Have tank A and tank B, A (in first picture shown below) I've filled, from dry tank and hardscape, with distilled water mixed with Instant Ocean Reef Salt to reach 1.003. Yeah, doing the moss ball acclimation attempt. Plan to increase density in 4 weeks to 1.006, then repeat delay and increase until reaching 1.012.
B was filled, from a dry tank and hardscape, with and same water and salt but by amount to measure to 1.012. (I'm tempted to move some of the moss balls over and see how well they fare and compare over time to the others at 1.003. Previously the moss balls were in a container with fresh water from a cycled aquarium.)
Beyond the marimo algae and salt level differences, tank A has some dragonstone for no reason but it was laying around, from my limited salt water understanding this rock should not effect water paramaters even in brackish.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/zpWdQWz.jpg)
![Image](https://imgur.com/rsVIxGg.jpg)
Each tank has ~2 lb crushed lava rock and ~2 lb tan aragonite for the substrate.
Most difficult item to source for these I found to be the large (2" to 5") lava rocks.
For anyone who may be interested sharing the overly excessive shopping list. Unless noted items were acquired though Amazon. No real need for the lava rock substrate, sea fans, marimo, dragonstone, full spectrum lights and thick acrylic covers, without those looking now I see costs for two tanks would be far less than half the below total with same results outside of astetics.
CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand, 10 lbs., Tan
$11
onlyfire Black Lava Rock 10 Pounds, 2.75-5 Inch
$30
Black Lava Rocks Granules for Indoor Outdoor Plants Vase Fillers,Aquariums,River Rocks Outdoor Landscaping.(2.2 Pound)
$10 bought two for $20
SEAOURA Led Aquarium Light for Plants-Full Spectrum Fish Tank Light with Timer Auto On/Off, 18-24 Inch
$23 bought two for $46
Ipetboom 1Pc Natural Coral Ornament, Black Sea Fan
$10 bought four for $40
Marimo Decorative Moss Ball (2 pcs)
$10 for 2, bought 4 packs for $40
AUTOUTLET Salinity Refractometer
$17
Aqueon 5.5 gallon tank
$12 bought two for $24
purchased from petsmart
OPTIX 18 in. x 24 in. x 0.220 (1/4) in. Clear Acrylic Sheet
$32
purchased from Homedepot
Great Value Distilled Water, 1 gallon
$1.34 purchased 10 for $13.40
purchased from Walmart
5 gallon food safe plastic bucket
$4.28 bought two for $8.48
purchased from Walmart
Aqua-Life Gravel Vac
$12
purchased from Walmart
Instant Ocean Reef Salt
$24