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

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by Surfjnkie9

Hey everyone!

My name is Joe, I'm 27 and I live in Collingswood, NJ. I joined RC back in 2004 but have never really posted anything. I've been maintaining a 16 gallon FOWLR tank for the past 6 years. The tank currently houses two Ocellaris clowns (have been with me since the beginning), a turbo snail, a few hermits, and a red firefish (just added this week )

I'm looking forward to expanding my tank and my reef knowledge and I look forward to discussing the wonderful world of saltwater aquariums with you all.

I find that absolutely amazing that you have been maintaining a 16 gal for 6 years and have not expanded===equally that you have been on here since 2004 and have refrained from posting
You must have nerves of steel to resist the urges of this reef addiction


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[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by aquaticdreamz

Hi guys I'm Mike with Aquatic Dreamz in El Monte Ca. Just opened a shop and wanted to let everyone know I'm here. I have a wide selection of fish and can get almost anything for a great price. I plan to relocate to a much bigger place, but looking for the perfect location. That being said, I'm happy to see some of the most beautiful setups around. Congrats to all of you in this hobby and for helping each other out on trying to keep these animals alive. If your in the socal area stop by, I will give specials prices to RC members just send me a pm with your info. Hope to talk to all of you. Thanks!!!!!

careful you are advertising Mike(its against the rules if you are not a sponsor)
But since you mentioned it good luck in your new business


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[aquaticdreamz]

Originally Posted by capn_hylinur

careful you are advertising Mike(its against the rules if you are not a sponsor)
But since you mentioned it good luck in your new business


To Reef Central

Thanks and sorry don't want to step over anyone. As things settle I look forward to being a sponsor.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by aquaticdreamz

Thanks and sorry don't want to step over anyone. As things settle I look forward to being a sponsor.

you didn't---I'm just giving you a heads up before a mod sees it

[stormcrow]

Hi everyone, new to the forum and new to saltwater. I'm in Nottingham UK, I have a 125l setup with 16kg LR, no sump (yet), but running an external filter with floss, phos remover and carbon that is cleaned weekly, along with a Deltec MCE300 skimmer, and a couple of powerheads that give me 30x turnover. Tank lid has been rebuilt to replace the T8s with 2x 24w T5s (14k) plus a blue LED bar. Weekly water changes of 25l keep the water in good condition, although I have been topping up the KH in the recent hot weather.

The whole setup is now 2 months old. I tested every day to begin with, built photoperiod from 30min blue/60min full/60 min blue up to 30 min blue/12 hours full/60 mins blue, and have had minimal algae problems so far.

After 3 weeks some cuc was added - 2 bluelegged hermits, 2 red hermits, 2 astrea snails. A week later, some red discosoma and a frag of green star polyps went in. 2 weeks later 3 more hermits and 3 more snails, along with some pink zoas, and last week I added a royal gramma, a blood shrimp, and a gorgeous green euphyllia glabrescens. There are a few hitchikers, including zoas and what look like pink star polyps, along with of course bristleworms, a couple of aiptasias, and some red bamboo algae All currently doing well on a diet of a small amount of frozen zooplankton two days out of three, and some garlic and brineshrimp once a week.

Current parameters:
Sal: 1.025
PO4: 0.0
NO3: 2.0 (higher than I'd like, but currently adjusting the feeding - normally <1.0)
KH: 7.9 (currently dropping appx 0.6 per day and being replaced)
Mg: 1380
Ca: 410

I think the KH problem is due to the hot weather increasing the coralline algae growth. It's spreading like a winestain at the moment.

Looking forward to being part of a friendly and informative group of people with the same obsession

[Surfjnkie9]

Originally Posted by capn_hylinur

I find that absolutely amazing that you have been maintaining a 16 gal for 6 years and have not expanded===equally that you have been on here since 2004 and have refrained from posting
You must have nerves of steel to resist the urges of this reef addiction


To Reef Central

Thanks for the welcome! Well it looks like my nerves are wearing out, because I'm feeling an overwhelming need to expand my tank! Looking in to 29gallon biocubes. As for posting, I just recently changed jobs, and now I get to sit at a computer all day and therefore get paid to post and read about reef keeping

[SamaL]

Hi!!
I'm Samuele and I come from the Republic of San Marino, the acient and little Republic surrounded by Italy! Here some history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino
My mother-tongue is italian so.. excuse my little english!

