My 1st saltwater tank

A long while ago my husband had a saltwater tank. We both loved it but it wasn't MINE so I wasn't very dedicated to it. We had to break it down and part it out when we moved because we didn't have the room for it anymore.
We came home from the beach one day after a great snorkeling/dive session and I was pumped. I saw hundreds of garibaldi, lobster, crabs, who knows how many schools of fish, nems, those beautiful purple urchins and I wanted a piece of the ocean in my home. Going to the beach has become difficult since we had out daughter and joint snorkeling/dive sessions have become a rarity. So I decided I wanted a saltwater tank. I have a small place so going big wasnt an option. I was able to find a guy on CL that was selling his 30 gal bowfront, with the stand, the lights rocks and the skimmer for $100.00 so I jumped on it. I put my tank in my house on July 7, 2011. Since then it has been a work in progress with slow going and a lot of learning however I am proud of it so far and have never been so happy to look at an aquarium with rocks and sand in my life.

This is how I received the set up:

needed A LOT more light and work to it....

I got my lights and put 'em on and the difference was already immediate:

I was shocked at the difference light could make!

I then decided that the back needed to be black to really Showcase it. Yes it was an afterthought so spray paint was obviously a no. So I sat and painted it for about 6 hours to get it the way I wanted it.



I am really proud of it so far and I cant wait to continue the work!!

You should be very proud of it, because it looks great. You've done a great job with it...and it will only get better. :)

Smitty said:

You should be very proud of it, because it looks great. You've done a great job with it...and it will only get better. :)

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Aw thank you. I am so proud of the work I have done so far. I cant wait to add some more rock, your "Great Wall" inspired me

looking great. I know what you mean I can stare at my "empty" tanks for hours and find all kinds of things to look at. Can't wait for fish. How far are you in the cycle now and what is your stocking plans?

Looks good!

Very nice! What kind of fish are you wanting? I LOOOOVE my midas blenny she is such a sweet baby and always has a fishy grin on her face.

andersoned14 said:

looking great. I know what you mean I can stare at my "empty" tanks for hours and find all kinds of things to look at. Can't wait for fish. How far are you in the cycle now and what is your stocking plans?

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I had the sand from my husbands previous adventure, the rock was dead, and still is :( I was waiting until I had enough money saved to buy some LR and start my cycle with that. So I am at stage 0 but having fun planning the start

AmberSunrise said:

Very nice! What kind of fish are you wanting? I LOOOOVE my midas blenny she is such a sweet baby and always has a fishy grin on her face.

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Well one of the first fish I am getting are some clowns. I love their coloring and movement. I also want to get a goby, a lemon peel goby to be exact, I think they are so pretty!

One day I am going to steal Dana's mandarin and put it in there....Oh wait did I just reveal my evil plot?? :pooh:......

you can start the cycle with a small piece of shrimp from the store.

off to a great start!

andersoned14 said:

looking great. I know what you mean I can stare at my "empty" tanks for hours and find all kinds of things to look at. Can't wait for fish. How far are you in the cycle now and what is your stocking plans?

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You think that's bad? I spend quite a bit of time looking at my tank which is literally empty!

Well ladies and gents I decided to go ahead with the API test kits. It was between that and salifert, but I heard a lot of good about API. Here is what I bought :)
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Saltwater Liquid Master Test Kit
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Test Kit

Either of those would work :)

tanks looking GREAT so far! all those fish you saw diving is what I wanted to start a tank with until I found out that no one sells fish from CAs coastline... LOL. I'd love to have a tank here at home filled with strawberry nems, some sand dollars, a few of those green nems.... maybe a rock prawn or two... and of course some fish! I'd love a surfperch but the tank setup would have to be totally different and would prolly need a chiller lol...

Sharkie said:

Either of those would work :)

tanks looking GREAT so far! all those fish you saw diving is what I wanted to start a tank with until I found out that no one sells fish from CAs coastline... LOL. I'd love to have a tank here at home filled with strawberry nems, some sand dollars, a few of those green nems.... maybe a rock prawn or two... and of course some fish! I'd love a surfperch but the tank setup would have to be totally different and would prolly need a chiller lol...

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I bought both of them, I couldnt decide what one I wanted so now I have like every test, next to go is my refractometer :D

I would love to have a "California" tank but alas, you are right no one sells them! Just as well now I get to feel like I am traveling around the world hahahahaha.

I am excited about it. The going is slow only since I dont have oodles of money to just throw at it but its forcing me to be patient with it. I got all my test kits now because when I put my LR in I want to be able to see where I am at in my cycle, as well as my husband and I are putting together and auto top off, we got everything and it is going to go in the stand where my canister was going to go earlier. My water evaporates so quickly that honestly I highly doubt barring some sort of illness in my tank I doubt I will have to do water changes that often.

When the water evaporates, only the water molecules leave. You need to do water changes to remove the nitrates, phosphates, and other bad stuff, plus you also need to replenish the good stuff your corals need.

+1 Hannah.

I am anxiously awaiting my test kits however I have a question for everyone:
I have not yet added any Live Rock to my tank....I am being SUPER picky about it...maybe anal but this is my baby and the Live Rock I have seen just hasnt...done it for me....Anyhow, I was gazing into my tank today when I noticed that all of my rocks are starting to turn purple??? What is this? I am excited because well....that cant be a bad thing! And if it is let me down easy haha

little_fish said:

When the water evaporates, only the water molecules leave. You need to do water changes to remove the nitrates, phosphates, and other bad stuff, plus you also need to replenish the good stuff your corals need.

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I was given vitamins for my tank today, however I am going to buy a more advanced kit....I was also given the go ahead by hubby today to buy a RO/DI!!!!! Any advice on a brand?

Please dont randomly add vitamins to your tank, the rule of thumb is never dose for what you cant test for and cant prove you dont need. Unlike our bodies that can take a lot of random junked thrown at it, overdoses are easy to do and can be very deadly. Just do water changes, its really the best thing you can do for your tank.


Also, all live means is that it has bacteria on it that is capable of breaking down fish waste. So if you cycled your tank, all your rock is already live. No need to buy more.

little_fish said:

Please dont randomly add vitamins to your tank, the rule of thumb is never dose for what you cant test for and cant prove you dont need. Unlike our bodies that can take a lot of random junked thrown at it, overdoses are easy to do and can be very deadly. Just do water changes, its really the best thing you can do for your tank.

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No I wouldnt do that, but
A: Im a prepardness freak and its fun &
B: I never turn down a freebie!

little_fish said:

Also, all live means is that it has bacteria on it that is capable of breaking down fish waste. So if you cycled your tank, all your rock is already live. No need to buy more.

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Well I knew that about live, however I have really been waiting to start my cycle until I got some LR to start it, I didnt want to do the shrimp thing I dk why, but my rocks that previously had nothing on them are turning purple....So now I am trying to decide do I need to buy more LR or can I just buy more rock? I want more in there because I like a lot of rock I just dont know if my rock that is turning purple is..well alive now haha