If You Are New to Reef Central, Introduce Yourself Here!

[Name That Tuna]

Im new; how screwed am I ?!?

Im new; how screwed am I ?!?

Greetings marine lovers! I'm Meghan and I live in Erie Pennsylvania. I'm a 31 yr old bartender who apparently has too much free time and is a glutton for punishment, hence my recent marine project...

Though my project has taken forever, its finally up and "running". Im successfully keeping water alive! I have a 90 gal (overflow) tank that I've built into my living room wall, w a 30gal sump hidden in a spare bedroom. My goal is to eventually add corals but nothing too soon because the light hood was used and is quite antiquated. The older fatter style bulbs will probably be replaced with LEDs but doesn't seem like a necessary immediate purchase. I have roughly 180lbs of live rock that is covered in coraline algae from a very very well established tank. I added water a month ago, had a used pump die so I got a bit of green hair algae. New pump and skimmer. My current temp is 77F, PH 8.0, and salinity is 1.025. 2 days ago I finally bought a cleanup crew consisting of:

4 Mexican Turbos
3 teeny tiny blue crabs
1 marble sized red crab
1 coral banded shrimp

I explained i wanted crabs that won't pillage snails or eat future fish, but i'm still nervous because i'm not exactly sure what they are besides tiny and blue, and tiny and red! For added worry, today I left the store w a fish, and I'm thinking its a fussy one. The green Mandarin... I should mention that years ago i dated a guy for 5 years that was quite the reef enthusiast, and we kept even the fussiest clams so i'm not completely niave to the hobby, just a bit rusty. An hour or so ago, while acclimating the fish I realized that he/she's not alone in the bag!!! :eek1:Theres a tiny "???lobster???" thats around an inch long and literally clear (aside from his black eyes). I can see how it happened, but not knowing what it is makes it damn near impossible to know how to care for it. Im thinking lobster because of its tail but i can't find anything on google images except recipies EWWWWWWWW! I also learned people eat cleaner shrimp on salads....I-yi-yi!!!

Anyway, the mandarin came with a big bag of homegrown pods to munch on, and I was instructed to filter them from their super cold water and put half in the sump and half in the tank, repeating every month or so. I was also told i could possibly train for frozen food but that its not terribly promising. I'm assuming the "lobster" is safe to add but I truly have no idea.

Im curious about the pods reproducing, a better wat to identify minute crabs and hoping this lobster-esque free-bie was good luck


Thanks so much...I hate being new

 

[jlynn859]

New to the saltwater hobby could use a little help please

New to the saltwater hobby could use a little help please

Hi Jennifer here, I'm new to saltwater. I have read a couple of threads in the past. I could really use some help.

 

[huskerreefer]

Introduction

Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Brent and I live in Lincoln, Ne. While not new to fish keeping I am just starting back up after a 7 year vacation. I started with Salt Water fish in 1992 with a 29g tank while in college, that became a 75g, a second 75g in my classroom and finally a 150g fish only tank at home. In 2008 my family moved and we had to live in an apartment for a couple years which meant no tank. I stored it and gave the 150g to my oldest son a few years ago. I wasn't planning to start a tank again until my sister and her husband decided they were going to get rid of their 180g tank and equipment, this was to good of an offer to pass up. I started a 29g tank in May knowing that the big tank would be coming this fall. So last weekend I picked up the new tank, started setting it up this weekend and decided I am going to do a reef this time around so I joined RC to learn from everyone here all the knowledge that is available. I did start a thread to chronicle the tank build. I look forward to learning from all of you in the coming months and years.

 

[spags315]

hello all. been on here for awhile trying to learn it all . lmfao. well I'm off and started my tank is hmmm. doing well very nervous but very anxious also..hopeing all works out.but as always newbs make mistakes..so please bear with me..55g long. starter tank looking to purchase much bigger tank for future..

 

[geekengineer]

I should introduce myself as well I been lurking here for a while now now I got into posting some now since I been having some fish issues and wondering about my new setup etc. I had a 10 gal saltwater with a damsel in a tank a while ago that I inherited from someone. So recently I decided to start up a saltwater for more real this time. I started out with a 10 gallon tank again cause I didn't want to go crazy if I decided I wasn't into it. Well the guy at my LFS has been after me to get a bigger tank for saltwater. So I been sort of not wanting to go too crazy too fast so I working on setting up a 29 gallon tank and a 20 gallon sump setup next. Hopefully this will be able to have good fairly stable water quality yet not be too crazy big.

