Bill's Intro to the Reef - 5 Gallon Rimless

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jmay33

Awesome. it'll probably clear up after a water change. What kind of sand did you use?

It's caribsea fiji pink. It's not sugar sand, but it's not super coarse either. Just a nice fine grain sand that suits this tank well. There's dust that collects on the glass, heater, and powerhead that is driving me crazy. I have a small hob palm filter that I planned on using for extra mechanical or chemical filtration. It'll only be used on the tank when needed.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Well... It depends... I have a lot of work I need to do on my house, and over the last year or so the hobby has been taking most of my extra money... Ahh, addiction. I may just get this dialed in, run it for a while. and get some stuff built other than aquariums... In the long run, yes, an upgrade is inevitable... I may throw a budget FOWLR together with a pair of clowns for my wife and kid. They're extremely disappointed they can't have a "nemo" in this tank...

I totally get it. It's hard even with a big tank to not go bigger.

What would a saltwater tank be without a clown (sarcasm). I think if I didn't have a clown in my tank, people wouldn't know if it was fw or sw. Actually some visitors didn't know even with the clown in there

[jmay33]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

It's caribsea fiji pink. It's not sugar sand, but it's not super coarse either. Just a nice fine grain sand that suits this tank well. There's dust that collects on the glass, heater, and powerhead that is driving me crazy. I have a small hob palm filter that I planned on using for extra mechanical or chemical filtration. It'll only be used on the tank when needed.

Eh. The dust will settle and go away. I don't know anything about the caribsea sand so i can't have an opinion. Lol.

Originally Posted by obscurereef

I totally get it. It's hard even with a big tank to not go bigger.

What would a saltwater tank be without a clown (sarcasm). I think if I didn't have a clown in my tank, people wouldn't know if it was fw or sw. Actually some visitors didn't know even with the clown in there

That's the truth! I set up a 100 gallon to cycle yesterday and I already wish it was bigger. Lol.

[Billbug68]

Okay, here's the test results. Keep in mind, I'm testing out Dr. Tim's one and only. I've never believed in the whole bottled bacteria thing, but that's mainly because of people on the forums who have probably never used it... So I figured I'd see for my self. This is three days after dosing the bottled bacteria.

Ph - 7.8
Kh - 11-12?
Ammonia - 2ppm
Nitrite - .5ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm

And here'a some new pics, nothing special, but you can see how I mounted the fan to a shelf above the tank.

[obscurereef]

What test kit are you using?

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

What test kit are you using?

API

I figure my ph is a little low. Test was done right before lights off. Any remedies? Or should I leave it?

Also, Should I pick up some cured live rock rubble to help seed the tank?

[Billbug68]

Anybody? Why would alkalinity be 11-12 and pH 7.8?

[jmay33]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Anybody? Why would alkalinity be 11-12 and pH 7.8?

I wish I knew. I just don't have any knowledge on that. I would say that picking up some rock rubble would be a good thing. Your tank would certainly cycle a little faster.

[obscurereef]

Don't worry about it too much. 7.8 is fine for pH and KH at 11-12 is ideal.

[Billbug68]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

[Billbug68]

I want it...

[jmay33]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

I want it...

Omg. I do too. That would be a serious reef! It isn't too early for an upgrade. lol

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

I want it...

What app is that?

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jmay33

Omg. I do too. That would be a serious reef! It isn't too early for an upgrade. lol

Yeah, that thing would cost me thousands to set up... No thank you.

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

What app is that?

Craigslist mobile

[obscurereef]

It's already happening to you! How much were they selling it for?

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

It's already happening to you! How much were they selling it for?

$400. Honestly I've never thought of doing something as large as that. 8 feet long is ridiculous! But now I can't stop thinking about it... Maybe one day! Must...re tile...house...first...
Ugghhh.

[obscurereef]

*Spit take* That's too expensive to be on craigslist Acrylic is too expensive in general. Retiling? How about moving just so you could find a house to build around your tank! Ultimate reef junkie style

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

*Spit take* That's too expensive to be on craigslist Acrylic is too expensive in general. Retiling? How about moving just so you could find a house to build around your tank! Ultimate reef junkie style

That's pretty much what I'm doing now... gotta lay the floor I want before I start a huge tank though. Moving hundreds of gallons around doesn't sound like fun...

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

That's pretty much what I'm doing now... gotta lay the floor I want before I start a huge tank though. Moving hundreds of gallons around doesn't sound like fun...

No it doesn't sound fun. Even moving 5 gallon buckets isn't fun. Do they have a term for the freshwater crazed hobbyists? Like freshy junkies? Doesn't have the same ring. Sounds like freshman stoners. Oops.