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

[shermdawg]

Hi, I'm Jeremy, and I have been an avid freshwater guy for 10 years and have been a saltie for about 4 years and a reefer for about a year and a half. Major addict that just likes to lurk. Ready to come out.

 

[Aquarist007]

Hello every one my names Joe and I'm a nub for sure. I been looking around reading all i can on my newly acquired 3 month old tank. I have read a lot of articles on this site about things and have done a few diy projects, keep changing them too.

I have been blessed with my tank tho I have very little invested in it most of it was from trading lol. I have a 55gal under two 250w mh's. I have some corals, although i don't know what a few are, I do know they are polyps. I do know what I have is kenya tree, gorganian, deaths hand, blue ridge coral, and some frogspawn. I also have two little clowns and a damsel.

My rock was out of a running tank as well as my sand/crushed coral, some of it was out of a sump and i have a lot of bugs popping "need to get a blenny or something". my water is all ro/di water i took some water about 10 gal out of my friends tank that read 0 on all the important tests just to get started. We watched it for the first two months and had a small cycle but seems OK.

That is about it for now. you can criticize what i do its OK i know some of what i did was probably wrong but its working. i can take it any way no hard feelings. every thing is growing and reproducing well so.
thanks for reading this and i hope I wasn't an eye sore..
Joe, 86 monte goes gablupa gablupa lol.

Sounds like you are doing just great. A couple of suggestions
I would change out the crushed coral for medium grade argonite. The sand be will always be hard to maintain and keep very white because the small shells trap detrius
Secondly I would get rid of the damsel while you can----they can become a very agressive and mean fish to the others

Thanks for posting such a detailed post

[welcome]

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi I'm james and i'm a fishoholic. I mean hey I'm fairly new to saltwater. currently have 125g predator and a 220g reef in the makings.

Hi James I'm a postaholic:spin1:

Would love to see some pictures of your 125g predator tank.

If you are starting a 220gal build then you might want to start your own build thread in the new to the reef forum

[welcome]

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi, I'm Jeremy, and I have been an avid freshwater guy for 10 years and have been a saltie for about 4 years and a reefer for about a year and a half. Major addict that just likes to lurk. Ready to come out.

Glad to hear from you--your expertise will be an asset to RC

[welcome]

 

[montelsman]

To capn i have heard that about the damsel. i figure if he starts being to big of a jerk i will pull him/her. its nice to have a few friends close that have saltwater tanks too.
My girlfriend picked him out so its kinda hard to get rid of it lol.

 

[Scuba dude]

Hi all...
Wanted to introduce myself.
My name is andre, started the hobby about a year ago. Currently have a 80g display tank with a 10g sump and refuguim combo.
For most of the time I only had fish, shrimp and urchins... Resently added my first coral(frogspwan)
In my tank:110pounds LR
8inch sandbed
3 sun-sun powerheads
lighting:2 blue actinic
2 marine whites
Filter: 8inch deep bedded refuguim
boyu protein skimmer
standard bio-ball compartment
filterwool compartment
cyramic ring compartment

 

[Aquarist007]

To capn i have heard that about the damsel. i figure if he starts being to big of a jerk i will pull him/her. its nice to have a few friends close that have saltwater tanks too.
My girlfriend picked him out so its kinda hard to get rid of it lol.

depends if you want to keep the girlfriend too

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi all...
Wanted to introduce myself.
My name is andre, started the hobby about a year ago. Currently have a 80g display tank with a 10g sump and refuguim combo.
For most of the time I only had fish, shrimp and urchins... Resently added my first coral(frogspwan)
In my tank:110pounds LR
8inch sandbed
3 sun-sun powerheads
lighting:2 blue actinic
2 marine whites
Filter: 8inch deep bedded refuguim
boyu protein skimmer
standard bio-ball compartment
filterwool compartment
cyramic ring compartment

I would ditch the bioballs, filter wool and cyramic ring---replace the bioballs with some reef rubble. Bioballs and other filter media can end up retaining the nitrates they reduce and becoming a source of nitrate importing for the display tank(aka algae blooms)

[welcome]

 

[twerlinich]

USE OF "GLUE"

Hi all. My name is Tom and I'm an old guy who has loved reefing for about 18 years on a relatively low scale. Am upgrading but can't tell you how many animals and dollars I've lost during the past three years because corals I've purchased online (gorgonias, sponges, rics, etc.) arrived without any sort of "base" (rock) thus requiring the use of some sort of adhesive in order to anchor them in my reef. I've tried CoralLife epoxy, Home Depot epoxy, reef "putty" -- none have really "worked" for me. I've carefully followed the directions for each of these products, but a problem always develops leading to critter death. Gorgonias, for example, look great and live a week or two but soon begin to decay from the base up. The branches soon follow. The same occurs with sponges. Rics simply dissolve and vanish. (Yep, I've tried to first adhere them to "gravel" or a piece of shell before attempting to affix them to a substantial rock. My luck has been marginal at best.) Am I the lone ranger? Thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

USE OF "GLUE"

Hi all. My name is Tom and I'm an old guy who has loved reefing for about 18 years on a relatively low scale. Am upgrading but can't tell you how many animals and dollars I've lost during the past three years because corals I've purchased online (gorgonias, sponges, rics, etc.) arrived without any sort of "base" (rock) thus requiring the use of some sort of adhesive in order to anchor them in my reef. I've tried CoralLife epoxy, Home Depot epoxy, reef "putty" -- none have really "worked" for me. I've carefully followed the directions for each of these products, but a problem always develops leading to critter death. Gorgonias, for example, look great and live a week or two but soon begin to decay from the base up. The branches soon follow. The same occurs with sponges. Rics simply dissolve and vanish. (Yep, I've tried to first adhere them to "gravel" or a piece of shell before attempting to affix them to a substantial rock. My luck has been marginal at best.) Am I the lone ranger? Thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
great another old guy, there needs to be a forum to contain all the elderly
Have you tried to use rubber bands to attach the softies? You don't use glue just a rubber band to hold it against a rock or plug so that the little guy can can attach itself to the substrate.

