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

[FsuNole]

Hey guys. My buddy launchnukes turned me onto this site. After seeing a few of his builds I decided to do my first real tank. Not the plug and play I had in college, lol.

I am moving next month so I'm in the planning phase. So far I've bought a 58 gallon oceanic with an overflow. I'm going to be building the rest with a budget in mind, going with a fish only tank to start and then go from there. Look forward to talking to all of yall

 

[jla72262]

Hey all, new here

Hey all, new here

Hi everyone, new to forum, a friend told me to come here after unhappy at another forum..... just set up a 180 gal reef, been running approx. 2 months. 30 gal sump, 3"sb, Reef Octopus 2000, Apex controller, Vortech 40, 2- Maxspect Razors, 170 lbs live rock, multiple brain corals, gorgs, that came on live rock, frogspawn, plate coral, 2 yellow tangs, 2 clowns, 5 blue chromis, 3 pajama cards....(just lost a naso tang to my Vortech) I am so in love with this hobby, it has brought such joy to my life (great therapy I hope to make friends here who love it as much as I do

 

[diavids]

my first salt water tank

my first salt water tank

Hi everyone. I'm a salt/reef newbie. After years of fresh water keeping i have dove into the world of reef keeping. this hasn't been an impulse decision, actually the person at the lfs has been at me for years to give it a go. I'm getting walked through it by this person and so far things are okay but its very early days. 20 gallon tank up and running, 3 weeks now. I have live sand and live rock with some button coral growing on it as well as what looks like somekind of sponge type stuff. For water movement i have two powerheads and one HOB filter. I also used Colony marine which was suggested by a friend to help get the tank started. I don't believe the instant cycle on the bottle mind you but i figured, it can't hurt. For lights i have 2 blue led strips as well as a t5 10,000k white light. (the t5 will be replaced by a white led strip on payday) I am very confused about lights. the owner of the lfs told me to only give the tank one hour of light a day at the max but then i have been told by other experienced reefers to give the corals 10 hours of light a day (both the blue and white light combined) i understand the store owner wants me to avoid having an algae bloom problem but doesn't the coral need the light? So far after 3 weeks the weekly water tests have been good, no ammonia/nitrite or nitrate. Calcium a bit low, so adding calcium balancing product. A few days ago another person at the same store told me it was time to add my clean up crew so i now have a assortment of hermit crabs and snails. i hope that was the right decision, its nice to see some movement in the tank. I was also sold some chemi pure elite to add to the hob filter. My long term goal for this tank is some easy to grow corals, some shrimps and maybe a couple of fish. Honestly i'm in no rush for fish. this is the results of last testing i did myself yesterday. I have the api reef test kit. Ammonia 0, calcium 18drops-360, KH 10 drops, 179, phosphate .25 and nitrate 0. saltily 1.023 (which i check daily) and temperature between 76-78 (my house warms up in the evening now) I am using bottled water for the top ups which is very little every few days. right now i have bought the salt water premixed from the fish store. i will try to attach a photo of the set up . thanks for listening. dianne

 

[jimspurs]

Hello everyone, my names Jim and I'm a 43 year old chief officer on a rig supply vessel in the southern north sea, I've been keeping fish since 1988 and have had two sucsseful marine tanks in that time. I've just set up my first reef tank, its a 200 ltr system with an eheim 1060 return pump (2000 lpr), also running a tunze 9004 skimmer in sump and the lighting is a full spectrum 120watt LED unit c/ w seperate actinic system..
I have only been with you guys since may 2013 but have already been helped loads by everyone, I would just like to thank everyone that has welcomed me and offered assistance, top top forum.
I'm living in Lowestoft, Suffolk U.K. :thumbsup:

 

[phil954]

Someone on the DIYFishKeepers forum referred me to check out this forum so I signed up/joined last night. I like the local section a lot, cool feature!

 

