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

[bemenaker]

Hey everybody. I'm new to the saltwater water world, I've had freshwater tanks for years. Mostly, I used to buy small 2-5 gallon acrylic tanks, drill holes in them, and connect them with clear acrylic tubes. Later, I moved to a 55 gallon African Cichlid tank that I ran for years. Then I met my wife. I had to get rid of my 55 gallon for space reasons, when I moved into her house.

My wife has been into reef tanks for years, and a long time reader of this site. She had a 29gallon biocube running when we met, and it still is. Recently, we decided to setup up her 65 gallon in place of the 29, and I have started really getting involved in the entire thing.

This site has been teaching me a ton of new info everyday.

 

[OrQidz]

Hello, I registered here a long time ago when I had a 14 gallon reef. It went well for about 6 months and then was overtaken by cyano and I gave up on it and decided to focus on FW for a while. 5 years later, I'm ready to tackle a reef again! I know a lot more than I did 5 or 6 years ago about maintenance, water chemistry, researching and keeping appropriate creatures....I have 5 FW planted tanks now and I am very diligent about weekly water changes and water testing. This site is such a great resource!

 

[edgar0304]

Not fairly new to the hobby.....

Not fairly new to the hobby.....

Hello I have been a ongoing follower of this site for quite some time now and finally have decided to join and say hello. My name is edgar and currently live in Inglewood CA, the main reason I have decided to stop by and say hello is cause I need a little help. You see I am what they say in the heart of the fish import town, I only live a few blocks away from LAX and have numerous different LFS around. however, it seems to me that I never run in to that great fish i see online. While there are many local Wharehouses that stock all the local stores around there isnt that one fish store has wowed me with their selection. any suggestions or recommendations would glady be appreciated. Ive been searching online and am kind of scared and hesistant about having fish mailed to me. I would be willing to buy from someone direct anywhere in southern California and I mean anywhere.

 

[GinoDiGi]

Hi everyone, my name is Gino. I am from Chicago, I am really new to the hobbie, have had my tank for just over a month. I have a 90 gallon fowlr tank. I currently have 2 striped damsels, 1 clown fish, 1 porcupine puffer, 1 dog face puffer, and 1 diamond gobie. I really did not do much research on if these fish can live in peace together. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks and hope to learn alot.

 

[Mando@805]

Mando from so cal

Mando from so cal

Hey everyone I just started a 170 gallon bow front SW tank. It has a 100 gallon sump. I am running an ASM g2 skimmer, 2 Mag 9.5 return pumps and a 2 bulb t5ho 80w x 2 60''. I am looking to go mixed reef and plan on upgrading my lights so I will be surfing the threads and seeking advice from all of you that are reading this.

 

[IridescentLily]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big> to the seven of you!
It's good to see many coming back into the hobby.

Sorry for not responding to your individual posts, but..
For the best fish selection and an "arrive alive-14 day live guarentee".
Thousands have ordered from there with success.

You don't HAVE to use a sump. If toddlers are your concern it might not be a good idea. The majority of reefkeepers do, but Lots of people don't have a sump.

I'm not sure about the puffers with damsels. Go ahead and post this same fish question in the 'sticky' thread at the top called 'check here before you purchase fish' if you need help choosing which fish are compatible or which fish are too large for certain tanks, etc.

A canister filter is okay, only if you;
A. Take out the ceramic noodles that go in it. Trust me. However carbon or gfo can go into a canister.
B. Clean it every-week.

A protein skimmer would be of more benefit however

All of you all i hughly recommend looking at the 10 or so 'sticky' threads at the top of this section, those will DEFINITELY help you know what the steps should be.

 

[REVDHJONES]

Newbie

Newbie

Hello to all. I am a returning reefer, after my 100 gal fish/coral tank cooked over 10 years ago and out out disappointment I tore it down and put it in the backyard. After landscaping this spring I decided to give it a go again. I am using my black back reef ready acrylic tank with a stand I just completed building. My old equipment was a 20 gal wet/dry I used with a Berlin classic skimmer. Two rio 250 returns and a 2100 feeding the skimmer. I have an early style wave,aker with two max jet 900 pumps for flow. Lighting is two mh 175 w 10000k bulbs with two 50/50 t12 bulbs. I see these are really outdated and I will attempt to convert to t5. My tank thrived for years with this system using treated tap water. However I purchased from brs a ro filter, mag 1800 , and upped the return line from half to 3/4 inch for more flow. I want to try to Berlin even though this is outdated. I also upped the sump to a 30 gallon. I have about 100lbs of rock that was live but is now dry that I will try to bring back. I want to run a shallow sand bed and keep a mix of fish and corals again. I want to take it slow so cycling the tank quickly is not very important to me. Any recommendations are appreciated

 

[Moontail]

moontail here! Brand new to RC!!!!

moontail here! Brand new to RC!!!!

hi! I just starting in the hobby and dont even have my first fish yet! I have a 30 gal, FOWLR, with filter; heater; 25 lbs of aqua cultured live rock(purple). SO Patiently waiting for the cycle to complete to get 0's with Nitrite and Ammonia. Researching my first fish/Inverterbrates! How exciting! 3 weeks allready and still waiting! Nitrite has spiked to 1.0, ammonia is now down to 0. Any suggesstons on anything?
ps,,...moontail (Priacanthus hamrur), is a fish in the red sea, so I used it as my name here!

