Hi everyone! I am super excited to document my progress. I've been researching for months, buying items a few at a time, and finally started some progress today on my peninsula tank! Starting with fowlr tank before diving into corals. Not sure yet.
- Connected my RODI water filter to our laundry sink and made a few gallons of RODI water. Didn't want to keep it on for a long time but eventually I will feel comfortable doing so.
- Rocks! Started to create my aquascape. I have about 50-60 pounds of marco rock including some foundation pieces. Im using water weld and gorilla glue (green tip) combined to glue pieces together. I initially tried just epoxy alone and also tried just the super glue gel alone. Was not stable enough for me. My goal is to create caves and arches. I had an inspiration photo but I felt it was too complicated for me. So i just broke the rocks with my chisel and hammer..and then played around with the pieces until I liked it.
- AIO drop in kit from Tenecor. I was debating heavily on this. AIO kit, sump, or hob filter. I chose AIO kit since the sump felt too complicated and the hob felt too restricting. So AIO I go! They have one specifically designed for the aqueon tanks! So I got some silicone and put that all together! A little messy, but first time using a caulk gun. Lol my hands were shaky!
Got a lot of next steps:
- Wait for silicone to cure fully
- Make more RODI water
- Continue with aquascape (I feel this will take me many days)
- Buy salt (haha realized i forgot the most important thing in saltwater aquarium! Salt!!)
I am switching from freshwater but I was a simple freshwater person with conditioning tap water then just had my hob filter. My family and I had Koi which stayed alive till I was in college! 20ish years! I missed that so I wanted to start my own journey...with saltwater fish! I'm not too handy and am super intimidated and overwhelmed with all the information out there. I watched the BRS beginner series many times and looked at other builds. Taking what I like and creating my build. Thanks for reading! Hope to have another progress photo soon.
- Connected my RODI water filter to our laundry sink and made a few gallons of RODI water. Didn't want to keep it on for a long time but eventually I will feel comfortable doing so.
- Rocks! Started to create my aquascape. I have about 50-60 pounds of marco rock including some foundation pieces. Im using water weld and gorilla glue (green tip) combined to glue pieces together. I initially tried just epoxy alone and also tried just the super glue gel alone. Was not stable enough for me. My goal is to create caves and arches. I had an inspiration photo but I felt it was too complicated for me. So i just broke the rocks with my chisel and hammer..and then played around with the pieces until I liked it.
- AIO drop in kit from Tenecor. I was debating heavily on this. AIO kit, sump, or hob filter. I chose AIO kit since the sump felt too complicated and the hob felt too restricting. So AIO I go! They have one specifically designed for the aqueon tanks! So I got some silicone and put that all together! A little messy, but first time using a caulk gun. Lol my hands were shaky!
Got a lot of next steps:
- Wait for silicone to cure fully
- Make more RODI water
- Continue with aquascape (I feel this will take me many days)
- Buy salt (haha realized i forgot the most important thing in saltwater aquarium! Salt!!)
I am switching from freshwater but I was a simple freshwater person with conditioning tap water then just had my hob filter. My family and I had Koi which stayed alive till I was in college! 20ish years! I missed that so I wanted to start my own journey...with saltwater fish! I'm not too handy and am super intimidated and overwhelmed with all the information out there. I watched the BRS beginner series many times and looked at other builds. Taking what I like and creating my build. Thanks for reading! Hope to have another progress photo soon.
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