The 10 gallon tank I have now maybe about 5 months old killed my first two fish due I think partially to not realizing I needed a protein skimmer with how much I was pushing the nano tank envelope. I did have fun trying to make one with my 3D printer although it was sort of a lot of work. However, now I got nice crystal clear water.

Now it has a pain in the butt clown goby that doesn't' want to eat anything but frozen brine shrimp and two small hermit crabs, a small Kenya tree coral, live rock, and some uninvited bristle worms (maybe not totally bad anyways). So I will see how this all goes I haven't decided totally what fish I am going to get once I get the 29 gallon tank going.

 

[spags315]

hello all. trying to become a salt water aquarist. well my tank is now 14 days old . i know what a newb lol . but anywhos anyone have anything on about how long it will take my tank to go through its chemical transfer. i have been noticing my crushed coral on the bottom is turning a brownish color? good bad me dunno? been checking ammonia levels and ph but as a newb I'm little skeptical about my own testing. { always asking did i do that rte.did i shake it long enough. so please any help would be grateful.

 

[Dimitrisgr]

Greetings

Greetings

Hi, my name is Dimitris and I am from far away Greece.
All started a couple of years ago when my son "won" a gold fish in a fair (I know it's cruel, but no such laws in Greece to prevent fish in bowls). A couple of days later I was down the LFS buying a 60lt (approx. 15US gal) for the fish. Sadly the gold fish died a year later, but the desire to have a tank was born and here I am today with a small (30US gal) reef tank, which is doing good so far. I attach a pic, sorry for the quality but it was taken with my phone . . . The blue tang was a gift from a friend so I could not turn it down, but a suitable home has already been found for it when it grow too big for my tank.

I believe that your forum is one of the best around hence I decided to finally become a member.
Keep up the excellent work.

 

[spags315]

hello all. very new to this computer usage and salt water. hoping to learn.am starting with a 55g long. only been 2 weeks and i already want bigger. lol lots bigger. well anywhos. nice to meet all.

 

[Moink]

1 1/2 Months

1 1/2 Months

Hello all,
My name is Rick live in the St Amant La just started in the Saltwater Reefer hobby and have become addicted ever since. I have a 50Gal rimless Cube with a 18Gal sump. The tank has been cycling for 2 1/2 weeks and the Diatoms have just started so I plan on doing a 20% water change this weekend before the LSU football game of course I did a water test the other day and my salinity is 1.026. I added a couple of Photos one of my water test and a pic of my tank.

 

[Sea_Marine]

Hello, i have just set up my first salt water aquarium and wanted to show you guys some pics and get some opinions. its a 60g cube with a 20 gallon trigger system ruby sump. i have a coral box skimmer (not on yet), and a eheim 2400 return pump.

I was debating about placing a fuge in the second chamber of the sump but have been told this may not by a wise idea due to to much water flow within.

i have placed 40 lbs of dry rock with a small peice of live rock from a friends salt water tank which has been established for many years. i used RO water from a local water store so no tap water has ever seen this tank.

 

[stratplayer1988]

New to the Hobby

New to the Hobby

Hi Everyone!
That's for letting me join this forum! I hope to learn much about the reef aquarium hobby as much as possible. I recently moved into a larger place and decided to get a nano reef as a way to start. As I do some research, I'll be asking for advice and I'll update you guys as it gets built!

For my first saltwater tank, I've decided to get a Coralife Biocube 29. Currently, I'm torn between how I want to set up my filtration system. I've seen inTank's media baskets and decided that I should go with their recommendations. However one setup has an Aquaticlife 115 skimmer, a media basket with filter floss, Purigen, and Chemi Pure Elite, and a fuge basket. The second setup has the same media basket, but has a Tunze 9001 (or 9002) and no fuge basket. Which setup should I go with, or is there a better solution? Here are some examples:

Also, will I need a filtration system setup before I cycle the tank, during the cycle, or after the cycle? Thanks!

 

[Ohioutony]

The new guy

The new guy

Hello all my name is Tony and I am in the process of setting up my first salt water tank! I have a 180 with a 125 sump/fuge. What brand of power head should I buy I need a 900 gph pump?
Thanks!
Tony

 

[JakeH]

Hello RC community!

Hello RC community!

