The Tank Arrives

I started looking in earnest about a month ago. I began by adding up all the start up costs for a Reef aquarium. Sadly, it ain’t cheap. The big decision was whether to build my own or go for the all in one system. I chose the all in one primarily for cost. While they are expensive for what they are, They are far cheaper than building my own system. The reason for this is that if I am taking the time to build it myself I know I would be choosing to “do it right”. MH lighting, sump, fuge, and not less than 50 gallons, probably a dedicated stand that I would probably build myself. To do this I would have 2 choices, piece meal used components from other frustrated hobbyists, or just buy new equipment. The first option would take months to pull together, the second would cost over $1k in start up costs, and that’s before the first coral or fish was dropped in the tank. Neither option appealed to me.
I went with the Aquapod 12 gallon. It fits nicely between my counter top and upper cabinets, although I can’t open the hood all the way when it’s tucked in there. I had to modify the hood slightly to be able to take it off for routine maintenance. I bought it from aquacave.com simply because it was the cheapest price I could find at $166 including shipping. It showed up well packed with no signs of shipping damage, but when I turned it on for a test run I noticed on of the LED moon lights was much dimmer than the other. Upon further inspection I found that the dimmer light was not mounted properly and was stuck inside the reflective hood. Time to break out the screwdriver. After taking the aluminum cowl off I found the problem was that the hot glue used to fix the LED in place had come loose from the aluminum. While I had the tools to fix it properly, I chose to go ghetto with the scotch tape instead. I wanted to get stet up, sue me. 5 minutes and I was on to the leak test, which we fortunately passed no problem.

Starting off

My first memory of a saltwater aquarium was while accompanying my family on a visit to some friend or family member. I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 10 at the time. I don’t remember who it was but it was either someone my parents didn’t know very well or lived a long way from us, because it was a one time visit. At the time it was one of the most exotic things I had ever seen. Corals drifting in the soft current, brightly colored fish darting in and out, it was hypnotizing. This thing (at least to me) was enormous. Thinking back, based on the size of my childhood memory, I’m guessing it was probably about 250 gallons.
A few years ago I bought some used equipment and started my own 30 gallon tank. It was a blast to watch, but cost a lot of money. And I killed more fish than I care to admit. It lasted about a year or so before I packed up and sold off all the remaining gear. Even though we enjoyed it for a year I still consider the effort a failure because I just had trouble keeping stuff alive. About 6 months ago I got the itch to start up again. I finally pulled the trigger last week and ordered an all in one tank. I chose a relatively small model, 12 gallons, because I wanted it to fit on an existing counter in our kitchen. This is the room in which we spend most of our time, and the counter top that my wife has set aside for it can also be seen from the living room while watching TV. It just showed up in the mail. In this blog I will attempt to document my progress, hiccups, failures and whatever I learn along the way.