Let me start out with a little background information. Yesterday (aka Merc's birthday) Mercedes messaged me and said she wanted to try setting up a saltwater tank. Cool, but of course she didn't want to start out your typical saltwater starter tanks. I pictured something most experienced aquarist would recommend a first timer, a large, fish only tank. No, she wanted to use an old 10 gallon aquarium we had sitting around collecting dust and not just a few fish but corals and the whole works. I tried to fight back telling her it would be expensive to buy the additional equipment and supplies we needed and that a 10 gallon tank was just too small and hard to maintain. She fought back by sending me links to websites and YouTube videos of others who had setup small reef tanks. The videos and websites made it look easy and Merc was convinced this was the route she wanted to take. I disagreed but it was her birthday so here we are! :)
I'd like to say we spent a bunch of time researching everything involved but that would be a lie. Basically we read a bunch of websites, mostly with conflicting information, spent a few minutes flipping though Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies then ran out to Petsmart and picked up our initial supplies.
So at the end of day 1 this is where we stand.
Existing equipment:
- 10 Gallon aquarium
- Hood with 15 watt fluorescent lighting
- 50 watt heater
- Aquaclear 301 powerhead
- 20lbs. Seachem Tidal marine substrate
- 7lbs. Marineland Instant Ocean sea salt
- Seachem Reef Builder
- Seachem Reef Buffer
- API Reef Master Test Kit
- API High Range pH Test Kit
- 8lbs live rock
- Coralife Deep Six Hydrometer
What we still need:
Brighter lighting
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