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

joeshmo said:
Hello!

I am new to this forum and have enjoyed reading various build threads and others the past few months and decided to join.

I've always loved fishkeeping but never had the space for more than a few small freshwater tanks (29g to 55gal) at any one time. After purchasing my first home 5 months ago I decided I finally have the room to do whatever I like (I moved from a 1 bedroom apartment into a 3 bedroom house by myself) and that's have some beautiful large fishtanks.

Three months ago I purchased a 5 year old 180 gallon tank (Basically maybe 200 pounds of live rock and two hundred mushrooms, a pearl bubble coral, frogspawn, a devil's hand, a toadstool, and 1 very old cranky blue damsel). He stopped doing water changes 3 years ago on that tank for some reason. I am sure I paid too much for it now, but I still love the tank.

I placed all of the inhabitants into a 125gallon tank until I could set up the 180gallon in my living room.

I am finding the startup costs even with the head start I have to be a little daunting and am forcing myself to slow down after seeing my credit card and bank statement :lmao:

Looking forward to learning more from you all!
Click to expand...

That sounds so so familar:eek:

I am curious as to your start up costs---you have the 200lbs of live rock which is basically the biggest expense

[welcome]
 
Hi there everyone. I am new to RC and the hobby in itself. I have started doing my research on what I plan to set-up and any information anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am starting up a 20L (already own) with a Current Sundial T5, Vortech Mp10, Jager 150 W Heater and about 20 lbs LR and 15 lbs LS on my wish list. Just want to see the kind of feedback anyone can give me before I put this order in. I plan on placing corals, 2 percs and a couple clean-up crew (shrimp, hermits, snails, etc.). Also I live in San Antonio, TX if there are any experienced reefers that could maybe mentor me into a great reefer too. :) Thanks for any feedback
 
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Well, I'll try to break this down

$1200 bought me

180gal glass tank corner overflows
2 water pumps (unknown origin) some kind if utility pumps for skimmer/return
75gal sump
Homemade Stand/hood
200+ lbs live rock covered in mushrooms (mostly blues,purples,reds)
2 MH 175watt 14k, 3 VHOs needs new ballast for lighting
ETSS skimmer of unknown capacity (older model likely, no model info on it, 2 2foot downdraft tubes both with adjustable air intakes) I see no newer ETSS models made this way so I don't know it's capacity. 3 feet tall, 2 foot downdraft tubes on it
1 beat up MaxiJet
1 brittle star
1 Damsel
1 7 inch round pearl bubble (expands to 15 inches, it's really nice)
1 5 headed frogspawn
1 8 inch devil's hand
1 7 inch toadstool
100+ aptasia :worried:

Now I moved all of this in a heated truck and set it up in a 125 gallon tank on the floor of my living room where it is still there today. I've had some issues with the plumbing of the 180 once I got it to it's new home beside the 125 and have to redo much of it. $200

The lights are old, ballast is huge and gives off a ton of heat so I want to replace that with I was thinking of a 72" Aqualight Pro HQI 250W, $1100 or so

I purchased a smaller reef devil deluxe ETSS skimmer I could hook up to my 125 for the time being and run some carbon via 2 large HOB Penguins for filtration on the 125. $450

CUC of 20 hermits and 40 snails, 2 cleaner 1 banded shrimp, 10? peppermint shrimp (to help get rid of aptasia - I plan on taking out and giving away many of them when I move into 180gal $160
2 Acan frags, 1 closed brain, 1 Aussie Elegance cutting from longtime friend $150
Bags of sand/cement/shells for making own agragocrete rocks for future tanks $150

QT tank 75 gallon + RENA 4 canister filter for it $200
random supplies (new pumps,hoses,food,hydrometers, etc)$400
1 Copper Banded Butterfly (not sure he's reef safe, but so far so good - can put in brother's FOWLR or keep the 125gal a saltwater FOWLR once I move it - eating some aptasia) $40
1 Scopas Tang $30
1 Marine Beta (given to me, fussy eater, taught to eat live blackworms in QT) hides in 125, I may need to keep him in another tank for more personalized attention. I am worried about his health as he's hard to feed in the 125.

Reef Aquarium guides/books $200
Mangrove seedlings for future basement project $100

I was initially thinking I needed to get this all into the 180 as soon as possible as it had the much larger volume of water/sump/etc but the corals and fish are doing well and the tank is always perfectly clear. Nitrates 20-40(higher than I'd like - suspect overfeeding/lack of sump/HOB filters), Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0. Salinity 1.024-1.025. I've done two 25% water changes in the past 2 months, and 2 10% changes.

