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

[aussiemantis]

you guys all sound like you have amazing setups, im somewhat a newbie on this site.

setup:
55gallon long (recently upgraded from 25G)
aquaone skimmer 1000
aquaone cannister filter 1000
some cheap wavemaker lol (from ebay) ...im not a millionaire ahah
aqua one heater
sand substrate 1 inch
10lbs live rock (getting more as i am currently stocking for 50G)

Inhabitants:
1 flame hawkfish 3cm
1 white ribbon eel 30cm...ish
1 green chromis 3cm
1 coris wrasse 6cm
1 False Perc clown (about to die due to brooks)
1 mantis shrimp, G.Smithi 4cm
3 blue leg hermits
3 snails

i started this hobby with 0% knowledge, but thanks to you guys, i know alot more than most now. thanks to all of you! ps, ive might have stolen someones aquascape design. just so u know...

 

[daytonajim00]

Jim Hundo checking in from West Palm Beach. New member; been reefing a little over 10 years. I just finished my build recycling my old system. Pictures in my new build thread not showing up...maybe in here....

 

[Cmex84]

Kids' Christmas Present Turned Mom's New Love too! HA!

Kids' Christmas Present Turned Mom's New Love too! HA!

Hey everyone. I'm Crystal. I'm a mom of 3 and my kids wanted an aquarium for Christmas this year. I did research for weeks, got all the basics and cycled the water, and just put the fish in the other day! Funny, this was for them, and it spiraled into something that I'm excited to expand on with other avenues in the hobby lol, so this should be interesting for all of us!

Always dreamed (when I was younger) of becoming a marine biologist. Sadly, those dreams weren't in the cards for me. Always wanted to live near the ocean. Huge "water baby" all my life. Ocean life has always fascinated me, and so therapeutic to just sit back and enjoy. So, I guess you could say that this was right up my alley too.

So far, the kids are loving it. My lil one can't keep her face from being pressed against the glass (figuratively speaking) and even my teens think it's pretty cool.

We started with a 20gal freshwater tank. I got the water conditioner/bacteria items all together, made sure to cycle the tank for a few days (without fish) and took the water into Pet-smart for a quality check. All was perfect! We had each of the kids (and hubby/myself) choose one fish we wanted. We chose a gold panda molly, black molly, cobra tailed guppy, green lantern platy and a mickey mouse platy.
So far so good.
Everyone looks to be getting along nicely. We're still just starting out, and I know that I have a LOT to learn, and a lot to teach my kiddos yet. But, looking forward to this being a fun, family hobby to grow as we go.

Excited to being able to "sponge" off all this forum has to offer. I've already put quite a few miles on my YouTube/google research lol. When I get into something like this, I go 110%, so I'm ready to learn more! I'd love to eventually get a Betta, and also start a reef tank in the distant future, after we get a good feel for the freshwater and a system in place, and more space after we move sometime within a year or two. But, that'll be awhile. I want to make sure we have this down first.

Feel free to give me any advice, correct any misinformation I may post about, suggestions etc. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions, so I'm glad to have found this site and hopefully can make sure that our family can enjoy our tanks for years to come!

 

[jfg316]

Hi, I am New to Reef Central as well as reef keeping. This forum is very informative and I plan to get a lot out of it, as well as hopefully share some of the things I do.

 

[VirginiaMarine]

Hi i am new to the hobby and have a question..I have a 75 gallon tank set up with soft and lips corals and do weekly water changes with a quality salt and my levels never change they are also on the money .i test 2 times a week and they are good ..do I need to start dosing or just leave it? I have about 12 corals now n there..

I personally see little need to dose. It depends on the needs of the tank. If your alkalinity and calcium are low then you can two part dose. If your magnesium is low then add magnesium. Many never dose and just rely on frequent water changes. I've kept LPS and soft corals for many years. I dose occasionally but not often.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[totoro]

Hello RC, I've had an account but never really used it. I'm a Marine Biologist but have been keeping aquariums for over a decade now. Moistly had freshwater planted tanks, but had gotten into reef tanks for the past 6 years. When I was in college I loved keeping aquariums so much that I was a husbandry volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I helped take care of there jellies.

