First SW attempt - 5.5g Pico!

[andsoitgoes]

Here's a few more pictures of the tank the day after! The Kenyan tree is doing incredibly well, and the star polyps are starting to really show their stuff!

I'm loving the Sexy a LOT more than I even thought, the coloration is STUNNING!!!









SO happy - and yes, now I want MORE =/

[GrimReefer]

cool. how long have you had it set up for??

[andsoitgoes]

Originally Posted by genix

cool. how long have you had it set up for??

LOL - a day and a half?

Never realized SW could be SO addictive, my wife isn't as interested in it as me (she likes FW tanks stocked with fishies, rather than tanks with corals and such) - but man, I can see this turning out very, very bad. hehe, glad my wife doesn't frequent THIS forum!!

[GrimReefer]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

LOL - a day and a half?

yeah i thought that was about right from the cloudy water. way, way too soon for corals or inverts. you want to wait for your live rock to cycle, and then a good week or so (at the very least) before adding inverts. too many toxic compounds and dramatic shifts in water chemistry to support anything sensitive. a little late for that advice now, but now you know for next time!

[andsoitgoes]

Originally Posted by genix

yeah i thought that was about right from the cloudy water. way, way too soon for corals or inverts. you want to wait for your live rock to cycle, and then a good week or so (at the very least) before adding inverts. too many toxic compounds and dramatic shifts in water chemistry to support anything sensitive. a little late for that advice now, but now you know for next time!

that's odd - the LR, Water and Sand was all cycled prior to me adding anything in (Anthony made SURE that everything would go smashingly well when I started it up ) = I'm making sure to keep a close eye on all params during this period

[WWWD]

It dosent look like there is much to cycle, there is only one small piece of live rock. Do yourself a favor and get a lot more *live* rock for that tank and some better lights, then you will be going.

[andsoitgoes]

There's 3 pieces in there, 1 with coraline algae on it, and the other two with some attached randomness.

I have 1x15w 65k and 1x27w 65k w/ a 24w led bulb added on.

I figured that would be more than enough for a 5.5g tank, that's pushing 8.4 wpg and it's a very shallow 5.5g tank.

I may add in s'more live rock, but I thought this would be a good start now

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yes, I told him about taking it slow but everything is from my established tanks & the live rock was fully cured in my sump & then transported in a bucket filled with 5 gallons of saltwater from my reef tank. The rock was out of the water for a couple minutes max. He has prepared extra water & is testing parameters. He also knows that if something happens, he can bring the frags back & recycle the tank & wait the normal period (like I originally advised).

When I set up my wife's nano, it was also done the same way without going through a cycle so this method was "tested" prior to Mr. Too-Excited came over. Not the best way (rushing like this) but we've discussed what to do already.

[GrimReefer]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Yes, I told him about taking it slow but everything is from my established tanks & the live rock was fully cured in my sump & then transported in a bucket filled with 5 gallons of saltwater from my reef tank. The rock was out of the water for a couple minutes max. He has prepared extra water & is testing parameters. He also knows that if something happens, he can bring the frags back & recycle the tank & wait the normal period (like I originally advised).

When I set up my wife's nano, it was also done the same way without going through a cycle so this method was "tested" prior to Mr. Too-Excited came over. Not the best way (rushing like this) but we've discussed what to do already.

ahh...okay. i set up a .5 gal pico in the same fashion and it was successfull as well, although not the safest start.