Rhino
Well-Known Member
First off let me just say hello. I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I found this site while browsing the wonderful world of Google today. I was most excited though to find a section for people in middle Tennessee, to be honest I never knew middle Tennessee had a reef club (exciting!). I currently live in Cookeville, where I was born and raised. Anybody else from Cookeville let me know, we may know each other.
I first got a taste of aquarium keeping when I was a kid. I decided when I was about 10 years old that I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. It was at Christmas about 12 years ago when I got my very first fish tank. A basic ten gallon kit that my parents bought for me from our lfs. This tank was kept in my bedroom and I can not even begin to tell you how many lights I laid awake and watched the tank. As a child, and now an adult I have always found fish extremely interesting. My first tank was just a basic freshwater tank with fake plants and decor. A few years later my dad acquired a 55 gallon bowfront from a neighbor for free. After a move neither tank was ever setup due to many reasons. About a year ago I brought my wife into our lfs to look for something for our dog and upon walking into the fish room their something a passion ignited inside of me again.
In the following months I purchased a 36 gallon bowfront with matching stand. Initial setup in our apartment was a cheezy looking take with fake plants and driftwood. About 3 months later we left the apartment scene and bought our first house! At this time I upgraded my light fixture from stock to a Current USA T5HO and started keeping live plants. Upon doing very well I picked up a 40 breeder for our dining room which has been running for about 8 months now. Stocked rather heavily with live plants. Now, I have always had a thing for saltwater but I have always considered it far to difficult and considered myself way to cheap to do it. Well about 5 weeks ago I decided to post my bowfront for sale online, the depth made it hard to work in. Within a week I had it sold to a local State Farm Agent who bought it for their reception area. My adventure into saltwater begins here.
I recently purchased a 20 long aquarium and build a stand myself for this tank. Here is a list of equipment that I purchased for this tank:
Tank: Aqueon 20 long
Light: FishNeedIt 30" 96 watt T5HO
Heater: Eheim Jager 75 watt
Powerheads: Koralia Nano 425 (2 of these)
Coralife Digital Thermometer
Api Saltwater Master Test Kit
Api Reef Master Test Kit
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
AquaClear 30 Running ChemiPureElite, Purigen, and filter floss
I opted for no sump and no skimmer in this setup to save for now. I am religious on my water changes on my freshwater tank and in a tank this small I should be able to keep params in check no problem. I used 15lbs of dry base rock and seeded it with 2 lbs of live rock, wanted to keep out pest. I am currently 4 days into a fishless cycle on this tank. Below are the parameters taken for the tank tonight:
Temp:79
Specific Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8
Alk: 8
Ammonia: 2
Nitrite: 5
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Below I will attach some pictures of everything you have missed so far. I look forward to any advice, questions, or comments that any of you may have! The wife and I are also considering joining the Middle Tennessee Reef Club in the future once we see how this build goes.
I first got a taste of aquarium keeping when I was a kid. I decided when I was about 10 years old that I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. It was at Christmas about 12 years ago when I got my very first fish tank. A basic ten gallon kit that my parents bought for me from our lfs. This tank was kept in my bedroom and I can not even begin to tell you how many lights I laid awake and watched the tank. As a child, and now an adult I have always found fish extremely interesting. My first tank was just a basic freshwater tank with fake plants and decor. A few years later my dad acquired a 55 gallon bowfront from a neighbor for free. After a move neither tank was ever setup due to many reasons. About a year ago I brought my wife into our lfs to look for something for our dog and upon walking into the fish room their something a passion ignited inside of me again.
In the following months I purchased a 36 gallon bowfront with matching stand. Initial setup in our apartment was a cheezy looking take with fake plants and driftwood. About 3 months later we left the apartment scene and bought our first house! At this time I upgraded my light fixture from stock to a Current USA T5HO and started keeping live plants. Upon doing very well I picked up a 40 breeder for our dining room which has been running for about 8 months now. Stocked rather heavily with live plants. Now, I have always had a thing for saltwater but I have always considered it far to difficult and considered myself way to cheap to do it. Well about 5 weeks ago I decided to post my bowfront for sale online, the depth made it hard to work in. Within a week I had it sold to a local State Farm Agent who bought it for their reception area. My adventure into saltwater begins here.
I recently purchased a 20 long aquarium and build a stand myself for this tank. Here is a list of equipment that I purchased for this tank:
Tank: Aqueon 20 long
Light: FishNeedIt 30" 96 watt T5HO
Heater: Eheim Jager 75 watt
Powerheads: Koralia Nano 425 (2 of these)
Coralife Digital Thermometer
Api Saltwater Master Test Kit
Api Reef Master Test Kit
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
AquaClear 30 Running ChemiPureElite, Purigen, and filter floss
I opted for no sump and no skimmer in this setup to save for now. I am religious on my water changes on my freshwater tank and in a tank this small I should be able to keep params in check no problem. I used 15lbs of dry base rock and seeded it with 2 lbs of live rock, wanted to keep out pest. I am currently 4 days into a fishless cycle on this tank. Below are the parameters taken for the tank tonight:
Temp:79
Specific Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8
Alk: 8
Ammonia: 2
Nitrite: 5
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Below I will attach some pictures of everything you have missed so far. I look forward to any advice, questions, or comments that any of you may have! The wife and I are also considering joining the Middle Tennessee Reef Club in the future once we see how this build goes.
