My 45 g is finally running!

[Pacman]

Hi everyone,

I joined MAAST awhile ago, but it took me a long time to get my aquarium up and running. I bought a used setup, but it needed a lot of work! Nevertheless, it's finally up and I just put the rock in yesterday!

I am somewhat of a Noob, so I have a straightforward question: It's a 45 gallon that's got about 1-2" of sand in it, and the sump shown in the picture. I really don't know exactly what to do with the fuge though. Should I put a DSB in it, or a bunch of Macro, or both? I understand the concept of both - to export Nitrates - but I've heard people say positive things about either one.

[Pacman]

hmm, I think you're probably right. A 5" bed in there would probably rule out any macro in the first place.

Here are some pics I took of the aquarium so far.

[SexyShrimp]

You did a great job cleaning it up to look pretty.

[Pacman]

Thanks, it was in pretty bad shape when I got it. Here's a picture of what it looked like. My wife was about to kill me for spending any money on it whatsoever, but she's come around a little bit anyway ;) .

[JimD]

What are the dimentions on that tank?

[Pacman]

36x18x16. There's no center brace on this one, which I really like!

[scuba_steveo]

Very clean looking...Nice!

[Pacman]

Thanks for all the comments!

The sump took me a little while to figure out myself as it was all in parts, and I had only seen the "typical" design before. But now, I really like it; fairly simple, and it creates a nice little 'fuge!

I was wondering though, should I put some macro in it before the rock cycles, or wait until after? I only have the lights on in the main tank for a few hours a day, so I'm thinking I shouldn't get an algae breakout till I bump up the lighting period.