started with finding nemo to...

[b3h0ldrc]

I've been browsing through reef forums since I started out in FW keeping mainly different cichlid tanks. I kept brackish tanks for a few years while dreaming of one day owning a gigantic reef tank like the ones seen at the Shedd Aquarium. Fast forward to 2013 and with the help of my little nephew's smiles and pleas (lol great excuse huh) I finally decided to take the plunge and set up my first SW tank. I wanted to start with just a simple 10 gallon with a clownfish and anemone (cliche, I know, although you must admit its nice having a 3 year old show interest and also already having an idea of who "nemo" is). I realized this was a tremendous undertaking, considering nano tanks are more best suited to the more experienced reefers. After many nights of little sleep I finally started purchasing things I needed. I set up a 10 gallon tank that I found in the alley and ended up with somewhat mixed feelings. Too **** small I thought. Luckily PetCo was having a dollar a gallon sale.. upgrades came left and right afterwards.. Heres a few pictures of what the 10 looked like about 2.5 weeks ago and the 20L I have set up now. Before I get a mouthful about having corals and fish already in the tank, I got everything (LR, LS, and even the water) from a local reefer who I bought it off of. The first few days were still tense due to highly elevated levels of nitrites and nitrates and slightly elevate level of ammonia (this was about 2 weeks ago I cant remember the exact numbers but they were ridiculous, I'm surprised the tank didnt crash.) Also Im including shots of the aquascape I have currently set up. Taking into account my flow all the corals seem to be ok and at their happy place at the moment. But any and all advice or opinions given will be greatly appreciated including changing the placements. Im already going to switch them around, I just have them like this temporarily while they adjust to the tank (I know the torch is close to the chalice!) I knocked the torch over while trying to catch my humbug damsel to treat it for fin rot. I hap-hazardously just placed it upright and will be moving it around later on. Heres my setup, let me know what you guys think. And yes I know I went waaaay overboard and hundreds of dollars short lol..

 

[Paul C.]

Welcome to the club...Post them pics...

 

[b3h0ldrc]

10 gallon day 1

a shot of a paly in there

start of 20L day 3
bought the tank on day 1 painted the back black

decided on a little makeover

 

[Paul C.]

Great looking make over. Need some zoas and palys for some color.. How about some acans?

 

[b3h0ldrc]

this is where I am at now almost 3 weeks later.

 

[Paul C.]

What are u running for lighting? Things look a lil bleached.. the 20 long is a shallow tank. U may need to raise the light or dim it down a bit (if possible)

 

[skinz78]

Did you cycle the tank?

 

[b3h0ldrc]

heres some better shots of the exact placement now. and a few more close ups

 

[b3h0ldrc]

Did you cycle the tank?

yes and no, I waited a few days til i started stocking, but like i said in the original post, I got everything including the water from a local reefer. could almost look at it like a transfer to another tank.

 

[bigkai]

Nice looking good.

Sent from my EVO using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

 

[b3h0ldrc]

What are u running for lighting? Things look a lil bleached.. the 20 long is a shallow tank. U may need to raise the light or dim it down a bit (if possible)

im running china made LED panel rated at 35w. 50/50 RB/W. unfortunately there isnt really a way for me to raise the fixture, its sitting on top of the tank as you can see. the favia might be a little bleached, unsure of if the light is too bright or dim, ive moved the fixture to the right side of the tank since those guys have acclimated to the lights already. the favia is looking better now, and the acan definitely got its colors back. Also hue may just be an issue of me not being able to adjust my lights ratio, from what I've noticed people like to take macro shots with a slightly elevated blue levels in their lighting. but i will continue to keep an eye on it to see how they do. all the corals came from the same reefer, and im definitely seeing slight growth such as new polyps and such on some, so im unsure of how much an issue the lighting really is. I am looking into the it2040, maybe even just the dimmable one with 3 timers to simulate sunrise, sunset and moonlight. altho what do you guys think of having 120w over such a shallow tank (planning to have it about 6" above the tank with 60' optics) i will of course be dimming the light as well as taking a lengthy amount of time to acclimate the tank. In my view theres nothing close to replicating the sun indoors, so with proper acclimation, extra light would actually do some good considering the photosynthesis that takes place within the corals. btw the BTA has not moved an inch from that spot up top since i've put him in, thats even after a little bit more aquascaping.

 

[b3h0ldrc]

thanks bigkai. also any input for lighting would be appreciated. im contemplating spending 200 and getting a 120 taotronics type of fixture. or going with a DIY LED build which would put me at around 150 for everything, but the problem with that is less wattage, problem being that im paying more for less wattage. I dont mind busting something open and tinkling around to add a few upgrades here and there such as the lenses and even doing electrical work adding a controller when funds permit in the future. anyways let me know what you guys think, again thanks for your time and input, time for some football, always down for DA BEARS!, but for today lets go ravens!