5 gallon reef comeback

[cwby416]

Well it's been over 10 years since I've had a tank. I sold off most my tanks and equipment long ago, but kept this tank in hopes that someday I'd st it back up. Ive had this whole set up stored in a box and have moved 5 times and in 2 different states. Now, i call virginia home and am married with 3 kids.

I talked my wife into letting me set my tank up, that she had never even seen before. She really doesn't know what she's in for lol.

The tank is about 5.5 gallons (unknown brand)
Lights are CAD T5s i believe
50w stealth heater
Mj 1200 return pump
ATO from autotopoff.com
5 stage typhoon rodi from airwaterice that is mounted in the garage and plumbed through the wall and into the tank.

Rock is tonga and jakarta
Sand is from the Caribbean and florida. Ive saved a bag from each beach we visited on our honeymoon....so now it's part of our reef

Right now im day 7 into the cycle. I started it with a raw shrimp. I figured by March ill be set to start slowly stocking. Ammonia allready peaked at 2ppm and now at .75, so it's moving along nicely.

That's all for now, thanks for reading

Randy

 

[mfinn]

Good luck

 

[spieszak]

Are those 18" T5 bulbs? If they are, they were pretty tough to find a few years back and I would doubt it has gotten easier. Just a heads since it might force you into looking at other means for lighting.

 

[cwby416]

Are those 18" T5 bulbs? If they are, they were pretty tough to find a few years back and I would doubt it has gotten easier. Just a heads since it might force you into looking at other means for lighting.

They are 12" 8w T5. They appear to be fairly common when i looked.

 

[spieszak]

Weird, I did a search and couldn't find any bulbs that weren't general consumer based.
It doesn't matter how bad my google fu is though, as long as you are able to find them

 

[cwby416]

Weird, I did a search and couldn't find any bulbs that weren't general consumer based.
It doesn't matter how bad my google fu is though, as long as you are able to find them

Uhhg. No, you are correct. The super quick search i first did came up with the aqueon ones that petco and petsmart sell. I didn't look to see that it's a general daylight spectrum, no actinic options. Uhhg. Wife will kill me if i try to get new lights.. i guess i have a month to figure it out...

 

[spieszak]

That sucks. I didn't mean to ruin your plans, but, better to be ahead of the game I suppose.
The black box leds are going to be plenty for that tank, and, to be honest, the don't cost much more than a years worth of replacement bulbs (depending on how often you replace)
Something like this should be fine (you'd have to look at tank mount options)- https://smile.amazon.com/Phlizon-Di..._15?keywords=mars+aqua&qid=1581018402&sr=8-15
The viraspectra or mars aqua have a little more feedback, but they are also more expensive.
I run the mars aqua over both my tanks, and they work as well as anything else I've used.

 

[cwby416]

This is what kids look like when they finally see test results that mean..................."we can get a fish"!!