My 28g dive into reef keeping

[MrsDubs]

Today was is the day my tank finally went up!! Now it may be a wonder to many how my tank was cleaned and set up all in one day .. no cycling required! Having a reef renegate-ing boyfriend means that my water came from his tank, my sand dry from petco because of impatience (and a bit from his own), my rock live from his tank and a few donations from Trinimaddness.

First step to our process was getting this beauty clean!





Vinegar I have learned is very important when cleaning up!

Once everything was cleaned up, we took a ride to Petco. We were in dire need of sand. Bout dry sand mixed it with a pint of live sand from Dubs amazing mixed reefing tank .. and the sand was added!


We siphoned water.


Using a plate over the sand when adding the water really helped keep the sand steady. Thanx to Trinimaddness for the idea!


Figuring out the aquascape was a challenge but I really like the end result!
Here's the view from the front ..


A view from the left side ..


Lastly, the right side ..


Because I am with a renegade reefer, I intend on learning like one (with one exception .. I will test!). Why wait to add anything?! It's current stocked with a bulb anemone, a cardinal fish, a few zoas, a few polyps, a mushroom and a few gsp. Hope you enjoyed!

 

[dubs]

welcome to reefing i wish u much success and hope u have fun on this and adventurous journey the tank looks good

 

[duromega]

now she just need an avatar :biggrinpa
welcome to the amazing hobby of reef keeping
can't wait to see the tank in person
and up some pictures please

 

[MrsDubs]

now she just need an avatar :biggrinpa
welcome to the amazing hobby of reef keeping
can't wait to see the tank in person
and up some pictures please

Thank you for the welcome .. I'm super excited about this!! :bagfish:

Stop by anytime to meet my beauty! I'm in love .. I can stare it my anemone all day long!!

Hope you enjoy the pics! Finally got it to work. Seems like photobucket is the way to go!

 

[MrsDubs]

welcome to reefing i wish u much success and hope u have fun on this and adventurous journey the tank looks good

Thanx babe! You were amazing today with this entire process. I know my tank will be successful look who I have for a teacher! I'm loving this journey so far .. thankful I can share it with you!

 

[dadat1968]

Looking good.. Goodluck!

 

[MrsDubs]

Looking good.. Goodluck!

Thank you!!

 

[cmantis]

Thank you for the welcome .. I'm super excited about this!! :bagfish:

Stop by anytime to meet my beauty! I'm in love .. I can stare it my anemone all day long!!

Hope you enjoy the pics! Finally got it to work. Seems like photobucket is the way to go!

Ill stop by and move your anemone and help you re-scape at the same time. Just ask Dubs how I do :sgrin:

Plus I will give you some corals you just can't tell him where you got them :Up_to_som

 

[MrsDubs]

After a whole 24 hours of my tank being up, I decided to test my water.
To test the salinity I used a refractometer. Salinity=1.027

I used API test kit. Here I tested Nitrate (NO3), Phosphate (PO4), Calcium (Ca), and Carbonate Hardness (KH).

Results:








Interpretation: While Ca and KH were within good range, NO3 and PO4 are a bit on the high side. I did a 5 g water change and will test again tomorrow.

Currently experiencing a sand storm. It seems the pump may be a bit too powerful! Dubs:inlove:will be sticking his hand in there to bring the situation under control. So thankful to have such an amazing reefer right here at home!:cheekkiss

 

[MrsDubs]

Ill stop by and move your anemone and help you re-scape at the same time. Just ask Dubs how I do :sgrin:

Plus I will give you some corals you just can't tell him where you got them :Up_to_som

My anemone is perfect where it is!! It's the center piece of my tank .. well there isnt much in there yet!!! Can't wait to have some beautiful clowns hosting.

Do stop by though!! Its nice to get other people's perspectives. Corals .. please send those my way!! I won't tell .. PROMISE!

 

[MrsDubs]

So just because .. i decided to post pictures of everything in my tank so far. It would be nice to see as my collection of corals increases with time.

My star polyps:




Xenias:




Yuma Mushroom:


Stunner Chalice:


Monti Caps:




Polyps and Zoas:




Acropora:


And my favorite .. Anemone




And pictures of my tank as a whole. This was at night so everything is asleep. Enjoy the aquascape!
Front View:


Left Side:


Right Side:

 

[trinimaddness]

coming along nicely...You got a tank thread B4 me

 

[dubs]

Ur off to a good start now let see were u take ur tank with fish and corals gl

Trinimaddness u dont have a tank thread cuase ur too lazy and u dont no one to see ur tank of aptasia and gha lol

 

[trinimaddness]

Hey its a specimen tank ok. I'm intentionally growing those...im fragging soon, i got you

 

[pkane11384]

Hey its a specimen tank ok. I'm intentionally growing those...im fragging soon, i got you

LMAO.

Tank looks good so far. You have a pretty good mentor

 

[ijvasquetelles]

coming along very nicely good luck

 

[MrsDubs]

Mushrooms have arrived!!!

Here's an updated picture of the tank. Well a front view.

Enjoy the mushrooms .. they are sooooo pretty :flower:

 

[cmantis]

No offense but I would get rid of half the stuff in there. The gsp, xenia, mushrooms and some of those polyps. They are going to take over. Just wait till Dubs goes to bed and grab some top shelf frags!

 

[duromega]

No offense but I would get rid of half the stuff in there. The gsp, xenia, mushrooms and some of those polyps. They are going to take over. Just wait till Dubs goes to bed and grab some top shelf frags!

why you hate polyps so much ?:screama:
:fishhit: LOL

 

[MrsDubs]

This weekend was amazing when it came to collecting corals. Dubs met up with Juggernot55 on Friday and came home with some nice gifts!


All of these except the Rastas (those are from my hubby's tank) were a gift from Juggs include some pretty Superman Mushrooms and a nephthea tree.

Saturday we ventured to into Brooklyn to meet up with Cmantis and OMG this was my first time buying any coral! PopCorals definitely gave me some awesome gifts to take home!! It's great to have a hubby that has sooo many friends!




Got a few new mushrooms thanx to PopCorals including that beautiful bright red one .. I think thats my fav!!

More pics of the tank!