Dgam's 80g. First Saltwater Tank

D

DGAM

Premium Member
Hello, everyone. I am new to this hobby and to the forum. This has been a dream of mine for quite some time. It started off as just the tank, then my Dad and I built the stand for it and it has sat in my office, empty and sad, for over 3 years. The time has finally come and I can't be more excited to get this thing going. I certainly understand it's going to take patience and I am OK with that. One thing you should know is that I don't know much about the hobby. I am a newbie but I am very eager to learn, although my brother is helping me through the process.

Here's my inventory list so far:

- I've bought a Melev's Reef RO/DI unit and made my own water. So cool!
- One 160g Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- 100lbs of live rock from a member here. It was a super great deal at $2/lb for rock that has been in a tank for the past 7 years.
- Two 48" Panorama Marine LED strips
- Three Maxi-Jet 1200 Water Pumps
- Saltwater Master Test Kit
- Reef Master Test Kit
- MarineDepot Refractometer
- Eheim Ultra G160 Canister Filter

Here's a few pics of the past couple days up until this point where I just have the live rock sitting in the tank. I still need to add the crushed coral aragonite. More pics to come as I progress.

Your input is greatly appreciated. Thank you for following along and your encouragement as I learn.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,
Dgam
 
I plan to do a sump and a protein skimmer at some point in the future. This is just getting me started.
 
I notice that your tank isn't reef ready, meaning it isn't pre drilled for return and drain lines and it doesn't have an overflow. Your only other option if you don't drill the tank is to use a hang on back overflow. I would NEVER trust one of those, especially after seeing the beautiful wood floors the tank is sitting on. Those things are a disaster waiting to happen. IMO, if your plan is to eventually use a sump, I would drill and plumb it now before getting too far along into the current cycle. You can always use a 10/20 gallon tank or even a Rubbermaid tub as a temporary sump until you're ready to go all out. I just fear that trying to drill the tank after its cycled, and full of livestock would be a MAJOR ordeal.
Welcome to the club and the hobby. Take your time and ask lots of questions. There are a lot of good knowledgeable people on this forum that will be more than willing to help. Good luck!
 
Tank Update:

I have 5 fish total. One Gold Striped Maroon Clown, Foxface Lo, Blue Tang, and 2 Yellowtail Damsels

Corals: Green Hammer, Candy Cane, Green Star Polyps, 3 Heads of Yellow Polyps, small Superman Montipora plug, small Ricordia Yuma plug, and a small colony of blue zoas (specific name unknown). Continuously adding more and more coralline algae. Love the purple!

Parameters thus far, I have maintained 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and 0 Nitrates. Since I put the first drop of water in, this has been the case. Never once seen it get above 0's across the board. Kind of strange but I guess the live rock I bought helped. I keep the salinity at about 1.0235. Calcium is typically on the lower side at about 420 and Alkalinity at about 9 drops. I dose 30mL each day.

Next steps, start adding moral corals to increase the movement.
 
It is looking great!, I agree with Mike though, you definitely want an overflow bow in there and a sump. I would probably slow down on the stocking until then. It is impressive that your tank instantly cycled and that you have kept your nitrates at zero all this time, there is also no visible algae at all. Are you running a sump, reactors or protein skimmers?. Pretty impressed at how it looks and the parameters, considering I see no sump or drilled holes, and even then it can be hard to maintain a good tank.
 
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