[Fishdreamz]

starting over so could use some buddies to bouce off of

starting over so could use some buddies to bouce off of

Had a wonderful reef tank I had to break down a few yrs ago due to a move.
Recently had a 49 gallon fresh water guppy tank and i over feed and had a bad water change crash. I have done africans as well in the past. Thinking of a green spotted lepord puffer fish. Want to do this right. Questions: Im getting a cullagan water tank in my home for drinking water and im getting the it in RO form. Would this water suffice? I have a five stage Rodi filter system but am not handy enough to hook it up
Starting from a baby and if i order off line im thinking it will be tricky getting the salinity correct for the baby into adult hood. When do you start rasing it to full salt water tank salinity? And what to use as fish to cycle the every changing salinity in the tank? Im thinking just throw a dead shrimp in.
Is this a good choice for a 49 gallon tank with no sump concidering i will be very tempted to try tank mates and coral softies? What other choices would be appropriate? I do like the sweet look of the green spotted puffer.
I have no pet stores selling them in my area but have a petsmart that would probably order one. What would be a good starting point for online puffers! Live aquaria does not have this type.
I want a sand bottom is this ok even if the baby is being kept in fresh water at the pet store??? I know check salinity. I need to recycle my tank due to some kinda contamination. darn
Want live rock and sand bottom. Best to go with dry live rock? Due to salinity issues and die off??
I just want to start off right and end up with a puffer and an few lucky tank mates, a few easy low light corals and try breeding snails.
ADVICE all you wonderful tank lovers!!:headwally:
Fishdreamz

 

[H.reidi.MN]

I don't think the intro thread is the place for all your questions maybe go the the marine fish only section and post...

Otherwise welcome

 

[nbreneman]

Hello...

Hello...

Hello Everyone,

I am fairly new to the hobby still. i purchased an established 24g reef tank from a friend 2 years ago and have enjoyed the ups and downs.It is a discontinued aquapod, and for good reason, fairly poor design for lots of aspects and was a challenge keeping things inline. I am now in the process of setting up a 75g and want to transfer all into that and start building a little bigger reef.

i have questions about setting up the tank as i did not set up the one i currently have from the beginning but i suppose i can find answers to those elsewhere.

I have talked to numerous people who have told me it would be fine to get the extra sand and rock i need for the 75g and then transfer everything (old and new) into the 75g and should be ok without any issues. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? I dont want to do something that will not work but it seems to be a consensus from those i talked to so far at local LFS.

thanks!

 

[Terrain]

Good Evening,
Yep, I have been lurking in the dark shadows of Reef Central for some time now. I like to think of this as my own online library. I started this addiction many years ago with a FW tank and graduated to breeding red swordtails and trading them to the lfs for needed supplies. When I became no longer challenged at doing that I took the plunge into saltwater and here I am. I think another challenge is calling me from beyond the deep. After seeing all the wonderful photos on the photography forum I see what's coming on the horizon.

 

[Jetersyanks]

Hi, My name is Craig im from new Windsor ,Ny I work for JetBlue airways ive been into aquariums as long as I can remember but most recently started with saltwater/Reef tanks. I started about 4 months ago with a 30 gallon a month later purchased a 60 gallon ... before I even knew about reef ready tanks (still kicking my self ) but I love the hobby learning something new everyday lol

60 Gallon

62 pounds Live Rock

3 inch sand bar

1 Coral Beauty

2 true percula

4 chromis

1 yellow tang

1 4 stripe wrasse

2 green clown gobbys

Coral

Neon green Zoos

Orange and neon green zoos

Pink Neon orange zoos

Galaxy

green star polyp

pink and green lobophytum

 

[CicoBuf]

Hey guys!

Hey guys!

I'm from South Florida, new to the hobby and looking for all kinds of info on how to make fish happy. So far enjoying reading all the posted advice.
Thanks!

 

[Dallasusa11]

Hi there. My name is Dallas. I kept freshwater aquariums for about 10 years before I switched to reef which I kept for about 5. It has been about 3 years since I've even looked at a fish and I feel like I have forgotten more than I ever learned. I am putting a room addition on my house and want to renew my reef keeping hobby. I still have an empty 90g but am wanting to go with a larger tank. I am very nervous to even make a purchase because I want to research everything so much and get it right. I don't have any friends in the hobby and don't trust anyone at my LFS. I live in Indianapolis, IN and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chefwill]

Hello all, my name is Will. I've dabbled with reef aquariums in varrying degrees of success for 10+ years. Currently I have a 75ga reef take with a 3inch live sand bed and about 150lbs of live rock. Also, I have a 15ga refugium under the tank. Currently using the Coralife Aqualight Pro 48", but about to make the switch to LED's

 

[MikeL1987]

hello all, my name is Mike and I live in East Haven, CT. new to salt water, I have had several different freshwater community tanks throughout my short life. I just set up a 65 gallon Hex. It is cycling with about 45 lbs of live, cured rock. I am thinking of keeping it FOWLR for now and once I have a nice established tank, and some more capital, I will purchase better lights (thinking LED's) and add a sump and being my dive into reef keeping.
I am an avid sailor/boater and I worked in the shell fishing industry on long island sound for 4 years. I cant get enough of the ocean so I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to me!
Im very grateful such an established and informative forum like this exists. I will continue my research and appreciate everyone's help on here.
Im taking the slow road to my reef tank hoping to avoid some trial and error by doing in depth research and asking for help here on reef central.
-thanks for having me! Mike.

