tehpineapple
06/11/2015, 07:28 PM
Greetings all!
About a month after diving in to the hobby I feel like my head is swimming (pun most definitely intended). I wanted to share my progress and see what others think.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70148
The journey began on 5/9 when I decided on where to position my "new" (to me) tank. I put the tank where I wanted it (aka: where the wife allowed me to put it) and hit up Google.
I searched "saltwater tank help" and clicked the first link I found: Reef Central Online Community. After what seemed like months of research (9 days) I when to my LFS (look at me using the lingo!) and picked up some salt and sand. Heading home I realized I needed some RO/DI water so I stopped at Petsmart where I was told to just use tap water and some dechlorinator and it'll be fine. The guy sweeping up the spilled dog food seemed to know what he was talking about... so I got a bottle and headed home.
Once home I added my salt and filled the tank about 2/3 of warm tap water. Once it was dissolved I added my sand and topped off the water. Once the dust settled I added my heater and started up the filter and lights. I was excited!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=69780
The next day I headed back to my LFS and purchased a small amount of live rock and one "large" piece of dry rock. I had these great ideas of how my tank would look with my rocks and how my fish would love it. I was so excited! I rushed home, rinsed off my dry rock with my magical tap water and placed it so perfectly into my tank just as I had imagined it. Once I had the perfect position I added my two three pieces of live rock and waited for the dust to settle.
Needless to say, I was not impressed...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=69781
The next day I inherited a tank which I was told was a 50g tank with live rock and live sand. It was free so I took it. It was covered in algae (not the good kind) and everything was dead in it. Apparently they just moved it outside and left everything in it to die. I found dead sails, hermit crabs and what I can only assume are the decayed remains of whatever fish they had. I removed the fake plants, ditched the sand (I've found expired milk that smelled better than it) and extensively cleaned the rocks that were in it.
It was then I decided I would make the "50 gallon" my side project and focus on my first tank so I used the (now clean) rocks from the big tank and made a display that I truly was happy with.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70149
About a week later I experienced my diatom "infestation" so I decided to introduce my CUC. I started with 5 hermits. They were good for the rocks but the glass was disgusting. The next day I picked up 2 turbos, 3 ceriths and an astrea. The guy at Petco tells me "Snails don't need to be acclimated" so I just dropped them in. They all just sat there, not moving. They attached to their rocks but showed no life. About 72 hours later they finally started their movement. A few days later I purchased 2 more turbos, 2 trochus and 2 spiney star snails. This time I acclimated them correctly over about 4 hours. They all did wonderful. The trouchus are my favorites!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70147
The above picture was taken about 5 days ago. Since then I have added a watchman goby (very skittish) and an emerald crab.
I know I rushed a lot of things but all of my levels are good and I check them every other day.
I'm happy to report I haven't lost any life and they all seem very happy!
Comments and advice welcomed and appreciated!
About a month after diving in to the hobby I feel like my head is swimming (pun most definitely intended). I wanted to share my progress and see what others think.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70148
The journey began on 5/9 when I decided on where to position my "new" (to me) tank. I put the tank where I wanted it (aka: where the wife allowed me to put it) and hit up Google.
I searched "saltwater tank help" and clicked the first link I found: Reef Central Online Community. After what seemed like months of research (9 days) I when to my LFS (look at me using the lingo!) and picked up some salt and sand. Heading home I realized I needed some RO/DI water so I stopped at Petsmart where I was told to just use tap water and some dechlorinator and it'll be fine. The guy sweeping up the spilled dog food seemed to know what he was talking about... so I got a bottle and headed home.
Once home I added my salt and filled the tank about 2/3 of warm tap water. Once it was dissolved I added my sand and topped off the water. Once the dust settled I added my heater and started up the filter and lights. I was excited!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=69780
The next day I headed back to my LFS and purchased a small amount of live rock and one "large" piece of dry rock. I had these great ideas of how my tank would look with my rocks and how my fish would love it. I was so excited! I rushed home, rinsed off my dry rock with my magical tap water and placed it so perfectly into my tank just as I had imagined it. Once I had the perfect position I added my two three pieces of live rock and waited for the dust to settle.
Needless to say, I was not impressed...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=69781
The next day I inherited a tank which I was told was a 50g tank with live rock and live sand. It was free so I took it. It was covered in algae (not the good kind) and everything was dead in it. Apparently they just moved it outside and left everything in it to die. I found dead sails, hermit crabs and what I can only assume are the decayed remains of whatever fish they had. I removed the fake plants, ditched the sand (I've found expired milk that smelled better than it) and extensively cleaned the rocks that were in it.
It was then I decided I would make the "50 gallon" my side project and focus on my first tank so I used the (now clean) rocks from the big tank and made a display that I truly was happy with.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70149
About a week later I experienced my diatom "infestation" so I decided to introduce my CUC. I started with 5 hermits. They were good for the rocks but the glass was disgusting. The next day I picked up 2 turbos, 3 ceriths and an astrea. The guy at Petco tells me "Snails don't need to be acclimated" so I just dropped them in. They all just sat there, not moving. They attached to their rocks but showed no life. About 72 hours later they finally started their movement. A few days later I purchased 2 more turbos, 2 trochus and 2 spiney star snails. This time I acclimated them correctly over about 4 hours. They all did wonderful. The trouchus are my favorites!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10071&pictureid=70147
The above picture was taken about 5 days ago. Since then I have added a watchman goby (very skittish) and an emerald crab.
I know I rushed a lot of things but all of my levels are good and I check them every other day.
I'm happy to report I haven't lost any life and they all seem very happy!
Comments and advice welcomed and appreciated!