Anyway, That puts me over $3000 and I don't even have the 180gallon running :eek2: Just a little sticker shock, I'm forcing myself to take this slower though now, doing a ton of research and trying to make better decisions. :reading: Better for the fish I hope, and better for my checking account :)
 
Syncere said:
Hi there everyone. I am new to RC and the hobby in itself. I have started doing my research on what I plan to set-up and any information anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am starting up a 20L (already own) with a Current Sundial T5, Vortech Mp10, Jager 150 W Heater and about 20 lbs LR and 15 lbs LS on my wish list. Just want to see the kind of feedback anyone can give me before I put this order in. I plan on placing corals, 2 percs and a couple clean-up crew (shrimp, hermits, snails, etc.). Also I live in San Antonio, TX if there are any experienced reefers that could maybe mentor me into a great reefer too. :) Thanks for any feedback
Click to expand...
[welcome]
looks like your wish list is pretty good, The only thing I would change is the wattage of the heater. It seems a bit much. Many recommend going with 2 heaters at a far less wattage just in case 1 fails it won't boil (cook) your fish. Funny, I am here in San Antonio for the next 4 weeks (for school). I enjoyed being woken up by the lovely thunderstorm in the middle of the night, last night ;)

Reef Central has a place for local forums, I'm sure you can get on there and find out what it going on in this area.
 
Sisterlimonpot said:
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
looks like your wish list is pretty good, The only thing I would change is the wattage of the heater. It seems a bit much. Many recommend going with 2 heaters at a far less wattage just in case 1 fails it won't boil (cook) your fish. Funny, I am here in San Antonio for the next 4 weeks (for school). I enjoyed being woken up by the lovely thunderstorm in the middle of the night, last night ;)

Reef Central has a place for local forums, I'm sure you can get on there and find out what it going on in this area.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcoming. That's good to know about the heaters. With all the crazy weather here I was never sure if a smaller heater would do the job for my tank. But 2 50 w would probably better in that sense. Thanks
 
Syncere said:
Thanks for the welcoming. That's good to know about the heaters. With all the crazy weather here I was never sure if a smaller heater would do the job for my tank. But 2 50 w would probably better in that sense. Thanks
Click to expand...


I agree with Sister---further, always set your heaters at the lowest temperature that you want your tank to fall to.
 
Hello everyone! My wife kinda sprang a surprise of buying a modest 17 gallon tank with most of the bells and whistles. I'm hurredly trying to learn how to keep the few fish she bought alive while everything settles. I purchased a few books (including "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist") and am frantically reading forums to learn what to do and what not to do until I feel a little more knowledgable about what is going on in there.
 
Hey, I am the new guy. I am interested in keeping live reef in tank. Is it really possible for how long can I keep them there? Where do I buy live coral? Maintenance part should be tough I suppose.
 
would llike to introduce myself

would llike to introduce myself

hell all, im a newbie on the scene but have done at least 6 months of reaserch and i m confident enough to start my first reef tank. i have a fwpt that is a lot of fun but im up for a more challenging passtime. i have a 50g glass tank that im putting in a wall with the working side in my laundry rm so im able to be very creative in my filtration design. im very interested in doing my build as natural as possible. ive built my acrylic 30 gal sump/ref. i plan on a dsb in there. and ive built my ats that will hang on the side of my tank as the return from my sump. its very difficult to make a choice as there is sooooo much controvercial information out there. but i got a word of advice that has helped from a member of trc. "do what you feel and if it works great, if it dont try something else", so that is what im gonna do.
 
allnatural said:
hell all, im a newbie on the scene but have done at least 6 months of research and i m confident enough to start my first reef tank. i have a fwpt that is a lot of fun but im up for a more challenging passtime. i have a 50g glass tank that im putting in a wall with the working side in my laundry rm so im able to be very creative in my filtration design. im very interested in doing my build as natural as possible. ive built my acrylic 30 gal sump/ref. i plan on a dsb in there. and ive built my ats that will hang on the side of my tank as the return from my sump. its very difficult to make a choice as there is sooooo much controvercial information out there. but i got a word of advice that has helped from a member of trc. "do what you feel and if it works great, if it dont try something else", so that is what im gonna do.
Click to expand...
[welcome]
 
Norther VA reefer chiming in. David is the name and have been into reefing aquaria for almost two years (realitive noob), but have been keeping aquariums since childhood. Current set-ups include:
Red Sea Max 130D w/Lifereef sump
Marineland 18" cube & 15"x24" frag tank - plumbed into a shared DIY acrylic sump (Current NEP lighting for MD & Aqautic Life T5 HO for frag tank)
75G AGA FWFO tank
125G empty - future undecided.

Current projects. Building LED display to replace stock lighting in RSM & custom cabinet for 18" cube & frag tank combo.

EDIT: Oh and my main interest is high end ZOAs & Palys although the RSM is a mixed tank with some of everything (softies, LPS, SPS, etc...)
 
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Got my live rock! 72 hours and I amazed at the life. pics:
LR7.jpg

LR4.jpg

LR.jpg

LR8.jpg

LR3.jpg
 
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