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

[Mark4869]

Hello everyone I have come back I was here maybe 7 years ago, got out of the hobby now I am thinking of coming back. Wish I could remember my old user name lol

[tl13013]

we are the new guys to the community we have a 300g reef tank and we love it.Any help we can get would help us a lot.Jim & lisa

[tyler_lacasse]

Hello Everyone! If anyone cares to read where I am at in the hobby-

I currently have a beautiful 55 gallon African Cichlid setup. I am building a stand and (just completed) a 37 gallon glass sump. The stand will fit a 125-135 gallon tank I plan on getting.

After I am all setup, I plan on pulling the 37 gallon sump and converting my old tank to a 55 gallon acrylic sump. That 37 gallon tank will become the display for a FOWLR tank and a future reef with most likely a 20 gallon sump. I know, I should have this the other way around, but it is hard for me to get rid of my African Cichlids after all these years. I am 19 years old, and have had a fish tank in my room my whole life. I have only become a serious and responsible fish keeper for the past 3 years.

I live my life on Cichlid Forum, but am looking forward to moving over to here. I have taken a lot away from this forum, such as when I set up my Bean Animal style overflow on the 125-135 when I get it.

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and experience on here. I am looking forward to spending more time on here and someday sharing my knowledge.

Tyler Lacasse

[Sunshinebear]

Jennifer Bear 7:26am Nov 24
ADVICE PLEASE!!

Hello all, need your advice please. New to the salt water. Currently have biocube running until I can figure out how and how much it would cost to build my dream tank...on a budget, so taking my time..

Thinking about starting a dream 55gal saltwater reef tank...have an extra 20gal and 40gal glass tank and some over hang filters and heater...

Any suggestions on size and type of protein skimmer, overflow, or sump tank.

Any advice on technique on how to plumb it all..what materials needed to build sump tank and plumb it to main tank...what tools would I need...etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[gbdrywall]

hello,my name is Gust.i have been recently introduced to the nano reef word.after cruising the internet and finding this place i have decided to join the tank side.i bought a 6gal pillar to start up the reef and am thoroughly enjoying reading and learning here.thank you all.

[Whitewater77]

Hello, My name is Chris and i've been reading the forums here for quite a few months but haven't posted yet. it's time to start changing that!

[craigory44]

hey everyone! long time reader first time poster. ive been in planted tanks and cichlids for about 10 years but finally decided to take the plunge and set up a saltwater tank. i am currently cycling a 90 gallon tank with around 120lbs dry rock and 10 lbs live rock to seed it. i hope 10lbs is enough to get the cycle going! ive got a 35 gallon hand made sump with swc160 skimmer and a 12x15 refugium. looking forward to the results of all the hard work!

[gatorruss]

Hi name is johnny. Starting 1st reef tank. 70g with a 30g sump. been planning this for two years. just want to thank all the posters for all good info and ideals in these forums.

[Idoc822]

Hello RC, My name is Will! I currently run a 55g african cichlid freshwater tank, but I recently purchased a 90g to start my own saltwater setup. I've been trying to be really patient, as I don't want to rush anything. I just recently brought a sump and BulkReefSupply was running a great deal coming into this Black Friday week-end on the Vertex Omega 130 and 150. I was a lucky as I decided to purchase the 150 before they were all sold out. I'm really excited to be apart of RC as the knowledge of everyone on here seems beyond exceptional. I feel that with me still being in the beginning stages of setup this is a great place for me to get answers and bounce ideas of off experienced hobbyist. I've read through a lot of post and everyone seems to be very engaging and cordial. Thanks in advance for any and everything!

[dukduk]

Totally missed this thread but I posted in the lounge.

Hey I'm new. Grew up in Guam, now stationed in Nebraska. Miss home so much I want to keep a reef. The Henry Dorley Zoo Aquarium is awesome but I can't go everyday. Just dropping in to say hi. I have a lot of reading to do now. Not new to forums, so if I ask a frequently answered question it's probably because my search-fu is weak.

[wings516]

Hi my name is Alex and I have tried to post twice and all my posts have been deleted.. lol..

I live in Ohio and am new to the SW hobby. I have been in the FW scene for about 10 years now Afraid to type much more in case this post disappears.. lol

[dukduk]

Is it me or are most of the links in the "How to setup a tank" thread dead?
^

[Jrsetnor]

Hey this is jade, I am new to this hobby and I have had my 29 gallon bio cube up for 3 weeks but just recently I have a lot of diotam algea growing in my tank. I also noticed yesterday that my tank has like a fog to it. All my test show that everything is good in my tank. Can anyone help?

[lbcyalater]

New to the hobby, got a 70 gallon setup(50g tank, 20g sump). Currently I'm cycling my display tank and I have my yellowtail damsel in quarantine in a 10g cycled aquarium. The only experience that I have is with freshwater fish, I've got a few books and I've been reading the different journals when I was doing research. Any advice or criticism is welcome.

[ruasalty1]

Hi...I'm Mike and live in the Chicagoland area. My brother is a saltwater fanatic and it seems it's my turn to give it a go. I'm in the process of selecting a tank and am drawn towards a 92 gal corner bowfront. Craigslist is my playground and look to be having some success. I will be setting it up in a basement corner for all to see

It's looks like this is the place to be and you all are the experts so I will be lurking and following recent builds.

Thanks!!!

