Building the foundation

With all my equipment in place and running, I was feeling pretty silly about not having any money for live rock. I soon became quite emo, and admit to letting things slide a bit because Woe Was I.

Well luckily, a few weeks later, the live rock fairy twinkied in and brought me some fully cured rock! Ok, he would object to being called a fairy, most likely, but you get the idea. This was a good 50-70lbs of live rock from an established and healthy system that was being torn down. Not the magical straight-from-ocean experience, but a stable one and one that will result in adding more life sooner.

I picked the bits I liked and let it sit for a few weeks. When my water tests kept coming up nicely (not even an ammonia spike to speak of!), I added the bits from my old tank that I wanted to keep, including the leather coral, and remaining snails/hermits. At this point I had the fasted ammonia spike in history, and then everything settled back down again. When all was well a couple of weeks later I ordered my first batch of cleanup crew.

At this point, I should stress that I went this fast only due to the fact that all my rock was cured, from other established tanks. I had no significant die-off on this rock -- that is the only reason I could add anything living so soon. Had I ordered fresh live rock, I would have waited another month at MINIMUM. Even so, I did water tests every other day just to be safe!

Last tuesday, my initial cleanup crew arrived. This is what I now have living in my tank, one week later.

6 astrea snails
6 mexican turbo snails
6 nassarius snails
6 cerith snails
5 blueleg hermits
5 redleg hermits
1 serpent star

and my original 1 astrea, 1 blue hermit, and the leather coral.

All is well -- slight nitrate reading today, but the skimmer is going nuts and soon it will be water change time again.

My current project; a 55 gallon reef tank. The plan is eventually to have several soft corals, various invertebrates, and a few fish. I have worked for quite a while and on a very limited budget to make this project happen, and it's finally coming together.

I originally decided to start this tank when my two 11 year old oscars died. They had been in the 55 gallon since I obtained them at 4”-5” each from someone who had kept them with jack dempseys and other large aggressive south american cichlids; of course they were getting harassed constantly and were quite banged up when I got them. I nursed them back to health and they grew to 10” and 12”, and were very personable and healthy fish, despite being stuck in the 55 gallon. They died about 2 years ago, and the tank sat empty for a few months while I considered my options.

A reef tank is a considerable investment; you need decent lighting for corals, a protein skimmer, heater, (or chiller, depending!), test kits, powerheads for water circulation...and that's before you even get to the live rock, which is often the most expensive part of the whole deal. Having done a 20 gallon and then a 35 gallon, I knew that this kind of project generally ends up costing quite a bit more than anyone estimates when they start it. My 20 gallon easily cost me about $400 before I added any animals at all, and that was cheap. I used a power compact retrofit and cannibalized an old fluorescent light hood (which was admittedly a fire hazard by the time I was done with it), and Southdown playsand (which works if you get the right kind, but it's hard to find). Had I done it with all storebought materials, it would have been about $500.

As an aside... I have run into a few people over the years who say to beginners inquiring about expense; “If you are worried about cost, you shouldn't be thinking about a reef tank.” I find this mean-spirited, and not a little snobbish. Even on a limited budget, with dedication and research, you can have a small reef tank at a reasonable price. Nano tanks (those under 30gallons) are no longer taboo; they simply require patience, willpower, and dedication.

So I went about it slowly. I cleaned the old 55 gallon out. I've had it for over 15 years; it's never had any copper based medications used in it, which is a concern. Even trace amounts can poison your invertebrates, so They say. I checked the seals, they all seemed good. Over time they can become brittle or get worked loose, so it's a good thing to check them now and again. I set it up in its new place along a living room wall, and waited. Gradually, over the course of almost a full year, I gathered equipment.

And this is what I ended up with.

55 gallon all-glass aquarium (ok, I had that already)

black wooden cabinet stand (yes, this too)

Rena Filstar XP3 canister filter (a gift)

240watt power compact lighting with moonlight LED (a gift)

Octopus BH-350 protein skimmer

4 additional powerheads for circulation

1 200watt submersible heater

3 bags of aragonite sand (alas, I was unable to find southdown)

1 huge canister of salt mix.

Bake in oven at 400F until golden brown :)