dbacksrat's step by step account
Hey everyone--after months of agonizing waiting and countless hours of labor (and a little allowance), the time has come to add the live rock to my tank
i am doing this step by step account because wayne's kind of inspired me, and maybe those of you who are interested would like another point of view as to how one would start up a tank....
equipment- HOT Magnum "Canister" filter w/ biowheel, seaclone protein skimmer, 2x hagen 301 powerheads, rena cal heater, and about 20 watts of NO flourescent lighting
i plan to upgrade the lighting to a 2x 65 or 55 watt PC fixture w/ simple DIY hood around christmas time
by the way, i also have all of the basics (test kits, salt, hydrometer, food, etc) so dont worry about that for now
Here we go---------------
9-7-04: after 3 hours of deliberation as to where the aquarium goes, we decide to move it into the already cramped family room...i forgot to rinse the sand before adding it into the tank, so i'll explain later
earlier in the day i went to safeway and filled two 3 gallon bottles with water that was supposedly purified w/ reverse osmosis and all kinds of other cool stuff--as soon as i added the water, i produced a rather nasty looking milk colored water (all kinds of dust from lack of rinsing)--there was also some plant matter, and i dont have a clue as to where it came from, as well as dog hair--my dog Zoe wanted to drink the salt water as i mixed it...by the way, mixing salt water and getting it to the proper specific gravity was surprisingly easy
my mom ordered live rock for me from liveaquaria.com (lalo select uncured live rock) for $99.99 ($10 off!!!) plus an additional $35 for 2 day shipping...
9-8-04: the water looked a little better today when i got up for school--i finally installed and ran the filter before i ran out the door for school....
when i got home, the water had cleared up really nicely--i could see the background from nearly 35 feet away--but i made the mistake of aggrivating the sand, which stirred up dust as i installed the rest of the equipment
the live rock arrives on friday...i can hardly wait
Hey everyone--after months of agonizing waiting and countless hours of labor (and a little allowance), the time has come to add the live rock to my tank
i am doing this step by step account because wayne's kind of inspired me, and maybe those of you who are interested would like another point of view as to how one would start up a tank....
equipment- HOT Magnum "Canister" filter w/ biowheel, seaclone protein skimmer, 2x hagen 301 powerheads, rena cal heater, and about 20 watts of NO flourescent lighting
i plan to upgrade the lighting to a 2x 65 or 55 watt PC fixture w/ simple DIY hood around christmas time
by the way, i also have all of the basics (test kits, salt, hydrometer, food, etc) so dont worry about that for now
Here we go---------------
9-7-04: after 3 hours of deliberation as to where the aquarium goes, we decide to move it into the already cramped family room...i forgot to rinse the sand before adding it into the tank, so i'll explain later
earlier in the day i went to safeway and filled two 3 gallon bottles with water that was supposedly purified w/ reverse osmosis and all kinds of other cool stuff--as soon as i added the water, i produced a rather nasty looking milk colored water (all kinds of dust from lack of rinsing)--there was also some plant matter, and i dont have a clue as to where it came from, as well as dog hair--my dog Zoe wanted to drink the salt water as i mixed it...by the way, mixing salt water and getting it to the proper specific gravity was surprisingly easy
my mom ordered live rock for me from liveaquaria.com (lalo select uncured live rock) for $99.99 ($10 off!!!) plus an additional $35 for 2 day shipping...
9-8-04: the water looked a little better today when i got up for school--i finally installed and ran the filter before i ran out the door for school....
when i got home, the water had cleared up really nicely--i could see the background from nearly 35 feet away--but i made the mistake of aggrivating the sand, which stirred up dust as i installed the rest of the equipment
the live rock arrives on friday...i can hardly wait
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