Irishreefer Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 After a 10 year hiatus from the hobby, I've decided to get salty again. I used to have a 90 reef with mainly sps, 12 pod with softies, and a 75g frag tank. This 5g pico was what i had in my office at work. I haven't had a tank set up since 2010 when I lived in the Pacific Northwest, and now live in Virginia. I had sold all my equipment and large tanks years ago, but kept this 5g pico, rock, and some equipment. It was like opening a time capsule! I did learn that test kits don't last that long! lol I had about 10 brand new never opened sailfert kits, but none were any good haha. I just set this guy up last week, so I'm hoping to be able to add my first addition by the first week of march, depending on the end of the cycle. I go slow, probably too slow for my wife a kids... I've never had a tank with my wife, so i'm not sure she realizes what she agreed to by saying I could set up the tank :D I'm planning on making this mostly softies and maybe an LPS, with two fish max. I decided to start my cycle old school, with a raw shrimp. yes, I know it will take longer, and I'm ok with that My AIO tank is roughly 5 gallons, and has 2 chambers in the back. First chamber will house media like floss and carbon, second chamber has a mj 1200 for the return, heater, and my ATO. The ato is connected to my 5 stage RODI that i put in the garage. You should have seen my wife's face when she saw that the rodi unit was twice the size of the fish tank haha... The rock is mainly tonga. And the sand is from every beach my wife and i have visited together.... mostly Caribbean and florida....i always take a bag of sand as a souvenir, and finally have a way to display it... I'M planning on getting a clown goby and possibly a clownfish, then a small cuc. Im currently in day 6 of my cycle. I started with the good ole raw shrimp. Ive got a nice white bacteria bloom going on. Im peaking ammonia i believe, so right on track. I keep telling my kids and wife that we can possibly get the first livestock in March. Ill try to post pics and updates here as i go. 4 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Very nice little set up, does that tank have a manufacturing name that you are aware of? It's cute. Shame you dont have an image of it empty as you could have joined I dont want to be responsible for someone else emptying and restarting their tank though 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Is that a JBJ 3 gal with the old current T-5 fixture? It looks awesome. If you have a bucket or tub to put every thing in you might consider the contest. Welcome to NR and good luck with your tank. Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 18 hours ago, Ratvan said: Very nice little set up, does that tank have a manufacturing name that you are aware of? It's cute. Shame you dont have an image of it empty as you could have joined I dont want to be responsible for someone else emptying and restarting their tank though Thanks! there are no markings on the tank, and I bought it used 13 years ago and have no recollection of a brand 😞 I seriously thought about drying it out after I read about the contest a couple days ago, but decided to leave it alone and just enjoy for me :) 1 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 14 hours ago, debbeach13 said: Is that a JBJ 3 gal with the old current T-5 fixture? It looks awesome. If you have a bucket or tub to put every thing in you might consider the contest. Welcome to NR and good luck with your tank. Thank you! I'm not sure what brand it is and there are no markings on it, Its probably at least 15 years old..as I bought it used 13 years ago. Lights are CAD lights. Quote Link to comment
Seadragon Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 On 2/2/2020 at 8:45 PM, Irishreefer said: And the sand is from every beach my wife and i have visited together.... mostly Caribbean and florida....i always take a bag of sand as a souvenir, and finally have a way to display it... Welcome to NR! Wow, I'm very touched that you were able to use the sand that you collected as a souvenir from every beach your wife and you visited together. That will make that tank SO SPECIAL for your family! 🙂 I wish I would've thought of that... heck, I might just start a new souvenir tradition in my family now and borrow your idea since I'm planning on a new 33L one day in the future. 😉 For that sand that you collected from all of these beaches, did you rinse it out thoroughly or just leave it as is when adding it to your tank? 1 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 11 hours ago, Seadragon said: Welcome to NR! Wow, I'm very touched that you were able to use the sand that you collected as a souvenir from every beach your wife and you visited together. That will make that tank SO SPECIAL for your family! 🙂 I wish I would've thought of that... heck, I might just start a new souvenir tradition in my family now and borrow your idea since I'm planning on a new 33L one day in the future. 😉 For that sand that you collected from all of these beaches, did you rinse it out thoroughly or just leave it as is when adding it to your tank? Im glad i could inspire a new tradition for you! Ive had these bags of sand just sitting around and never looking at them. Im really glad they are finally put to use. Each time we got home from getting sand, i rinsed it out and let dry before putting it back in the bags.... so i believe it's as clean as its gonna get... the only sand i didn't use was from washington state. When i opened that bag, it smelled like rubber tires, because those beaches are so incredibly polluted. I tossed that bag... 1 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 I slightly changed the rock around... I also finished plumbing and hiding the RODI unit in the garage.... 4 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 So, i have discovered that the tank is in fact a 5g CAD lights aquarium... 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 Day 15. Cycle is still doing its thing. I have discovered that they don't make replacement bulbs for my light fixture anymore, at least not that i can find. Unless anyone has any suggestion on where i can find T5 8w 12inch bulbs....i can only find daylight replacements, not actinics.... 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I was wondering when I saw the fixture. I see if I can find a post not too long ago that I think someone mentioned smaller T5 bulbs in. Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 My kids were really excited to see today's water test results, which they knew meant they can get a fish! 3 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 That is great. So cute! 1 Quote Link to comment
Irishreefer Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 Kids and mom got a fish and 2 snails. I got some SPS 😄 4 Quote Link to comment
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