Full-Tank Shots
May 26th, 2016
Equipment
The Beginning
Well, after an 8-year hiatus from the hobby, I decided to get back into it. For now, I am starting with a 10-gallon Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion. I plan on upgrading when my wife and I move to a more permanent residence. I love smaller tanks, and I would love to have a 25-gallon lagoon-style tank. But for now, 10 gallons will keep the wallet from getting hit quite as hard, and that will keep my wife a little happier!
I received my order from Marine Depot! It included a 10-gallon Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion tank with light (upgrading soon), Red Sea refractometer, EcoTech VorTech MP10wQD, API test kit, 50-watt Cobalt Neo-Therm heater, and a Tunze Osmolator nano 3152.
I set the tank up on a counter in the basement, so don't pay attention to the mess that is around it. The basement became our temporary storage unit!
I also received my Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite and my rock from Bulk Reef Supply, a SpectraPure 90-gallon-per-day RO/DI unit from a local reef shop, and my inTank Floss Holder. Since I wasn't sure about what kind of look the rock would give me without seeing it in person, I ordered a few types: Pukani, Tonga Branch, and Tonga Shelf.
I fell in love with the Tonga Branch and Tonga Shelf immediately. I was not a big fan of the shapes of the Pukani. I took a hacksaw and chisel to the big pieces of Pukani, but they never took on any shapes that I was happy with. I found out that it's not very easy to aquascape a 10-gallon cube-ish tank. I felt pretty limited.
So I started playing around and created an aquascape that I was pretty happy with. Since I love minimalism and negative space, I wanted something that would show off my corals, and give my future Pink-Streaked Wrasse some places to swim, yet feel secure. Here is what I created, with lots of superglue:
With this open structure, I was able to keep rock off of the back wall, which will make for easy cleaning and keep anything from stagnating behind it:
I turned on the lights and really enjoyed what I saw:
I filled the tank with water and turned everything on to get the curing process started:
I checked on my tank two days later and noticed that the water was cloudy enough that I could see the flow pattern in the water.
I'm assuming a bacterial bloom? I haven't added anything to the tank to get things moving more quickly. I plan on taking this build slowly. I'll give my water a test tomorrow and see what the levels are telling me.
Do you think it would be beneficial to add some of the Pukani rock to one of the back chambers since the rock is so porous? I'm assuming it would be helpful to have as much filtration as possible in a small tank like this, but that's also tanking up water space that could help keep other parameters a little more stable in this small tank. I would really appreciate your feedback!
May 26th, 2016
Equipment
- Tank: Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion (10g) (upgrading to 25-gallon lagoon-style)
- Automatic Top-Off: Tunze Osmolator nano 3152
- Controller: Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite with temperature probe (upgrading to the new Neptune Apex)
- Flow: Stock return pump, EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10wQD
- Lighting: 18w Innovative Marine SKKYE Light (upgrading to Kessil a160w)
- Heating: 50w Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm
- Filtration: inTank Floss Holder with filter floss (upgrading to the Media Basket), ~8 pounds of Tonga Branch and Tonga Shelf rock
The Beginning
Well, after an 8-year hiatus from the hobby, I decided to get back into it. For now, I am starting with a 10-gallon Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion. I plan on upgrading when my wife and I move to a more permanent residence. I love smaller tanks, and I would love to have a 25-gallon lagoon-style tank. But for now, 10 gallons will keep the wallet from getting hit quite as hard, and that will keep my wife a little happier!
I received my order from Marine Depot! It included a 10-gallon Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion tank with light (upgrading soon), Red Sea refractometer, EcoTech VorTech MP10wQD, API test kit, 50-watt Cobalt Neo-Therm heater, and a Tunze Osmolator nano 3152.
I set the tank up on a counter in the basement, so don't pay attention to the mess that is around it. The basement became our temporary storage unit!
I also received my Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite and my rock from Bulk Reef Supply, a SpectraPure 90-gallon-per-day RO/DI unit from a local reef shop, and my inTank Floss Holder. Since I wasn't sure about what kind of look the rock would give me without seeing it in person, I ordered a few types: Pukani, Tonga Branch, and Tonga Shelf.
I fell in love with the Tonga Branch and Tonga Shelf immediately. I was not a big fan of the shapes of the Pukani. I took a hacksaw and chisel to the big pieces of Pukani, but they never took on any shapes that I was happy with. I found out that it's not very easy to aquascape a 10-gallon cube-ish tank. I felt pretty limited.
So I started playing around and created an aquascape that I was pretty happy with. Since I love minimalism and negative space, I wanted something that would show off my corals, and give my future Pink-Streaked Wrasse some places to swim, yet feel secure. Here is what I created, with lots of superglue:
With this open structure, I was able to keep rock off of the back wall, which will make for easy cleaning and keep anything from stagnating behind it:
I turned on the lights and really enjoyed what I saw:
I filled the tank with water and turned everything on to get the curing process started:
I checked on my tank two days later and noticed that the water was cloudy enough that I could see the flow pattern in the water.
I'm assuming a bacterial bloom? I haven't added anything to the tank to get things moving more quickly. I plan on taking this build slowly. I'll give my water a test tomorrow and see what the levels are telling me.
Do you think it would be beneficial to add some of the Pukani rock to one of the back chambers since the rock is so porous? I'm assuming it would be helpful to have as much filtration as possible in a small tank like this, but that's also tanking up water space that could help keep other parameters a little more stable in this small tank. I would really appreciate your feedback!
