PandorasChalk
Active Member
(As of October 12th, 2021 on Week 9)
(Updated October 22nd 2021)
Quick Tank Equipment/Hardscape Facts:
- 10 Week Old Tank as of 10/19/21
- 14 Gallon Aqueon Frameless Tank with a random Marineland Stand
- Tidal 30 HOB with an Aqueon 100 watt heater
- Ai 3 Nero Powerhead
- Hipargeo 30w light
- Rock is Carbisea Liferock with Carbisea Live Sand
Stocking - Fish/Inverts
- 2 Wyoming White Clownfish
- 1 Banggai Cardinal
- 3 Trocha Snails
- 1 Nassarius Snail
- 1 Cerith Snail
Corals
- 1 Frag of Brown Warlock Zoas (Added October 11th 2021)
- 1 (very small) frag of Pulsing White Pom Xenia (Added October 8th 2021)
- 1 Small Torch (Added October 11th 2021)
- 1 Fungia Plate Coral (I think?) (Added October 11th 2021)
- 1 Frag of No Idea (White and Green) (Added October 18th, 2021)
- 1 Frag of No Idea (Red with Yellow mouth) (Added October 18th, 2021)
Weeks 0 - 9
Planning and Equipment Months (July - August)
My first weeks were getting the equipment together and waiting for an RO system to arrive. Our local tap water is absolute trash, TDS of 300+. I barely use it for my freshwater setups and there was no way I was going introduce this bile into a saltwater setup. During this time I had been binge watching Youtube videos, reading articles, and absorbing any information I could find on saltwater. Initially it was daunting, but as more equipment started to come in and my research broadened, I realized that I could relax a bit. With my shrimp tanks and the axolotl tank, my wife and I are very on the ball on testing. We test them once a week, and we have equipment in place for water changes. I simply bought salt only equipment (buckets, pump, hose, tools, droppers, etc) to handle anything this little tank would need.
The biggest hurdle was with the rock itself, and what to trust. Many guides said to start with simple dry rock, with Carbisea touted as a good starter if you wanted that purple look out of the gate. A few suggested live rock, but had extra steps to make it safe. One thing keeping freshwater tanks over the years has taught me is some items are exaggerated to the extreme when it comes to advice on perils you can face. I was going to start with live rock, but after seeing prices at local stores I went with the more reasonably priced Carbisea liferock instead.
My light is a Hipargeo 30w LED I bought off of Amazon, suggested by someone at a LFS for a good starting light. I went ahead and spent the dollars on an Ai Nero 3 pump, since the tank is so small I wanted something I could adjust, and carry with me to bigger tanks in the future.
For HOB I originally started with a spare Aquabox 20 I had, but quickly moved to a Tidal 30 when the Aquabox was showing many of the things I had come to hate about it in the past such as a not self priming pump.
Getting the tank setup! (August)
I spent over 3 hours placing rock and trying to decide how I wanted it to sit. Originally I almost said screw it and bought some marco rock and tried for something fancy with fiberglass poles and using a drill, but I figured I would save such grand designs for a bigger tank down the road if I enjoyed the smaller tank. What I ended up with I enjoy, but I find myself questioning some aspects of the rock work in regards to flow.
(3 Days after initial fill, pair of Wyoming White Clownfish floating).
I used Turbostart to jump start the tank, and after a few days introduced the first members of the crew: my two Wyoming White Clownfish. They took to the tank immediately and were very active. From here on out I started a spread sheet and checked water parameters every other day, slowly down to twice a week which is what I do now.
(They had some pecking matches the first few weeks, hince the damaged fins)
Seeing issues on the horizon - Water changes
I realized immediately that I was woefully under prepared for water changes. With generating RODI water, mixing salt, and getting it to temp, I had no good buckets to do this at a volume for this tank. I went out and purchased a second heater, and a better bucket with a lid. Now I keep pre-mixed water sealed on hand, and when it is time for a water change I stir it, let it get to temp, and test it for gravity. This has helped tremendously!
