15 gallon desktop - First build

[feresadas]

This is were I will officially start my journey sharing my build on R2R!

I have pre ordered the IM 15 gallon, which should ship at the end of the month.

until then I am doing everything I can to get ready, the first step was to finish my aquascape and get the rocks pre-cycling in a brute 20 gallon with Dr. tims one and only.

 

[Neuratox]

This is were I will officially start my journey sharing my build on R2R!

I have pre ordered the IM 15 gallon, which should ship at the end of the month.

until then I am doing everything I can to get ready, the first step was to finish my aquascape and get the rocks pre-cycling in a brute 20 gallon with Dr. tims one and only.

here is my aquascape so far, feedback wanted
(images were to big, will add later today )

Following along to see your first tank! Any idea what you're going to stock it with? Are you going for a certain type of coral? Are you more in it for the fish?
Congrats on embarking on an exciting adventure!

 

[feresadas]

Following along to see your first tank! Any idea what you're going to stock it with? Are you going for a certain type of coral? Are you more in it for the fish?
Congrats on embarking on an exciting adventure!

My livestock goals are :
Ocellaris Clownfish pair
Watchman goby pistol shrimp pair
Cleaner shrimp
Emerald crab (will go in later once tank is established to hopefully eliminate risk of him nibbling on things he "shouldn't" be)
Various snails and hermit crabs for clean up crew.
Eventually a lettuce slug would be cool but will wait for stable water chemistry and more experience till attempt it.

Corals:
Pulsing xinia
Green star polyp (both of these will be on there own rocks.
Some sort of hammer and frogspawn
Maybe a Duncan?


Definitely more in it for the coral, and with a background in chemistry in college excited about maintaining parameters and water chemistry. Need to remind myself not to tinker to much and make slow changes though.

 

[TheReefDiary]

My livestock goals are :
Ocellaris Clownfish pair
Watchman goby pistol shrimp pair
Cleaner shrimp
Emerald crab (will go in later once tank is established to hopefully eliminate risk of him nibbling on things he "shouldn't" be)
Various snails and hermit crabs for clean up crew.
Eventually a lettuce slug would be cool but will wait for stable water chemistry and more experience till attempt it.

Corals:
Pulsing xinia
Green star polyp (both of these will be on there own rocks.
Some sort of hammer and frogspawn
Maybe a Duncan?


Definitely more in it for the coral, and with a background in chemistry in college excited about maintaining parameters and water chemistry. Need to remind myself not to tinker to much and make slow changes though.

I'd watch out on all the crabs/shrimp. Inevitable they will munch on some corals or eat a snail. I have a similar size tank with just a snail CUC.

 

[Neuratox]

My CUC is the same as TheReefDiary's. I've got a 60 gallon display and only use snails. I've had incidents with emerald crabs attacking and eating fish. I watched on grab my son's purple firefish goby as it swam by (he ate the poor thing). Plus, running snail only means I don't have to purchase a new cleanup crew every few months because the hermits eat the snails and each other.

Some of these things will sound like I'm discouraging you. Please understand that I only want to convey information that I wish I had going in. I've made several decisions after getting/reading input that would suggest otherwise... often I've regretted this... other times I haven't.

Among the things that I wish people told me about certain corals when I started:
1) Green star polyps has some rather interesting nicknames based on how much of a problem it can become. Speaking from experience, it can be VERY difficult to remove this from a rock. Once its on, its typically there until the rock is removed. It grows very fast. Personally, I wasn't crazy about how it looked when the polps weren't extended.
2) Xenia is worse than green star polyp because it spreads so easily.
Polls taken regarding the corals that people regretted ever putting in their tank always have green star polyp and xenia near the top of the list. Pocillopora is normally on there too.

If you want to do these I recommend isolating them to their own rock that you can remove if wanted/needed.

Duncans are fantastic starter corals. I still have mine (it was the third coral to ever go in my first tank). I've fragged it a few times and have given several away. I have 2 10+ head colonies and another that is around 50!
Euphyllia are great choices too though you'll want to wait a bit for LPS.

The symbiotic relationship between the goby and the pistol shrimp is beautiful. I could watch them for hours and be mesmerized. The problem is that I never see them. We've had them in two tanks and they always choose some interesting spots to live, often in areas that are difficult to see. Even when they've chosen a spot in the front they often hide. I know that others have had this issue too. I remember watching InappropriateReefer on YouTube and seeing him become ecstatic in one of his videos a few years back because he saw his gobies for the first time in several weeks. All that said, I still plan on adding a pair in to my newest tank.

Cleaner shrimp for the win! I've never enjoyed watching any invertebrate more than this guy!

As for the clowns - have you seen some of the designer clowns? Not sure if you were aware of these. There are some really interesting morphs.

Cheers and happy reefing!

 

[TheReefDiary]

My CUC is the same as TheReefDiary's. I've got a 60 gallon display and only use snails. I've had incidents with emerald crabs attacking and eating fish. I watched on grab my son's purple firefish goby as it swam by (he ate the poor thing). Plus, running snail only means I don't have to purchase a new cleanup crew every few months because the hermits eat the snails and each other.

