Logging my reef aquarium build

May 23 2008, 9:01pm

I've been keeping freshwater tanks for a few years now. After quite a bit of research, I've decided to give saltwater a try. My preference is to build a nano reef tank and go from there. I figured I would keep a log of sorts on this blog. So here goes...

I started things out by taking advantage of an old 10 gallon tank I had sitting around collecting dust. Here is what I threw into the tank to get started:

• Culligan RO water from Walmart mixed with CoraLife Salt
• 20 pounds of CaribSea Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand
• Almost 12 pounds of Fiji Live Rock - not a lot of life witnessed so far; nice coralline buildup and a few feather dusters; found a mollusk of some sort that came along for the ride (not sure what it is yet)
• 24 inch Coralife 65W 50/50 lighting
• 50 watt heater (not sure the brand at the moment)
• Small tank hang-on back filter (not sure the brand at the moment)
• MaxiJet 1200 for flow

Water was set up for a day or two. Picture below is after adding the sand bed and live rock. Taken on May 8.

After a few days of settling and rearranging things. Taken on May 12.

After more filtering of the water. Taken on May 15.

I decided to pick up a Biocube, so there will be more to come.

More pics will be added here.