My First Tank Diary

[Houtz]

This is by no means my first tank, but it is the first time I have kept a journal of it with pictures. I decided to post a specimen of it here for everyone.

This was the system on day three of it's existence. It began on August 13th. All components with the exception of the rock and pumps were purchased at Aquatic Warehouse in San Diego.
The pumps and live rock were bought at Crystal Cove in Murrietta California.
The Visio tank is 4.5 gal. I believe. Sand and water were added on day one and the whole system was fired up.
The next day, Aug. 14, a single piece of uncured rock was added and the lights were shut off until further notice.
A two gallon and two one gallon water changes have since been conducted, as well as four water tests- pH and three Nitrogenous compounds only, no Ca or Alk or anything.

This is the system as of two days ago, Aug. 24. The paper has been installed to block light.
Ammonia rose to the limit of the chart and has since dropped to zero. The cycle is still underway, Nitrate hit 2 ppm yesterday and the pH is slowly rising with the addition of Seachem Liquid buffer from 7.8 to 8.2 as of yesterday.
Today I added a cap full of "Cycle" to boost the biofilter a bit, but am otherwise leaving it alone.

 

[Houtz]

Sorry the first picture is so enormous.
Anyway, here's a list for those interested in the hardware:
Lighting: Coralife 2x18w 50/50 system with internal ballast. The cowling gets very hot, but with the legs I purchased it doesn't present heat problems so far to the tank. (it was tested for the first day, using a coralife digital therm. for temp. measurements)
Thermo control: none.
Circulation: a pair of Rio 150's mounted opposite each other on the rear pane, facing foreward toward the viewer. Surface agitation is sufficient, and with a little adjustment of their placement sand bed disruption was avoided.
The light is on a single outlet timer and set for 13 hours on/11 hours off. Temp. flux from mid day to early morning is about 2 degrees. I've had much worse so I'm not concerned. Daily temp swings of six degrees were the norm for my old 29, and the critters seemed to cope fine.
Specific gravity is maintained at 1.025, which is easy because the tank is about 95 percent sealed and only needs topoff every four or five days. Spec. Grav. measured with Red Sea swingarm hydrometer.
I use aqua gloves at all times when in contact with the water or in-tank equipment to avoid corrupting the system with my cooties (and getting a huge green and purple thumb like that one guy on here a while ago!)
So that's it for now! Hopefully things will get more interesting soon.
Thanks for reading!

 

[Houtz]

Oh, one more thing. I guess I should mention that on day four the entire system was moved into an adjacent room, which explains the difference in the tank's surroundings in the two pictures. A roommate of mine with a physical handicap was presenting a hazard for himself and the system every time he walked past it, so for both their sake I moved it out of his way. I just drained a gallon, shut off the power bar and slid the whole thing onto an encyclopedia to carry it into the next room. No biggie, that's why I almost forgot.

 

[Houtz]

And I use bottled distilled water and Oceanic salt- okay I'm really done this time!

 

[Henry22]

You might watn to invest in a refractometer, as the portable one is only around 45 and it is much more accurate than a swing arm. It also makes more sense since you have two tanks. What were you thinking about stocking plans?

 

[jewtball]

wheres your filtration? i only see 2 powerheads stuck to the back, is it somewhere below?

 

[Houtz]

Henry22, as far as stocking plans I only intend to put small zoanthids in there. I've thought about other corals but I just don't want to mess with the complications. This system is only going to operate for three months, it's very temporary.
jewtball, as for filtration I have none at the moment, save for the rock. I'm trying to decide whether to use filtration or not. I had fleeting fantasies of setting up a ten gallon sump with lots of bells and whistles, but scrubbed the idea due to the short service life of this system and the need to save money. Who knows what I'll actually do, I'm attempting to be patient. I intend to leave the tank for at LEAST a week or more after the cycle completes before even thinking about my first livestock intro. If someone has suggestions I'd gladly consider them. I talked for quite a while to the clerk at the store and everything he suggested sounded like it would be not that effective anyway. What do you think of regular water changes and no filters? I ran my 60 that way for six months without incident. Oh yeah, and the refractometer...I would love one. Perhaps soon...perhaps. Oh, here's a pic of last semesters dorm tank. It was a Jalli 4 gal.

It's shown at the end of it's three month service. The critters were mobilized in a rubbermaid tub and life-supported to Utah where they now reside in my 'Pod. It was a thirteen hour drive through the desert from Temecula (San Diegoish area) to northeastern Utah, and I had a penguin 550 in their container run off my power inverter. They fared extremely well- zero casualties

 

[Houtz]

NO2 holding at 2ppm. pH hit 8.3 today. The algae on the sand and rock (hair and cyano that started up after a few days, even with only the lighting of the room) has receeded to zip since the paper was installed. The tank still stinks (curing rock in-tank).