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Cultivated Reef

Rascal the cat’s 5 gallon 365 day AIO Challenge


Lorenz725

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got my ATO set up. Had to cut into the AIO kid to hide the float. Still working on hiding cords and cleaning up the area. The tank is going through it’s ugly stage but it has cycled. I adds some snails but holding off on any coral or livestock till thing quite down. Still need to find a upgraded light for the tank. 
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^nice! ATO are IMHO the best piece of gear that is great I would never get up a tank with out one. even more so for smaller tanks.

I dig that scape! gonna be fun to watch it fill in over the next few months!

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9 hours ago, devaji108 said:

^nice! ATO are IMHO the best piece of gear that is great I would never get up a tank with out one. even more so for smaller tanks.

I dig that scape! gonna be fun to watch it fill in over the next few months!

Yeah I agree to be able to keep things stable got to have an ATO. I am still not 100% sure what direction I am going to go. Maybe different shroms, or zoa’s. My other tanks are mostly LPS with some SPS so might keep this one softies. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Big update I finally found a light for this set up. Went with a AI prime HD. Going to have it barrow my buddy’s PAR meter to see what settings I need. Still no corals or fish. A ton of pods and a few snails. 

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you will love the AI prime. if light spill is an issue for you. get the 3D reefing light diffuser  one of the best things I bought in a long time. 

 

so many schedules for the prime its crazy I did not even play around with it to be honest just went for the BRS AB+ with lowered levels for the nano.  

have fun with the tank and stay healthy! 

 

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1 hour ago, devaji108 said:

you will love the AI prime. if light spill is an issue for you. get the 3D reefing light diffuser  one of the best things I bought in a long time. 

 

so many schedules for the prime its crazy I did not even play around with it to be honest just went for the BRS AB+ with lowered levels for the nano.  

have fun with the tank and stay healthy! 

 

Thanks for the info. I will look into the diffuser the spilling does not bother me to much as of yet. So far I like the light a lot and look forward to seeing what it can do.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a very slow build but I did get my first coral in the tank. I also added sand to the bottom and change my rock scape a bit. Anyone know a good preset schedule for the AI Prime HD on a 5 gallon tank for softies? 
 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

It’s been a crazy busy month for me. I have not had a chance to spend much time on the tank. I still be doing biweekly 20% water changes but that is about it. I have been looking for a fish to add my all the LFS have been low ok livestock due to Covid. 
 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Not much to update have not added anything. Moved some corals around a bit when I did my last water change. My local club is having a swap next week so hope to find some new stuff to add. 
 

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  • 1 month later...

I have added some more frags! Seems Like trading has picked up in my area. I added a birdsnest and a small frag of Homewrecker sps. I also added a 6 line wrasse to help won’t flatworms. It is not a long term stay he will to my bigger tank but for now seems to be loving having a tank to himself. Last pic is Rascal checking out his new fish. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well as I come to almost a year with this tank I am very happy how it has come alone. Like a lot is people this last year has been crazy. For me work took up even more of what little free time I have. I wish I could have done more updates then the monthly but I think most can see the progress of this tank. 
 

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it is nice being able to see it through the tank. It’s been a very very slow going tank witch has made it more fun. For me I really enjoying the hunt of finding corals. 
 

 

 

Well as I come to almost a year with this tank I am very happy how it has come alone. Like a lot is people this last year has been crazy. For me work took up even more of what little free time I have. I wish I could have done more updates then the monthly but I think most can see the progress of this tank. 
 

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  • 1 month later...

Well here it is the last post for the 365 day challenge! There were some up and downs with this tank like I am sure a lot of others had to deal with covid.
 

Theme: 

The theme of my tank is low cost. The only reason why I was able to join this challenge was because I won a 5 gallon tank from a LFS drawing. I already had a JBJ ATO from a tank I had set up years ago. I started off with the cheap stock LED light  it came with. I ended up trading a coral from one of my other tanks for a AI prime. The dry rock I had along with the sand and I kept the stock pump. The only out of pocket money I spent on this tank was for a heater and the biweekly 50% water changes. Every coral in the tank was either given to me or I traded corals from my other tank. 
 

Aquascape: 

I did not go crazy with this one. I used dry rock I had so I was limited on design. I do really like the doughnut rock with the perfect hole In the middle. I really want to add a fish but it’s been slim pickings at my LFS with covid. 
 

DIY: 

I did not have to do a lot of DIY to this tank. I did modify the chamber to fit the flat heater and cut a hole for the ATO. I would love to add a controller so I can be more on top of things going on with the tank. 
 

Overall: 

This tank has been a blast it is the longest I have had a tank this small set up. I plan to keep it going and letting the corals grow out. I have always loved pulsing xenia coral but was scared it would over take my bigger tanks. I really took my time with this tank letting it cycle and adding one coral at a time. I don’t feed the tank but I do add 1ml a day of All-for-reef and do a 50% biweekly water change. I have been fighting flat warms for months now and can’t seem to get rid of them. Thank you for putting on this contest I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun!  

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growsomething

I hadn't seen your tank before today.  Same boat here, I've been waiting for tsb's to appear for sale again and am just waiting with inverts, etc for livestock. 

I haven't worried about my flatworms as I figured they would be great fishfood, and they haven't bothered anything.  Are yours the clear/white ones that look like this little Casper the ghost silhouette or something different?

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Mine are the red planaria flatwarms. They don’t really bother anything they do hang out on my shrooms but I am not at the

point it so smothering them. I am waiting for my LFS to get a small 6 line in. 

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