Up and Running

I've been waiting so long to make my own little reef tank.  I've been staring at things, on and off, for the past nine years.  Now I've got the time and the money to make my own little slice of the ocean.

The theme for the tank is symbiotic relationships.  I want to have the pair of clown fish in their sea anemone.  I want to see the goby with its pistol shrimp and I'd love to see a cleaner shrimp set up shop.

Right now I've got a glass box full of water.

I'm starting with an Innovative Marine Nuvo 30g.  It's as big as I could go for the space I can put it in.  I built the stand today and currently it's mixing salt water for me.  I just used tap water for this first fill.  Before adding the salt I dosed it with a capful of Prime to handle and chlorine.  My municipal water is very high quality (TDS<50ppm) and it's just going to sit for a week before I even start the cycle.

This week the goal is to set up the equipment and make sure everything is functioning properly.  I'll test my salinity tomorrow and take a closer look at the heater (I think the temperature is a little lower than I'd like).  I'm going to keep an eye on evaporation to determine if I should invest in an auto top-off.