ched03 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I don't know why I have been putting off starting this journal but now that I am a little over 2 weeks in I figured I might as well share. This is my first aquarium of any kind and I am a bit nervous but excited at the same time. If you see any glaring problems please let me know. I am open to any suggestions that anyone may have. Here is my set up: Tank: Nano Cube DX 12G H2O: Salt water and RODI water from LFS Rock: Dry Rock Sand: Carib Sea Arag-Alive in Fiji Pink Cycling: Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter 7 Pump: Marineland Maxi-Jet 600 Heater: Cobalt Aquatics Easy Therm 50 Watt Flow: Hydor Rotating Deflector ATO: Tunze Osmolator Nano Lighting: Micmol Marine Aqua Mini G3 Filtration: InTank Media Rack (will use Filter Floss, Chemipure Elite, Sea Chem Matrix) Testing: Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit Refractometer with Brightwell Aquatics calibration solution Livestock: Various CUC (will update once purchased) 1 Clownfish 1 Royal Gramma 1 Watchman Goby 1 Pistol Shrimp Hammer Coral Pulsating Xenia (praying they won't take over my tank) Zoas Candy Cane Mushroom I may dabble in the world of SPS in the future 2/3/19: Here are some pics of my set up after messing with my rock and getting it just right. 2/18/19: My test results after 2 weeks of cycling. NH3/NH4: 0ppm / NO3: 20ppm / NO2: 1ppm 2 Quote Link to comment
Daniel91 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Pretty neat setup. I like your rockwork too. It also looks like you’ve done your research; gotten your quality test kits, cycling with lights off, gotten an ATO etc.. 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 59 minutes ago, ched03 said: I don't know why I have been putting off starting this journal but now that I am a little over 2 weeks in I figured I might as well share. This is my first aquarium of any kind and I am a bit nervous but excited at the same time. Here is my set up: Nano Cube DX 12G Dry Rock Salt water and RODI water from LFS Carib Sea Arag-Alive in Fiji Pink Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter 7 Marineland Maxi-Jet 600 Cobalt Aquatics Easy Therm 50 Watt Hydor Rotating Deflector InTank Media Rack Tunze Osmolator Nano Micmol Marine Aqua Mini G3 Testing: Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit Refractometer with Brightwell Aquatics calibration solution Here are some pics of my set up after messing with my rock and getting just right. I have also included some of my testing results after 2 weeks of cycling. If you see any glaring problems please let me know. As I said, I am VERY new at this and I am open to any suggestions that anyone may have. I think it looks good so far. 😊 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, ched03 said: This is my first aquarium of any kind and I am a bit nervous but excited at the same time. You're doing great so far ched03! 👍 Good choice of equipment, and your rock and sand foundation. I'm fond of the Fiji Pink Araga-live sand, it will seed your tank with a lot of great life. It looks like you're right in the middle of the cycle now, another week or two and you should be ready for your first additions! What kinds of coral are you hoping to keep in your nano reef? 1 Quote Link to comment
ched03 Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 23 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: What kinds of coral are you hoping to keep in your nano reef? I honestly haven't thought too much about which corals I will get. I love the look of hammer coral so I'm sure that will be one. I like pulsating xenia but I don't want them to take over my tank. I love the Zoa's for their variety of color. I plan on taking it slow so I have lots of time. 🙂 Quote Link to comment
ched03 Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 LFS has me perform a 25% water change yesterday and retest 24 hours later. Here are my results. It’s a step in the right direction. Hoping to add a clean up crew by Spring Break but I’m not gonna rush it. Left side tests Monday 2/18/19 Right side tests Saturday 2/23/19 1 Quote Link to comment
ched03 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 I finally go my lights in and installed them in the tank. First pic on mid-day setting (50% White, 100% Blue and 75% Special). Second pic on just 1% Blue. 3 Quote Link to comment
righttirefire Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Hey im crossing over from your lighting and CUC post. Catching up on your build thread. After reading through this, personally I'd add the royal gramma, and get a nice zoa frag maybe 3 to 5 heads of something you really like or a classic like radioactive dragon eyes, or eagle eyes. Or whatever you like. Just not super high end (expensive). Give the fish, 4-6 weeks to settle. Maybe pickup another frag the following week when you get water. And start accessing the need for a clean up crew depending on your algea from then on. Just my personal opinion. I'm sure other people will have different opinions and I hope they add their two cents and you continue to research on your own. What works for one person wont for another. There are a millions ways to be successful, you just need to find your way to success 1 Quote Link to comment
ReefGoat Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 A proper cycled tank should be able to process 2ppm of ammonia in 24hrs. I used dry rock and micro bacter 7 and it took my tank around 6-7 weeks to be able to process 2ppm in 24 hours. My point is just take it slow and don't rush into stocking your new tank or you'll end up coming to the forums posting about fish dying and cloudy water problems amongst other things. Looks like you're off to a nice start though. Enjoy your new hobby! 2 Quote Link to comment
ched03 Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 10 minutes ago, ReefGoat said: A proper cycled tank should be able to process 2ppm of ammonia in 24hrs. I used dry rock and micro bacter 7 and it took my tank around 6-7 weeks to be able to process 2ppm in 24 hours. My point is just take it slow and don't rush into stocking your new tank or you'll end up coming to the forums posting about fish dying and cloudy water problems amongst other things. Looks like you're off to a nice start though. Enjoy your new hobby! I don’t plan on introducing any fish for another month and it will just be one small clown when I do. 1 Quote Link to comment
righttirefire Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 21 minutes ago, ched03 said: I don’t plan on introducing any fish for another month and it will just be one small clown when I do. With your list personally the clown would be the last addition 1 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Looks good so far, I like your scape! Welcome to the hobby! Quote Link to comment
ched03 Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 Can someone tell me what the brown stuff on my rocks is. I noticed it for the first time yesterday and my clean up crew seems to be going to town in it. It doesn’t seem to be getting out of control at this point. I am loving my aquarium and it’s so much fun to learn about all of the changes. Quote Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Cant tell from the pic..but id assume its an algea bloomn being a new tank. You're bound for a case of the uglies. Just keep up on waterchanges and find a balance on you CUC, remember and turkey baster, toothbrush and siphon are your best CUC 1 Quote Link to comment
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