Lily's first reef! - updated

[IridescentLily]

I've been on RC here awhile but this is my-very-first-reef-tank.
I come from a Fowlr background.
I ran two fowlr tanks successfully for eight years.

Doug bought my birthday present early. A new Oceanic 29g HQI.
*squee*
So I figure as I learn about setting up a new reef tank (with corals) I'll take pictures and videos of this stuff and post them here to show the progression of putting this new nano tank together.
The tank, stand and light fixture came to our home via the mail today!
Needless to say, I'm excited, and took some pics.
I've been taking some videos of the tank, it's parts, and of putting it all together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sfRyM6ke8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here's the Oceanic list of what components the tank comes with.

Here's the Oceanic HQI light fixture for the tank.
It's got a 150w ballast and a 14k bulb. Sweet!

Here it is all set up dry.

I purchased BRS rock and haven't even cured it yet! That takes weeks!
It'll be about a week before i can even fill the tank for water test because were painting a wall in that room.
But I thought I'd document the waiting part too, as well as progress, so here are a few videos we've shot:

 

[Lynnmw1208]

very cool! I'll be following as I want to see how you set it up! you're a brave one doing a nano :lol: I went as big as I could just in case I screw up haha. Very pretty tank tho!

 

[IridescentLily]

Thanks! I figure if I make a mistake I'll document it, maybe someone can learn from my mistakes.

 

[duncantse]

Good progress, now all you gotta do is buy some rocks and then wait for the tank to cycle!

 

[Dino]

Congrats on the birthday present Abril .

 

[Nanook]

Happy Birthday:beer: and Congrats on the Nano:thumbsup:

 

[IridescentLily]

Congrats on the birthday present Abril .

Thanks Dino. ;-)

Happy Birthday:beer: and Congrats on the Nano:thumbsup:

Thanks naNook!

Good progress, now all you gotta do is buy some rocks and then wait for the tank to cycle!

Yes! I can't wait to start looking through the rock tomorrow to see which pieces are the best shapes to use. That'll be a fun part.
I'll even document the waiting for the rock to cycle lol.

 

[RokleM]

:thumbsup:

Doug looks either organized... or confused... I can't decide which one

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Happy birthday and congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of nanos! Do you have any ideas yet on how you want to stock it?

 

[griss]

Congrats Abril. I look forward to following your and Doug's build.

 

[KafudaFish]

Happy Birthday.

I bet zoas.

 

[Beaun]

Looks good, happy birthday. Is that the natural wave timer I see?

 

[IridescentLily]

:thumbsup:

Doug looks either organized... or confused... I can't decide which one

Organized confusion.
As opposed to willy nilly confusion like mine.

Happy birthday and congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of nanos! Do you have any ideas yet on how you want to stock it?

Hey there! How are you? Yes, mostly zoas and LPS

Congrats Abril. I look forward to following your and Doug's build.

Thanks Griss!

Happy Birthday.

I bet zoas.

lol. Maybe just one kind.

(right)

Looks good, happy birthday. Is that the natural wave timer I see?

Hi Beaun, that's a time for the lights

 

[BlueCorn]

:thumbsup:

Doug looks either organized... or confused... I can't decide which one

Doug is always organized and never confused.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Congrats.

You take better pictures then Doug.

**good bye all, it has been fun**

 

[Agu]

Congrats on the new tank. I suggest you check out the nano forum. (shameless self promotion )

I've given this advice several times, but don't overstock corals. Spend the money on a limited number of corals and allow them to grow to their full glory.

Not that anybody listens to my advice ..............

 

[IridescentLily]

Congrats.

You take better pictures then Doug.

**good bye all, it has been fun**

Lol!

Congrats on the new tank. I suggest you check out the nano forum. (shameless self promotion )

I've given this advice several times, but don't overstock corals. Spend the money on a limited number of corals and allow them to grow to their full glory.

Not that anybody listens to my advice ..............

It's an honor to get advice from you Agu, I've seen your Nano tanks. :-0
Yes, at first I was all "Ooh I have my list of LPS ive been creating for the past two years!" and was sure id be able to keep them all right away of course.
Lol
Now that I'm coming down from the initial pee in my pants excitement of the new tank, I can see that you're right.
Doug told me the advice you usually give people about how trying to cram in more corals is silly because 1. there's plenty of time, nothing's going anywhere, and 2. keeping fewer corals to have grow and thrive is better to start out with and get my feet wet.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Doug is always organized and never confused.

TPT violation! Infract him!

Oh wait...this isn't the lounge.

FWIW, I'm with Agu. Having been doing the nano thing for well over 8 years now it's very common to see nanos stuffed with coral frags. You rarely see those tanks looking good a year, two years, three years in. It just can't be done. Corals need plenty of room to grow. LPS like frogs, hammers and torch grow fast given the proper water conditions. My two head frog that was the size of a golf ball last year is now the size of a softball and growing. My 1" finger leather is now 6" plus and about 5" in diameter at it's head. My caulestrea grows like a weed. Right now my RBTA is winning the turf war at the edge between the two. Plan to stock what you really, really like and give those corals plenty of spacing to grow out.

 

[KafudaFish]

^ sounds like someone is bragging just a bit.






And that she should though.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

^ sounds like someone is bragging just a bit.






And that she should though.

Hey now. Have a look over in Reef Discussion. There's a 45 that exemplifies my above comment.