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

[Sisterlimonpot]

My name is Aaron, I'm 30 years old from Athens, GA. My wife (Brandy) and I are in the planning stages of setting up a 28g Nano cube which we plan to fill with some simple, easy corals and small fish.
I have kept aquariums before both salt and freshwater (as many as 7 at once previously) but this will be our first stab at a reef tank.
Our focus is mainly on the fish (hopefully this is not a doomed mindset from the beginning) but who knows what this initial incursion into the reef might bring about in the future. I think that we do have more questions about the coral at this point than the fish because we have kept the fish before and because information seems to be more vague, possibly because corals seem to be less strictly classified than fish (from the research I've done at least.)

[welcome]
it seems like you're not looking in the right spots. Propagating corals are discussed in depth. broken down into different types of species. check out this section of RC hopefully it will answer most if not all your questions.

Good luck.

And be sure to check out the Nano Forum for anything pertaining to small tanks.

 

[lisafoster]

Hi my name is Lisa I have had my 125 gallon softy/lps tank set up since Jan 2009. I run 3x 250 watt mh, super reef octopus 2000 bubble blaster hob skimmer, I run mytank sumpless. The reason I run sumpless is when I bought my set up I did not know what reef ready stand meant so I have no room. At some point I want to upgrade to at least a 180 however I do not want to rock the boat with my tank when it is just becoming semi stabilized. This site is an unbelieveably informative site. I look forward to learning from everyone here.

 

[asphaltpays]

need some good advice

need some good advice

Hello everyone my name is Chris and I have a 90 gallon tall with power compacts (brand new bulbs I just bought) 2 coral life 21" 10,000k (65w)2 coral life blue actanic lights also 65w I have about 150lbs of live rock and about 2" of live sand in tank also a 110 gallon hang on the back filter and 2 powerheads koralia # 1 & # 2 with about 16 fish in it and a maximum clamanb all my test are all good I bought it like this I wanna add a sump/ refugium I was wondering how big it should be ? or should I stick with the old saying it it's not broke don't fix it?

 

[lisafoster]

If you are going to keep that clam you need to upgrade to t5's or metal halides they need very strong ligh With a tall tank I would go for metal halides. I have been running sumpless for 18 months but I have a powerful skimmer and weekly water changes.

 

[asphaltpays]

That's what I thought but its all the way at the top of the tank and it is the healthiest clam I have seen

 

[asphaltpays]

He has had it since it was tiny he said and its about 2 1/2" now

 

[asphaltpays]

I do 10% a week in water using only RO/DI water and reef crystals

 

[lisafoster]

Well that good there are always exceptions to the "rules". You will beable to tell if there is a problem.

He has had it since it was tiny he said and its about 2 1/2" now

 

[lisafoster]

Get those damsels out now while you have the chance they can be nasty little buggers when they mature. Are the airbubbles coming out from a pump or your skimmer out take?

Hey hey glad to be a part of such an informative community

I just started my 75 gallon tank, I'm pretty sure it's cycled all the way, not 100% positive though. I've had 3 damsels die already, but two are still going strong it seems. One thing I don't really know what to search for is the problem I currently have.
It seems like their is a lot of air bubbles coming form my inflow pump. It almost resembles salt, but it just started appearing not long ago( tank has been cycling for about a month). Any idea as to what is causing this or is it even a problem? I just have base rock right now and such, nothing crazy. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated. I look forward to learning a lot!

Cliff

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi my name is Lisa I have had my 125 gallon softy/lps tank set up since Jan 2009. I run 3x 250 watt mh, super reef octopus 2000 bubble blaster hob skimmer, I run mytank sumpless. The reason I run sumpless is when I bought my set up I did not know what reef ready stand meant so I have no room. At some point I want to upgrade to at least a 180 however I do not want to rock the boat with my tank when it is just becoming semi stabilized. This site is an unbelieveably informative site. I look forward to learning from everyone here.

We look forward to you sharing your expertise with us

[welcome]

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi, I am brand new to this. Trying to learn everything I can before I set up my 46g bow front tank. Trying to figure out everything i need for it. After telling the wife all the things it looks like it will take, she said I should have just got a dog. Well I hope she's not right I think eventually she (and our 2 daughters) will enjoy it.

get the dog too

[welcome]

 

[Aquarist007]

Hello everyone my name is Chris and I have a 90 gallon tall with power compacts (brand new bulbs I just bought) 2 coral life 21" 10,000k (65w)2 coral life blue actanic lights also 65w I have about 150lbs of live rock and about 2" of live sand in tank also a 110 gallon hang on the back filter and 2 powerheads koralia # 1 & # 2 with about 16 fish in it and a maximum clamanb all my test are all good I bought it like this I wanna add a sump/ refugium I was wondering how big it should be ? or should I stick with the old saying it it's not broke don't fix it?

