Hello folks, a few of you may know me. I've been a member here now for two years. I've been laying below the radar. At first I perused this website for useful information then for deals on tanks. As a medical student I've had to be very judicious with my use of funds in a typically expensive hobby. I set up my first tank almost two years ago. It was a 10 gallon used tank I bought off craigslist. I bought liverock and lights off of this website and quickly had a small reef setup. It wasn't long before I went through algae breakouts and bristle worms taking over my tank (the liverock I bought was PACKED with them). I soon found myself buying a RO/DI set up and a tunze nano skimmer.
Having learned from my mistakes I set up 20 gallon long the next year. I bought this tank again used, this time from a member on this site and set up an odyssea 4 x 24 t-5 light. The tank has flourished since the get go. My only mistake I made was not cleaning out the tank well when I first bought it. I assumed that the water itself would make the residual gunk easier to clean off. Boy was I wrong and I?ve battled with razor blades and scuff pads every since but have never been able to truly get clean glass. There has been a small atipasia outbreak on one of my favorite live rocks. At first I controlled it by pasting over them with some epoxy I had left over but they?ve broken through. I plan on jumping on the next nudibranch sale or investing in some peppermint shrimp.
Now I?m on to the main event. This week with some x-mas funds I acquired a 34 gallon RSM minus the hood. The tank is in spectacular shape and with help from cardoctor on this site I got it up my stairs and cleaned up real nice. I have 40lbs of pink Fiji sand coming in from Drfostersmith and I?ve purchased a 3 watt x 24 DIY LED that I?ve made some modifications to. This tank will be my magnum opus and as such I?d like to share my endeavor with the rest of the site. I?ve read and learned a lot from this site but as I want this tank to be perfect I?d like to open myself up with any constructive criticism you all might have..
Equipment list:
34 Gallon RSM
3 x 24 watt (12 blue, 12 white) LED module
2 x Korallia nanos
Reefkeeper light basic set up
Tunze nano fans and 150 watt titanium heater for temperature control
Tunze nano skimmer
Live stock (from current tank):
2 Tank raised false percs (two years old)-Crusty and Bozo
1 dashed line blenny ? Link
1 forked tail ? blenny ? Sting
1 Cleaner shrimp ? Scampi
1 6-8 head frogspawn (two years old)
1 ~ 10 head duncan (6 months old)
2 ~ 10 head acans (6 months old)
Orange sponge (3 months old)
Some green star polyps
Pulsing xenia
Assorted zoanthids
~6 atipasia :screama:
I plan on adding a mesh top to the tank and adding an additional fish, probably a small wrasse. All the coral I have I?ve grown out from very small frags (usually the 15 dollar tank at MA) or have acquired throughout this site and I plan on going on a shopping spree again sometime this spring. I thank you all in advance for your interest and comments.
In order below: my current 20 gal, My new 34 RSM and my new lighting set up
Having learned from my mistakes I set up 20 gallon long the next year. I bought this tank again used, this time from a member on this site and set up an odyssea 4 x 24 t-5 light. The tank has flourished since the get go. My only mistake I made was not cleaning out the tank well when I first bought it. I assumed that the water itself would make the residual gunk easier to clean off. Boy was I wrong and I?ve battled with razor blades and scuff pads every since but have never been able to truly get clean glass. There has been a small atipasia outbreak on one of my favorite live rocks. At first I controlled it by pasting over them with some epoxy I had left over but they?ve broken through. I plan on jumping on the next nudibranch sale or investing in some peppermint shrimp.
Now I?m on to the main event. This week with some x-mas funds I acquired a 34 gallon RSM minus the hood. The tank is in spectacular shape and with help from cardoctor on this site I got it up my stairs and cleaned up real nice. I have 40lbs of pink Fiji sand coming in from Drfostersmith and I?ve purchased a 3 watt x 24 DIY LED that I?ve made some modifications to. This tank will be my magnum opus and as such I?d like to share my endeavor with the rest of the site. I?ve read and learned a lot from this site but as I want this tank to be perfect I?d like to open myself up with any constructive criticism you all might have..
Equipment list:
34 Gallon RSM
3 x 24 watt (12 blue, 12 white) LED module
2 x Korallia nanos
Reefkeeper light basic set up
Tunze nano fans and 150 watt titanium heater for temperature control
Tunze nano skimmer
Live stock (from current tank):
2 Tank raised false percs (two years old)-Crusty and Bozo
1 dashed line blenny ? Link
1 forked tail ? blenny ? Sting
1 Cleaner shrimp ? Scampi
1 6-8 head frogspawn (two years old)
1 ~ 10 head duncan (6 months old)
2 ~ 10 head acans (6 months old)
Orange sponge (3 months old)
Some green star polyps
Pulsing xenia
Assorted zoanthids
~6 atipasia :screama:
I plan on adding a mesh top to the tank and adding an additional fish, probably a small wrasse. All the coral I have I?ve grown out from very small frags (usually the 15 dollar tank at MA) or have acquired throughout this site and I plan on going on a shopping spree again sometime this spring. I thank you all in advance for your interest and comments.
In order below: my current 20 gal, My new 34 RSM and my new lighting set up
