I bought a 60 gallon cube tank last Thursday, it has 4 fish a few corals and a small cuc. The tank has been running for over a year. I had to drive 2 hours with it and with it being my first reef tank i didn't want to feel pressured to speed through the set up process so i got a LFS to hold the fish for me.
I got the tank set up and running for 2 days. Then I went back to the LFS, they kept my fish for free,maybe because i bought a radian XR15. I have the light mounted to the side because it will not fit on the back due to the overflow.
Here is the tank all set up!
Here is the sump, it is a little small for my system. Currently the filter system goes through a filter sock, to a section with Reef Octopus 110 SSS and a group of Micro algae. I plan on upgrading this as my next large project.
I removed 2 large rocks from the tank for 2 reasons, one they had a large amount of a coral i did not want in the tank, old owner referred to it as a weed. Yes i know xenia is a weed to but it looks nice and i have it isolated. Also when I pulled them out they smelled horrible so i figured they would be causing alot of ammonia and die off in the tank. they are in a bucket of salt water currently i was told i should put in tap water and bleach, kill everything off then add it back to my tank?
Here is my tank chemistry for the last 3 days
pH 7.6/7.8/7.8
Ammonia .15/.15/.1
Phosphate .05/.05/.05
Nitrate 5.0/5.0/8.0
Nitrite 0/0/0
KH -/11/11
Calcium 360/320/360
For this i am adding PRIME daily to ensure the fishes help, as well as i was doing 5 gal daily water changes, yesterday i moved up to 10 gal. The zero on nitrite worries me. i understand it will have a short recycle, but i figured it wouldn't be a completely new cycle? Also thinking about picking up a calcium supplement as my calcium has been up and down. Maybe this is due to the salt i am using Instant Ocean Sea salt. is there a better brand i should buy?
Here are my fish.
Mated pair of Snowflake clowns, and the firefish. They all wanted to pose for a photo together, or i was about to feed them.
And here is the Diamond Back Goby.
And time for some corals.
Large Xenia, These have been doing good sense day one.
Group of Palythoas, These didn't open up till yesterday.
Group of Zoanthids, I believe they are starting to split off and grow a few new heads.
another group of zoanthids (i think they are from the same cluster but my girlfriend sees a difference)
Here is the frogspawn frag(my favorite coral so far)
Clean up crew i have 3 blue legged hermit crabs and 2 smaller hermit crabs. and 4 snails. i also found what was identified as a micro brittle starfish
i just ordered these from Reefcleaners.org
25 Dwarf Cerith
7 Assorted Hermits*
9 Nassarius Vibex
9 Florida Cerith
6 Nerite Snail
15 Medium/Larger Empty Hermit Shells
1 Emerald/Ruby Mithrax Crab*
1 Limpets*
1 Fuzzy Chiton*
1 Reef Pods
As for other equipment not mention or showed i have a Refractivity, an RODI unit(with a 40 gallon trashcan, 5 gal bucket flooded and i had to upgrade) Tank controller lite, which is only programed to control the temperature of the water, shutting off heaters and turning on a fan if it gets to hot. An ATO that I don't have running yet because i do not want to overcomplicate the system till i understand everything going on and get it running well.
Things i would like to add or change.
The ATO added in Possibly with Kalkwash.
Upgrade the sump to as large as will fit into my stand. Hopefully upgrading the refugium section.
Adding Ball valves to my Return pump and overflow(to make the sump easier to remove and work on)
Any input or advice moving forward things i am doing right? things you would do differently.(besides nothing good happens fast in this hobby i have heard that a few times )
I got the tank set up and running for 2 days. Then I went back to the LFS, they kept my fish for free,maybe because i bought a radian XR15. I have the light mounted to the side because it will not fit on the back due to the overflow.
Here is the tank all set up!
Here is the sump, it is a little small for my system. Currently the filter system goes through a filter sock, to a section with Reef Octopus 110 SSS and a group of Micro algae. I plan on upgrading this as my next large project.
I removed 2 large rocks from the tank for 2 reasons, one they had a large amount of a coral i did not want in the tank, old owner referred to it as a weed. Yes i know xenia is a weed to but it looks nice and i have it isolated. Also when I pulled them out they smelled horrible so i figured they would be causing alot of ammonia and die off in the tank. they are in a bucket of salt water currently i was told i should put in tap water and bleach, kill everything off then add it back to my tank?
Here is my tank chemistry for the last 3 days
pH 7.6/7.8/7.8
Ammonia .15/.15/.1
Phosphate .05/.05/.05
Nitrate 5.0/5.0/8.0
Nitrite 0/0/0
KH -/11/11
Calcium 360/320/360
For this i am adding PRIME daily to ensure the fishes help, as well as i was doing 5 gal daily water changes, yesterday i moved up to 10 gal. The zero on nitrite worries me. i understand it will have a short recycle, but i figured it wouldn't be a completely new cycle? Also thinking about picking up a calcium supplement as my calcium has been up and down. Maybe this is due to the salt i am using Instant Ocean Sea salt. is there a better brand i should buy?
Here are my fish.
Mated pair of Snowflake clowns, and the firefish. They all wanted to pose for a photo together, or i was about to feed them.
And here is the Diamond Back Goby.
And time for some corals.
Large Xenia, These have been doing good sense day one.
Group of Palythoas, These didn't open up till yesterday.
Group of Zoanthids, I believe they are starting to split off and grow a few new heads.
another group of zoanthids (i think they are from the same cluster but my girlfriend sees a difference)
Here is the frogspawn frag(my favorite coral so far)
Clean up crew i have 3 blue legged hermit crabs and 2 smaller hermit crabs. and 4 snails. i also found what was identified as a micro brittle starfish
i just ordered these from Reefcleaners.org
25 Dwarf Cerith
7 Assorted Hermits*
9 Nassarius Vibex
9 Florida Cerith
6 Nerite Snail
15 Medium/Larger Empty Hermit Shells
1 Emerald/Ruby Mithrax Crab*
1 Limpets*
1 Fuzzy Chiton*
1 Reef Pods
As for other equipment not mention or showed i have a Refractivity, an RODI unit(with a 40 gallon trashcan, 5 gal bucket flooded and i had to upgrade) Tank controller lite, which is only programed to control the temperature of the water, shutting off heaters and turning on a fan if it gets to hot. An ATO that I don't have running yet because i do not want to overcomplicate the system till i understand everything going on and get it running well.
Things i would like to add or change.
The ATO added in Possibly with Kalkwash.
Upgrade the sump to as large as will fit into my stand. Hopefully upgrading the refugium section.
Adding Ball valves to my Return pump and overflow(to make the sump easier to remove and work on)
Any input or advice moving forward things i am doing right? things you would do differently.(besides nothing good happens fast in this hobby i have heard that a few times )