Some of these things will sound like I'm discouraging you. Please understand that I only want to convey information that I wish I had going in. I've made several decisions after getting/reading input that would suggest otherwise... often I've regretted this... other times I haven't.

Among the things that I wish people told me about certain corals when I started:
1) Green star polyps has some rather interesting nicknames based on how much of a problem it can become. Speaking from experience, it can be VERY difficult to remove this from a rock. Once its on, its typically there until the rock is removed. It grows very fast. Personally, I wasn't crazy about how it looked when the polps weren't extended.
2) Xenia is worse than green star polyp because it spreads so easily.
Polls taken regarding the corals that people regretted ever putting in their tank always have green star polyp and xenia near the top of the list. Pocillopora is normally on there too.

If you want to do these I recommend isolating them to their own rock that you can remove if wanted/needed.

Duncans are fantastic starter corals. I still have mine (it was the third coral to ever go in my first tank). I've fragged it a few times and have given several away. I have 2 10+ head colonies and another that is around 50!
Euphyllia are great choices too though you'll want to wait a bit for LPS.

The symbiotic relationship between the goby and the pistol shrimp is beautiful. I could watch them for hours and be mesmerized. The problem is that I never see them. We've had them in two tanks and they always choose some interesting spots to live, often in areas that are difficult to see. Even when they've chosen a spot in the front they often hide. I know that others have had this issue too. I remember watching InappropriateReefer on YouTube and seeing him become ecstatic in one of his videos a few years back because he saw his gobies for the first time in several weeks. All that said, I still plan on adding a pair in to my newest tank.

Cleaner shrimp for the win! I've never enjoyed watching any invertebrate more than this guy!

As for the clowns - have you seen some of the designer clowns? Not sure if you were aware of these. There are some really interesting morphs.

Cheers and happy reefing!

Great insightful response!

 

[feresadas]

My CUC is the same as TheReefDiary's. I've got a 60 gallon display and only use snails. I've had incidents with emerald crabs attacking and eating fish. I watched on grab my son's purple firefish goby as it swam by (he ate the poor thing). Plus, running snail only means I don't have to purchase a new cleanup crew every few months because the hermits eat the snails and each other.

Some of these things will sound like I'm discouraging you. Please understand that I only want to convey information that I wish I had going in. I've made several decisions after getting/reading input that would suggest otherwise... often I've regretted this... other times I haven't.

Among the things that I wish people told me about certain corals when I started:
1) Green star polyps has some rather interesting nicknames based on how much of a problem it can become. Speaking from experience, it can be VERY difficult to remove this from a rock. Once its on, its typically there until the rock is removed. It grows very fast. Personally, I wasn't crazy about how it looked when the polps weren't extended.
2) Xenia is worse than green star polyp because it spreads so easily.
Polls taken regarding the corals that people regretted ever putting in their tank always have green star polyp and xenia near the top of the list. Pocillopora is normally on there too.

If you want to do these I recommend isolating them to their own rock that you can remove if wanted/needed.

Duncans are fantastic starter corals. I still have mine (it was the third coral to ever go in my first tank). I've fragged it a few times and have given several away. I have 2 10+ head colonies and another that is around 50!
Euphyllia are great choices too though you'll want to wait a bit for LPS.

The symbiotic relationship between the goby and the pistol shrimp is beautiful. I could watch them for hours and be mesmerized. The problem is that I never see them. We've had them in two tanks and they always choose some interesting spots to live, often in areas that are difficult to see. Even when they've chosen a spot in the front they often hide. I know that others have had this issue too. I remember watching InappropriateReefer on YouTube and seeing him become ecstatic in one of his videos a few years back because he saw his gobies for the first time in several weeks. All that said, I still plan on adding a pair in to my newest tank.

Cleaner shrimp for the win! I've never enjoyed watching any invertebrate more than this guy!

As for the clowns - have you seen some of the designer clowns? Not sure if you were aware of these. There are some really interesting morphs.

Cheers and happy reefing!

Wow thank you so much for the in depth reply! I really appreciate it.

Ok, good to know about the clean up crew,I will probably just stick to snails than! That's unfortunate about the crabs...

Yeah I have read a lot about how prolifically the GSP and xenia can spread, they both are getting there own isolated rock with sand bed in-between anything else. Do either grown in substrate??

I tried to keep any "sheltered" nooks facing forwards in the hopes the goby shrimp pair will chose one of them, we will see.

Excited for the clea er shrimp for sure!

And yeah I'm familiar with a few of the different types of clownfish, I honestly like the idea of having at least one fish that most people will recognize and get excited about. Then I can tell them more about everything else

 

[tautog83]

got same tank coming, lets hear the equipment list. just saw your upstate, where abouts? albany here

 

[OldRed1]

So excited for you! Should be a great build!

 

[Neuratox]

Wow thank you so much for the in depth reply! I really appreciate it.

Ok, good to know about the clean up crew,I will probably just stick to snails than! That's unfortunate about the crabs...