I already read many articles and a lot of threads of this amazing community and it's a really honor to be part of it.

I am coral keeper since 2007 and this is my tank:


I hope i will can improve it due your suggestions!

See you later!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by stormcrow

Hi everyone, new to the forum and new to saltwater. I'm in Nottingham UK, I have a 125l setup with 16kg LR, no sump (yet), but running an external filter with floss, phos remover and carbon that is cleaned weekly, along with a Deltec MCE300 skimmer, and a couple of powerheads that give me 30x turnover. Tank lid has been rebuilt to replace the T8s with 2x 24w T5s (14k) plus a blue LED bar. Weekly water changes of 25l keep the water in good condition, although I have been topping up the KH in the recent hot weather.

The whole setup is now 2 months old. I tested every day to begin with, built photoperiod from 30min blue/60min full/60 min blue up to 30 min blue/12 hours full/60 mins blue, and have had minimal algae problems so far.

After 3 weeks some cuc was added - 2 bluelegged hermits, 2 red hermits, 2 astrea snails. A week later, some red discosoma and a frag of green star polyps went in. 2 weeks later 3 more hermits and 3 more snails, along with some pink zoas, and last week I added a royal gramma, a blood shrimp, and a gorgeous green euphyllia glabrescens. There are a few hitchikers, including zoas and what look like pink star polyps, along with of course bristleworms, a couple of aiptasias, and some red bamboo algae All currently doing well on a diet of a small amount of frozen zooplankton two days out of three, and some garlic and brineshrimp once a week.

Current parameters:
Sal: 1.025
PO4: 0.0
NO3: 2.0 (higher than I'd like, but currently adjusting the feeding - normally <1.0)
KH: 7.9 (currently dropping appx 0.6 per day and being replaced)
Mg: 1380
Ca: 410

I think the KH problem is due to the hot weather increasing the coralline algae growth. It's spreading like a winestain at the moment.

Looking forward to being part of a friendly and informative group of people with the same obsession

To Reef Central
sounds like you're off to a great start. Keep it up.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by SamaL

Hi!!
I'm Samuele and I come from the Republic of San Marino, the acient and little Republic surrounded by Italy! Here some history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino
My mother-tongue is italian so.. excuse my little english!

I already read many articles and a lot of threads of this amazing community and it's a really honor to be part of it.

I am coral keeper since 2007 and this is my tank:


I hope i will can improve it due your suggestions!

See you later!

To Reef Central
That is a great looking tank. Looks like you keep it maintained very well. Start a new thread about it along with your daily weekly routines, I'm sure many can benifit from your knowledge.

[Bama5150]

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.

[Hammerleaf]

Hi my name is Drew and I'm about to set up my first saltwater tank, a 90g FOWLR. I'll soon be picking up my pre-drilled tank and have already bought an Aqueon Pro Flex model 3 sump and Eheim 1262 pump. I've yet to pull the trigger on a protein skimmer but I'm leaning towards the SWC 160 cone skimmer. There are still a lot of components I need and I'll continue to do my research (much of it here on reef central) before making some decisions. In the mean time I have a few questions that I would love some input on!

1) I initially bought my sump with the intention of using it as a wet dry filter but after doing the research and talking to other hobbyists I've decided that a refugium would be a better idea, but not sure what fuge/algae is best to keep for a FOWLR system. Any ideas?

2) I'm hoping to get about 150lbs of live rock for the display tank so paying $10 a pound and the local pet store is not very appealing. I want to buy the LR online because the price is so much better and I know I can easily cure it now when I cycle the tank (or that's at least what I've heard). Is there any web resources you would recommend to buy the LR from? Or place I should stay away from?

3) This is the question I'm scared to ask because I may not like the answer, but here it goes. I'm hoping to house 4 different fish in this tank and I want to make sure they can all live together in my 90 gallon setup. The are radiata lionfish, clown trigger, powder blue tang, and emperor angel. I've done a lot of research and found that there are many different opinions about what fish can be kept together. Anyone with experience with these breeds that can share some insight? Also, if these fish can live together, what order should I stock them in?

