Swapped in the eheim compact pump for circulation today. Corals have filled out a lot since the early days, rock's mostly covered now which still throws me off a little every time I look at it.
Had the box sitting on the floor by the stand for like two days before I actually got around to installing it, kept putting it off. Once it was in I noticed it's got a slightly different hum than what I had before, not loud exactly but noticeable in a quiet room. Hoping it settles in or my ears just get used to it.
Flow pattern definitely changed, I can see it pushing sand a bit differently near the base rock. Anthias seem fine with it, still schooling around like usual. Firefish still hovering near its rock like always.
New gear installedPhoto Date
Note
first fish in
Added the first fish today, a firefish goby. Bag was floating up top for a while getting temp matched before I let any water mix in.
Once it finally got released it shot straight down and hid in a little gap between two rocks and didn't move for like twenty minutes. I was starting to worry but then it poked its head out, looked around, and darted back in again a few times.
Rock's still mostly bare at this point, just a few small frags glued down here and there, lots of open space still. Feels weird having just one little fish in a tank this size but gotta start somewhere. By the end of the night it was actually hovering near its little cave instead of hiding fully, so that felt like progress.
First fish going inPhoto Date
Note
two weeks in, checking numbers
Two weeks into the cycle now on this one. Been testing every couple days, ammonia and nitrite are all over the place which I guess is normal at this stage, some days it looks like it's dropping and then it spikes again.
No fish yet, just the rock doing its slow bacterial thing. Nitrates are climbing a little which I take as a decent sign that something's actually happening in there.
Honestly the hardest part of this whole stage is not touching anything and just letting the tests tell the story. I keep wanting to add something to speed it along but I know better at this point.
Note
filled it up
Got water in the tank finally. Mixed the salt the night before in a spare bucket with a powerhead just running in there to make sure it was all dissolved and matched to the right gravity before it went in, didn't want to just dump it in and hope.
Filter's running, no dechlorinator needed since it's all synthetic saltwater from scratch, but I did double check salinity with my refractometer like three times because I'm paranoid about that stuff.
Water's a little hazy right now, kind of expected with new rock, some dust and stuff getting stirred up. Rock still has that stark white look with a bit of brown film starting on some spots already. No fish, no coral, just water moving around the rock for now.
Just filledPhoto Date
Note
dry rock, second guessing everything
Spent the whole afternoon stacking and restacking this rock. No water in the tank yet, just me staring at dry rock trying to make it look natural instead of like a pile.
Keep second guessing the layout. Left too much open sand space in the middle or is that fine? Moved the biggest rock like four times. At one point I had a nice arch going and then it just kind of collapsed sideways so that idea's dead.
Not sure this is it yet but my back is done for the day so this is where we're leaving off. Might wake up tomorrow and hate it, we'll see.