 

[Dallasusa11]

The more I read, the more I feel like I don't know anything at all!!! :headwally:

 

[Zgetman]

Howdy, I am from Texas, around Amarillo. I have just started in this hobby and will have my 55g FOWLR system going in 3 days when my RO/DI system gets here. I plan on turning this setup into a reef aquarium in 6 to 8 months but am not trying to rush it. I will send some pics of my tank with rock and sand in it soon. Hope to enjoying discussing many topics with you guys.

 

[rainman1005]

Hi from the land of enchantment! Albuquerque, NM

Hi from the land of enchantment! Albuquerque, NM

Hello to all who come to this site for support, info, or comfort after the unexplainable things that sometimes happen in this hobby. I have had a marine aquarium of some sort or another for over 30 years, so nothing shocks me anymore. I know enough to talk intelligently on most issues, but I also am aware that in the overall scheme of things I know practically nothing. The joy and wonder of my first tank are still in my memory and continue to inspire me to find the "perfect" set up. Right now I am running a minimalist 90 gal. with Jaubert style plenum HOT protein skimmer and 2 canisters that act as phosphate reactors and carbon scrubbers. I just made one of the single largest purchases I ever have in the hobby: two AI Hydra LED fixtures and their "wireless" controller. I have posted some info on the thread titled HYDRA SETTINGS and will attempt to give anyone who cares to look an overview of the experience. I just got tired of buying T5 or CF tubes year after year.
Good luck to everyone and let's be nice to one another!

 

[PatmanM3]

Hello reefcentral!

My name is Patrick and i'm a year into my first saltwater tank but I still consider myself very very new. Got into the hobby by my brother when he handed down his old tank (the one I currently have) to me and upgraded to a 400 gallon. He references this forum very often and recommended I lurk on here and learn as much as I can so I can be a responsible hobbyist.

I experienced the dark side of the hobby when after 4 months of ownership, my tank fell victim to marine velvet and I was devastated almost completely giving up. Luckily I found the desire to not hang it up and have become more diligent in researching and becoming more responsible.

Anyhow some info on my current setup:

110 gallon glass tank saltwater
40 gallon sump
Bubble Magus skimmer
Carbon reactor
LED lighting
75lbs Live rock
30lbs base rock
1 sohal tang
1 domino damsel
1 blue velvet damsel
1 Engineer goby
1 spotted rabbitfish
1 Blue face angel
1 gold stripe maroon clown

I know that my tank is way too small for my fish and also know that my fish are pretty high risk in terms of aggression (sohal and damsels), but so far so good as I've housed them without problems so far for about 8 months.

I will be upgrading to a 240 gallon acrylic but will be giving myself 6 months to a 1 year to set it up properly and refine my knowledge.

I look forward to being a part of this community and the wealth of knowledge that I'll be learning. :wave:

 

[Radioheed]

Wow it has been a while!!! Glad to see this place is still thriving!

I'm not exactly "new" here but haven't posted in almost 6 years...wow time flies! And now I've got the reef madness again and am just as excited as before! I come to my new tank with more knowledge, experience, and am no longer a college student so I actually have (more) $ to spend on this hobby! I learned a ton from here before and was able to help others with what little I know. Truly a great mb and community!

I don't see many replies to the new folks so WELCOME TO ALL!!! And POST HERE BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING!!!

I guess I'll still do my new intro: I had a 75g FOWLR in undergrad for about 2 years, moved, tore down and tried a 20g reef...that was a disaster! Thus I was able to share a lot of what not to do :0)

SO I'm starting a 26g AGA bowfront, with 25lbs of Real Reef LR (reduce reuse recycle people!!!), my old Current 2x65 PC, 1 MJ 1200, and a 200gph hob for some mechanical for now. Planning a 10g sump and looking for HOB skimmer (anyone have an aquamaxx or octopus to sell???). I'm starting with some fish, then will see how I can manage nitrates, phosphates, CA, MG, etc etc to decide if I can/want to add some LPS/less demanding stuff :0)

Happy Reefing to all!

 

[Mattiejay6]

Hi... I'm new here, but I am a member of the Washington, D.C. Area marine aquarist society.. I'm working on my first build a 90g RR tank... I built the stand my self..