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

[woodwerker]

Hi!! My name is Ed and I live in Central Florida. I'm new to salt water and would like some advice on getting started. I would like to build a 36 x36x 16 tank. Some people I have spoken with to have told me that I shouldn't make the tank that tall because of maintenance and also the light would not reach my coral. Is there any truth to this?

 

[on the spot]

...I would like to build a 36 x36x 16 tank...

36 inches square, 16 inches tall? not a concern.

36 x 16, 36 inches tall? maintenance and lighting would be a concern.

HTH

 

[woodwerker]

Thanks for the response! How's about 24" tall? I've always wanted a tall tank and what of all the tall tanks one sees at like Sea World and places like that? Why wouldn't the lighting work? and as far as maintenance is concerned I could use a longer tube to vacuum the bottom. at 24" tall that would give me a a 60gallon tank. That would actually be better for my 20 gallon sump. W
ouldn't it?

 

[woodwerker]

if I went 30" tall it would give me a 75 gallon tank, but then again would a 20 gallon sump be sufficient for a 75 gallon?

 

[woodwerker]

How can I send you a PDF for my design??Unless you have autocad?? lol

 

[woodwerker]

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[NDIrish]

Hi to RC

Hi to RC

Hi, my name is Thomas.
Quite a few years ago. I had a 75g sps/lips tank. Do to life getting in the way, I couldn't devote the time I needed to so I got out of reefing.
Now do to changes and I have the time, I am getting back in cause I enjoyed it.
I have noticed there has been lot of changes, so I have to learn from the basics although a lot is coming back to me.
Any help and guidance will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Oldreeferman]

Hello,
My name is Dave & ive been messing around with saltwater tanks since the 80s along with other hobbys.....back then it was undergravel filters & fish.. no corals, tho i did have a nurse shark i enjoyed until it got larger then my 40 gal. long tank! Donated it to the public aquarium in Chicago via a friend. Today a LOT has changed in the hobby.......now its live rock & automation of anything one can imagine. If you can afford it the Planet offers anything you need or want. Have to say i do enjoy a reef tank tenfold over a FOWLR nowadays and the learning curve never stops that also keeps it an interesting hobby forever. I remember when there was no internet or forums like this to ask questions or read & everything was either taken on trust, a dicey guess, or from a outdated book. Yes, im old as dirt but still have my sense of humour.....LOL. Reef Central is an awesome friendly family forum, & we are all better for it to have such a place to visit, read, hopefully add something meaningful, and to ask any questions at the clk of a mouse.

 

[TDChu]

Hello

 

[neltel_7]

Starting a 40 gallon reef tank

Starting a 40 gallon reef tank

So I am pretty experienced regarding freshwater tanks and have been doing some pretty cool tanks for a while. But I recently bought a 40 gallon tank and decided that I want to try something new (I know saltwater tanks are a whole nother beast). So I am starting a reef tank and for the past week I have been vigorously studying reef tanks but I still feel like I don't know enough. Can someone please give me a list of what I would need for starting my tank. I do not plan on having a refugium but I am open to having a canister filter. I also wanted to know if I could use a HOB filter with an internal filter/primer because I am very comfortable with using these filters and media.( I am also considering adding a protein skimmer)
I also really like gobies and have a bunch in my freshwater tanks so I wanted to know if I would need anything special if I wanted to keep them.
Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Jason82]

Hi Reef Central Community.

My name is Jason. I have had salt water tanks for about a decade now. mostly fish only. Due to life happening, my last 55 gallon tank was sadly neglected. Trying to renew my passion now with a 75 gallon reef tank. I look forward to learning from the community here.

 

[Oldreeferman]

Hi all name is dan from north jersey, i just recently got a 20gallon nano tank. First time saltwater owner, it has been 3 weeks so far. Started with live rock,sand some coral, clean crew, fish. Been tracking my salinity and with a huge help from Sea Level Aquariums in parsippany, nj(owner Warren is phenomenal) please any help or recommendations feel free to let me know!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I Really like your rockwork Dan, nice arch. Im currently incubating a self made arch for my 20 gal and its testing my patience, my new layout will be very similar to yours so now i finally have a good idea what mine will look like! Glad you posted the DT pic.

