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

[spiritdancer70]

Questions again...

Questions again...

just put saltwater in my tank yesterday..55gal..got skimmers, heaters, LR, LS and 2 other little fans inside..(dont remember what they are named or for)lol so much to take in...anyway how long does it usually take for the water to clear and not be cloudy????? Can anyone recommend a good book for beginners on Reef Tanks?

 

[Aquarist007]

just put saltwater in my tank yesterday..55gal..got skimmers, heaters, LR, LS and 2 other little fans inside..(dont remember what they are named or for)lol so much to take in...anyway how long does it usually take for the water to clear and not be cloudy????? Can anyone recommend a good book for beginners on Reef Tanks?

I am assuming the other two little fans are power heads for circulation.

If so keep them running and the water should clear in 24 hours--providiing you rinsed the sand good before adding :eek1:

 

[MarkGrant]

Hi All,

I received my first saltwater tank (Aquapod 24) late last year. I have a very expecienced member "Scott" (not sure of his id in here though) helping me out. I'm really excited about the new hobby and have recently been reading tons about fish, corals and lights. I've already made a few small mods to my system...new super quiet fans with greater air flow than the stock ones and I've reworked the fixtures so that I can fit 40W bulbs instead of the 32W stock ones. This looks like a great site and it looks as though there is plenty of great information here.

Cool!...I just realized that "capn hylinur" is actually Scott, although he's aged a bit from his avatar

 

[wetsleeves]

HI I am wetsleeves. I am very new but my son, who is in Chicago area, has about 5 set ups in his home and I got the bug badly while I was visiting him this last week. It is an amazing way to relax and create a beautiful place in your home. I am a garden Guru, I teach people how to do every thing out side, so now I am just learning how to"garden' inside. It is a very natural carry over. I hope to learn much from all of you here, so in a few months I can set up my own water garden.

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi All,

I received my first saltwater tank (Aquapod 24) late last year. I have a very expecienced member "Scott" (not sure of his id in here though) helping me out. I'm really excited about the new hobby and have recently been reading tons about fish, corals and lights. I've already made a few small mods to my system...new super quiet fans with greater air flow than the stock ones and I've reworked the fixtures so that I can fit 40W bulbs instead of the 32W stock ones. This looks like a great site and it looks as though there is plenty of great information here.

Cool!...I just realized that "capn hylinur" is actually Scott, although he's aged a bit from his avatar

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central Mark</b></i></big></big>

Really glad you joined Reef Central. Everyone on here is most willing to help others.
Suggest you start your own thread in the New to the Reef Form. That way your questions and pictures that you will hopefully post will be available to alot more reefers that might not see it buried in a thread as long as this.

Tips for posting pictures on here:
go to www.photobucket.com and take out an account there--its free:thumbsup:
upload our pictures there
underneath each picture will be four codes
copy and paste the "img" code into your posts on Reef Central.

With the little time you have been in the hobby Mark, and making modifications to your system already I am sure you will be a great asset to Reef Central and self learn along the way.

 

[Aquarist007]

HI I am wetsleeves. I am very new but my son, who is in Chicago area, has about 5 set ups in his home and I got the bug badly while I was visiting him this last week. It is an amazing way to relax and create a beautiful place in your home. I am a garden Guru, I teach people how to do every thing out side, so now I am just learning how to"garden' inside. It is a very natural carry over. I hope to learn much from all of you here, so in a few months I can set up my own water garden.

[welcome]

You might be interested in this thread wetsleeves

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=176

 

[D4kkon]

Hi all,

New here obviously. I've been running planted and fish only freshwater tanks for about 7 years now because I never wanted to financially dedicate myself to a saltwater tank. I decided to start up a saltwater tank after my new assignment.

I used an old 75 gallon I had sitting around in storage. I wanted to go all out if I was going to do it at all. I've had my saltwater tank up and running for about 4 months now and recently had a battle with a severe Cyano outbreak. I ended up using an old canister filter and converting it into a phosphate reactor. I cleaned all of the rock up and did a 30% water change. I also replaced all of the cheap sand I was using with oolite by Carib Sea. All of my parameters are reading good for a month now and I did not end up causing my tank to cycle again, still reading a small amount of nitrate so I think I am okay. I think I was lucky. **edit** I added the GFO because phpsphate was the only thing that was reading high and only at the very bottom of the tank near the sand bed. I am using RO/DI filter so no idea on this one...any suggestion?