 

[Tcronrath]

NYC Reef Tankers

NYC Reef Tankers

Hello Everyone,

I have been out of the hobby for a few years and a few months back decided to purchase a simple biocube 29g. Keeping everything simple, after cycling and feeding the tank, I added a small CUC of 1 sand sifter, 3 turbos and 3 red claw hermits. After 2 months of feeding the tanks and the CUC, I added 2 OSC clowns, one leather finger and a small "assorted frag" - I have no idea what it is, currently it has 9-10 small (1/8 inch) green polyps (this is just a guess). I wanted to post here to see if anyone else in NYC has recommendations of where to purchase supplies/creatures from an LFS. Frankly all I have found in NYC is Petco or going out of the city. I know we can all purchase online but really looking for LFS.

Any advice help or instructional communication would be great!

 

[gamerunr]

Hi All,

I'm a returning reefer. Looks like RC wiped all my past posts so I have to start over again. Currently cycling a 18 gallon nano.

 

[kelsiguidry]

Hi, My name is Kelsi. I'm a new reef addict.

Hi, My name is Kelsi. I'm a new reef addict.

Hello! My name is Kelsi Guidry. I am a guy... Most people just assume i'm a girl because of the name so I figure I clear that up right off the bat. I'm 32 in Louisiana.

I acquired my brothers 100G fish tank which he had running as freshwater, but I turned it into a saltwater tank.
I started off around May 2017 as a FOWLR tank because my wife wanted a Picasso Trigger. We soon changed away from an aggressive tank after he ate one of our damsels and traumatized my wife because she saw it happen.

Once we got away from the "aggressive world" I started buying corals and less aggressive fish. Now i'm an addict. I go stare at my tank constantly and always want to buy new corals.

We have had a few casualties... one eaten by another as stated above, well maybe 2 because we found our golby eaten up after getting back from vacation. 2 clowns got mouth fungus while on vacation too and we couldn't cure them to save them. Think I accidentally poisoned a puffer in the QT tank by putting too much medication to be proactive in treating him before adding him to the main tank. Another damsel just randomly started swimming in circles and died in the same day. And now recently found our powder blue tang dead stuck behind some decorative coral branches.
All of this hurts the heart, especially when I killed the puffer.
However, I will continue to progress in the hobby.

you guys all sound like you have amazing setups, im somewhat a newbie on this site.

setup:
100 gallon tank
1 custom tank stand
2 viparspectra LED lights
1 24" Aqueon LED light bar
Cascade cannister filter
2 power heads
1 heater
crushed coral substrate
live rock
fake corals
real coral "skeletons"...?

Inhabitants:
1 blue with yellow tail damsel
1 fairy wrasse
1 flame angel
1 blue spotted splendid dottyback
1 cleaner wrasse
2 mocha clowns
1 blood shrimp
1 serpent starfish
15+ hermits
10+ snails
1 hatian anemone
1 white long tentacle anemone
1 emerald crab
1 pom pom crab
1 Green Star polyp coral patch, 6in
1 blue clove sansibia frag, 1in
1 purple and green round flat coral (not sure kind)
1 blueberry gorgonian coral
1 red gorbonian coral
1 tiny purple and green acropora frag
1 green candy cane coral, 1 head
2 frogspawn coral frags, 2 heads
2 hammer coral frags, 2 heads
2 green flower pot corals
10 various zoanthid frags on a large "coral tree" thing
1 orange sea sponge

...see... i'm an addict...

I started this hobby with 0% knowledge, but this forum and the internet has helped me greatly. I look forward to chatting with others and progressing.

 

[LReefer]

My Introduction

My Introduction

Hello Everyone from Reef Central, I'm Lazaro and I just signed up recently with RC. I'm setting up a new red sea 250, 50g reef tank and I'm currently in the first week of cycling the tank. I'm new to reefing as I had a 32g saltwater tank while I was a kid and now getting back into the hobby.

I would like to start with fish and slowly move into soft corals. I've been told I am in the right place to get great advice and all the help I need!!

I would like to start off with a couple of clown fishes, yellow tang, a flaming angel and even a blue angel. However, I'm not sure if this is a good idea to begin once my tanks completes the cycle. Also, I need to understand if all these little guys are compatible.