I would get a refugium/sump with that may fish. You have to feed alot so eventually you could get a build up of nitrates in the system
Adding something to the system to help the filtration is really not like a car that is running fine but you just have to mess with it or tweak it--its more like the oil commercial where you can pay the guy now or pay him later for a lot more:hammer:
[welcome]

 

[mj_girl]

noob from sydney, australia.

noob from sydney, australia.

Hey everyone,

my names Jade, aka mj, and at the moment i have a freshwater tropical aquarium with discus, flaming gouramis, clown loaches - quite a few others! i like a range of fishes they all get along quite well.

I have been looking into starting a reef tank, but have been researching deeply so as not to jump in the deep end.

id be looking into setting up a 6foot to start with - liverock, SPs, starfish, seahorses, and beautiful exotics fish.

looking forward to reading your posts and your help

thanks guys,
mj

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hey everyone,

my names Jade, aka mj, and at the moment i have a freshwater tropical aquarium with discus, flaming gouramis, clown loaches - quite a few others! i like a range of fishes they all get along quite well.

I have been looking into starting a reef tank, but have been researching deeply so as not to jump in the deep end.

id be looking into setting up a 6foot to start with - liverock, SPs, starfish, seahorses, and beautiful exotics fish.

looking forward to reading your posts and your help

thanks guys,
mj

[welcome]

When you get your reef tank started be sure to start a thread documenting your experience.

 

[JustTIMMY]

the dreaded first post, here i go....

Hello all. first off i have to say what a very nice forum you all have here. Plenty of information to read and keep me up all night . I've had some freshwater aquariums for many years, grew up with my mother having many of them. I've always been interested in starting a saltwater, but time and moving has always stopped me. I will be moving in about a month, and wanting to get my 29G up and running shortly after, still not entirely sure on what it will be exactly. I will probably add some coral if not too much work for a newbie. And as far as i can tell, the sump is the way to go in terms of filtering. Only questions i see is what to make it out of and how big i wanna go.

DIY shouldn't be a problem as far as i can tell, just doing it the right way since this is my first saltwater. as I said, it will be over a month before i even think about filling it, so I have plenty of time to figure out what parts to get and how much of a hole to dig for myself, lol

//Timmy

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

the dreaded first post, here i go....

Hello all. first off i have to say what a very nice forum you all have here. Plenty of information to read and keep me up all night . I've had some freshwater aquariums for many years, grew up with my mother having many of them. I've always been interested in starting a saltwater, but time and moving has always stopped me. I will be moving in about a month, and wanting to get my 29G up and running shortly after, still not entirely sure on what it will be exactly. I will probably add some coral if not too much work for a newbie. And as far as i can tell, the sump is the way to go in terms of filtering. Only questions i see is what to make it out of and how big i wanna go.

DIY shouldn't be a problem as far as i can tell, just doing it the right way since this is my first saltwater. as I said, it will be over a month before i even think about filling it, so I have plenty of time to figure out what parts to get and how much of a hole to dig for myself, lol

//Timmy

[welcome]
For a 29g I would suggest at least a 10g or 20g. What ever you can fit under the tank, and of course the bigger the better. Here's a great site for sumps/fuges

 

[JustTIMMY]

great link, thanks

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

No problem. when you ge4t things going be sure to start a thread to document your progress.

 

[JustTIMMY]

I've already started filling a notebook just on ideas and planning. I'm really wanting to do some research on this, and get things right the first time. Several of threads seem to lead strait to changes. I'm hoping that alot of reading now will help me avoid these kind of problems in the future.

If there are any links that really dumb down corals for a beginner, they would be a huge help for me, as deciphering the 'types' of coral is still a little over my head.

 

[Scott G]

New and New

New and New

Greetings everyone!

I am new to Reef Central and new to the entire hobby. I have been interested in the concept of raising my own personal reef for years, started to get seriously interested in it about 18 months ago when my daughter and I noticed The Marine Scene across the street from her gymnastic school (and next to my future martial arts school), and now starting serious research on it.

I've never had even a freshwater aquarium - fish alone just never seemed interesting to me. At TMS, I got to see some good samples of how the entire package - fish, coral, invertebrates, etc. - might fit together into an awesome whole. That's when my interest level rose substantially.

A few weeks ago, I revisited TMS with my daughter (who is also intensely interested in this) and spoke with a gentleman there who was extremely helpful - very informative, no sales pressure, deliberately steering me away from impulse purchasing (which wasn't a danger - I did inform him I was on a research mission only) and, in fact, steering me to a very good book which I've read through once so far ("The New Marine Aquarium").

I found WAMAS a couple weeks and, through links there, eventually found my way here as well.

My intent is a several-month research expedition to figure out what it is I truly need in equipment (looking to design ~100gal setup), a couple more months obtaining and setting up the system (sans macroscopic critters) and getting a stable system, and then finally the long road to building my first little reef. All along, I hope to be educating my daughter in the marine science I will be learning on the way.

I expect y'all will hear from me over and over as I work to figure out all the components, sizes, models and other minutia involved with the proper setup and maintenance of these wonderful little ecosystems.

Looking forward to it!