Jumping back in... 10g

[Karl]

Wow. It's been a while. I'm surprised my ID was still active!

Getting back into the hobby now that !@$%@#^$ Pablo G. had to go and tell me that he's also a reefer. (We happen to work for the same company)

I still have my 37G Oceanic cube, but it's currently empty. We bought a house a few years ago - before I moved I sold off my stock, so I get to start all over again

No plans to re-do the 37 cube - instead, i'm going to do what I did the first time I started this hobby. Start a nano, get it built up and beautiful and my wife will say, "Wow, I want a huge version of this in the living room," thus opening up the Reef budget

But for now, it's $600 I just sunk into a 10gal.

pic (warning, crapcam iphone pic) at http://www.weckstrom.com/~karl/tank/day1.jpg

I just got a new camera, a Sony NEX-5N - bringing that by to Pablo's this week to get some 1080p60 video of his setup

Glad you guys are still around!

 

[curt]

wow looking at that join date I'd say it's been a long time.
Welcome back. And that sounds like a good plan for a bigger tank.

 

[mnat]

Welcome back, looks like your off to a good start. What equipment do you have on there? I ran a 10g as my first tank.

 

[Karl]

Welcome back, looks like your off to a good start. What equipment do you have on there? I ran a 10g as my first tank.

Marinelife LED lights (wanted the shimmer or I would have done T5's for less money - when I go big, i'll go modular for sure)
I ordered a decent skimmer, that should be here by the end of the week (Tunze Nano)
For water movement, i just got a cheap hangbox for now until I finish researching powerheads (I'll make it a Nanofuge after the fact by downgrading the impeller) - I assume Tunze still makes the best 'heads?
Simple 50w heater
8lb of live rock, another 7 or so baserock
Coralife salt n pepper "live" sand (can live sand still be "live" if it's been sitting on the shelf for months??)

I plan on keeping track of it riiight about here.
Maybe Pablo will be nice enough to give me some frags once this thing's cycled.

Do you folks use that "bacteria in a bottle" stuff? (like Dr. T's?) I'm leery as I'm afraid it's all just snake oil...

-k

 

[mnat]

Tunze still makes one heck of a pump but they have a big foot print. Take a look at a vortech mp10, they are amazing pumps, have almost no foot print in the tank, you can adjust the flow in many different ways, and they have a built in wavemaker so you don't have to go crazy getting different ones. They are pricey, but IMO and many others they are worth every penny.

I have used Dr. Tims several times and I like the product. I used it to reseed tanks after a tank crash and I use it when I moved (twice in the last 2 years) and wanted to make sure the live rock was cycled. The one piece of advice I would pass along with it, once you add the bacteria you want to get fish or inverts in there very quickly. The bacteria feeds off of amonia and if you have nothing supplying ammonia to the tank the bacteria will die off and then you just wasted your money on the bottle.

If you are worried if the sand is live or not, find a local reefer to get some live sand or live rock from to add to your tank. This way you can make it live if you have doubts that it is live.

 

[Gonzapa]

U can take some of my water and sand when u come over

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, it sure has been a while. Welcome back and good luck with the nano.

 

[Karl]

Trying out Dr. Jim's stuff now with a couple of ocellaris clowns. When I got home today I tested the tank and saw 0.75ppm Ammonia, so I dosed with Dr. Jim's and added these two bad boys to keep the Ammonia source going...

So far so good. Will retest tomorrow evening and see how things are progressing

Also - wife was almost as excited as I was to get these little guys in there I think that budget for a larger tank may happen somewhat quickly! lol


-k

 

[Karl]

Where's a good place to get some softies & lps's? I'd love to buy some frags if anyone knows a decent place...

 

[bairdimusprime]

i go to both reefs2reptiles and captivating corals both are great to deal with. i'm also deciding on if should frag my metallic green polys which are growing like wildfire.. if i do you can have some

 

[howze01]

In Bergen your best choice for an LFS is Absolutely Fish. Honestly though, the way I got A LOT of my corals was from other members here. If you're looking for some things in particular post in the want to buy section and see what happens.

 

[deepblue68]

i like your substrate!what mix is it? i also like the center island look of you rock work.welcome back and enjoy the view!