Any suggestions on how to begin the introduction of these fishes? Below my set-up

Set-Up
Red Sea Reefer 250, Hydra 26 HD, JEBAO, Reef Octopus skimmer, Phosban Reactor 150, Aquatop Heater

Thanks again! :dance:

 

[kelsiguidry]

Hello Everyone from Reef Central, I'm Lazaro and I just signed up recently with RC. I'm setting up a new red sea 250, 50g reef tank and I'm currently in the first week of cycling the tank. I'm new to reefing as I had a 32g saltwater tank while I was a kid and now getting back into the hobby.

I would like to start with fish and slowly move into soft corals. I've been told I am in the right place to get great advice and all the help I need!!

I would like to start off with a couple of clown fishes, yellow tang, a flaming angel and even a blue angel. However, I'm not sure if this is a good idea to begin once my tanks completes the cycle. Also, I need to understand if all these little guys are compatible.

Any suggestions on how to begin the introduction of these fishes? Below my set-up

Set-Up
Red Sea Reefer 250, Hydra 26 HD, JEBAO, Reef Octopus skimmer, Phosban Reactor 150, Aquatop Heater

Thanks again! :dance:

Hey, i'm new at all of this as well. It sounds like your heading in the direction that I just started about 6 months ago. I started with a couple damsels right after the tank was cycled and then about a week later I went with some semi-aggressive and aggressive fish. I was basically told to use damsels as practice. I was too anxious and didn't practice long though...

We currently have 2 clowns, a damsel, a flame angel, fairy wrasse, cleaner wrasse, and blue spotted splendid dottyback, They all get along well. When we added the dottyback he picked on the other fish for about a week, but all good now. We did just have a powder blue tang with all of these but he randomly died recently...

From what I read there may be problems mixing the tang and the bigger angels like a blue angel, but your tank is probably big enough that it won't be an issue! Good luck!

 

[LReefer]

How about your CUC? Do you QT them as well for 4 weeks prior to transferring over to your DT? Also, I'm purchasing ocean water from my LFS. Is this a okay?

Thanks again for your input.

 

[FilAm]

Greetings Members of Reef Central

Greetings Members of Reef Central

Hello. My name is Al. I am new at actually implementing what I've learned from friends, books and this forum. I have a Nano reef set up and it is 1 month old and thriving. It's the Fluval 13.5; modded the back filtration and a custom diy glass lid; added macro algae; using an old canister eheim as a reactor with live rock rubble, purigen and carbon. Seeded with live copepod's during initial cycle. I plan for this tank to be very basic with carpeting corals and my short team goal.

Current stock is 2 Clowns, peppermit shrimp, emerald crab and a good cleaning crew. Just added 2 coral frags last week; a purple tip branching hammerhead and a dragon soul favia. I'm waiting for the next Reef Expo in NJ in June to add more corals but I'll get that itch and probably get some blood red mushrooms or more favias.

My past aquarium experience was a 90 gallon mbuna cichlid tank and 20 gallon aquascape. I DIYed everything from stand, overflow, sump, trickle filter, algae scrubber, even a simple protein skimmer and the system ran ultra low maintenancestors for years. Sadly that tank was town down 4 years ago cause of a job relocation. Young members of my church started getting info taking aquariums so I started getting some of my old equipment out of my stor age unit. I couldn't stand it anymore and by early December I started this tank.

I'm so glad I did. Now, I just need control this urge to upgrade. My neighbor got word of what I was doing and gave me a 29 gallon tank. I'll fix it up and make it reef ready with eurobracing and probably sell it once the weather gets warmer.

I also have a small aquaponics system using a BritaMax water filter and I'm growing mint and basil with the help of one Betta.

I'm excited to help out and learn in this forum. Happy reefing.

 

[MarineBiased]

New to the Community and in need of (non urgent) advice

New to the Community and in need of (non urgent) advice

Hello, I am new to the community as I am coming back to the hobby after a false almost-start some years back.

I am in need of any advice on large start up tanks. What I need to be aware of ... look for ... and with a view to lessening my work load at a later date I will need a few small tanks in the cupboard underneath the tank I am hoping to get so as to do this right. I am getting my tank in a few months time after a relocation and just want to gather advice first.