Adding some inverts, letting things play out, learning what I like and dislike about my equipment (September)
September was the month of letting things ride and monitoring the cycle. It was also the first real set of time I started using a light timer and playing with this light. I have come to find that I dislike this light. I plan on replacing it soon, but the +/- button system is cumbersome, and I feel the light has a poor range on the sides of the tank. This is also the month that I replaced the Aquabox with a Tidal 30, which actually helped to increase O2 saturation I am fairly sure and cut ambient noise down to nothing.
By the middle of September I had come to find that I was seeing fish poop and the random uneaten pellet on the sand bed. I went to the local pet store and purchased a blue legged hermit crab who came with several shells that it loves to drag around the aquarium randomly. It's been a heck of a worker, and shortly after the crab's arrival I started getting diatoms and algae. Following the hermit, 3 Trocha snails were added who have been monsters in keeping these rocks clean.
(Blue Legged Hermit hamming it up and the lone surviving Banggai)
First Fish Death, Adding Corals (October)
My first coral arrived from LiveAquaria on October 8th, and I was in for my first test. Corals had made me a bit nervous, when you read about them you get a mix of "even the hardiest of coral will DIE if you LOOK at it funny on a FULL MOON" and others talk about the same corals being Terminator levels of durable. After research, I decided to go with Pulsing Xenia because I'm a madlad who invites the danger of a tank being overrun.
So imagine my shock when I open the box and see the frag broke in half off the plug, and the coral in two pieces floating in the bag. The overall frag if in one piece was already tiny, but now it was two super tiny pieces. One was jammed in the corner of the bag pinched in the plastic. The other was still on a piece of the frag plug, but upside down and smashed down by the rest of the frag debris in the opposite corner pinched. I calmed myself and started acclimation. I used coral glue to glue the pieces to two small hunks of liferock to give them their own islands, and set them up high. Both were completely bleach white, and one was smashed in. It took several days but one has finally colored up a bit and started to open and pulse, but the other is still slowly stretching out but no pulsing yet.
On October 10th, 2021 I woke up and went to do my morning check on the tank. I was only able to account for one Banggai. I knew there was no way it could of jumped out as I have a glass lid. I looked high and low, until I seen stuck to the bottom of the Ai Nero's intake his body. I removed it and it was dead, probably stuck there for most of the night. I did a 50% water change just to be safe and disposed of it.
On October 11th, I went to the local fish store and picked up several corals for my tank. I am drawn towards zoas and torches, and I grabbed one of each. A plate coral they had really stuck out to me as well, a small orange plate with hints of green at the base of each tentacle. All three have opened up and have been doing well in the 48 hours I have had them as of this writing. I am still a bit confused on the plate coral, as I am not certain how a 'happy' plate should look. I am sure this is overreacting on my part though.
Future Tank Plans - Coral and Light
This Friday (October 15th) I am wanting to go pick up a few other corals from the local store. I was going to get them all at once but decided to stay my hand in case I came home and these perished overnight.
I am looking into buying a better light. I have my eyes set on an Ai Prime. I want something I can easily adjust and get better feedback from the unit. This light is okay, it works and corals seem happy, but I can tell that later down the road I am going to really feel the pains of this thing. It will be a good backup light in any case.
Concerns and Questions
Right now my concerns are with my coral. My plate coral in particular has me a bit... perplexed? The gentleman at the store was very helpful, but I am unsure what a healthy plate coral should look like. This one has tentacles up, and the little bubble thing is up. I have yet to see it puff up, and it has yet to move around. The tentacles go down when lights go out, so I am taking this as a good sign. I am also concerned with my torch in if the placement is decent. Right now it is as substrate level, on frag plug still getting low to moderate flow and moderate light. It has branched out some, about as big as it was at the store and gets movement. I wonder if this is a poor long term location? I also want to try to allow my zoa to expand off the frag towards the rock, the lip of the cave. I think I may need to move the frag.
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I had read blue leg generally won't go after them, but he was clearly hacking away at the base of the zoa polyp.
