Thanks man, good advice. I'll definitely check out the corals you mentioned. After reading about nems, it seems like I should definitely wait a while, maybe start with the fish first and see how stable I can really commit to...
Ended up with a new hobby
- Thread starter james_007
- Start date
Thanks man, good advice. I'll definitely check out the corals you mentioned. After reading about nems, it seems like I should definitely wait a while, maybe start with the fish first and see how stable I can really commit to...
thelawnwrangler
New member
Sounds like you got a good start. I am only a 3 weeks in myself.
kmbyrnes
New member
I am happy to welcome another to the hobby.
Sounds like you are planning on being a responsible reefkeeper.
Good luck and keep us posted.
My .02 is to skip the 'ocean water'. The water they are getting is likely not very clean compared to what you can make yourself, and also highly overpriced. Most LFS also sell RO/DI water and you can then add your own salt mix for a very reasonable price. You may want to consider your own RO/DI unit in the future, but it is not a necessity now.
Sounds like you are planning on being a responsible reefkeeper.
Good luck and keep us posted.
My .02 is to skip the 'ocean water'. The water they are getting is likely not very clean compared to what you can make yourself, and also highly overpriced. Most LFS also sell RO/DI water and you can then add your own salt mix for a very reasonable price. You may want to consider your own RO/DI unit in the future, but it is not a necessity now.
Welcome to RC!
Tank is small be diligent with the water changes and use RODI water. I had a 20g hex with a Remora skimmer and did a 5 gallon watter change weekly. Was a great tank.
If anything use that space in your cabinet for an auto top off system. It makes life so much easier and keeps the tank nice and stable.
Aquamaxx HOB1 is suppose to be amazing. Get it. Set it. Forget it.
Tank is small be diligent with the water changes and use RODI water. I had a 20g hex with a Remora skimmer and did a 5 gallon watter change weekly. Was a great tank.
If anything use that space in your cabinet for an auto top off system. It makes life so much easier and keeps the tank nice and stable.
Aquamaxx HOB1 is suppose to be amazing. Get it. Set it. Forget it.
Mrs. Music
New member
James, WELCOME TO RC! It is a pleasure to "meet" you. I enjoyed reading your post immensely. You are off to a great start. Reading, already drawing excellent conclussions and asking great questions. I like you (and your wife ) already. If you lived around me I would give you my old sump. A sump helps hide all those visually distracting components like skimmers, and heaters, and increases your water volume. You would need an overflow or need to drill your tank. Kinda a big thing for someone totally knew to the hobby to try, unless you already possess the DIY kinda skills.
Mrs. Music
New member
What kind of HOB (hang on back) filter did you get? I had a HOB filters for awhile on my first tank. No real problems with it. I used marineland bio wheels rated for about 4x the size tank I had. This created great water movement, which I am sure helped me be successful.
RedStangGA
New member
Welcome to RC and the hobby. Tons of good advice here, just make sure you get consensus advice before rushing out and doing something.
Take everything slow. You'll be happier in the long run. By once, cry once. This hobby doesn't have to be expensive but it's more expensive if you buy something just because it's cheap. Look for value.
It's good that you have your family on board. Makes purchases easier. My wife once threatened to divorce me if I broke down my old biocube :lolspin: Not that she helps with the maintenance, but she also doesn't question me when I say I need to spend a stupid amount of $ on a light either. The kids have loved my tanks.
Welcome to the addiction, make sure to post your upgrade tank build too in 12 months lol!
Take everything slow. You'll be happier in the long run. By once, cry once. This hobby doesn't have to be expensive but it's more expensive if you buy something just because it's cheap. Look for value.
It's good that you have your family on board. Makes purchases easier. My wife once threatened to divorce me if I broke down my old biocube :lolspin: Not that she helps with the maintenance, but she also doesn't question me when I say I need to spend a stupid amount of $ on a light either. The kids have loved my tanks.
Welcome to the addiction, make sure to post your upgrade tank build too in 12 months lol!