Just when I think I understand part of all this, I read something which makes me rethink and I just know when I start out I will make mistakes.

Sage advice welcome. Pm me or reply but humbly requesting your help.

 

[Snyder1456]

Hello everyone. Just registered and I'm trying to set up my first reef tank. 75 gal I plan to drill it in a couple of days. Got a prefabbed sump, protein skimmer, return pump, dry rock (75lbs) , and just the cheap LEDs that came with the tank. My biggest frustration right now is picking out what powerheads I need. Anyone have any suggestions for me to just get the tank started? I really like the idea of an Apex controller, so I'm thinking I should get a powerhead or two that will be compatible but the more I read and research, the more undecided I get as to what will be good to start with:headwallblue:. What did some of you begin with?????

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Barbnot1]

Lighting advice needed and Hello

Lighting advice needed and Hello

Hi all,
I had a tank a few years ago. Life happens, but I'm now I'm jumping back in. I'm in the process of researching and equipment buying. Probably be a few months before I'm ready for water, unless I hit the lottery which I would have to buy a ticket first and since that would take from the fish fund probably not happening. So...Just bought a used 90 gallon long DT predrilled, it came with a stand and canopy. Also came with 40 gal sump, it does have a return pump says (mak4 magnetic Drive pump model A40LX max flow 19.7 gpm) and a skimmer (sealife systems cap 1800, L/HE 1800) both look rough and I haven't really checked them out other that making sure the skimmer pump works. Both may need replaced I'm not familiar with either brand.
It came with a dual pfo ballast and 2-175w 12,000k metal halides. It would need 1 lamp cord. I know the company is out of business. I have found one for $30 they do work. My question is would 2-175w metal halides be sufficient for lps in this size tank? Or should I trash the lights and get leds? Also any info or opinions on ten return pump and skimmer is appreciated. I'm not sure if I should run them (skimmer and pump) and eventuality replace or just wait and replace them before I start running. Thanks all and I absolutely love the starting a new tank thread especially the dirt-simple chemistry must knows for new tank. I went and read everything I could find by Sk8r. Good stuff there!:bounce1:

 

[Woodneers]

New to reefkeeping in KS

New to reefkeeping in KS

Hello all,
My family and I have decided to join in the fun. We have gathered up a 70 gallon tank and a free 40 gallon sump from a local store that was doing some rearranging. I think we have plenty of room for anything and everything in the sump. We plan on doing a refugium somewhere in there. My son is currently scrubbing the sump in the bath tub after a overnight vinegar bath. The plan is to locate the tank as a sort of built in addition in the basement living room. I then plan to locate the sump about 5 feet away in the utility room. I've settled on a skimmer and am now looking for a good return pump. I'm also debating drilling the tank. Any suggestions on pumps or anything else would be greatly appreciated.

What are we going to need to get this puppy cycling? I'm not an incredibly rich man so I plan on buying all the equipment a little at a time.

 

[Bpmiller]

Hello people new to The Forum would just like to say hey and hope to learn a lot I have a 10 gallon nano reef with all soft Coral a clownfish and a sebae anemone. And I am constantly upgrading so I am looking forward to learning from you all as I go.

 

[ldcain]

New to the Hobby

New to the Hobby

Hello,

I am new to the Hobby. I have a 32 gallon biocube with chemippure and purigen filtration. I have life sand and live rock. The tank is 4 months old.

I have 2 clown fish, a coral beauty,a sandsifter star fish, and corals. Will attach picture. I am dedicated to trying to make it in the hobby and to provide a nice home for the members of my tank. I need help and a community to talk to. My first question is My brain coral has been in the tank for a month and never opens.It seems fine. I have never seen tentacles. I have posted a picture. Does it look ok? It looks exacly like it looked when I brought it.

Also what do you think about poly fiber filtration? The one that changes color according to what agent it removes.

Last question is Kent Marine Microvert and Zooplanktos-M by Brightwell Aquatics sufficient coral food?



Please let me know what you think about my tank so far.

 

[kingfish22]

hello

hello

hello, I am new to reef central and I'm currently keeping a 29 and 36 mixed reef tank and just thought I should say hi.