18 Gallon Reef Diary.

[dgoulston]

ok so i picked up me 18 Gallon tank today, my 3rd tank and have been out shopping for me stuff for it.

So far i have purchased:
Tank + Stand (with crap light) £45
RO Water (only used half of it so far) £12
Aqua One 150W Heater £20
Natures Ocean - BIO-Active Live Aragonite £??
Reef Cystals - Sea Salt - MASSIVE 25KG tub, £60
2x Hydor Koralia Nano 240gph £30 each
V2 Skim 120 Nano Skimmer £50
and they threw in a Hydrometer

Total so far (excluding sand cause dont know how much i paid for it):
£246.95 (aprox $500)

Ive set up the tank, got the salt added, and the hydrometer says its all good.
Added the sand.. now going to let it settle and run for a few days, then buy the LR.

Cant wait to get my LR! but the shop did not have very much exciting LR.. so will wait a little.

My tank is looking very cloudy, but i think thats becuase of the Sand.

I brought my tank off EBAY, and all the other stuff from "The Aquatic Design Center" near oxford st, Central London,UK

Darren.

 

[littleme1969]

Good luck with it and is your after any tips there are plenty in other peoples journals like mine as what to expect along the way

 

[@ombomb]

Where abouts in SE London?

The ADC isn't bad, but there are better shops out there.

 

[dgoulston]

I am in Bermondsey, i am looking for some better shops, but the 4 i have been to so far are mainly Tropical.
But i dont mind traveling, so any recomendations would be great, espically for LR..




I ran into my first problem last night, the tank i brought has a crap lid, and the back of it has a massive dip which the light is supported from. and that pushes my Skimmer down, so at the moment, my skimmer may have the go in the front left corner, until i get a custom made lid with maybe 4 T5's or what ever lights i need for Coral.. havent got that far yet,

 

[Betta5]

there is a good shop in lewisham, p4 bus goes there, well any bus which goes to lewisham centre. Its not an amazing shop, but they have a good range of marine fish, corals and other bits. its called supreme animal foods, they will order you things in too

 

[CageUK]

Ive set up the tank, got the salt added, and the hydrometer says its all good.
Added the sand.. now going to let it settle and run for a few days, then buy the LR.

Cant wait to get my LR! but the shop did not have very much exciting LR.. so will wait a little.

My tank is looking very cloudy, but i think thats becuase of the Sand.

Darren.

I don't know if you have bought your live rock yet but when you do, don't forget to ensure that it sits on the bottom of the tank and not on the sand.

A lot of the livestock you are likely to be putting in the tank will burrow under the sand and if the rock is sitting on top of it, at the very least you could get a landslide which could result in a very flat tank occupant
In a worst case it could damage or even break the glass

Normally you would put the sand into the tank AFTER the live rock goes in to ensure it is nice and secure.

Look forward to your photos and updates.

Cheers