El_Negrito
Community Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2018
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 43
- Location
- Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
- What state or country do you live in
- Other International
Starting a new aquarium.
Have been cycling the tank for almost 2 weeks. Tank is an 30gal. Aqua Japan AIO, diy stand and a tiny 2 o 3gal. "refuge" for pods. Lighting is the included "el cheepo" LED light strip and circulation is provided by a small Resun pump the LFS threw in as an extra when buying the tank.
I know cycling via the raw shrimp method is going to take for ever and ever. But I'm in no rush. I'm adding some MicrōBacter7 daily and added a Brightwell Xport Brick in the back part of the tank and some Bio Cubes in the refuge.
Will be upgrading the included lighting to a Chinesium Black Box, the return pump to an affordable DC one and adding a affordable wave maker some time in the future.
You might have noticed a bit of a theme here: Cheep and DIY.
A little background.
My first aquarium was a 10gal. nano.
I used natural sea water that I collected at a "somewhat pristine" beach near where I live and top off was distilled water. Live rock was actual live rock i collected during scuba dives near home. And livestock was mostly collected during these dives to. This tank lasted around 8 or 10 years. Unfortunately I don't believe any pictures of it exist, this was long before "camera phones".
Second aquarium was standard 4 foot long 90gal with a 30gal. refugium and a very unorthodox wet n' dry (filed with live rock and overflowing in to a 32 quart bin with sea urchins). Also used natural sea water, but sometimes used Instant Ocean salt, mixed with tap water. Sometimes top off was RO/DI from the LFS, sometimes it was distilled water and yet sometimes, tap water. I know, I know the perfect recipe for deserter. But I had it for around 7 or 8 years and the live stock always seem to thrive. And of course most of the live stock was collected locally or "mined" in my back yard and cured. Pictures of this setup do exist.
I should note that I've never been to much in to corals or bigger fish. I Mostly enjoined inverts and smaller fish like Clowns, Gobys and Damselfish. Also, this time around, I have an RI unit for drinking water so I added a DI unit. So... from now on I'm using "clean" water for mixing salt and top offs. I do also intend to actually buy corals now.
Some pics.
Have been cycling the tank for almost 2 weeks. Tank is an 30gal. Aqua Japan AIO, diy stand and a tiny 2 o 3gal. "refuge" for pods. Lighting is the included "el cheepo" LED light strip and circulation is provided by a small Resun pump the LFS threw in as an extra when buying the tank.
I know cycling via the raw shrimp method is going to take for ever and ever. But I'm in no rush. I'm adding some MicrōBacter7 daily and added a Brightwell Xport Brick in the back part of the tank and some Bio Cubes in the refuge.
Will be upgrading the included lighting to a Chinesium Black Box, the return pump to an affordable DC one and adding a affordable wave maker some time in the future.
You might have noticed a bit of a theme here: Cheep and DIY.
A little background.
My first aquarium was a 10gal. nano.
I used natural sea water that I collected at a "somewhat pristine" beach near where I live and top off was distilled water. Live rock was actual live rock i collected during scuba dives near home. And livestock was mostly collected during these dives to. This tank lasted around 8 or 10 years. Unfortunately I don't believe any pictures of it exist, this was long before "camera phones".
Second aquarium was standard 4 foot long 90gal with a 30gal. refugium and a very unorthodox wet n' dry (filed with live rock and overflowing in to a 32 quart bin with sea urchins). Also used natural sea water, but sometimes used Instant Ocean salt, mixed with tap water. Sometimes top off was RO/DI from the LFS, sometimes it was distilled water and yet sometimes, tap water. I know, I know the perfect recipe for deserter. But I had it for around 7 or 8 years and the live stock always seem to thrive. And of course most of the live stock was collected locally or "mined" in my back yard and cured. Pictures of this setup do exist.
I should note that I've never been to much in to corals or bigger fish. I Mostly enjoined inverts and smaller fish like Clowns, Gobys and Damselfish. Also, this time around, I have an RI unit for drinking water so I added a DI unit. So... from now on I'm using "clean" water for mixing salt and top offs. I do also intend to actually buy corals now.
Some pics.
