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NewB with 28g nano Cube HQI

danthemanj

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
The cycle will be short. The Rock is all live and was out of the water for about 30 minutes but the live sand will still cycle.....
 
Dan's gonna swing by this week I believe. We will test the tank and see where we stand. David, thanks so much! Everything looks awesome, we'll have to meet up in person. I have been turning on the hqi for about an hour a day until we get to stocking. My daughter and I sit on the knee wall just starring into the water. Haven't seen too much moving, but run down with the flashlight at night to see if I catch anything. I know, its lame, but I think we are both equally as excited. I already started figuring out where to put a larger tank in my basement plan. Dan's right, the wife is gonna kill me.

Is it healthier to stock coral/SPS before stocking fish/invertebrates? I know whatever goes in, has to be done slowly as ammonia and nitrate will jump until the system can adjust to the new addition.
 

danthemanj

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
Ron,

One small fish will add a heavier bio load on your tank than several coral frags. The good thing with a nano is that you can change decent quantities of water (25%-35%) in one shot. Once your cycle is almost complete, I'd recommend starting with one fish, waiting for at least a week and then adding few coral frags every week.

Dan
 
Jessica's new lounging spot.

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My son Jason likes it too:
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The tank is coming along very nicely. With my nano I was buying the 4.4 gallon jug of premixed water from Aquatic Obsessions. I would change 2.2 gallons per week, it would take about 5 minutes total. It's easy once you have an extra empty jug, I had one marked with exactly what I wanted to suck out, and then would top the tank off.
 
Alkalinity: 2.0
PH: 8.2/8.3
Temp 77 deg
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0

Looks like I am in good shape. I stopped at Aquatic Obsessions today, worked with Will and I believe his name is Chris to get a few items. Very knowledgeable guys, and helped me pick out my first fish.

At the moment, they are getting acclimated using a drip technique AO showed me. I am also mixing for a water change. Let the fun begin.
 
The clowns are in and my kids are thrilled.
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We sat on the knee wall after dinner, and watch them swim until it was time for bed. Now, I am going to focus on the group buy, and get settled in. Will take Dan's advise, wait a week or so, then focus on frags. Thanks for the advise and encouragement. I will keep you all updated.
 
The ALK kit I bought is in milli/eq so the DKH is around 7 according to a conversion chart. Hard to tell since the chart is just Low-High.

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I am going to get ALK Builder in the group buy, as well as a more precise test kit. Thanks for the heads up.
 
As of January 20th 2009

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Current stock: red lobo, orange ricordia, green star polyps(thanks dan)
2 clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 serpent star, 1 emerald green crab, a host of hermits, 3 snail varieties.

The strangest thing is watching the lobo feed, purchased at oceans gallery:
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I posted a few pics in my gallery, not sure if everyone can see them, just let me know. I can move them to the reef gallery.

Looking forward to the meeting on the 24th, maybe I will see some of you there.
 
Looking great! I'll PM you when I finally get a chance too but my offer for some corals still stands if you guys make it up this way one day/weekend. I have hammer, frogspawn, and a tiny neon green toadstool (grows pretty quick) for you and probably some palys/zoas too. My daughter loves to show off the fish in our 70g (and will quickly talk you into an upgrade/2nd tank too LOL)
 
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Plenty of detail shots in the gallery.

Hey Candi! I will definitely have to swing by, my daughter is thrilled with my tank, and I can imagine yours would be even more interesting.
 
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