First Test.....

So today I got home from work and the tank had zero salt residue. The temperature has risen to 80 degree; which is slightly warm but still acceptable.

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So it was time for my tanks first test! Testing the salinity (saltiness of the water)! There are a couple of ways to test your salinity or "specific gravity". The most accurate is by using a refractometer. I purchased this one from my local fish store for around $100. I'll likely be using it hundereds of times to check my salt levels so I saw it as a good investment.

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The device is basically like a telescope with a prism in the end of it. The idea is that you use the dropper to take a water sample and then cover the blue lens in water. Place the shield down to spread the water evenly over the glass lens. Then hold the refractometer up to a light source and you can see how high the water reads on the scale inside.

The ideal specific gravity for a reef tank is somewhere in a range of 1.023-1.025.

My water tested right bang on in the middle at 1.024. I'm now ready to add my sand to my tank.







I purchased CaribSea sand earlier from my LFS and it's been sitting in my room waiting to spring into action. Well little bag of sand, now is your time to shine!

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I just kind of poured it as evenly as possible but the sand was kind of clumpy and didnt pour out like sugar as I expected. This resulted in some different levels throughout the tank. Over time the sand will get moved around so I'm not too worried. Some people will say that putting the sand into your tank first isn't a wise move. They believe that fish and inverts can undermine rock structure causing it to topple and fall. Some will even go as far as putting 'egg crate' in the bottom of their tank so they wont crack their glass. It was a tough decision but ultimately, I'd like to emulate a natural reef as much as possible so just like the bottom of the ocean my rock will be on top of my sand. I do plan on nesting the rock into the sand as much as possible

You may notice that I removed the heater while I poured the sand. I just didnt want to damage any equipment so I removed both the powerhead and the heater. I set the heater back in the tank immediately after I poured the sand but will leave the powerhead unplugged until the sand settles.

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Now I wait for my lights. Sigh.

ITS ALIVE!

So I set up my tank today.

The stand:
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The syphon was a big POS so I ended up having to get creative.
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Added the koralia:
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Added the salt and the heater:

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Tons of salt sitting in the bottom of the tank still. I couldnt believe how much salt I had to use. I added 9.5 gallons of water so I added 4 3/4 cups of salt as per the label. There's still a BUNCH sitting at the bottom of the tank after I stirred it around a whole bunch. The water temp was only around 65 at the time so I'm hoping the heat will help with absorbing the salt.
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I checked it at 8pm and it was a little better and I checked again just now and it's a lot better.

The pieces of the puzzle are falling together....

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So it's been a couple of weeks now since my last blog update but dont think I haven't been busy working on the tank! I ordered and received some equipment for the tank from JL Aquatics, a fantastic company from Burnaby.

I also just ordered my lighting. For those interested, I purchased a Current Sundial 4x24W 24" fixture. I chose this model because I like the fact that it comes with one cord, built in timers, and built in moonlight leds. I shopped and shopped around and the best deal I could find was through opentip.com. I also used a 5% off coupon to save an extra couple of bucks. All said and done it was $250 shipped to Canada, which is pretty good. I'm going to run stock for a while as I get used to the hobby.

I'll update soon!