GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Well, it’s the morning of April 30th in Seattle and I just got my tank yesterday! Definitely a procrastinator but to be fair I only recently got back as a lurker on the site and last week saw the competition post... 😅 Not a high quality photo but I’m thinking a spot like this on my desk. I’ve only ever had freshwater fish in my life, so I’m excited to dive into saltwater with coral! I’ll post an equipment list when I can. Definitely need all the advice I can get. If you notice the odd covered object in the foreground of my pic, it’s my microscope. I have a camera attachment so I’ll be posting pictures of some water samples and such once I get going! Super excited to get a good excuse to use it more often. And if anyone is curious, the “snack” is konpeito, a Japanese candy. ☺️ 8 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Welcome to the community @GeneticallyModifiedNerd, so glad you're joining in the pico reef competition! What do you have planned for your pico reef? 1 1 Quote Link to comment
SeaFurn Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Exciting! Welcome to the fun! There are a lot of knowledgeable reefers here to help you. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 to NR! I look forward to following along! 1 Quote Link to comment
Tigahboy Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Welcome to the contest! Looking forward to some good microscope shots! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Wingy Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Welcome. This is my first tank too so you are not alone. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 11 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: Welcome to the community @GeneticallyModifiedNerd, so glad you're joining in the pico reef competition! What do you have planned for your pico reef? Not entirely sure yet! Kind of winging it. I plan on stocking it with hopefully easy to manage coral, though I do wonder if some rocky taller type of coral might be beneficial, mainly because I have some fairly short live rock. Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Thank you all!! ☺️ What a friendly community. Here’s what I’ve got so far: -Dymax Slim Flo SF-120 (120L/h) -API test strips (pH, NO2, NO3, KH and GH) -CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand -API Instant Ocean -Coral RX (one shot) -3 pieces of live rock (in a bag with water at the moment) -turkey baster stolen from the kitchen Still need: -Skimmer -Refractometer/hygrometer -temp prob -heater -cover -light -distilled water -gloves? Any suggestions (especially amazon or petco/petsmart as they are the easiest access for me) would be awesome! The saltwater lady at the lfs suggested that a heater would be unnecessary at least for now, and that water changes would do just fine to eliminate the chlorine from tap. She also said that for such a small tank that the dynamax filter would be just fine. I found some old dechlorinator when I went to make my first gallon of salt water, but it expired in 2017 sadly... it’s been awhile since I’ve kept Marimos and even longer since I’ve had any fish! Leak test tomorrow when I take a shower since I’m unprepared tonight. Not sure when I’ll be able to get fully started, trying to take it slow but got a little gung-ho with my first store trip. 1 Quote Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 On a tank this small, chances are water changes will be sufficient export, and you won’t need a skimmer 🙂 It’s easy and quick to do a big water change. 1 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 12 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said: On a tank this small, chances are water changes will be sufficient export, and you won’t need a skimmer 🙂 It’s easy and quick to do a big water change. Oh I just realized, I don’t mean a protein skimmer, just a little net! 😂 My bad. Still learning the lingo. I was thinking of a net for anything that comes off of the live rock or any other pests I might need to remove. Thinking of dipping the live rock before putting it in, as the tank it came from was just full of live rock and seemed to have snails and probably all sorts of things and possible hitchhikers. 2 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 1 hour ago, GeneticallyModifiedNerd said: Oh I just realized, I don’t mean a protein skimmer, just a little net! 😂 My bad. Still learning the lingo. I was thinking of a net for anything that comes off of the live rock or any other pests I might need to remove. Thinking of dipping the live rock before putting it in, as the tank it came from was just full of live rock and seemed to have snails and probably all sorts of things and possible hitchhikers. Welcome to nano. I wouldn't dip the liverock. Theres beneficial life on it, it's your bio filter. It would be good to add that liverock into. Bucket with SW, pump, and heater until you set up the tank, or will keep it live. You won't need dechlorinator with using distilled water. The hang on filter on a small tank plus weekly waterchanges should be sufficient. Looking forward to seeing the tank get started. There are a lot of choices for corals, too many😁 3 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 Update: Finally got everything together. 🙂 Little worried about some of my live rock. Should’ve taken the advice and at least put it in some salt water, because the bag didn’t have enough in it to fully cover the rocks. However, the pieces that were submerged seem to be teeming with all sort of exciting biology. When i took the bag out of the dark to start the tank, I noticed a little bristleworm on the bottom of the bag. I think it’s a good one, didn’t get a picture of it as it disappeared soon after! Here is the look of the set up last night, when I first assembled, and the second look is this morning since after reading I decided to just let the filter clear the water instead of using the “bioclarifier” packet, though I did give the live sand a quick rinse as the sentiment was way too overpowering when I first put it in. I also took samples of the water that the live rock came in and the water of the live sand sediment in it, and I’ll look at it under the microscope when I get the chance! 8 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Looking good, there are a few of us now using the contest to learn SW, I wish I had a smaller HOB now , all these side mounts looking so sleek 1 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 How did I miss this one 1 Quote Link to comment
Wendy Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Looks like a good start! Do you have a current update? Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 It’s been a wild ride recently, I have a 1.5 hour commute right now... fun stuff. Anyways, the water did settle overnight. I have been monitoring the levels of Nitrite and Nitrate, but neither rose nor fell over the past month. I realize now my live rock was in a curing tank and probably didn’t actually need that long to sit. I’ve seen I think an isopod and an amphipod on separate occasions! Had a fun trip to the Seattle aquarium’s adults only plankton party where I got to actually see some of these bad boys in action and learn more! So next step I decided to get the crab I really wanted, a Pom Pom! And a cerith snail buddy. I haven’t decided what else I should get, if much more for a clean up crew. No lights on the tank yet, and the heater is too overpowering so I’m working on a solution. However the water stays around 68-73 if I keep the window shut. Here is a pic: 3 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Snail: Crabbo: 4 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 I like Crabbo what type is it? Quote Link to comment
Wendy Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 11 minutes ago, Ratvan said: I like Crabbo what type is it? That's a good lookin PomPom crab! 2 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 On 6/6/2019 at 2:09 PM, GeneticallyModifiedNerd said: the water stays around 68-73 That's pretty chilly. Too bad that most of the heaters with thermostats are relatively big compared to the tank size. I'm using a temperature controller and a small heater placed in my HOB filter. What are your thoughts about lights? Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 On 6/8/2019 at 4:52 AM, seabass said: That's pretty chilly. Too bad that most of the heaters with thermostats are relatively big compared to the tank size. I'm using a temperature controller and a small heater placed in my HOB filter. What are your thoughts about lights? I’m using the same heater, but I don’t have a controller. Tried making my own but I’ve decided to buy the thing instead as it’s giving me some issues. After I move I’ll probably try again. My critters seem to be doing fine, at least. My snail goes all over the tank! As for lights, I don’t want to skimp on it. Was going to also use some LED strips to automate it myself, but I’m gonna bite the bullet and purchase an Asta Marine 20. Might as well make things easy on myself! Unless you have a different suggestion, I haven’t liked any of the other lights I’ve seen. 3 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 Update pic, will post another one when I *finally* get that light! You can see my snail chillin’ in the upper left corner. 3 Quote Link to comment
GeneticallyModifiedNerd Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 Got the light! Right now the settings are pretty low (took every channel down to 0 and then upped each by 2, not sure what % that corresponds to) 6 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 What corals do you have in there? Quote Link to comment
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