My Journey Begins

[Jerad81]

I'm in the process of setting up my first reef tank (I guess I can finally upgrade myself from an aspiring beginner to a real beginner now 😁).

 

My tank is the IM Nuvo Fusion 20g pro. I was originally planning on getting the 10g but my lfs had a used 20g someone returned after 1 month for the same price so I snatched it up instead. Apparently the previous owner decided they didn't like the rimless look and brought it back. They must have been smoking something pretty goofy imo but hey, they hooked me up with a good deal!

 

I also have a Eheim Jager TrueTemp 100w heater and a Hydor koralia circulation and wave pump with a 425 gph flow rate.

 

I currently do not have a light yet. I have been struggling to find a reliable source of information that will help me figure out what size/wattage I should be focusing on in my search. If anyone has any advice or links that can help me I would greatly appreciate it. The display area dimensions of my tank are about 24" x 12" and about 13" deep.

 

I don't have a stand yet either but I have a custom stand on order that should be done by the end of the month. There were 3 people ahead of me on the list so I have my fingers crossed I'll get it sooner.

 

I decided to go with dry rock for my tank since it was cheaper and easier to trade back and forth with my lfs. Below are a couple pics of my tank and my current aquascape. I'm still debating if I should add an island in the open space on the left or leave it open sand.

 

Also, on a side note, I'm considering putting one of these easyliner grip pads down in my tank to help hold the rock in place and keep me from scratching the glass up when I'm getting the rock exactly where I want it. Has anyone ever used one or heard of one being used before? I want to know it's safe for a tank before I put it in.

 

I guess I should shut up now before I end up writing a book but if anyone has any ideas, advice, suggestions, or glorious wisdom from your own experiences please don't hesitate to pass it on! I will be very grateful to receive it!!

[Seadragon]

58 minutes ago, Jerad81 said:

Also, on a side note, I'm considering putting one of these easyliner grip pads down in my tank to help hold the rock in place and keep me from scratching the glass up when I'm getting the rock exactly where I want it. Has anyone ever used one or heard of one being used before? I want to know it's safe for a tank before I put it in.

I wouldn’t put an easyliner grip pad into the tank permanently.  As far as getting it exactly as you want it, you can play around with the general placement outside the tank and then fine tune it within the tank once you know what you want.

 

I’d wait to get the stand first, and then place the rocks in the tank followed by the sand.  You’ll want to make sure the rocks are touching the glass to prevent it from falling on top of any fish or shrimp that like to dig in the sand.  I also recommend keeping about a 1.5” gap between the rockwork and the glass so that you can easily clean the glass with a magnetic algae scrubber and also so that large snails can maneuver about easily.

[Jerad81]

3 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

I wouldn’t put an easyliner grip pad into the tank permanently.  As far as getting it exactly as you want it, you can play around with the general placement outside the tank and then fine tune it within the tank once you know what you want.

 

I’d wait to get the stand first, and then place the rocks in the tank followed by the sand.  You’ll want to make sure the rocks are touching the glass to prevent it from falling on top of any fish or shrimp that like to dig in the sand.  I also recommend keeping about a 1.5” gap between the rockwork and the glass so that you can easily clean the glass with a magnetic algae scrubber and also so that large snails can maneuver about easily.

That's good to know, thanks for the advice! I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing and I really appreciate the help.

[Jerad81]

Ok, I just noticed this ended up in the pico reef forum when I was trying to just make a regular aquarium journal. I guess I must have clicked the wrong thing when I made it. Is there any way I can change this or is it stuck in this forum permanently now?

[Ratvan]

5 hours ago, Jerad81 said:

Ok, I just noticed this ended up in the pico reef forum when I was trying to just make a regular aquarium journal. I guess I must have clicked the wrong thing when I made it. Is there any way I can change this or is it stuck in this forum permanently now?

@Christopher Marks can move it for you

 

With glass protection are you going for a bare bottom tank? most people I know place the Rock either directly on the glass or on a piece of eggcrate. If you're going with a sand/substrate base add the rock directly onto the glass and add the sand ontop this should stop sliding and scratching for the glass

[Jerad81]

Since I'm still waiting on the stand, I should have it in about a week or two, I've decided to keep playing around with different aquascape ideas. This is starting to feel like a never-ending battle! I posted some pictures of a few of them so far but I have a feeling there will be more to come in the next couple weeks.

 

 

[Jerad81]

On 1/6/2020 at 4:07 AM, Ratvan said:

@Christopher Marks can move it for you

 

With glass protection are you going for a bare bottom tank? most people I know place the Rock either directly on the glass or on a piece of eggcrate. If you're going with a sand/substrate base add the rock directly onto the glass and add the sand ontop this should stop sliding and scratching for the glass

I've decided not to go with the grip liner. I plan on having sand so hopefully that will be enough. I'm mostly just afraid of scratching the glass from accidentally bumping/shifting it when I'm cleaning or doing something that requires me to stick my hand in the tank. I guess just being so new to the hobby makes me a little overly cautious about things I don't need to be.

