Hello,
I joined this forum to start to do research on reef aquariums before I jump in.
I have never owned an aquarium before. My fiancé and I moved in together in January and after a couple months we decided we wanted some fish. We wanted to get a reef tank but my problem is I work away for 28 days and then home for 14 days and repeat. So we need to start with something easy and slowly buy the reefing gear over time before we buy a nice big second tank. This way my fiancé can kind of learn the ins and outs and handle what she needs to while I’m out of town and I can do the bulk of the work on my 2 weeks off.
We bought an all in one 5 gallon and got a couple glofish from Petco. After it was running for a bit I upgraded to a 20 gallon. I fully planted and once it was set up we moved the fish over. Once it was planted and running I noticed the raised countertop would fit a 55 gallon tall perfectly. I couldn’t resist!! So my next set of days off we upgraded again!! A little stressful for the fish I suppose but they did…..ok…… More on that later. We used all the water from the 20gal and 5g jugs of drinking water to top it off as well as live sand and cycled media. This tank also has substrate on the base layer with fertilizer and capped by sand so it stays in the substrate. I credit this setup to @MDFishTanks on YouTube.
The best thing about this tank is the placement!!! I can lay on the little love seat and stare directly at the tank from one side and while I’m doing dishes or cooking I can watch them from the other side. I can also use my FX4 canister filter to drain 75% of the tank in like, 2 minutes, straight down the sink. My fiancé just uses the siphon when I’m at work because she’s afraid of running the valves wrong and cratering the filter. (She has been an absolute trooper and did daily testing and water changes until the tank was fully cycled). The tank is also like 10 feet from my bathroom for my future RO/DI plans. Since I’m in an apartment I can’t just install it under the sink and tie into the cold water line.
Unfortunately just as I got the tank set up it was time to go back to work. So my poor fiancé was stuck at home dealing with the nitrogen cycle and doing water changes almost daily until the new canister filter had some beneficial bacteria.
Fresh tanks are a little easier to manage and there was quite a bit of information on the web and YouTube stating you could dose the full tank volume with Prime first and put tap water directly in the tank. This would have probably been ok except we have high chloramines in the Pittsburgh area. So we did end up losing a Nerite snail and a couple neon tetras. Algae is currently getting out of hand so I’ve dialed the light waaaay back and 50% intensity when it is on.
We’ve ordered a BRS 7 stage RO/DI system and doing water changes with 5g drinking water jugs until it shows up. Chloramines and a TDS of 375 is the main reason for going 7 stage.
Not sure what is going on but that white rock that looks like quartz melted. I took it out and it’s about half the size as when I put it in. Most likely contributing to TDS.
Our current setup is:
Fish
- 8 neon tetras (lost 3)
- 3 peppered corydoras
- 4 danio glofish, yellow, blue, pink, purple
- 3 tetra glofish, yellow, blue, purple
- 1 long fin tetra glofish, pink
- 5 painted glass tetras (didn’t realize these were injected until 5 minutes after we bought them)
- 3 oto catfish (lost 1)
- nerite snail (lost 2)
Most of the lost fish I attribute to Petco/Petsmart buys because a couple have died in the bag and have since switched to a local shop AquaWorld Pet Super Center. The fish are twice the size and colors are more vibrant. However, I know the chloramines weren’t fully removed by dosing Prime because I just got some Hanna free and total chlorine testers and I have 1ppm chloramine in the tank. So this is also likely my fault as well.
Equipment
-TopFin 55gal tall tank
-Fluval FX4 canister, spray bar add on (with red baskets removed, Biomaster Ultimate in both trays as well as the old cycled media, coarse and medium foam to replace the coarse white foam and a polishing pad on top of the bio). Currently waiting on FX4 rimmed tank sleeves to change out the clips and dual sponge intake pre-filter so we can add some shrimp.
-Fluval Plant 3.0 48” light bar
-Dual TopFin
-TopFin silentstream 75 with 75% charcoal and 25% Purigen.
Planned upgrades:
-BRS 7 stage PRO Plus 150 GPD Water Saver RO/DI (with 32gal Brute reservoir) will live in my spare bathroom bathtub since I’m in a rental apartment. Will T the feed line in just before the shower head. This way if there is ever a failure or spill it all goes directly down the tub drain. As long as I don’t forget to use cold water only I shouldn’t cook my filters and media. I plan to put 2 1/4 turn valves. 1 for the shower head and 1 for the feed line. Would be great if I could find a 3 way but I’m not sure I will get that lucky for that size.
-Aqua Gadget 5 gallon hydrofill reservoir (fits perfectly in the cupboard beside my sink below my fish tank) for planned auto top offs. The ability to leave it in place and open the drawer on top seems like it should work pretty good for my space in an unusual location.
-Eshopps PF-1000 HOB Overflow (This will hang over top of my sink and flow directly into the sink.
-AutoAqua Smart Auto Water Changer Duo for water top ups (for now until I can get a big enough reservoir nearby to do water changes.)
-Poth-O-Carry Versa Slim - Adjustable height aquarium planter for tight spaces. Will put on the backside of the aquarium to add surface plants with the roots in the water to help take out impurities. Maybe try some herbs and veggies since it’s already in the kitchen!!
-Python and Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump combo. To get the RO/DI water from the Brute to the tank and auto top off reservoir quickly and efficiently.
