Did a water change today, tank's a bit low mid change with the bucket and hose still out. Salinity checked out at 1.025, alk was a touch low so I bumped dosing slightly. Corals are still small compared to what I'm hoping for but there's decent coralline starting to spread on the back rock now.
After trim + water changePhoto Date
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first fish in
Added the royal gramma today, first livestock in the tank. It shot straight into the rockwork and I didn't see it again for almost an hour, then it started poking its head out from a little cave near the left side. Seems to like swimming upside down under the overhangs which threw me off at first. No aggression issues since there's nothing else in there to bother yet.
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two weeks cycling
Checked params today, ammonia is coming down and I'm seeing nitrite finally showing up which I take as things moving along. No fish in yet, just watching the numbers and topping off evaporation. Still kind of bare in here but that's expected at this stage.
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filled it up
Water's in and the filter is running. Looks so different once it's full, all the little gaps in the rock show up different than they did dry. A bit hazy right now from sand getting stirred up but that should clear. Nothing living in here yet, just letting it run.
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dry rock day
Got the rock in today, no water yet. Picked most of these pieces up locally, a couple I had sitting in a box from a build that never happened. Spent a while just stacking and restacking before I was happy with the shape, tried to leave some open sand area in front instead of wall to wall rock. My kid thought the empty tank looked like a little cave set and honestly same.
