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

[OCer]

Hello all, My name is Omar i'm from Chihuahua,Mexico and re-starting on this beautiful hobby after 10 years... I have been reading RC lately and surprise me all the new tendencies and techniques you guys have come up with.
Great web site!
Cheers,
Omar

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Omar

To Reef Central

That is one thing about reefkeeping, the science behind it is in constant flux and new ideas often become tomorrow's standards.

[OCer]

I agree Tom, been an electronic engineer I can speak about it. We just can't keep the pace in current market conditions..
BTW:
Nice postings you have and very helpful for most of serious reefers...
TGIF and beer waiting at home to deplete
Have a good long weekend to you all

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by OCer
I agree Tom, been an electronic engineer I can speak about it. We just can't keep the pace in current market conditions..

electronic engineer-----"current" market conditions

I like the pun---you have already made it into the water keepers good books

[Tschupe]

Been reading alot. It sounded like getting cured rock was better but i just read the "so your thinking about starting a reef tank" article, and he made it sound like its better to put uncured in your tank. Alot more critters but it takes longer before you can get fish , which doesn't bother me I'm a patient guy.. But he said nothing about smell? Every thing i;ve read about curing rocks says that it smells. And I've read waterkeepers thread about massachusets phil a few times, I noticed its from 2003 is it outdated info(no offense WK)? And how many holes should a tank have drilled in it?any words of advice will be greatly appreciated, THANK YOU

[WaterKeeper]

I think you got the wrong idea. I'm all in favor of using fully cured LR if you can afford it but most LR is either uncured or precured if you purchase it mail order. For that I highly suggest curing it in vats and not the display. It is far better to discard all that nasty curing water than to let the decomposition products accumulate in the display. It pays off in a shortened cycle and less of the ensuing algae outbreaks. Here is more recent info that in my old New Tank Thread-

Natural Filtration I
Natural Filtration II
Natural Filtration III

[Tschupe]

Thanks for more great reading! Sand question for you though....The LFS here have aragonite sand for sale and the bag says its live, But I saw at another store it was called carib sea arag alive. It was a 20 lb bag for 34$ but unlike the other aragonite i've seen it was packed in water. Do you think it is actual live sand or is the water there to fool you?

[Michael]

it probably is live sand, and no doubt overpriced as well, id personally recommend a medium grade aragonite and it will become live by itself and costs a fraction of the price

[WaterKeeper]

The package sands are just aragonite sands laced with some bacteria culture. They lack the sand shifting organisms that make a DSB work. The only way to get those is to add some real LS. It is not greatly expensive, about $2 a pound, but shipping charges tend to double that price. Buying 20 lbs is therefore about double the price of the packaged stuff but will be well worth that investment for a good DSB.

[saltjohnswharf]

Newly registered member whom has been using the site for quite some time. Why not register? My name is John and I live in a small California town. Nearest LFS is over 50 miles away.

As for systems I have a 29 gallon mini reef with not a lot going on. Filtered by an Eheim cannister, dopey cyclone skimmer, circulated via a single Koralia 1 and lit by a 130 PC fixture. Housed inside are some polyps and mushroom, a sixline wrasse, and a glorious 5" maroon clown.

Also have a 55 gallon reef set up in the living room. The clownfish originally resided in this tank but MAN... Need I explain? Filtration is provided by an over the tank overflow into a Mega Flow sump 1 that I converted into a refugium. Also working is an Eheim cannister, 2 - Koralia 1's and a bak-pak that I have retrofitted into an air stone driven fractionator. Very effecient and cheap. Lighting is from a 260 watt PC fixture using all white lights. Residents are various but to list my favorites I have an ORA pumping xenia that is fabulous. Also a 6" toadstool, a nice size Colt and a devils hand. There is also various stony coral. There are a handful of fish in there but most notable is the Blackcap Basslet. Cannot wait to upgrade to my 125. I am tired of the space limitations of a tank that is only 12" front to back.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by WaterKeeper
The package sands are just aragonite sands laced with some bacteria culture. They lack the sand shifting organisms that make a DSB work. The only way to get those is to add some real LS. It is not greatly expensive, about $2 a pound, but shipping charges tend to double that price. Buying 20 lbs is therefore about double the price of the packaged stuff but will be well worth that investment for a good DSB.

or a few cupfulls from an existing well taken care of sand bed

then there is always Pauls Manhattan Mud

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by saltjohnswharf
Newly registered member whom has been using the site for quite some time. Why not register? My name is John and I live in a small California town. Nearest LFS is over 50 miles away.

