ThirdEyeFish
New Member
Hey fellow reefers!
Well hello, I just started this tank up about three weeks ago. Prior to that I was lurking around the forums gathering as much info as i could to set up a tank for my S.O. which came out great, but after 3 months she wanted to do the switch from saltwater to freshwater due to the cost of the hobby, and her leaving her old job since shes applying for her masters. Knowing that I wanted to get into the hobby I told her to wait for me to get a tank so I could get her live rock and water, which led me to purchasing my tank. I bought it through offer up for 40$ and it was pretty scratched up and had nothing but the tank and stand. I started by sanding it down and polishing it and it came out amazing. It only took me about 6 hours to finish it all up as it was my first time trying to sand anything down. From here I went on and set it up before adding anything in.
So besides my IM 20g IM Nuvo Drop Off Heres what I have.
Kessil A160 light with the controller and gooseneck
Jebao Powerhead ( I will be adding a second one, for the bottom, perhaps an mp10)
Skim Mate Desktop Skimmer
Filter sock (changed out every day) w/Seachem Purigen, Seagel, and their matrix rocks on the bottom of the last section of my sump as well as after the filter sock.
and a spin stream nozzle.
I have return pump in the little rear sump but its to strong for this Nano reef, I had to put a T valve to run it good but, I will be upgrading to a Tunzee soon.
Well soon after setting it up, I went to buy live sand and got 20 gallons of water from my SO's tank and added it all. I started running it as well. After a day I picked up her live rock and set it up quickly how I wanted it and glued it together using JB weld, I let it harden and set in outside as I sprayed salt water over the live rock constantly over the span of an hour until it was set well. It came out great. I let it run another day and let the filtration take over and the sand and everything cleared. This is where the beginners luck comes in. I dont know what it was but, I got a sudden urge and rush to add in the fish and her hermit crabs and snails. So after 2/3 days of running I added the fish. I went under the assumption that the live rock and water came from her tank so it would be perfectly fine.... and well it was. I had a large female Fancy clownfish and a six line wrasse in the tank with a mixture of about 12 snails/hermit crabs. After a week I saw someone selling a small Snowflake Ocellaris and I picked it up for $15 locally, and soon after my Clown fish were happily together. Just this past week I started finding dead hermit crabs every day, until about the third one did I see the Clownfish my SO gave me pecking at them. I immediately decided to give it to my LFS and trade it in for a smaller snowflake to pair better with my other Clown.
My tank has been running for about 3 to 4 weeks and its doing great, I have not done any measurements on PH, alkalinity, phosphates, etc and have been playing it by ear for now. This is bad I know but, I will be buying a test kit this upcoming week. I don't have an ATO system and have been . topping off with Distilled water. I don't know if this is bad but, if it is let me know. The way I do it is every night I check My tank when I'm changing My sock filter and I have marked my water level on the rear sump and when its lower I simply add distilled water until it gets to that exact level of water.
I have been having a small detritus problem on the bottom portion of my drop off tank and I assume this is because of the poor circulation there. I have been cleaning it off and all with a tooth brush that I attached to a small pole. Any tips on how to get rid of it would be nice but, I also know this is common in new tanks. I feed my fish every other day, switching from Frozen mysis to pellets.
My ultimate goal is to run a perfect tank with minimum maintenance, besides changing the filter sock and weekly or bi-weekly water changes. I also want to fill this tank up with corals. I still don't know what kind but, I'm leaning towards mainly LPS corals.
Well other than that I present to you guys my tank.
Let me know of my mistakes as I'm still learning.
Criticism and tips are welcomed
I will be posting better pictures soon, as this is what I have in my iPhone Gallery right now.
Well hello, I just started this tank up about three weeks ago. Prior to that I was lurking around the forums gathering as much info as i could to set up a tank for my S.O. which came out great, but after 3 months she wanted to do the switch from saltwater to freshwater due to the cost of the hobby, and her leaving her old job since shes applying for her masters. Knowing that I wanted to get into the hobby I told her to wait for me to get a tank so I could get her live rock and water, which led me to purchasing my tank. I bought it through offer up for 40$ and it was pretty scratched up and had nothing but the tank and stand. I started by sanding it down and polishing it and it came out amazing. It only took me about 6 hours to finish it all up as it was my first time trying to sand anything down. From here I went on and set it up before adding anything in.
So besides my IM 20g IM Nuvo Drop Off Heres what I have.
Kessil A160 light with the controller and gooseneck
Jebao Powerhead ( I will be adding a second one, for the bottom, perhaps an mp10)
Skim Mate Desktop Skimmer
Filter sock (changed out every day) w/Seachem Purigen, Seagel, and their matrix rocks on the bottom of the last section of my sump as well as after the filter sock.
and a spin stream nozzle.
I have return pump in the little rear sump but its to strong for this Nano reef, I had to put a T valve to run it good but, I will be upgrading to a Tunzee soon.
Well soon after setting it up, I went to buy live sand and got 20 gallons of water from my SO's tank and added it all. I started running it as well. After a day I picked up her live rock and set it up quickly how I wanted it and glued it together using JB weld, I let it harden and set in outside as I sprayed salt water over the live rock constantly over the span of an hour until it was set well. It came out great. I let it run another day and let the filtration take over and the sand and everything cleared. This is where the beginners luck comes in. I dont know what it was but, I got a sudden urge and rush to add in the fish and her hermit crabs and snails. So after 2/3 days of running I added the fish. I went under the assumption that the live rock and water came from her tank so it would be perfectly fine.... and well it was. I had a large female Fancy clownfish and a six line wrasse in the tank with a mixture of about 12 snails/hermit crabs. After a week I saw someone selling a small Snowflake Ocellaris and I picked it up for $15 locally, and soon after my Clown fish were happily together. Just this past week I started finding dead hermit crabs every day, until about the third one did I see the Clownfish my SO gave me pecking at them. I immediately decided to give it to my LFS and trade it in for a smaller snowflake to pair better with my other Clown.
My tank has been running for about 3 to 4 weeks and its doing great, I have not done any measurements on PH, alkalinity, phosphates, etc and have been playing it by ear for now. This is bad I know but, I will be buying a test kit this upcoming week. I don't have an ATO system and have been . topping off with Distilled water. I don't know if this is bad but, if it is let me know. The way I do it is every night I check My tank when I'm changing My sock filter and I have marked my water level on the rear sump and when its lower I simply add distilled water until it gets to that exact level of water.
I have been having a small detritus problem on the bottom portion of my drop off tank and I assume this is because of the poor circulation there. I have been cleaning it off and all with a tooth brush that I attached to a small pole. Any tips on how to get rid of it would be nice but, I also know this is common in new tanks. I feed my fish every other day, switching from Frozen mysis to pellets.
My ultimate goal is to run a perfect tank with minimum maintenance, besides changing the filter sock and weekly or bi-weekly water changes. I also want to fill this tank up with corals. I still don't know what kind but, I'm leaning towards mainly LPS corals.
Well other than that I present to you guys my tank.
Let me know of my mistakes as I'm still learning.
Criticism and tips are welcomed
I will be posting better pictures soon, as this is what I have in my iPhone Gallery right now.
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