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

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hello everyone!

My name is Jim from Wolcott,CT, recently married. New to the SW scene. I currently have two African cichlid tanks but want to shut one down and start up a reef tank. Just don't know exactly where to begin....that's why I'm here.

We were looking at the red sea 250, but know if I should get something smaller or something off Craigslist. Maybe turn my 46g bowfront into a SW tank? Any and all help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Jim

[welcome]

it's all about what you want. sounds like you have a couple good choices. using the 46 won't be bad idea, just make sure that if you want to have corals or inverts in the tank that you never dosed the tank with copper when it was full of fresh water.

the idea of a new tank to start off with, sounds like a good start to a new hobby, what ever you decide be sure to read through this thread to get a lot of your questions answered.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Do you have a link to this mod, as I do have some issues keeping it adjusted properly.

Thanks in advance.

Here you go.... hope that helps

 

[Buffalo bill]

Hello all...I'm a newbie in the saltwater world, converted my 55 gal freshwater over to saltwater about 4 months ago and everything is going well (clean up crew and one clown with 50 lbs of live rock) currently running a HOB protein skimmer and a canister filter (which gets torn down and cleaned every two weeks) along with a 10 gallon water change.
I'm currently changing out my lighting from a 260 watt coralife PC sys to a Hamilton 2X 175 watt MH with 4X 65 Watt PC . I'm interested in corals and which ones would be good to start with and when I should introduce em. Thanxs.

 

[Cooksmack]

Good afternoon everyone,

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who adds so much to this site. It has helped a tremendous amount now and in the past. Hopefully I will be able to add something in the future.

 

[paulo cezario]

Hi my name is Paulo Cezario i'm from São Paulo Brasil.
I'm here for make great friendship
Please sorry my english is very bad i'm here for training english with you, i like fishkeeping and make very FRIENDS truth.

best regards

Paulo Cezario

Lord bless my friends, how the lord have blessing me.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hello all...I'm a newbie in the saltwater world, converted my 55 gal freshwater over to saltwater about 4 months ago and everything is going well (clean up crew and one clown with 50 lbs of live rock) currently running a HOB protein skimmer and a canister filter (which gets torn down and cleaned every two weeks) along with a 10 gallon water change.
I'm currently changing out my lighting from a 260 watt coralife PC sys to a Hamilton 2X 175 watt MH with 4X 65 Watt PC . I'm interested in corals and which ones would be good to start with and when I should introduce em. Thanxs.

[welcome]

Instead of using those 4 pc's use T5's. they are going to yield better par for the corals.

As for what corals, my advice is to start off with something easy like frogspawn, trumpet coral or some other easy LPS. Once you get some experience then you can jump to harder ones. And in the mean time read up on what corals need to thrive in a tank.

Good Luck.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Good afternoon everyone,

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who adds so much to this site. It has helped a tremendous amount now and in the past. Hopefully I will be able to add something in the future.

[welcome]

 

[SharkLVR09]

What's Up Everyone?

What's Up Everyone?

Well, I'm new to the forum. Not to aquariums though. I've only been doing the aquarium thing for about 4-5yrs. I'm 21 now so thats a little bit of my life so far. I live in Tampa FL. Anyway, I have 1 180G Shark tank with a Banded Cat shark and a Volitan Lionfish, Than I also have a 17G Custom built Reef tank. Its got a Blue Sapphire Damselfish and 1 Clown & 2 emerald Crabs. I have some frogspawn, Trumpet coral, and some zoanthids. thats about all. I will try and get some pics posted for ya. Its nice to be on here. My Name is Kyle By the way.

 

[bigdoug]

Doug here aka "BigDoug" new to the salt! 15yrs freshwater fish keeping/breeding, divorce took care of that, lol! Now remarried and moving on up to sw/reef, i have been reading and thanks to all, i have a lot to learn. My current project is a 125g long w/ built in overflows. I modified a tidepool 2 wet/dry, built a custom stand and canopy, lights are 12x39 t5 ho, 2 150w MH, 48lunar. protein skimmer, and dual 800gph return pumps. Water test later this week to see if i need both pumps. Great site!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Well, I'm new to the forum. Not to aquariums though. I've only been doing the aquarium thing for about 4-5yrs. I'm 21 now so thats a little bit of my life so far. I live in Tampa FL. Anyway, I have 1 180G Shark tank with a Banded Cat shark and a Volitan Lionfish, Than I also have a 17G Custom built Reef tank. Its got a Blue Sapphire Damselfish and 1 Clown & 2 emerald Crabs. I have some frogspawn, Trumpet coral, and some zoanthids. thats about all. I will try and get some pics posted for ya. Its nice to be on here. My Name is Kyle By the way.

[welcome]
Kyle,
Be sure to start a thread and show off your tanks. be sure to take lots of pictures...

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Doug here aka "BigDoug" new to the salt! 15yrs freshwater fish keeping/breeding, divorce took care of that, lol! Now remarried and moving on up to sw/reef, i have been reading and thanks to all, i have a lot to learn. My current project is a 125g long w/ built in overflows. I modified a tidepool 2 wet/dry, built a custom stand and canopy, lights are 12x39 t5 ho, 2 150w MH, 48lunar. protein skimmer, and dual 800gph return pumps. Water test later this week to see if i need both pumps. Great site!

