and they are more pronounced in pico tanks because the volume of water is smaller. Link to comment
gkarris Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 What about Colt Coral? Going to get my first frag I think tomorrow! BTW: green hairy algae starting... Link to comment
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