 

[Aquarist007]

USE OF "GLUE"

Hi all. My name is Tom and I'm an old guy who has loved reefing for about 18 years on a relatively low scale. Am upgrading but can't tell you how many animals and dollars I've lost during the past three years because corals I've purchased online (gorgonias, sponges, rics, etc.) arrived without any sort of "base" (rock) thus requiring the use of some sort of adhesive in order to anchor them in my reef. I've tried CoralLife epoxy, Home Depot epoxy, reef "putty" -- none have really "worked" for me. I've carefully followed the directions for each of these products, but a problem always develops leading to critter death. Gorgonias, for example, look great and live a week or two but soon begin to decay from the base up. The branches soon follow. The same occurs with sponges. Rics simply dissolve and vanish. (Yep, I've tried to first adhere them to "gravel" or a piece of shell before attempting to affix them to a substantial rock. My luck has been marginal at best.) Am I the lone ranger? Thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would not buy them on line that way. You don't know what they did to the coral to remove it from the parent and or rock. The reef putty and epoxy could not be the problem :eek2:

 

[ErickJ_az]

Hi I'm Erick and I'm a Reefing aditict

Hi I'm Erick and I'm a Reefing aditict

Wow, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

E

 

[Laurel Reese]

Hello all. My name is Laurel (clearly) and I adopted a 46 gallon tank at the beginning of the summer, '09. Everything was smooth sailing until there was an early freeze and all of the plastic canisters on my RO system broke several months ago. I was distressed that I had broken such an expensive, and necessary part to this tank and avoided the problem. But I am back on track and bought 3 new canisters. My question is, now that I am cleaning out the area where the new canisters/filters will be screwed in to the whole unit, has anyone attempted to replace these, and is it tricky to get decent water quality after the area having been exposed to some dirt? I am rinsing and cleaning as much as I can, but this still seems somewhat sketchy.

 

[Scuba dude]

I would ditch the bioballs, filter wool and cyramic ring---replace the bioballs with some reef rubble. Bioballs and other filter media can end up retaining the nitrates they reduce and becoming a source of nitrate importing for the display tank(aka algae blooms)

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

Tanks very much... I will do so. I thought about this since I started my tank. I would rather do this than one day end up with unwanted algea blooms.

Thanks again for the help...

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Wow, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

E

admitting it is the hardest part, the road to recovery is the easy part :lol:
[welcome]

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hello all. My name is Laurel (clearly) and I adopted a 46 gallon tank at the beginning of the summer, '09. Everything was smooth sailing until there was an early freeze and all of the plastic canisters on my RO system broke several months ago. I was distressed that I had broken such an expensive, and necessary part to this tank and avoided the problem. But I am back on track and bought 3 new canisters. My question is, now that I am cleaning out the area where the new canisters/filters will be screwed in to the whole unit, has anyone attempted to replace these, and is it tricky to get decent water quality after the area having been exposed to some dirt? I am rinsing and cleaning as much as I can, but this still seems somewhat sketchy.

[welcome]

Are you talking about cleaning the actual filters inside of the canisters? It all depends how long they were exposed to the elements. it's possible that they can develop mold and other cantaminants. Usually you can pick up a filter pack for the common sizes of RO units at lowes or home depot.

 

[Laurel Reese]

Thanks for responding! I have new filters for my RO, and I have bought and will be replacing the surrounding plastic canisters. I was initially worried about any contaminants that may have entered the RO when the canisters broke, because it did get a little dirty. I apologize for not explaining that very well. I am now thinking that whatever is in the RO will likely be filtered out when I run it. I'll test the water and run it for a few gallons or so to make sure it is working all right. If anyone has had this happen, or knows anything else about the plumbing of an RO please don't hesitate to add!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Well Laurel,
Only a few of us actually frequent this thread, you'll get more response if you start a thread in the New To The Hobby forum. but I tend to agree with you that if there was any contamination with the membrane will clean itself out after running a few gallons through it. If you don't already have one get yourself a TDS meter to make sure your RO is operating properly.

 

[Tobes]

Good day to all.
My name is Tobes and I'm from South Africa. I've been in the hobby for about 4 years now, busy setting up my new 4ft system (my 6th tank). I'm looking forward to learn from you guys and see how you do things on the other side of the world regarding this hobby.

 

[Aquarist007]

Good day to all.
My name is Tobes and I'm from South Africa. I've been in the hobby for about 4 years now, busy setting up my new 4ft system (my 6th tank). I'm looking forward to learn from you guys and see how you do things on the other side of the world regarding this hobby.

[welcome]

You will find that the basic principles of reef keeping are very similar over the world (marine fish are marine fish )