RSM 130D The slippery slope

spiraling · 10/31/2013, 09:24 AM

Hello!
I have been keeping freshwater planted tanks for several years. I have two tanks, a 72g community and a 25g with favorite pets. While I was on craigslist shopping for a new 120g I came across a RSM130 for a steal. I thought it would make a nice little breeder tank. When I picked it up I also got all the marine test kits, additives, etc.

...soooo... nooow... I'm thinking since I have a lot of the stuff I might as well try a marine tank.

I've been looking at forums and articles all week. Do you have any idea how much more expensive marine is than freshwater?? .. oh wait, you probably all do and now you're laughing at me. So here I go sliding down the slippery slope of keeping a reef tank. Dollar bills just flying out of my pockets.

Luckily I have two things going for me.
- I have a good LFS that specializes in saltwater and is really friendly and helpful
- I learned patience through trial and error with the freshwater tanks.

I'll be picking up some live rock this weekend to start the cycle. But I still have a lot of unanswered questions.

1 - aquascaping. The one think I don't like about reef thanks is that they always look like a pile of rocks. Unless of course its a really beautiful mature tank with a lot of coral, but I know that is years off. Are there any nice sites for layout design and ideas? For instance if you go to http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/ you can really see the amazing potential and diversity of freshwater layouts. I'm not claiming my tanks look like this, just that they are inspiring!

2 - I can find suggested stocking lists for fish and inverts. But I am completely lost on corals. Plants don't move around an try to kill each other. Corals are a whole different world for me. Can you recommend some good articles or books to help demystify them?

Thanks in advanced for any help you can give me. I'm sure I'll be on the forum asking a lot of questions over the next several months. Wish me luck

spiraling · 11/01/2013, 04:50 PM

Ok - I found a great thread on aquascaping here
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...uascaping+tips

much better than a stack of rocks!

Does anyone have a good reference on corals, and especially on 'beginners' corals?

ViktorVaughn · 11/01/2013, 07:51 PM

With aquascaping, I really hate the pile of rocks in the center look as well so I just sort of built an extended set of different arches and tunnels. Rocks go from within 3" of each side of the glass on the 36" long aquarium but it still looks pretty open and leaves a ton of swimming room and hiding spots. I still have plenty of places to attach coral to the rocks on the front and tops of the rocks that double as the arch pillars. Doing a google image search of "minimalist aquascaping will pull up a pretty decent list of pictures to give you different ideas.

As far as corals go, I find that all of my LPS corals tend to be more aggressive and get longer sweeper tentacles that will sting other corals than my zoanthids and mushroom corals. I only have one SPS piece that is a pink birdsnest which I have read is a pretty peaceful coral. If you go to Liveaquaria.com you can check out different types of corals and see what their aggression levels are like. Some of my LPS pieces are more aggressive than others. For example, I have two different types of brain corals, one red and green war coral and one unknown favia that each have different aggression levels, or at least different sweeper lengths. I kind of have those two pieces isolated from everything else on the left side of my tank separated by some small rock to prevent them sting each other. The war coral has a ton of small, 1/4" to 1/2" sweeper tentacles while the unknown brain has a lot less sweepers but a few are at least 3" long if not larger. Most of my Zoanthids on the other hand are fairly close to each other, some colonies are very near touching with a few polyps here and there brushing up against different colonies. Thus far, the zoas seem to be fairly peaceful and just fill in gaps in the rock. Check out liveaquaria and other reputable coral retailers websites, you can usually find good baseline information on specific corals and liveaquaria has a pretty decent collection of articles too.

terrypercula · 11/01/2013, 07:54 PM

Aquascaping will drive you nuts, welcome to reefing lol the littlest things will drive you crazy.

eclarkhb · 11/01/2013, 08:42 PM

Since you asked, here's a list of books that I stole from nano-reef.com:

Quote:

1a) Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock
and/or
1b) The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
2) Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman
3) The Reef Aquarium Vol. 1 by Delbeek and Sprung
4) Vol. 2
5) Vol. 3

And at any time after #1, depending on how into either of those subjects you are:

Clownfishes by Joyce Wilkerson
Reef Invertebrates by Calfo and Fenner

I 've read #3, 1a & 1b & I just ordered #2.

I would also highly recommend The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas. Fantastic book.

ca1ore · 11/01/2013, 08:46 PM

Aqua scaling is very much in the eye of the beholder. I tend to follow the golden ratio, and keep things as open as possible. I also don't like the pile-o-rocks approach, but many of the arches I see in people's tanks look completely unnatural also. Just experiment.

spiraling · 11/05/2013, 11:03 AM

Thanks for the advice.
I just ordered book #1a to start.