Looking forward to some help on these questions!

Drew

[Hammerleaf]

Hi my name is Drew and I'm about to set up my first saltwater tank, a 90g FOWLR. I'll soon be picking up my pre-drilled tank and have already bought an Aqueon Pro Flex model 3 sump and Eheim 1262 pump. I've yet to pull the trigger on a protein skimmer but I'm leaning towards the SWC 160 cone skimmer. There are still a lot of components I need and I'll continue to do my research (much of it here on reef central) before making some decisions. In the mean time I have a few questions that I would love some input on!

1) I initially bought my sump with the intention of using it as a wet dry filter but after doing the research and talking to other hobbyists I've decided that a refugium would be a better idea, but not sure what fuge/algae is best to keep for a FOWLR system. Any ideas?

2) I'm hoping to get about 150lbs of live rock for the display tank so paying $10 a pound and the local pet store is not very appealing. I want to buy the LR online because the price is so much better and I know I can easily cure it now when I cycle the tank (or that's at least what I've heard). Is there any web resources you would recommend to buy the LR from? Or place I should stay away from?

3) This is the question I'm scared to ask because I may not like the answer, but here it goes. I'm hoping to house 4 different fish in this tank and I want to make sure they can all live together in my 90 gallon setup. The are radiata lionfish, clown trigger, powder blue tang, and emperor angel. I've done a lot of research and found that there are many different opinions about what fish can be kept together. Anyone with experience with these breeds that can share some insight? Also, if these fish can live together, what order should I stock them in?

Looking forward to some help on these questions!

Drew

[akrkwood]

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.)

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Bama5150

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.

To Reef Central
My wife was the same way. but after the tank was set up she'd get more upset over a fish death than I would.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Hammerleaf

Hi my name is Drew and I'm about to set up my first saltwater tank, a 90g FOWLR. I'll soon be picking up my pre-drilled tank and have already bought an Aqueon Pro Flex model 3 sump and Eheim 1262 pump. I've yet to pull the trigger on a protein skimmer but I'm leaning towards the SWC 160 cone skimmer. There are still a lot of components I need and I'll continue to do my research (much of it here on reef central) before making some decisions. In the mean time I have a few questions that I would love some input on!

1) I initially bought my sump with the intention of using it as a wet dry filter but after doing the research and talking to other hobbyists I've decided that a refugium would be a better idea, but not sure what fuge/algae is best to keep for a FOWLR system. Any ideas?

2) I'm hoping to get about 150lbs of live rock for the display tank so paying $10 a pound and the local pet store is not very appealing. I want to buy the LR online because the price is so much better and I know I can easily cure it now when I cycle the tank (or that's at least what I've heard). Is there any web resources you would recommend to buy the LR from? Or place I should stay away from?

3) This is the question I'm scared to ask because I may not like the answer, but here it goes. I'm hoping to house 4 different fish in this tank and I want to make sure they can all live together in my 90 gallon setup. The are radiata lionfish, clown trigger, powder blue tang, and emperor angel. I've done a lot of research and found that there are many different opinions about what fish can be kept together. Anyone with experience with these breeds that can share some insight? Also, if these fish can live together, what order should I stock them in?

Looking forward to some help on these questions!

Drew

To Reef Central

1: I would definitely suggest chaetomorpha for a macroalgae that will handle nutrients. It doesn't go sexual and it's easy to prune.

2: $10 a pound for live rock is ridicules. Getting live rock from a local reefer that is breaking down their tank or like you said, get it off line. I can't speak for any on line vendors except BRS. they have great rock for a great price. and yes you can cure rock while your cycling the tank.

3: The reason why you are reading conflicting answers is because it all comes down to the individual personalities. I can't offer any insight on thios but would suggest asking your question in the fish only forum or the reef discussion forum

HTH

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by akrkwood

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.)

To Reef Central
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]

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.

Originally Posted by asphaltpays

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?

Originally Posted by Clifford04

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

We look forward to you sharing your expertise with us


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