10 Gallon Testing the waters

[k4ndyk1ng]

18 minutes ago, ahud said:

Cleaner drink? Auto correct strikes again! haha

Yeah, was on my phone, I meant shrimp

[ahud]

I'm cycled! I found an awesome nearby store (Aquarium Specialty). Their frag tank blew me away. My wife was ready to buy an AI Prime and pick out some coral while we were there! And that is saying something lol.

 

Hopefully I find the time to run out and grab the goby and shrimp soon. Here are a few updated shots of the tank:

 

Screen top DIY from BRS, frame components from Home Depot:

 

Filter section with a temporary media rack (Not running any chemical media right now)

 

 

Full Tank Shot:

[ahud]

Placed an order with ReefCleaners. I bought critters than can eat meaty foods since algae is still nonexistent.

 

I purchased

-5 nassarius Vibex

-8 assorted hermits

-a dozen extra shells

 

Scheduled to ship out Tuesday. I am excited to have hermits, they were one of my favorite things to watch in my 40br.

[ahud]

Just to update:

 

Added the clean up crew. Everybody is doing fine. I'm going to let things run as is for a couple of weeks and then start looking for goby-shrimp combos.

[ahud]

I have not updated in a long while!

 

I added a tiger pistol and yellow watchman goby several weeks ago. Both are doing great and building like crazy. The pistol is TINY, but has physically grown since I bought him. The goby is not actually yellow, but I grabbed him because he was so sassy and outgoing at the store. He ate enthusiastically and overall seemed very healthy.

 

The tank is running great. I am currently doing 4 gallon changes every week, but I am going to start lowering the amount to 1-2 gallons. I have decided to keep holding off on converting to a reef. Right now I am enjoying the pure simplicity of the setup. The shrimp antics create dust storms, but with no corals it is not an issue. The filter floss in my DIY media rack is catching the dust.

 

Would there be any benefit to running carbon? 

 

Here is a short video of the Duo, sorry for portrait mode!!:

 

 

[Gunbeaux]

I like the setup I am setting up a 10 gal also and wanting the pistol and goby also had one years ago, I am going to use a AC70 hand on the back for my refug  had this before and it works good for me, Nice setup will be following this one

[ahud]

I have to admit I am glad I started out like this. The nice thing about the pistol + goby is they are so low maintenance. I am sure you will enjoy a pair! The Hang on Back filters make for super easy maintenance as well! 

[Gunbeaux]

thanks for the reply I got the Idea for the hang on back filter from the Pico page on here El Fab's page he took a 3 gal tank and did wonders

[ahud]

Everything is still going great. Im itching to add something haha. 

 

Would another fish be too much? The goby hides a lot. I was thinking a more active fish would bring him out more? 

 

I still have the coral bug, but I want to at least wait until November to see if I can catch a black friday sale on one of the budget friendly LED fixtures.