And the search for 'minimalist reef aquascape' is pulling up some things that are more appealing!

11/01/2013, 07:54 PM	#4
terrypercula Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Buffalo,NY Posts: 4,354	Aquascaping will drive you nuts, welcome to reefing lol the littlest things will drive you crazy. __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: IM Nuvo Fusion 10, Kessil A160, Tunze Osmolator 3155, Ecotech Vortech MP10

10/31/2013, 09:24 AM	#1
spiraling Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: MT Posts: 49	RSM 130D The slippery slope Hello! I have been keeping freshwater planted tanks for several years. I have two tanks, a 72g community and a 25g with favorite pets. While I was on craigslist shopping for a new 120g I came across a RSM130 for a steal. I thought it would make a nice little breeder tank. When I picked it up I also got all the marine test kits, additives, etc. ...soooo... nooow... I'm thinking since I have a lot of the stuff I might as well try a marine tank. I've been looking at forums and articles all week. Do you have any idea how much more expensive marine is than freshwater?? .. oh wait, you probably all do and now you're laughing at me. So here I go sliding down the slippery slope of keeping a reef tank. Dollar bills just flying out of my pockets. Luckily I have two things going for me. - I have a good LFS that specializes in saltwater and is really friendly and helpful - I learned patience through trial and error with the freshwater tanks. I'll be picking up some live rock this weekend to start the cycle. But I still have a lot of unanswered questions. 1 - aquascaping. The one think I don't like about reef thanks is that they always look like a pile of rocks. Unless of course its a really beautiful mature tank with a lot of coral, but I know that is years off. Are there any nice sites for layout design and ideas? For instance if you go to http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/ you can really see the amazing potential and diversity of freshwater layouts. I'm not claiming my tanks look like this, just that they are inspiring! 2 - I can find suggested stocking lists for fish and inverts. But I am completely lost on corals. Plants don't move around an try to kill each other. Corals are a whole different world for me. Can you recommend some good articles or books to help demystify them? Thanks in advanced for any help you can give me. I'm sure I'll be on the forum asking a lot of questions over the next several months. Wish me luck

11/01/2013, 04:50 PM	#2
spiraling Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: MT Posts: 49	Ok - I found a great thread on aquascaping here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...uascaping+tips much better than a stack of rocks! Does anyone have a good reference on corals, and especially on 'beginners' corals?

11/01/2013, 07:51 PM	#3
ViktorVaughn Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Aurora, CO Posts: 619	With aquascaping, I really hate the pile of rocks in the center look as well so I just sort of built an extended set of different arches and tunnels. Rocks go from within 3" of each side of the glass on the 36" long aquarium but it still looks pretty open and leaves a ton of swimming room and hiding spots. I still have plenty of places to attach coral to the rocks on the front and tops of the rocks that double as the arch pillars. Doing a google image search of "minimalist aquascaping will pull up a pretty decent list of pictures to give you different ideas. As far as corals go, I find that all of my LPS corals tend to be more aggressive and get longer sweeper tentacles that will sting other corals than my zoanthids and mushroom corals. I only have one SPS piece that is a pink birdsnest which I have read is a pretty peaceful coral. If you go to Liveaquaria.com you can check out different types of corals and see what their aggression levels are like. Some of my LPS pieces are more aggressive than others. For example, I have two different types of brain corals, one red and green war coral and one unknown favia that each have different aggression levels, or at least different sweeper lengths. I kind of have those two pieces isolated from everything else on the left side of my tank separated by some small rock to prevent them sting each other. The war coral has a ton of small, 1/4" to 1/2" sweeper tentacles while the unknown brain has a lot less sweepers but a few are at least 3" long if not larger. Most of my Zoanthids on the other hand are fairly close to each other, some colonies are very near touching with a few polyps here and there brushing up against different colonies. Thus far, the zoas seem to be fairly peaceful and just fill in gaps in the rock. Check out liveaquaria and other reputable coral retailers websites, you can usually find good baseline information on specific corals and liveaquaria has a pretty decent collection of articles too.

11/01/2013, 08:46 PM	#6
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Aqua scaling is very much in the eye of the beholder. I tend to follow the golden ratio, and keep things as open as possible. I also don't like the pile-o-rocks approach, but many of the arches I see in people's tanks look completely unnatural also. Just experiment.

11/05/2013, 11:03 AM	#7
spiraling Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: MT Posts: 49	Thanks for the advice. I just ordered book #1a to start. And the search for 'minimalist reef aquascape' is pulling up some things that are more appealing!