[welcome]
Bigdoug,
Now you should convert that wet/dry into a sump/refugium. wet/dry systems have no place in salt water systems. The only exception to that rule is if you're planning on just a fish only tank and not going to have a reef tank.

Let me explain: those bioballs trap detritus and eventually break down to become nitrates, with a reef tank your goal is to keep the nitrates down as low as you can, so instead of using bioballs for the biological filtration we use live rock in its place.

Fish don't care about the nitrate level and that's why I say if it's just a fish only tank; by all means use a wet/dry.

And once you get your tank up and running be sure to start a thread with your set-up. It sounds a lot like mine.

good luck.

 

[godspeed]

hello guys

hello guys

well im new to the aquarium work being shy of a month and i have a 55 gal freash water tank, im already wanting at least a 100 gal salt water tank now but i guess i better see how well i keep this tank up.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

well im new to the aquarium work being shy of a month and i have a 55 gal freash water tank, im already wanting at least a 100 gal salt water tank now but i guess i better see how well i keep this tank up.

[welcome]
the best thing to do is get rid of the freshwater mentality and start off right with a salt water. 55 is a perfect size to get you started.

 

[titomarley]

New To RC

New To RC

Hi ... my name is Tito and in my 60 gallon Saltwater tank I have 2 maroon clownfish and 3 anemone (pink tipped, long armed and some sort of purple condylactis). The levels are great in my tank, but I seem to be growing some sort of algea along the bottom of the tank (on the gravel) and also on my live rocks. Also on my live rocks, I started seeing like a clear'ish / white sticks growing one one corner. AND ... i also noticed that on all my rocks there are little pompom looking things (they look like micro feather dusters and instead of feathers they are long clear arm looking things). I just want to know if the things that I am seeing are ok... and if not ... what do I do?!? If pics are needed, let me know and I will try my best to capture what I am talking about....

Tito...

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hi ... my name is Tito and in my 60 gallon Saltwater tank I have 2 maroon clownfish and 3 anemone (pink tipped, long armed and some sort of purple condylactis). The levels are great in my tank, but I seem to be growing some sort of algea along the bottom of the tank (on the gravel) and also on my live rocks. Also on my live rocks, I started seeing like a clear'ish / white sticks growing one one corner. AND ... i also noticed that on all my rocks there are little pompom looking things (they look like micro feather dusters and instead of feathers they are long clear arm looking things). I just want to know if the things that I am seeing are ok... and if not ... what do I do?!? If pics are needed, let me know and I will try my best to capture what I am talking about....

Tito...

[welcome]

Sounds like you have some cool hitchhikers, it sounds like some can be good and others might be pest like aiptasia or majano anemone's. The best thing to do is to start a new thread with pictures that way we can identify it. In the meantime you can do a google search on those and see if they resemble what you have in your tank.

 

[hessfish]

hi people my name is stephen and i live in new york
currently i have a fowlr with 2 ocellarius clowns
i want to upgrade to a anemone tank, but i need to seed my rock with coroline and such.
any ideas on cheaper seeding?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

hi people my name is stephen and i live in new york
currently i have a fowlr with 2 ocellarius clowns
i want to upgrade to a anemone tank, but i need to seed my rock with coroline and such.
any ideas on cheaper seeding?

[welcome]

You don't need coralline to have anemones. However if you want coralline in your tank make sure you get your alkalinity, calcium and magnesium to the proper levels and get some coralline flakes from another tank and toss them in and in a few months you should get some good coralline growth.

 

[hessfish]

so the fact that the rock was never seeded (bought dry) wont hurt if i buy an anemone?
i have live sand that was bought seeded

 

[bigdoug]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
Bigdoug,
Now you should convert that wet/dry into a sump/refugium. wet/dry systems have no place in salt water systems. The only exception to that rule is if you're planning on just a fish only tank and not going to have a reef tank.

Let me explain: those bioballs trap detritus and eventually break down to become nitrates, with a reef tank your goal is to keep the nitrates down as low as you can, so instead of using bioballs for the biological filtration we use live rock in its place.

Fish don't care about the nitrate level and that's why I say if it's just a fish only tank; by all means use a wet/dry.

And once you get your tank up and running be sure to start a thread with your set-up. It sounds a lot like mine.

good luck.

This is exactly the kind of information i am looking for, thank you!!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

so the fact that the rock was never seeded (bought dry) wont hurt if i buy an anemone?
i have live sand that was bought seeded

What's you're asking is to cycle the rock so that it has the beneficial bacteria needed to sustain life in the tank. The answer to that is a definite Yes.

Let's make a distinction between cycle or live rock and rock full of coralline algae and microfauna.

you have to cycle your tank before you can have livestock survive past 2 weeks in the tank, and by that I mean you have to create a source of ammonia and allow it to build up so that bacteria can cultivate to convert that ammonia to nitrite and when the nitrite levels start to get high you promote the growth of the other bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates. this is called cycling the tank or turning your dead rock into live rock, that bacteria lives on the surfaces of the tank like the rock, sand and any other hard surface in the tank.

When you say, "but i need to seed my rock with coralline and such" you're talking about something totally different. When I read seeding the tank I assume you mean adding microfauna like copepods, amphipods, mini stars, worms etc. Which is also something you would probably want in your tank to have a successful reef, but not necessary for anemones.

Hope that clears things up.