T.Rob's 8g BC. noob tank

[trob]

Ok, I'm an reef virgin so please be patient and gentle.


This is my first tank and why not pick anything more difficult than an 8g nano reef? I've read up on a wealth of knowledge but if anyone can provide any additional guidance along the way, my ears are always open to advice.


My new adventure officially began December 6 with the arrival of my shipment of live rock and inverts. My BioCube tank was a Christmas gift from my beautiful girlfriend and I didn't set it up till December 30. Since then I have been adding a little at a time and I'm going to backdate this post with pictures that should catch me up to date.

[trob]

Water Test:
date - ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, sg, alk, ca
12/07 - no test
12/08 - no test
12/09 - 8.30, 0.5, 2.00, 10
12/10 - 8.30, 0.4, 3.50, 10
12/11 - 8.30, 0.0, 2.50, 10, 1.034
12/12 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.75, 80, 1.030
12/13 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.25, 80, 1.026, Alk 3.37
12/14 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.25, 80, 1.025
12/15 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.25, 80, 1.026
12/16 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.20, 80, 1.026
12/17 - 8.20, 0.0, 0.10, 80, 1.025
12/18 - 8.30, 0.0, 0.00, 80, 1.025
12/19 - 8.30, 0.0, 0.00, 40, 1.025
12/20 - 8.30, 0.0, 0.00, 50, 1.025
12/21 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 50, 1.025
12/22 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 40, 1.025
12/23 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 20, 1.025 * 20% water change
12/24 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 20, 1.025
12/25 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 15, 1.025
12/26 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 10, 1.025
12/27 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 5.0, 1.025
12/28 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 2.5, 1.025
12/29 - 8.40, 0.0, 0.00, 1.0, 1.025
12/30 - 8.30, 0.0, 0.00, 0.5, 1.025 * 30% water change + new tank
01/01 - 8.30, 0.0, 0.00, 0.2, 1.025
01/02 - 8.16*, 0.0, 0.00, 0.1, 1.026, 3.20, Ca 390 *using new Pinpoint pH monitor
01/05 - 8.10, 0.0, 0.00, 0.1, 1.025
01/10 - 7.92, 0.0, 0.05, 2.5, 1.025 * 1 gal. water change
01/15 - 8.12, 0.0, 0.00, 0.1, 1.025, x, Ca 350

[dobejazz]

Welcome to the Build off Trob!

[Tim224DT]

Your tests look good for a new setup



Tim

[trob]

12/5 My first BC8 arrived.
Bad news: The bottom was busted thanks to shipping.
Good news: I don't need it yet.

12/6 Ordered LR, LS, Fuge Kit, and Inverts. Purchased some Rubbermaid containers for my curing process.

12/7 I received my LR, LS, Fuge Kit, and inverts.

I setup a makeshift curing tank using 2 Rubbermaid totes and my girlfriend's unused sump, protein skimmer, and MH light. I'm going to run a fuge in the back chambers of my BioCube so I'm setting up the sump the same way.

Here are some pics of the setup along with my beautiful assistant (daughter).

[Wiskey]

Very cool! Looks like your well on your way to a very nice tank!

Whiskey

[Loverotties]

Looking good!

[tabwyo]

Cute kid... looks like an older version of mine.

BTW... off to a good start.

[trob]

Thanks dobejazz, Tim224DT, Wiskey, Loverotties, and tabwyo.

I'm still backdating this post to catch up but I have most of my pictures together now.

12/22 - Opened tank for freshwater leak test. Tank is featuring a small gift for my girlfriend to go along with her ipod nano.

[trob]

12/30 - I've got it up and running now. I'm glad to be out of the rubbermaid setup I had in the basement, plus it give me something fun to do at work now.

My girflfriend supprised me with a nice piece of hammer coral I've been eyeing at the LFS.

(This pic was taken after things settled a couple days after after the initial setup.)

[trob]

1/4 - I fragged a couple branches from my girlfriends gorgonia along with a small piece of rock with three polyps on it.

[trob]

1/10 - Well I moved my rocks around one last time. I actually ended up taking every single rock out and repositioning them and a few others. I ended up sepending about 2 hours moving rocks around. I wanted to get the rocks up a little higher and also make more room for corals. I also added a few more frags but for now they are just sitting in the bottom of my tank. After they have time to acclimate I will reposition them and get some more pictures.

I'm happy with the setup now.

[trob]

1/11 - Received a couple of sexy shrimp, yellow sea cucumber, and a few frags. Also my girlfriend purchased me the perfect anenome for my tank.

Here are a couple of whole tank pictures.

[trob]

Some closeups.

[trob]

1/20 - I think I'm up to date now. I now adding Kent Marine Nano-Reef Part A & B as a daily supplement to the tank. I've also spent this week trying to get my calcium level up from 340. After dosing calcium daily I've managed to pull it up to 380 now. It's also time for another water change and this time I will be using Reef Crystals, hopefully that will help too.

I've seen rapid growth in the size of the mushrooms this week, the two in the middle are now touching each other. Everything seems to be growing well. I also been feeding the inverts freeze dried plankton, watching the hammer coral feed is really cool.

I'll try to get some new pics on monday.