My wife and I are both in the military. I am an Infantry Sergeant and she is an Analyst Staff Sergeant. She fosters kittens that were abandoned, we got a litter that was all about 1.5 weeks old a while ago and only one lived... so we kept it. She deploys soon though, so I will have a lot of free time to work on my tank. I am not sure if I want it to be a reef tank yet, but I am sure it will end up that way.

I'm going to upgrade my 520W power compact soon with HO because I like the way the tanks look much more than with power compact, but I am going to sacrifice a lot of wattage. Not too sure on that one yet.

I currently have:

About 90 pounds of Fiji Live Rock from liveaquaria.com

1 Powder Blue Tang (mine and my favorite)
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (wife's)
1 Bubble Tip Anemone (mine)
1 Maroon Gold Striped Clown (mine)
2 Watchmen Goby (wife's)
A ton of scarlet/blue leg hermits
3 Emerald Crab
Nessarius / Cerith / Nerite Snails (a couple turbos that ended up in tank, at least I think they're turbos...)

ASM G3 Skimmer, acrylic sump (36x20x12 roughly), Mag Drive 9 return, Hydor 4 for circulation, and old canister filter for GFO.

Nothing amazing, but I my wife and I work a -lot- and we don't really do anything but take care of our pets. Any suggestions please send my way, thanks and happy to be a part of the community.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hi all,

New here obviously. I've been running planted and fish only freshwater tanks for about 7 years now because I never wanted to financially dedicate myself to a saltwater tank. I decided to start up a saltwater tank after my new assignment.

I used an old 75 gallon I had sitting around in storage. I wanted to go all out if I was going to do it at all. I've had my saltwater tank up and running for about 4 months now and recently had a battle with a severe Cyano outbreak. I ended up using an old canister filter and converting it into a phosphate reactor. I cleaned all of the rock up and did a 30% water change. I also replaced all of the cheap sand I was using with oolite by Carib Sea. All of my parameters are reading good for a month now and I did not end up causing my tank to cycle again, still reading a small amount of nitrate so I think I am okay. I think I was lucky. **edit** I added the GFO because phpsphate was the only thing that was reading high and only at the very bottom of the tank near the sand bed. I am using RO/DI filter so no idea on this one...any suggestion?

My wife and I are both in the military. I am an Infantry Sergeant and she is an Analyst Staff Sergeant. She fosters kittens that were abandoned, we got a litter that was all about 1.5 weeks old a while ago and only one lived... so we kept it. She deploys soon though, so I will have a lot of free time to work on my tank. I am not sure if I want it to be a reef tank yet, but I am sure it will end up that way.

I'm going to upgrade my 520W power compact soon with HO because I like the way the tanks look much more than with power compact, but I am going to sacrifice a lot of wattage. Not too sure on that one yet.

I currently have:

About 90 pounds of Fiji Live Rock from liveaquaria.com

1 Powder Blue Tang (mine and my favorite)
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (wife's)
1 Bubble Tip Anemone (mine)
1 Maroon Gold Striped Clown (mine)
2 Watchmen Goby (wife's)
A ton of scarlet/blue leg hermits
3 Emerald Crab
Nessarius / Cerith / Nerite Snails (a couple turbos that ended up in tank, at least I think they're turbos...)

ASM G3 Skimmer, acrylic sump (36x20x12 roughly), Mag Drive 9 return, Hydor 4 for circulation, and old canister filter for GFO.

Nothing amazing, but I my wife and I work a -lot- and we don't really do anything but take care of our pets. Any suggestions please send my way, thanks and happy to be a part of the community.

[welcome]
It's good to see another military member on here. (E7 USAF)
I think a lot of your cyano problem has to do with those compact florescents and not enough flow. If you're going to even think about going with a reef tank I would suggest at least bumping up to T5HO lights. you can mix and match the bulbs to get just about any color that seems pleasing to you and good enough to have corals. And I would add another K4 (hydor) that should help get rid of that pesky cyanobacteria. I had a 75 fish only tank with CF and it was hard to keep that stuff at bay, I increased the flow and went with some t5's and I haven't seen it since.

congrats on keeping the phosphates and nitrates down, that seems to be the hardest thing people struggle with. I cheat and use vodka (carbon) dosing. It makes it much easier.
Hope to see you start a thread out in the New th the Hobby forum and see some pictures of your setup.
Jimmy

 

[CJO]

Can anyone recommend a good book for beginners on Reef Tanks?

