Tank Entry

Hobby: an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.
I thought this may be a good place to begin my blog here on Reef Addicts as this is where my interest began, a hobby. An activity, introduced to me by my wife (read: all her fault), to help mitigate my very stressful occupation. She had no way of knowing that the 10 gallon tetra aquarium was just like a gateway drug.


Current image of my original tank ...

This is the tank and stand. I moved it to show it better but it will be against the wall by the foot of the bed. The tank is cube(ish). 36x24x24

I built the stand myself im proud of it. I think it turned out well for my first real attempt.

And so far I'm liking it. Life is much easier now. I no longer have to worry about changing and cleaning the filter socks (which I hate), and no sand bed in the refugium section of my sump means I can now stir/vacuum the bottom of the sump to remove detritus .

And call it science or just strange, but ever since, for the past three days, since I removed the Caulerpa I had growing my pH has maintained itself between 8.1-8.15 as opposed to the previous readings of 7.8-7.9. Let's ...

Calcium tested at 460. Dosed last night and this morning and the dkH is just over 7. Less than 1dkH shift, taking it slow.
Decided to hold of on purchasing a new light fixture, goal was to focus on the basics, and get my tank back in line. So going
to swing by the LFS today and pick up more T5 bulbs that have to be replaced.

Filter sock lasted 4 days before replacement, have two going to pick up another to fit in the rotation. I just feel guilty wasting so much ...

New test kits on order, ELOS kits at LFS are just too pricey. Since moving everything around I've changed the lighting schedule, albeit manually. 4 Bulbs come on at 9:30am, and I go home for lunch and turn on the other 4 at 12:55pm. Going to do this for this week as some of my SPS moved from midtank to less than an inch from the top.

Still weighing my options when it comes to the lighting.