The College Chronicles: 5 Gallon Reef

[Dhsa1]

Hey guys! This is my first post on MAAST, I've been a member for a while but haven't been as active as I'd like to be. I am currently attending my freshman year of college in San Antonio and thought I'd set up a small reef tank for my roommate and I. It is nothing fancy but continues to grow more and more everyday (in regards to money invested and emotional investment, as I'm sure you guys all know).

Equipment:
A small HOB filter running carbon and filter floss
ABI Par38 Led light ($27 on amazon, so far so good. Can't beat the price)
5.5 gallon fluval "rimless tank"
AquaticLife Internal mini skimmer 115 (an eyesore in the tank but it does it's job)

In tank:
ORA nano clown
Purple Hornet Zoas
Green star polyps
8-10 pounds of dead rock from an old tank
2ich deep sandbed of dead sand


It is coming to an end of the third week of the tank and everything is looking good. My nitrates are almost back down to zero. I realize it is a bit early to stock the tank with livestock but a friend of mine took down his tank and gave me the frags so what was I to do. Anyways ill post pictures soon, just have to get my Nikon from back home.

[FarmerTy]

Welcome! Looking forward to the pictures.

[alton]

Welcome to MAAST and post pictures

[12_Egg_Omelette]

I love nanos!

[Zack]

Welcome! College reefs are my favorite. If you have some free time, our swap is coming up May 1st. Please let us know in the announcement thread if you'd like to attend! Later today I'll try to link some of my threads to you. I had a 10 gallon, 40 breeder, and 8 gallon at different times throughout my schooling.

[Dhsa1]

Hey guys thanks for all the comments. I finally went home and got the camera and shot a few pictures. The color is still a bit off but they are decent. The water evaporates so quickly in this tank so I decided to purchase an auto top off. It should come in this Saturday. Other than that everything looks to be happy in the tank, still testing the water every day and doing water changes accordingly.

[alton]

Looks great thanks for posting pictures

[Cammed_02]

Nice little 5 gallon! What else are you planning on stocking?

[Dhsa1]

Thanks Rob! Zoanthids are my favorite so I plan on stocking the tank full of them. But of course, I am open to all ideas. I've also had quite a bit of luck with some birds nest frags in my old 8 gallon bio cube. I was thinking of getting a few unique birdsnest frags and placing them on the top arch of the tank. The sps will come a bit later though, gotta get the water a bit more stable.

[FarmerTy]

Looking great! I wish I would have kept one in college!

[Dhsa1]

Hey guys, hope everyone is doin well! The past few weeks have been insane for me with finals/projects and everything. The tank is doing really well actually. It looks a bit dirty at the moment because I haven't cleaned the glass (but I've kept up with water changes every 3 days) so please excuse my mess. The only new addition to the tank has been a nice frag of fire and ice zoas. I purchased it for $20 from my local fish store and couldn't be happier. Also I my GSP have really colored up, they are super neon now. My purple Zoas have grown at least 3 new heads since I got it and they look better than ever. I've been saving a bit of money and plan on purchasing quite a few frags from the upcoming frag swap, so stay tuned!
Anyways heres a few pictures from the tank:)

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[Zack]

Dang.. This thread is making me want to start up my nano again..

[Dhsa1]

Hey guys! It was nice meeting some of y'all at the Swap. Also a quick shout out to the vendor who gave me a free mushroom, i didn't catch your name but I sure appreciate it. I got 5 new corals in all (plus a green BTA). Spent more money than I should have but man does the tank look good. I will be posting some pictures later today!

[Dhsa1]

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[Zack]

Looks great!

[Dhsa1]

https://youtu.be/Zc69WLlzKQc

Hey guys,
It's been a long time since you've heard from me but I have good news!
I am starting an innovative marine 20 gallon build.
To celebrate this upgrade, I posted a video of the 5 gallon. I warn you, it is messy. That is due to the fact that the tank is at my parents home and all they are instructed to do is a single water change of 1.5 gallons a week. They have been doing a much better job than expected and they honestly love the tank. Anyways I will be posting weekly tank-related videos on this Youtube Channel so be sure to subscribe!