 

[reefraction]

Hey everybody, Back in the game after a 15 year absence! Bought an established 120 gallon mixed reef setup from a local reefer who had to unfortunately sell their setup. They helped me move and set up the tank at my house and to my astonishment we did'nt lose a single creature!!! Have a mix of lighting T5 housing and a full led housing. Everything is thriving. Trying to wrap my head around the chemistry aspect again. Just wanted to say hey and thanks to all the dedicated "posters" who have taught this old dog some new tricks. Have a mating pair of percula clowns who actually host all three of my anemones(never seen that before), scooter blenny, 100 lbs. of fiji, various zoas, frogspawn, monticora (sp), 2 cleaner shrimp, sailfin and a kole tang, midas blenny, blue chromis, cardinal, I think thats about it. I'm sure I'm not naming all of the corals but...........

My nitrates are running pretty high, not sure if it's because we moved the setup and stirred up everything or if maybe I have too much livestock. any thoughts. Been up and running for a month and the nitrates are still at 20!
ph 8.2, nitrite 0, Kh 8.8, Mag 1300 apprx., ammonia 0

 

[IridescentLily]

Welcome you guys

 

[Zwagerman]

Hello everybody,

I'am Roel Zwagerman, living in the Netherlands. Currently running a 600ltr. (160 gallon) reef for 2,5 years. Some of my systems are:
- IKS Aquastar contoller (temp, PH, Redox, water level and lighting).
- PC with teamviewer to keep control with my Ipad all over the world.
- ocean runner pump 6500ltr/hour
- aqua medic calcium reactor
- 2x 250 watt HQI
- 2x 58 watt T5

Currently busy installing a PLC for even more control over my aquarium.

I'm working with ROSEN Inspection where i have to travel all over the world.

 

[Tanked_one]

First salt water tank

First salt water tank

Hey everyone. Just starting our first s/w tank. Have a 72 gal bowfront and stand. Have a 29 gal tanke we are going to make a sump and refugium in. And thats all. Need to start getting everything else but we are taking our time and want research what we need to get first and get set up right; so any advice would be a great help. I am sure there is lots of info here on these forums so I will probably spend a lot time checking them out. Looking forward to having lots of enjoyment from our new tank Thanks all

 

[Azrael127]

Hi. I am new in this hobby and currently have a 20g nano that has been up and running for roughly 4 months. I have read many threads on here and have learned plenty so I hope to keep learning and someday maybe even help.

 

[scubaprashant]

hello!

hello!

Hello everyone!

I am new to the saltwater world and reef keeping. I have about 5 years of fresh water experience and am really getting into the marine stuff now.

I really appreciate all of the helpful "stickies" that are posted in the forums. That kind of information is invaluable! I'm definitely looking forward to learning how to do things the right way and am finding that anytime I have a question, it has almost always been asked already on this forum and answered with a very intelligent response.

Thanks to all you pros who feed the forum and us new folks in the marine world:beer:.

 

[Harleyx2]

Hello. Im new to the forum. Love it so far. Lots of helpfull stickies and helpfull people. I have a 65 gallon tank Im setting up right now after being away from te hobby for 3 years. Lookingforward to viewing a great site. Thanks

 

[IridescentLily]

Welcome Harley

 

[uneverno]

Hi All,
New here too. Fantastic site!

I'm diving back in after a few years off as well. New tank is a 30 cube. Eventual goal is SPS.
Putting sand in it now. Then will be the wait while my ancient RO/DI machine makes water.

 

[hung380]

Hi new to the forums and saltwater reefs. Got a jbj 28g hqi with some tester fish and 3 corals. So much info on this sight and a great community.

 

[JustinBT]

Hi everybody, I'm newly registered here at RC but I've used the forums as a resource for a little while now, figured it was time to join in
My current tank is a 28 gallon bow front, mixed reef featuring one peppermint and one cleaner shrimp, my only fish as of right now is an Atlantic Chalk Basslet (S. Tortugarum), zoas (RDE, florida neon blue, orange/purple bam bams and a couple without the designer names) dendrophyllia, blasto, mushrooms, favia, anthelia, etc. Tank has been up for six months now.
I also have a side project, my 2.5 gallon aga pico. This a coral display, I don't intend to keep fish in it. Pico is currently stocked with zoas (eagle eyes, Mohawks), Hollywood stunner chalice, Ricordia Florida, acan lord, gsp, pulsing xenia, a candy cane and a nice toadstool I moved to try and save from my cleaner. Filtration for the pico is LR, LS, and a diy ATS.
Happy to be here, look forward to getting to know everybody!

 

[ArrecifeJunkie]

Hey RC. I;m new to the saltwater world although I've wanted to do it for a long time. I started out with conservative plans on a FOWLR but just could not hold back. Reefs are just way too cool. I've read a lot here but need to reed more. Thanks in advance to all of you that contribute to the site!