Starting small

If you can find one get a 12 gallon nano cube. You upgrade the lighting to LED's like gu10 bulbs (There's a thread about this on Nano Reef) and upgrade the filtration easily. Give me a PM later today

 

I also started small, but not that small. I would recommend getting a 20 gallon. The equipment you buy for your 9 will be about the same cost, and I got my 20 gallon at petco for like 30 bucks.

 

I just converted my 6.6 to salt to get my bacteria colony started.

 

For the time being looks like the oceanic biocube 29 hqi. I like the fact it is aio and large enough to get me started without breaking the bank. Going this route also will allow me a little extra room in the budget for future upgrades and livestock. I'll be keeping the 6.6 going for a possible nursery for fry if I happen to get a breeding pair of clowns. My daughter put her foot down and insists I get clowns.

 

And again my wife throws me a curveball. The shelving system she wasn't keen on in the beginning that I was intending to use has gone on sale. Now she's. Changed her mind about it. Only stipulation is I paint the structure a light color. I got a bid back from the lfs for a custom tank and was hit with sticker shock. I could buy an off the shelf 55 gallon for 1/5th the price they bid. A few bucks more and I could get a two piece glass top and divider cut for it. I think that is the route I'll be going. The bio cube idea was a good one till my better half decided we'd be getting different furniture to keep my setup on. ( wonder how many times she'll change her mind.)

On a progressive note... My QT has cycled and now has a small population of pods and a pinch of chaeto ( which has tripled in size in short order. ) I've added a 3/4" three band damsel to keep a small bio load on the tank while I'm off at work.

Btw today is Friday the 13th. I get to take a flight to the top of Alaska this afternoon. Wish me luck!

 

I've been back from the north slope about a week now. While I was gone my 6.6 had its diatom bloom and dispersal. Did a 20% wc. Moved everything to an eheim Aquastyle 35.

My pod population is going through another boom. No coral as of yet just a cuc and fish to maintain a light bio load. Managed to avoid a mini cycle in the process.

 

Congrats on the tank. I like your aquascape.

 

Thank you. Working on acquiring proper lighting and plumbing to add on another 17gallon rimless ADA to the system. I'm considering waiting out the release of the AI Vega light up the 17 once I move up and create a fuge with my current setup.

 

Picked up my ADA 60p today.

 

I got everything moved over to the 60p and it is beginning to clear up. I've noticed that I didn't put a dent in my pod population. In fact with the increase in sand surface area they seem to have multiplied exponentially. I like the panoramic view over the cube a lot. Makes the aquarium appear much larger than it actually is.

I found new growth on one of my rocks in the form of a hitchhiker sponge. I find this to be a good sign that I must be doing something right. I'm finding it terribly hard to not start stocking this thing with every day that goes by. Just have to remind myself to take it slow and let it grow. Er well mature a bit before adding coral.

I've decided to wait a bit longer and purchase an AI Vega when they become available. In the mean time I will be putting together my water circulation setup and be working out the plumbing to incorporate not 1 but 2 refugiums for this tank. The smaller for chaeto and the larger as a display piece for different marine vegetation.



Poor quality fts due to the use of the on board camera of my iPad. Please excuse the dirty glass and bits of macro everywhere.