 

[Pcar94me]

Greetings

Greetings

Wife and I have an interest in starting a tank. I'm recently retired, need a hobby, and thinking of trying fish, corals and invertebrates in place of human social interactions. Was directed to this site by local LFS. Going through Waterkeepers Newbie stuff and already learning a lot. I must say, there are some amazing aquariums on this site and super-friendly and helpful participants.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

So I am pretty experienced regarding freshwater tanks and have been doing some pretty cool tanks for a while. But I recently bought a 40 gallon tank and decided that I want to try something new (I know saltwater tanks are a whole nother beast). So I am starting a reef tank and for the past week I have been vigorously studying reef tanks but I still feel like I don't know enough. Can someone please give me a list of what I would need for starting my tank. I do not plan on having a refugium but I am open to having a canister filter. I also wanted to know if I could use a HOB filter with an internal filter/primer because I am very comfortable with using these filters and media.( I am also considering adding a protein skimmer)

I also really like gobies and have a bunch in my freshwater tanks so I wanted to know if I would need anything special if I wanted to keep them.

Thanks so much in advance!

I'm using the Tidal 110 on my 56 gallon. It works nice, but as with the canister filters, you have to watch your nitrates as they tend to build up fairly quickly, ("nitrate factories"). If you want a reef, make sure you have adequate lighting for whatever you choose to have in the tank. I went with a Mars aqua chinese black box. Super cheap and very effective, (120 U.S dollars shipped on Amazon). You will also need good water flow, so generally a power head or 2, depending on your tank size. Some type of rock, i.e base or live rock. Both have pros and cons, and substrate. I went with caribsea live sand, 40lbs of base rock, and about 14 lbs of live rock. The live rock and sand helped my tank cycle faster, but I was lucky enough to not have any nasty hitchhikers on the rock. Skimmers are also nice to have, but not a necessity. The first week or 2 will be a nightmare tuning it and dealing with the overflow, if it isn't in a sump. I started with one, a HOB, the hangers broke and I just left it off and went with the tidal. I'm running a bag of carbon inside it, with a bit of filter floss. A test kit is extremely important, as is a refractometer to test salinity.



Besides those items, a rodi unit is nice to have on hand, but also not necessarily a necessity. I buy my saltwater mixed and rodi from my lfs. The rodi is .69 per gallon and saltwater is 1.70 or so per gallon. Neither is too expensive for me. I usually buy about 10 or 15 gallons extra each to have in case of an emergency plus to top off from the evaporation.

I have a light, and a couple powerheads lying around, if you're interested, pm me and we can figure something out.

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[sunni]

Been a member for a long time, and finally able to start planning my first SW tank. Planning out a 58 gal with Bean Animal drain. Happy to be here!

 

[Christian88]

Hi guys newbie here starting a 120gal FOWLR maybe lps later.
Awesome forum, lots of good info to start!

 

[JWLee]

Three Weeks In

Three Weeks In

Three weeks into reef keeping and cycling.....not in that order Looking forward to learning a lot through RC.

 

[Timmayyy]

I recently got my first saltwater tank, a 10 gallon nano with a mix of sps and lps corals. Growing corals is tricky, I'm still learning new things every day.

 

[Preeths]

Hello Everyone

Im Preetam, I have been in the hobby for about 15 years. I have been keeping Planted tanks and aquascaping for a long time. Decided to start a reef tank, so I have been reading up.

At this point I am planing on setting up a tank approximately 70 gallons. with a 20 gallon sump. 36"X24"X21" main tank.

I Do a lot of DIY stuff, I make my own custom LED Light panels for all my planted tanks etc.

Hoping the Salty-side will be as much fun!:wavehand:

 

[Ratvan]

Morning all, been in the hobby less than a year. Currently setting up a 34G after running a 2.5G Pico and 5.5G Nano for approximately 9 months.

Set up a build thread
https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25618754#post25618754