Martini5788
New member
All good advice in this thread, and welcome! I can tell you that I passionately despise the remora that I have. I don't care what anyone else says. I would invest in something that actually works. Aquamaxx are great. If there is anyway that you can get an automatic top off, you will thank the stars for it. If a sump is not possible, use an ato under the stand. I have an aquatic buddy ro, there is something wrong with the intake so you
Would have to figure that out but you can have it for free
Would have to figure that out but you can have it for free
It's Alive! Thanks for all of the great advice guys. I ended up buying the HOB 1. It was producing good foam from the start and I could see micro specs of sand being skimmed. I also have the carbon filter pump going too. A little overkill but I haven't cycled fully yet and the filter pad will be a good host for bacteria. Sooooo I pulled the trigger and bought a pair of teenage tank raised o. Clowns. They were very social right from the start. They also have a little trouble eating pellets sometimes so I watch carefully and supplement with a few flakes. After the first two days, the tank was doing great. Salinity, Ammo, PH, Temp all stable. Now I went against my better judgement (partially influenced by my spouse, ok heavily influenced) and added a teenage rabbit fish, a skunk shrimp and small frogspawn coral to make the clowns a little more comfortable. I know it's a lot. The rabbit fish will outgrown the tank and managing the cycle would require dedication plus I could likely lose the coral. A day later diatoms lightly frosted my sand and rocks which I anticipated so I did a 20% change and vacuumed the sand (a little). - next day the diatoms I left there are still there but have not grown much and my stats all look good. So I'm just monitoring very carefully (and calmly) to ease the nitrogen cycle along without doing damage. In the meanwhile, my rabbit fish (named Stanley) is no longer shy and hiding in the corner but front stage with a nice yellow body - and my clowns are using the whole tank now and made friends with the shrimp and coral. Last but not least I found a hitchhiker cleaning my rock, a stomatella snail who hides during the day... Fingers crossed for a predictable cycle.
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Martini5788
New member
Wait, is your tank cycled? Please return the rabbit fish, I won't even put one in the 90 gallon I am setting up. You were starting off well, and I know it's hard to wait for the cycle to finish but it really is important that you do so. Also, if you added the clowns you should wait atleast a few weeks for the bacteria to catch up before adding anything else. I fear this will not end well for the fish.
Martini5788
New member
Everything you are doing is just going to prolong the cycle. It takes time for the bacteria necessary to be at sufficient populations to support the tank. Doing a water change to remove the ammonia because your tank isn't cycled is not helping it cycle. It's removing the necessary chemical that starts the cycle.
Thanks Martin, I agree with you completely. The funny thing is my spouse after just a few days is already talking about moving up because she really likes the bigger fish and I'm pretty committed to making this work, so Stanley will be fine, he is in reasonable hands and if he starts to get depressed we already agreed to give him away to a good home.
You're right about the water change too, I guess my hope is that a small change every 3 days will keep the levels low enough for the fish to remain happy and active. I'm a little worried that if I don't control it a little that bad things will happen. So I guess we'll see. Any other tips you can think of?
You're right about the water change too, I guess my hope is that a small change every 3 days will keep the levels low enough for the fish to remain happy and active. I'm a little worried that if I don't control it a little that bad things will happen. So I guess we'll see. Any other tips you can think of?
Martini5788
New member
What are your parameters right now? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph.
Martini5788
New member
Haha no worries at all, last name used to be martin, hence the martini, because I am very short. Stupid nickname from school. Let me know the parameter when you get them
thanks martini, here's what I have. "Basically Zero" - We are 28 hours after diatoms first caught my attention and, hence 24 hours since I did exactly a 4 gallon change on my 26g tank minus my 5 pieces of LR. Nitrates are in between 0 and 5.0ppm and Ammonia is in between 0 and .25 on the API charts.Since I am trying to "science" this. I might have jumped a little too quick yesterday. Perhaps I should have given it another day or so but I will concede to you that I was a little concerned after seeing some posts of people who lost their tank.
Now I'm wondering, should I give it a day see what happens or should add some API quick start. Are you familiar with this product by chance?
And the fish are all active, just doing their own thing....
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