Freddie Topete
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2015
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 1
Hows it going everyone, so I took the proverbial plunge. After years of doing cichlids, moving, having the GF move in getting rid of the tanks and keeping one empty 16 gallon bow front for years as a reminder of what i did, it was time. It is quite sad, I have over 250lbs. of lace rock in a closet I do NOT want to get rid of, and all in a humble 1 bedroom in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. With an elevator of course, how else was I going to move my lace rock around.
Well finally I said what the heck lets try it, a nano. I read, researched and accumulated the equipment. I bought an AI prime, a CPR 2 refugium and a Hydro Skimmer. And I continued to read. After 3 months and banging my head on an empty tank trying to absorb all the information and educate myself; I bought some dry Pukani rock, and splurged on that HW Marinemix. Bulk reef supply was becoming my best friend. And I read...dang I am going to need an RO/DI unit. Done. Girlfriend would not want a garbage can in the apt of RO/DI water so i bought a freshwater container they use to store drinking water in RV's that holds 30 gallons, nice footprint BTW but it does bow a little when full, I hate it. 5 gallon buckets stack into each other so i got those too. After another month of just gathering in August I took the plunge, I made saltwater! I picked up that Hydrometer thing and was sweating, lets hit 1.025 -1.026, i got lucky. Now i had a full tank with dead pukani going thru its motion.
Almost 2 months of just watching rock and girlfriend looking at me like i'm nuts, fast forward to today, tank is up and running & cycled, Skimmer is broken in, i actually retrofitted the refugium to hold the skimmer so i still had a small compartment to place some mud in there. I dropped the hydrometer and picked up a Milwaukee digital refractometer, did not like that experience at all. Hair algae and detritus there but the very few snails and hermits took care of all that. Rock is getting some purple spots that I've been waiting for, dosing it with some supplements and now I am going to my first frag swap and have nothing but respect to all of the members who do this cause this was not easy. And learned quite a bit of patience (staring at a tank full of rock with NOTHING as my GF called it).
Sorry for the long introduction after a couple of beers figured what the heck. Looking forward to learning from you guys! Cheers!
Freddie
Well finally I said what the heck lets try it, a nano. I read, researched and accumulated the equipment. I bought an AI prime, a CPR 2 refugium and a Hydro Skimmer. And I continued to read. After 3 months and banging my head on an empty tank trying to absorb all the information and educate myself; I bought some dry Pukani rock, and splurged on that HW Marinemix. Bulk reef supply was becoming my best friend. And I read...dang I am going to need an RO/DI unit. Done. Girlfriend would not want a garbage can in the apt of RO/DI water so i bought a freshwater container they use to store drinking water in RV's that holds 30 gallons, nice footprint BTW but it does bow a little when full, I hate it. 5 gallon buckets stack into each other so i got those too. After another month of just gathering in August I took the plunge, I made saltwater! I picked up that Hydrometer thing and was sweating, lets hit 1.025 -1.026, i got lucky. Now i had a full tank with dead pukani going thru its motion.
Almost 2 months of just watching rock and girlfriend looking at me like i'm nuts, fast forward to today, tank is up and running & cycled, Skimmer is broken in, i actually retrofitted the refugium to hold the skimmer so i still had a small compartment to place some mud in there. I dropped the hydrometer and picked up a Milwaukee digital refractometer, did not like that experience at all. Hair algae and detritus there but the very few snails and hermits took care of all that. Rock is getting some purple spots that I've been waiting for, dosing it with some supplements and now I am going to my first frag swap and have nothing but respect to all of the members who do this cause this was not easy. And learned quite a bit of patience (staring at a tank full of rock with NOTHING as my GF called it).
Sorry for the long introduction after a couple of beers figured what the heck. Looking forward to learning from you guys! Cheers!
Freddie
