Jumping In

[Slick Fork]

Thanks for all the replies so far and keep 'em coming!

I checked out some Aragonite Sand and the price wasn't as bad as I thought I should be (I think the small 15lb bag should be lots but I can play that by ear) and since everybody seems to have a pretty strong opinion on the benefits I'll go that route.

I'm playing around with some ideas on a simple DIY skimmer made from parts I already have lying around. Once I have something I'll post it for everybody to OOH and AAAAH over! So that will bring my total filtration to 1 aquaclear Mini HOB filled with LR rubble, 1 DIY Skimmer, and a 150 GPH powerhead. I think this should be lots, how about you guys?

I'm picking up the tank tommorow and then I'm gone for vacation for a couple of weeks so I don't think I'll have any real progress until I get back. I played around with the idea of setting it up with the liverock in there and just letting it sit and cycle until I get back, but without any top off device to maintain the proper salinity I think I'll just wait. Don't want to go and blow 120 on LR just to have it killed because I wasn't around to keep things topped off!

Flusher: You mentioned getting a refractometer over a hydrometer, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, do they not both measure gravity and salinity? Or am I thinking of something else!

As far as the path to upgrading components, this is tank will be a bit of an experiment in convincing my wife that a large salt water tank would be a good thing! Part of the reason I'm trying to keep a lot of the hardware costs down are once I can upgrade to a bigger tank and transfer my livestock over, the 10 gallon is going to turn into a Q tank or maybe even a sump/regugium for my 33 gallon!

Cheers