[Ratvan]

Really like that bottom one, maybe go for a larger difference in height between the stacks? 

[Jerad81]

1 minute ago, Ratvan said:

Really like that bottom one, maybe go for a larger difference in height between the stacks? 

Yeah, the bottom one is my favorite so far too. I'm going to try to make it a little lower, I think that would look better as well. I'm also going to try shaving off some of the rock on the bottom left. The pic doesn't show it very well but it sticks out a little too close to the front glass.

[banasophia]

Looking good! I really like the first one!!

[Seadragon]

16 minutes ago, Jerad81 said:

I have a feeling there will be more to come in the next couple weeks.

 

It's fun playing around with the rockwork design.  It's like Legos for big kids.  I'm excited to see your future designs as well -- maybe even a design where those 4 rocks are put together in such a way to create one grand arch.  🙂

 

 

[Jerad81]

12 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Looking good! I really like the first one!!

 

10 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

 

It's fun playing around with the rockwork design.  It's like Legos for big kids.  I'm excited to see your future designs as well -- maybe even a design where those 4 rocks are put together in such a way to create one grand arch.  🙂

 

 

Thank you! This is really getting addicting!! I think I could sit here for hours and never get bored with it! I'll probably be back at my lfs to pick up a few more pieces to play with. 🤔🤔

[Jerad81]

Ok, one more and then I'm going to force myself to stop for at least an hour. I really like this one but I feel like it needs another piece on the right to give it a little extra height in the back.

 

Ok, I lied. How about two more first. I tried shifting it a bit but now the left side seems like it needs something extra. I'm really starting to wish I wouldn't have taken all my leftover rock back already lol.

[Seadragon]

I think it's getting better and better!  I'm just waiting for the mega arch -- the design that rules them all.

[Jerad81]

Ok, just a few more and then I'm going to try to settle down for a few days. So far the bottom one has become my favorite. I Also now have a couple larger chunks I'm going to try to break up into more useable pieces so we'll see what happens. 

[Seadragon]

37 minutes ago, Jerad81 said:

Ok, just a few more and then I'm going to try to settle down for a few days. So far the bottom one has become my favorite. I Also now have a couple larger chunks I'm going to try to break up into more useable pieces so we'll see what happens. 

I concur.  Out of those choices, the bottom one looks the coolest with the double peek-a-boo holes.

[Ratvan]

16 hours ago, Jerad81 said:

Ok, just a few more and then I'm going to try to settle down for a few days. So far the bottom one has become my favorite. I Also now have a couple larger chunks I'm going to try to break up into more useable pieces so we'll see what happens. 

Bottom design is very nice, lots of hiding places and space for mounting corals. 

However my favourite is 2nd in this section with the double Bommie?

[Jerad81]

Let the cycling begin!!! I just got it started today (about 20 min ago actually ) I'm using dr. tim's to get the bacteria established and I turned the light off since that's supposed to help. I'm also using live sand but from what I've read about it I'm not sure it will have much of an impact on the cycling process. Either way I'm planning on this taking about 3 - 6 weeks so I can start researching my future fish, corals and inverts again. I have a feeling I'm going to become a true addict since I've already found myself staring at my tank non-stop and I don't even have anything in it yet! I really can't wait to start stocking it!!!

[Ratvan]

Are you entering this into the contest? 

 

 

[Jerad81]

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Are you entering this into the contest? 

 

 

Oh sweet! I actually did not know about the contest! I definitely want to but I don't have a pic of my tank dry with a food condiment inside it. Hopefully he'll still let me enter without that. Thanks for showing me this!! Hopefully you'll see me in the contest in the next few days!

[Jerad81]

After checking on the contest page it looks like I'll be emptying my tank out so I can get the entry pic. I'm going to move everything into buckets so hopefully it won't hurt my cycling process too much.

[Jerad81]

Thank you again @Ratvan for letting me know about the new challenge!!! I just finished entering my tank and started a new journal for it. I probably won't be posting on this one now so if anyone is interested in keeping up with my progress I copied the link to my new journal below.

 

 

[Jerad81]

Sorry I've been MIA for a few months, my tank kept getting overwhelmed by some ugly brown stuff. It looks like I FINALLY managed to get rid of it so I decided to try adding my first corals 😁. Hopefully I have better success with these than I had with my clowns 🤞.

[Jerad81]

I know it's only been about 48 hours since I brought it home but this brown lump on the left is starting to make me a little nervous. Most of the other spots you can see in the previous picture are basically gone but this one keeps getting bigger. Is this something I should worry about or am I just being a little over paranoid since this is one of my first corals? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Jerad81]

I've had my two coral for a week now and so far my ricordia is looking very happy! Unfortunately my candy cane/ trumpet still seems unhappy here 🙁. I tried moving it once to see if I could get it some better flow but that doesn't seem to have mattered. I'm debating moving it again or would I be better off waiting a few more days as it's only been a week? Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!