As for systems I have a 29 gallon mini reef with not a lot going on. Filtered by an Eheim cannister, dopey cyclone skimmer, circulated via a single Koralia 1 and lit by a 130 PC fixture. Housed inside are some polyps and mushroom, a sixline wrasse, and a glorious 5" maroon clown.

Also have a 55 gallon reef set up in the living room. The clownfish originally resided in this tank but MAN... Need I explain? Filtration is provided by an over the tank overflow into a Mega Flow sump 1 that I converted into a refugium. Also working is an Eheim cannister, 2 - Koralia 1's and a bak-pak that I have retrofitted into an air stone driven fractionator. Very effecient and cheap. Lighting is from a 260 watt PC fixture using all white lights. Residents are various but to list my favorites I have an ORA pumping xenia that is fabulous. Also a 6" toadstool, a nice size Colt and a devils hand. There is also various stony coral. There are a handful of fish in there but most notable is the Blackcap Basslet. Cannot wait to upgrade to my 125. I am tired of the space limitations of a tank that is only 12" front to back.

To Reef Central
How about posting some pictures?

[Dholmblad]

Hello everyone. I am not a brand new member, but I am returning to the hobby. I have decided to get my 90gal tank up and running again. I have a thread in "New to the Hobby" somewhere. I have begun cycling and when the paychecks start coming in for my summer jobs I will be purchasing either two or one 250watt MH pendant set ups. It will most likly be one because I dont plan on keeping many corals.

The plans for my tank are to make it primary fish, as I will not be the one caring for it a majority of the year. I am going to be selling off about half of the 150(or so)lb of figi lr. Which will open up the tank a bit.

[Aquarist007]

welcome back---would appreciate the link to your thread

[Dholmblad]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1643355

I realize I should have posted that, this forum moves very quickly and threads get pushed down.

I apologize in advance for all the dumb **** I am going to ask. Being out of the hobby for a year or two has made my forget alot.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Dholmblad
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1643355

I realize I should have posted that, this forum moves very quickly and threads get pushed down.

I apologize in advance for all the dumb **** I am going to ask. Being out of the hobby for a year or two has made my forget alot.

I am sure you will remember quickly--no questions are dumb questions---asking no questions before acting is dumb

[oceanluvr]

Welcome

[krestonc]

hey cap'n. i'm fairly new to the hobby, but i thought i'd throw this out there for you.
since you don't plan on doing many corals, maybe you should lood in to power compcts instead of mh. they are about half the price and they might give a sleeker look. plus, you could always add a pendant down the road if you want to 'spotlight' something that needs more light.
i am using pc's in a 55gal with two torch corals, one frogspawn as well as variuos other critters that need light. it's working great.
temp is also gonna be an issue with mh.
anyway, have fun!

[krestonc]

oops. i meant dholmblad. not cap'n.

[Tschupe]

I've been reading for a little over a month on here. I think I've got a good basic understanding of setting up the tank. Is there any books that are must reads before you start a reef tank? Or will I find all the answers here?

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Tschupe
I've been reading for a little over a month on here. I think I've got a good basic understanding of setting up the tank. Is there any books that are must reads before you start a reef tank? Or will I find all the answers here?

You will never find all the answers here or anywhere or probably not in the span of your life. Beware of anyone who says they know all the answers to reef keeping---except Water Keeper and PaulB----but they would never say that in the first place--although they do have alot of them

Seriously---you really don't need to read a book to setup a reef tank---the how to's are right on this site:
Waterkeepers articles are great:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074

But the secret of knowing the answers is to ask the questions ---so don't fear asking as many questions as you need.

[WaterKeeper]

At a recent recent convention Paul B and Scott (Cap) at the WABAC Machine and, of course, me, Mr. Know It All

[krestonc]

i found enough info on this site to get started. every time i get stumped, i can usually find the answer here, or find someone who knows the answer here. but, you will probably make friends with someone at the LFS who will be able to help you out a lot too.

[kspops]

Hello RC. I just found the site while surfing for a local club. I heard rumors of this site that likes to restrict members to use them exclusively. I hope to hear from some people that have left that site for better forums....
I am just north of Tampa, and have had several freshwater tanks. I am starting a salt tank for the challenge. As of now, I have a small 20 gallon that i am seeding home made live rock in with a clown and royal gamma. The new tank is a 135 tall and I am going for FOWLR.
Look forward to getting information from here as much or more than salt h2o dot whatever...

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Ks

To Reef Central

Yes, we take over your computer and make sure you can never log onto another reef discussion board ever again. Wait! You already registered so we own your keyboard at this point anyway.