About 10-15 years ago, when I was a single college student with little in the way of either income or financial responsibility, I somehow (okay, I made a lot of generous reefkeeping friends) kept a 70 gallon LPS/softie tank that was my baby... until I went on vacation and it crashed and burned while I was away due to a power outage. I broke it down, sold the dry goods, and moved on.
Now, as a boring, stable adult with disposable income and only a modicum more financial responsibility :lmao: I've had the itch to set up a tank again. This time, however, I have a husband who definitely does not understand the appeal (or... ahem... the cost) so I'll be going much more modest in size (not my choice
).
I picked up a barely-used setup from a local reefer last week and have been slowly getting it set up over the last few days - ran everything with diluted vinegar for a day to de-scale and leak test, scrubbed it all down and rinsed with RO, got it into place in the dining room and have been slooooooowlyyyyy making enough RO to fill it.
Tank - IM Nuvo Fusion 30L on an Aquatic Fundamentals 50/65 stand, because the $300 price tag on the IM stand is ridiculous.
Lights - Current USA Orbit Marine LED - which I suspect will not be enough once I get some LPS, but I'll upgrade when I get there. LEDs were definitely not a 'thing' when I was last in the hobby so I have some learning to do there.
Other hardware - RO Buddie 4-stage filter and a couple of hand-me-down powerheads that will get upgraded in the near future. Also a Coralife BioCube skimmer that I got free after a botched attempt at buying a BioCube that I may try to rig up in the back chambers someday. :lmao:
Live rock - decided after some deliberation to go with the Real Reef live rock (with some significant reservations) mostly because they're the bulk of what my LFS have available and the long/narrow/shallow dimensions of the 30L had me wanting to pick out my rocks myself and not take chances on ordering online. They're not as hideously artificial looking or nonporous as I'd thought they'd be, and I mixed in some dry rock as well, so hopefully once the tank's established it will look good.
Substrate - still trying to decide BB or shallow aragonite sand bed. Always had sand in the past and prefer the aesthetic, but with the tank only being a foot deep, I almost want to preserve every inch of water column I have.
Anyways, on to the cycle... going to let it cycle nice and relaxed, get my CUC established, and give everything plenty of time to settle out before getting some fish in. I remember some painful lessons from rushing things in the past!
Now, as a boring, stable adult with disposable income and only a modicum more financial responsibility :lmao: I've had the itch to set up a tank again. This time, however, I have a husband who definitely does not understand the appeal (or... ahem... the cost) so I'll be going much more modest in size (not my choice
).I picked up a barely-used setup from a local reefer last week and have been slowly getting it set up over the last few days - ran everything with diluted vinegar for a day to de-scale and leak test, scrubbed it all down and rinsed with RO, got it into place in the dining room and have been slooooooowlyyyyy making enough RO to fill it.
Tank - IM Nuvo Fusion 30L on an Aquatic Fundamentals 50/65 stand, because the $300 price tag on the IM stand is ridiculous.
Lights - Current USA Orbit Marine LED - which I suspect will not be enough once I get some LPS, but I'll upgrade when I get there. LEDs were definitely not a 'thing' when I was last in the hobby so I have some learning to do there.
Other hardware - RO Buddie 4-stage filter and a couple of hand-me-down powerheads that will get upgraded in the near future. Also a Coralife BioCube skimmer that I got free after a botched attempt at buying a BioCube that I may try to rig up in the back chambers someday. :lmao:
Live rock - decided after some deliberation to go with the Real Reef live rock (with some significant reservations) mostly because they're the bulk of what my LFS have available and the long/narrow/shallow dimensions of the 30L had me wanting to pick out my rocks myself and not take chances on ordering online. They're not as hideously artificial looking or nonporous as I'd thought they'd be, and I mixed in some dry rock as well, so hopefully once the tank's established it will look good.
Substrate - still trying to decide BB or shallow aragonite sand bed. Always had sand in the past and prefer the aesthetic, but with the tank only being a foot deep, I almost want to preserve every inch of water column I have.
Anyways, on to the cycle... going to let it cycle nice and relaxed, get my CUC established, and give everything plenty of time to settle out before getting some fish in. I remember some painful lessons from rushing things in the past!