[jkimball7]

hey guys and gals im Josh im new to the saltwater aquarium scene, i just set up a 46 gallon bowfront reef with a fluval 306 filter, with a photon 16 led light, i have one hydor powerhead and im waiting on my hydor smartwave controller with my second powerhead. im working on getting a protien skimmer (i have a bunch of beginer corals nothing crazy) im thinking a reef octopus bh100?. im rocking 2 percula clowns(small)
1 female yellow prawn goby, 1 small yellow tang, 1 starry blenny, 1 royal gramma, 1 small 6 line wrasse(trying to cut back on bristle worms) and 1 gold line rabbit fish
(any suggestions on any equipment im missing?? or should consider)

I also
am contiplating setting up my extra 26 gallon bow also, i would have a penguin 200 filter
and a deepblue xd solarflare
but i cant decide between a snowflake eel or an angler help please!!!!!

[Thenewcomer]

Hello there RC Community! You can just call me Thenewcomer! I am brand spanking new the hobby and am really passionate about starting up a reef tank as well as a aquaculture tank for those special frags in our life! Looking forward to meeting interesting people and learning from those who are more experienced in the field than I!


-Thenewcomer

[peterbilt13]

My name is Kyle im new here and trying to figure the site out and how to post questions any help appriciated)

[ravenzme]

Hello, new to RC. I had a saltwater tank about 10 years ago, getting back into the hobby. A lot has changed in 10 years! I picked up a 125 gallon tank through craigslist, along with about 50 lbs of baserock for a really good deal, and diving back in. RC has been an invaluable resource to catch up with all the newest things. Following instructions here, my wife and I built a good sturdy stand for the tank, and tomorrow, I drill the holes for a Beananimal standpipe in the (almost) ctc internal overflow. Planning to start out with a 40 gallon sump, thinking about a Super Reef Octopus XP1000 for a skimmer, and either a Eheim 1262 or Mag-Drive Supreme 18 for a return pump. Still in the design stages, thinking a 20 gallon external refugium if I can figure out plumbing with the Beananimal design. Hoping to have a light load of fish to begin with, my wife has her heart set on a Yellow Tang so going to have to work around this for tank companions (of course the Tang will need to be one of the last in the tank). Still digging into this excellent resource to determine inverts and corals, and we will determine our lighting and tank flow from there.
Happy to be part of the community!

[McManus]

Hi, im new to RC and newer to salt water. I have had fresh water tanks for ever, currently I have a 100G discus planted tank. I'm always after the challenge, first i heard Discus was the most difficult fresh water fish to keep, then moved on to high tech planted tank, then I combined the two, always looking for that extra challenge. I have been thinking salt water and reef for a year now, so, next week im getting another tank to play with. I still have a lot to read, and probably a lot of mistakes to do, but it will be fun! This site is great, there's a lot of good info!

McManus

[niteshift]

Hey All Niteshift here, new to RC. Been keeping fish off and on since I was 10 years of age. I currently have 3 tanks on the go 1 fresh and 2 salty with 1 more being pieced together.

[Bryan1]

Here's a big "Hey to all". My name is Bryan and just got started with a 29Biocube. I have bunches of questions. I've got several years 'freshwater' experience so, to start with.... the reason I got into 'salt' is I found this tank at work. It was missing a few things, ok, it was missing everything. It was just the tank, but I figured I could make do. So far all is good. I bought all established water, rock, substrate, and a few corals. I recently cut plexiglass to fit the top of it due to evaporation (I'm not used to an aquarium running at 78F-80F). In the back compartment I put in an airstone so it gets oxygen. However, will this work? How much air circulation is required? I've got 2 water pumps circulating. One is pointed at the top of the tank to disturb the surface tension. The other is pushing water elsewhere. Is this enough for the tank to 'breath'? I cut 3 holes in the plexi to allow for air tubing, power cords, heater, etc.... what do ya think? Can a tank be deprived of oxygen even with an air pump? Or, should it just be an open top tank? I really hate the thought of topping it off every day and the plexi top does keep the water from evaporating.... not to mention the 'salt creep' that I've heard so much about.

[tanktard]

Well, Found a nice 3/4 220g on craigslist for $800 Bought it and realized how much more goes into a reef tank then expected. Finally finished building 90% of my setup and now cycling finally after lots of hours reading and learning.

In the meantime would like to make some local reef friends who wouldnt mind giving some extra attention to a new reef junky. Hit me up anytime, maybe grab a beer and or chill sometime.

Current Settings: 79.6 Temp / 8.23 Ph / 1.023 Salinity
5th day of cycling my tank. Just starting seeing some brown algae on rocks and sand.

LFS = Quantum Reefs (Very happy, A- on service, A on prices)
- 200 Ibs Live Rock / 200 Ibs Fuki Pink Live Sand
- Apex Controller (networked + dyndns.com)
- 2X Jebeo wp-40
- 3x Kessil e50 w

40 Gallon Refugium
- Coralife 250 Super Skimmer (venturi model, works very well)
- Mag 9.5 for Skimmer
- 1100 gph return pump
- 20 Ibs Miracle Mud

Total Cost So far: $3600 +-
How my girlfriend feels =

[pandamonium]

Hey everyone, saltwater newbie here. I've been in freshwater for some time with tanks from 2 gallons to 40 so far. Kept a lot of fish, shrimp, snails, and bred them for a while. Was thinking about converting my 40 gallon Amazon to a 40 gallon reef tank. Gonna have to do a fair amount of learning before jumping in! Excited to start though!

[Pseudacris]

New to the forums - just came in a few days ago when what I thought would be a normal (but sorely needed) water change on my 65 gallon ended up killing all the fish. The amount of immediate help to a brand new user (on a holiday none the less) was amazing. Glad to be here!