CoralFish12G, 15G Nano Tank Journal

[SWNOOB]

This is my first saltwater tank/ForumMember/Journal.
I have always loved fish/animals since I was a little kid. I've kept animals/pets since I can remember.

I started my first "aquarium" when my older sister bought me a coople of betta fish for my birthday and had surprised me after school. Little did she know only one would be alive by the time I got home.
Since then I've had about a dozen or so fresh water aquariums. Salt water aquariums always caught my eye but the prices always had me dreaming about ever owning a saltwater tank.

I finally have a house that I worked really hard to get and in my head I've always known that owning a house would be my door to setting up my first saltwater tank. After some renovations and kids, I finally pulled the trigger on a small nano tank AIO that was on sale on Black Friday from the YouTuber CORALFISH12G. Even though I knew not to start with a nano tank, after doing tons of research and watching non stop YouTube videos, so that mistakes don't become magnified. I couldn't pass up the deal and it was my chance to get in the saltwater world. This was also a way to convince the wifey that a reef tank would look great in our house.

I received the tank early December and set it up with the sand and rock that it came with before Christmas in the garage. I used a bacteria starter and had the lights off for the first two weeks. after that the tank ran for about two months before I bought a clown fish and some corals. After the first corals, I caught the coral bug and visited every aquarium store I could find from south San Jose to Castro Valley. There are still a few I have not visited. I guess I will post a the first photos I have when started the tank and will continue the thread with the different iterations and add ons Ive done since then.

 

[BlueSallymandr]

Welcome! What kinds of corals do you have?

 

[SWNOOB]

After a couple of months of the tank living in my garage, I finally moved it in the living room area. I was more interested in having my tank filled with corals than fish.

I had visited a few aquarium stores before I stopped by Neptunes Aquatics. WOW!!! I was so AMAZED with the cleanliness and how organized the shop was. I visited the store to view some corals but was stuck on the fresh water sections for a good hour!!! I had never seen aquariums at a store like they have. They were so clean with SO many fish and SO many fresh water plants and everything looked super healthy!!! It felt like I was dreaming! After a while I noticed how much time I had spent in the FW section and had to hurry to the SW section....I had the sam reaction with the SW section as I did with the FW. I was just blown away how clean all the tanks were compared to the other aquarium shops that I had visited! I think I could have literally stayed there for HOURS!!!(I think I was there for like three hours) I wish I had known about this place when I started the aquarium hobby! This would have been my dream job!!! Anyways I picked up a hammer coral, zoas, a Duncan coral, mushroom, GSP, leather coral, blasto, favia and a clown fish. These coral purchases were between a few visits.

During that time I had been researching what beginner corals were best and looking at craigslist for other saltwater tanks (I was already to upgrade before I got the tank running XD). Scouring the craigslist ads I had come across some ads selling corals. Little did I know hobbyists sold frags on craigslist. This is where I met @popper and bought some corals from him. He's the one that directed me to join Bay Are Reefers. When he first mentioned it he referred it as bar and I thought it was hobbyists meeting at a bar to talk corals XD. He was so kind and we chatted for a good half hour. He mentioned that joining the community was totally worth $30 dollars and it would pay for itself 10fold. He hooked me up with some corals and joined BAR a week or so later. Thanks you sir, it was totally worth the $30 dollars! I think at this point is when I knew I caught the coral bug and wanted to go back for more!

 

[SWNOOB]

Welcome! What kinds of corals do you have?

Sorry do not know the all the names of the coral just the type. I started off with some GSP,green hammer coral, zoas, a bubble tip anemone, mushrooms, dunkin, goniapora and I believe a favia. Most of my first corals I got from Popper. I shopped at Neptune a few times purchasing one or two corals here and there. As far as fish I got a royal gramma, small clown fish and a yellow goby with a pistol shrimp. All these corals and fish were added at different times.

 

[SWNOOB]

Found this guy lurking out from a rock when I was feeding my fish. I took him out of the tank not knowing what it was, thinking it was a pest. After doing some online reading and I from what I read is that they are good for the aquarium.

These photos were taken back in February, I have quite a lot of journals to do to catch up on the current state of the tank.
I was testing with the basic master salt water test kit for PH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite. Also picked up a refractometer for salinity.

 

[SWNOOB]

 

[SWNOOB]

This was back in April. Added a lot more corals to the tank. Everything since than has grown in a bit and it seems like they grow slow. Maybe it’s the light? I just picked up the par meter so I will be checking how much par I’m getting through out the tank. I’ve also lost a few corals here and there but nothing major. My next update will be the most recent update of the tank. I’ve added more corals, rock, and fish. Can’t help myself!