My name is Jake, I had freshwater tanks throughout HS and always wanted a salt tank and 10 years later I finally have one! I have pictures uploaded of my tank. It is still in it's infancy, 29 gallons, just under 2 weeks old and I am getting my fish today.

 

[MrsReefK]

Hi, my name is Stace and my husband (MrReefK) is Jeremy. After being out of the hobby for about 5-6 years we are currently working on building an in wall 290g. We are EXCITED to be here, make great friends, and enjoy doing what we love.

Check out our build at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2533793

 

[WOLFDAY]

Wolf checking in

Wolf checking in

Hello everyone I'm Wolf.... I'm interested in completing a shark aquarium. This has been a long process because I ask a lot or questions. I'm here because I want to learn more about saltwater aquariums and shark husbandry. This is the only animal I will be keep and I'm not interested in reef fish or coral. Thank you in advance for all your knowledge and help....Wolf

 

[WOLFDAY]

Hello I'm wolf...i need to be activated please....i want to post some questions thank you in advance....wolf

 

[benlittle1979]

Hello my name is Ben . I am your average aquarium lover. Okay I am completely obsessed with my tank it's almost all I think about. Have always had aquariums since I can remember. So got into salt water finally 5 years ago. Fowlr. Now I'm trying to move over to the whole reef keeping. Thought I was extremely knowledge bout aquarium keeping. But this is a whole new ball game here. Having many hick ups. Trial and error. I won't quit though I promise. Currently experiencing hair algae I think it is anyway. Looks like green hair. Any way to get it gone fast?

 

[Ken680428]

New to the saltwater reef tank hobby.

New to the saltwater reef tank hobby.

I have been building and keeping freshwater tank for around 10 years. But I always wanted to try a saltwater tank. But everybody I asked about saltwater tanks said they were too expensive and that you need a 40 gallon or larger setup for it to work. I live in a small basement apartment and have no room or the budget for such a large setup.

Then I found out and researched about nano and pico setups. So I bought a Fluval Spec V 5 gallon tank and all the equipment and started my first nano saltwater reef tank. That was about 4 months ago and the tank is up and running and fully stocked and beautiful to look at.

After that successful nano setup, I had found a spare 2.5 gallon tank with heater and filter in my storage. So I bought the rest of the required equipment and set that up about 2 months ago and it is up and running and partially stocked.

Since that pico setup was successful, I bought a 1 gallon tank and all the required equipment and setup another pico reef tank setup. It is currently 1 week into the Nitrogen Cycle so it will be a while before I can stock it.

5 gallon nano setup:

- Fluval Spec V 5 gallon tank with it's built in filter system converted to a built in Refugium
- 4 watt Daylight LED Bulb for the built in Refugium
- Aqualife 50 watt heater
- Coralife Biocube in tank skimmer
- Coralife Biocube Powerhead
- Zoo-Med Digital Thermometer
- Current USA Orbit Marine 18"-24" Reef LED Lighting System
- Marina 0.8 gallon HOB Breeder Tank with a 85GPH Pond Pump used as a HOB Refugium
- Current USA 6 watt clamp on LED Lamp used for the HOB Refugium

2.5 gallon pico setup:

- PetSmart 2.5 gallon standard rectangular tank
- Zoo-Med Digital Thermometer
- Exo Terra Micro Terrarium Lamp Hood with a Coralife 50/50 10000K/450nM 20 watt PC lamp and DIY fan cooling system added
- Top Fin 10 gallon in tank filter converted to an in tank Refugium and for water flow as well
- 53GPH pond pump used as a powerhead
- Aqualife 50 watt heater
- Marina 0.7 gallon Breeder Tank with an air pump used as a HOB Refugium
- 4 watt Daylight LED Bulb used for the Marina Breeder HOB tank

1 gallon pico setup:

- Big Al's house brand glass 1 gallon cubed tank
- standard glass in tank thermometer
- Marina 8 watt in tank heater
- Big Al's house brand 5 gallon in tank filter with spray bar for mechanical filtration as well as used as a powerhead
- Marina 0.7 gallon Breeder Tank with an air pump used as a HOB Refugium
- 4 watt Daylight LED Bulb used for the Marina Breeder HOB tank
- DIY PC Lamp with a 10 watt 50/50 PC Bulb

As soon as I can find a site to host my photos I will add a link to this thread.

 

[Ken680428]

5 gallon nano reef tank.

 

[Ken680428]

Internal Refugium inside the 5 gallon nano reef tank.