I found "The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide" to be very helpful. I ordered it from Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890087521/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

CJ

 

[saltwaterfiend]

what up

what up

been i rc member before lost the id just got a new tank and joined up. i want to make this my best tank yet im not a rookie but not a vet. any suggestions on what to test for. oviously nitrate nitrite ammonia salinity temp gkh but what else can and should i test for to make optimum water quality i am using ro di distled water to start with. i will be keeping a nice varitey of coral rock fish invertes. thanks
current params 0 nitite nitrate ammonia and 300 gkh 1.024 76 degrees i would like any advice.

 

[Aquarist007]

been i rc member before lost the id just got a new tank and joined up. i want to make this my best tank yet im not a rookie but not a vet. any suggestions on what to test for. oviously nitrate nitrite ammonia salinity temp gkh but what else can and should i test for to make optimum water quality i am using ro di distled water to start with. i will be keeping a nice varitey of coral rock fish invertes. thanks
current params 0 nitite nitrate ammonia and 300 gkh 1.024 76 degrees i would like any advice.

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>Back To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
what size of a tank and how long has it been cycling for?

 

[Scottiemcd]

fit like?

fit like?

Hows things, Just registered with RC tonight. Havent actually started keeping marine yet. Always been tropical but after a mate got me into the whole marine/reef thing and has offered me a "BIG" tank I could'nt resist. I am a total marine virgin and will be requiring lots of help.

Cheers, Scottie. Aberdeen Scotland.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hows things, Just registered with RC tonight. Havent actually started keeping marine yet. Always been tropical but after a mate got me into the whole marine/reef thing and has offered me a "BIG" tank I could'nt resist. I am a total marine virgin and will be requiring lots of help.

Cheers, Scottie. Aberdeen Scotland.

[welcome] Be sure to check out this thread for a lot of answers.

 

[thehopp]

Thought I'd introduce myself. I've wanted a reef tank for many years. I finally bought a house and figured, what a better thing to have in my home office than a nano? I've been browsing this site for years and have learned all sorts of great information. Now that I have a tank of my own, I figure I could use a little more personal help... I'm sure I'll be hanging out in the beginner's section for a while, but I'm happy to be here!

 

[thetonyage]

hey id like to introduce myself. ive been keeping freshwater tanks on and off for a few years now and i currently have a 45 gallon tank with 3 red belly piranhas. i just started my 125 gallon reef tank 3 weeks ago right now the live rock is curing/cycling. ill be looking for advice on pretty much everything from here on out so thanks in advance.

 

[saltwaterfiend]

Capn i got a 55 w 20 sump cycle complete a good month plus now all levels are great just wondering what else to test for

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Thought I'd introduce myself. I've wanted a reef tank for many years. I finally bought a house and figured, what a better thing to have in my home office than a nano? I've been browsing this site for years and have learned all sorts of great information. Now that I have a tank of my own, I figure I could use a little more personal help... I'm sure I'll be hanging out in the beginner's section for a while, but I'm happy to be here!

[welcome]
Nothing spruces up an office like a reef tank. Don't forget to post some pictures when you ask your questions, we always enjoy pics.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

hey id like to introduce myself. ive been keeping freshwater tanks on and off for a few years now and i currently have a 45 gallon tank with 3 red belly piranhas. i just started my 125 gallon reef tank 3 weeks ago right now the live rock is curing/cycling. ill be looking for advice on pretty much everything from here on out so thanks in advance.

[welcome]
Be sure to check out this sticky, it's a wealth of knowledge.

 

[Ali :D]

Hi, I'm new to reef central and 6 months into the hobby and learning fast! I hope I can get the help I need and give what I have learnt to others! I have a 90g tank so far with 3 Green Chromis, 2 ocellaris clowns (one black and white and one orange), one copper banded butterfly and a sailfin tang. As far as corals I have a frag of Zoos and some green star polyp (cash is pretty hard to come by but I'm getting there!)

Thank you, Ali

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hi, I'm new to reef central and 6 months into the hobby and learning fast! I hope I can get the help I need and give what I have learnt to others! I have a 90g tank so far with 3 Green Chromis, 2 ocellaris clowns (one black and white and one orange), one copper banded butterfly and a sailfin tang. As far as corals I have a frag of Zoos and some green star polyp (cash is pretty hard to come by but I'm getting there!)

Thank you, Ali

[welcome]
It's definitely hard to do what you want in this hobby with the restraints of a budget , but like all things it takes time. (at least that's what I keep telling myself)

You should start a thread in the NTTH forum so that we can see some pictures of your work in progress.