I joined this forum to start to do research on reef aquariums before I jump in.
I have never owned an aquarium before. My fiancé and I moved in together in January and after a couple months we decided we wanted some fish. We wanted to get a reef tank but my problem is I work away for 28 days and then home for 14 days and repeat. So we need to start with something easy and slowly buy the reefing gear over time before we buy a nice big second tank. This way my fiancé can kind of learn the ins and outs and handle what she needs to while I’m out of town and I can do the bulk of the work on my 2 weeks off.
We bought an all in one 5 gallon and got a couple glofish from Petco. After it was running for a bit I upgraded to a 20 gallon. I fully planted and once it was set up we moved the fish over. Once it was planted and running I noticed the raised countertop would fit a 55 gallon tall perfectly. I couldn’t resist!! So my next set of days off we upgraded again!! A little stressful for the fish I suppose but they did…..ok…… More on that later. We used all the water from the 20gal and 5g jugs of drinking water to top it off as well as live sand and cycled media. This tank also has substrate on the base layer with fertilizer and capped by sand so it stays in the substrate. I credit this setup to @MDFishTanks on YouTube.
The best thing about this tank is the placement!!! I can lay on the little love seat and stare directly at the tank from one side and while I’m doing dishes or cooking I can watch them from the other side. I can also use my FX4 canister filter to drain 75% of the tank in like, 2 minutes, straight down the sink. My fiancé just uses the siphon when I’m at work because she’s afraid of running the valves wrong and cratering the filter. (She has been an absolute trooper and did daily testing and water changes until the tank was fully cycled). The tank is also like 10 feet from my bathroom for my future RO/DI plans. Since I’m in an apartment I can’t just install it under the sink and tie into the cold water line.
Unfortunately just as I got the tank set up it was time to go back to work. So my poor fiancé was stuck at home dealing with the nitrogen cycle and doing water changes almost daily until the new canister filter had some beneficial bacteria.
Fresh tanks are a little easier to manage and there was quite a bit of information on the web and YouTube stating you could dose the full tank volume with Prime first and put tap water directly in the tank. This would have probably been ok except we have high chloramines in the Pittsburgh area. So we did end up losing a Nerite snail and a couple neon tetras. Algae is currently getting out of hand so I’ve dialed the light waaaay back and 50% intensity when it is on.
We’ve ordered a BRS 7 stage RO/DI system and doing water changes with 5g drinking water jugs until it shows up. Chloramines and a TDS of 375 is the main reason for going 7 stage.
Not sure what is going on but that white rock that looks like quartz melted. I took it out and it’s about half the size as when I put it in. Most likely contributing to TDS.
Our current setup is:
Fish
- 8 neon tetras (lost 3)
- 3 peppered corydoras
- 4 danio glofish, yellow, blue, pink, purple
- 3 tetra glofish, yellow, blue, purple
- 1 long fin tetra glofish, pink
- 5 painted glass tetras (didn’t realize these were injected until 5 minutes after we bought them)
- 3 oto catfish (lost 1)
- nerite snail (lost 2)
Most of the lost fish I attribute to Petco/Petsmart buys because a couple have died in the bag and have since switched to a local shop AquaWorld Pet Super Center. The fish are twice the size and colors are more vibrant. However, I know the chloramines weren’t fully removed by dosing Prime because I just got some Hanna free and total chlorine testers and I have 1ppm chloramine in the tank. So this is also likely my fault as well.
Equipment
-TopFin 55gal tall tank
-Fluval FX4 canister, spray bar add on (with red baskets removed, Biomaster Ultimate in both trays as well as the old cycled media, coarse and medium foam to replace the coarse white foam and a polishing pad on top of the bio). Currently waiting on FX4 rimmed tank sleeves to change out the clips and dual sponge intake pre-filter so we can add some shrimp.
-Fluval Plant 3.0 48” light bar
-Dual TopFin
-TopFin silentstream 75 with 75% charcoal and 25% Purigen.
Planned upgrades:
-BRS 7 stage PRO Plus 150 GPD Water Saver RO/DI (with 32gal Brute reservoir) will live in my spare bathroom bathtub since I’m in a rental apartment. Will T the feed line in just before the shower head. This way if there is ever a failure or spill it all goes directly down the tub drain. As long as I don’t forget to use cold water only I shouldn’t cook my filters and media. I plan to put 2 1/4 turn valves. 1 for the shower head and 1 for the feed line. Would be great if I could find a 3 way but I’m not sure I will get that lucky for that size.
-Aqua Gadget 5 gallon hydrofill reservoir (fits perfectly in the cupboard beside my sink below my fish tank) for planned auto top offs. The ability to leave it in place and open the drawer on top seems like it should work pretty good for my space in an unusual location.
-Eshopps PF-1000 HOB Overflow (This will hang over top of my sink and flow directly into the sink.
-AutoAqua Smart Auto Water Changer Duo for water top ups (for now until I can get a big enough reservoir nearby to do water changes.)
-Poth-O-Carry Versa Slim - Adjustable height aquarium planter for tight spaces. Will put on the backside of the aquarium to add surface plants with the roots in the water to help take out impurities. Maybe try some herbs and veggies since it’s already in the kitchen!!
-Python and Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump combo. To get the RO/DI water from the Brute to the tank and auto top off reservoir quickly and efficiently.
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