So I have been out of the hobby for about 6 or 7 years and actually have moved away from the PNW to Texas. I at one time had 3 Reef tanks at once. One 40 gallon breeder mixed reef, a 4 gallon mixed reef at the front of the Office where I worked, and a 24 gallon custom Mixed Reef on my desk at work.
Below is a picture of my 4 Gallon AIO Reef that was actually the most stable tank I had. I ran this with nothing more than Live Rock, Filter Floss and Activated Carbon.
I recently was gifted a Top Fin 5 Gallon AIO and decided to pull the trigger on setting up another tank.
I added an extra return pump to help with not only flow but I also didn't think the stock pump was flowing enough for filtration.
I went with Fluval Nano Sea (I believe is the name). I am planning on going with mostly softies (Pulsing Xenia, Zoas, Mushrooms, etc.) and LPS (Frog Spawn, Hammer Coral, Torch, etc. I should have done more reading before purchasing this light and may be upgrading to the AI SOl or Prime 16.
I plan on adding the Hygger Mini Wave maker here soon for flow. I used to have an MP10 and loved it but am trying to do this tank on more of a budget.
The tank has only been up for 3 days now with about 5 lbs. of life rock, Live Sand, Filter Floss, Activated Carbon, and a single Beautiful Clown Fish. I am dosing the AquaVitro "Seed" bacteria to assist with the cycling process.
I learned MOST of what I know about the Reefing hobby and knowledge of tank health/care from this Forum and wanted to get back on here even though I have moved away from the PNW.
Please comment if you have any suggestions, Concerns, etc.
I took 2 pictures of the tank, once with the blue lights turned down because of the sensitivity of blue light on Cell Phone cameras.