Yeah I have read a lot about how prolifically the GSP and xenia can spread, they both are getting there own isolated rock with sand bed in-between anything else. Do either grown in substrate??

I tried to keep any "sheltered" nooks facing forwards in the hopes the goby shrimp pair will chose one of them, we will see.

Excited for the clea er shrimp for sure!

And yeah I'm familiar with a few of the different types of clownfish, I honestly like the idea of having at least one fish that most people will recognize and get excited about. Then I can tell them more about everything else

I guess that depends on how what size sand grains you're using. For the most part I'd say no. It sounds like you don't have much to worry about.

 

[feresadas]

Update with aquascape:

the two rocks to the right are separate and will house xenia and GSP, the central rock with house the other corals.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Update with aquascape:

the two rocks to the right are separate and will house xenia and GSP, the central rock with house the other corals.

Is it possible to create layers instead of that straight up piece? Just asking because it will give you so much more room for coral. Not everything is going to be happy growing vertically there. Just a thought, unless your going for a specific design.

It does look good though.

 

[feresadas]

Is it possible to create layers instead of that straight up piece? Just asking because it will give you so much more room for coral. Not everything is going to be happy growing vertically there. Just a thought, unless your going for a specific design.

It does look good though.

The picture doesn't show one of the shelfs very well, I'm pretty happy with the density of places for the corals I think, and more layers and I would also be worried about the light intensity under the layers.

 

[feresadas]

got same tank coming, lets hear the equipment list. just saw your upstate, where abouts? albany here

Here is all my equipment, I definitely went over board I think, but I really wanted to cover my bases to increase chance of success with minimal livestock losses.

Tank Equipment
Tank- Fusion | 15 AIO Cube Aquarium
Screen- SafeScreen™ Preassembled Aquarium Mesh Screen Lid - For Nuvo Fusion 15 Cube
Light- AI Prime 16 HD
Light mount - Prime Tank Mount
auto top off - Prism Auto Top Off - ReefBreeders
Heater (x2) - EHEIM Jager Aquarium Thermostat Heater 50W
Heat controller - Inkbird Electronic Heating Thermostat Temperature Controller
Thermometer - Zacro Pack of 2 LCD Digital Aquarium Thermometer
Magnetic glass scraper - Flipper Cleaner Float - 2-in-1 Floating Magnetic Aquarium Glass Cleaner
Powerhead - Jebao OW-10 Wavemaker 132-1057 GPH with Controller

Filtration
Filter sock Included with AIO tank (200 micron)
Substrate - Fiji Pink Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand - CaribSea
Live rock from LFS
Bio-spheres - Ceramic Bio-Sphere - Seaside Aquatics
GAC - Granular Activate Carbon

Chemicals/testing
Salifert Reef Testing Kit - Salifert Reef Testing Kit (eventually want the HANNA test kit)
Refractometer - Salinity Refractometer
Seachem Ammonia Alert -Seachem Laboratories Ammonia Alert 1 Year Monitor
Salt - Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt For 160 Gallons
pH and TDS Meter Combo - VIVOSUN pH and TDS Meter Combo

I also got a RODI unit and plumbed it to my laundry cold water output using a hose splitter, and a 3/4" to 1/4" push fit adapter.

the gear for waterchanges: a 10 gallon and a 20 gallon brute trash can, hand pump syphon. eventually I will likely want to get a small inexpensive pump to make water changes less of a hassle but that can wait.

 

[feresadas]

So excited for you! Should be a great build!

Thank you! im very excited to say the least!

I got my water mixed up, and today will be starting my cycle in the trash can.

does anyone know the procedure for a fishless cycle past 14 days with Dr. Tim's one and only? I would imagine if I just didn't dose ammonia chloride for weeks I would loose some of my bacterial colony or miss out on potential growth of the colony, would love to see if anyone has any resources on that.

 

[tautog83]

Nice , i went with a sicce 1.5 snd random flow generators to see if that will be enough flow without a powerhead. Where you planning on running the carbon ?

 

[feresadas]

Nice , i went with a sicce 1.5 snd random flow generators to see if that will be enough flow without a powerhead. Where you planning on running the carbon ?

here is a VERY rough markup of my plans with the back "sump"

 

[Neuratox]

test to see if you can clean the glass on all sides by holding up a piece of cardboard or something in place of the glass. It looks like some of the rockwork gets really close to the glass. I found that this was a MAJOR pita after I built my first tank. There were places that always looked grungy because I simply couldn't clean there. It looks cool though. I do see the ledges that you've built in. Hold a light over and look for shadowing too.

 

[feresadas]

Update: I'm on day two of pre-cycling my dry rock using Dr. Tim's one and only.

Here is the setup:

 

[feresadas]

Day 4 of cycling, so far so good I think. I accidentally ordered two bottles of Dr. Tim's instead of one so decided I might as well toss it in. using the Red Sea ammonia test kit, which is really easy to do but I'm always second guessing myself on the color interpretations, and my phone camera does a terrible job capturing it.