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

[jwpick42]

I am fairly new to RC. I had a tank setup about 2 years ago that was a disaster. I finally busted it out again, so I am working on getting it set up.

My tank is 24x20x20. BM NAC7 Skimmer. 15g Sump. Thats about all I have so far!

[Mr.Leaks]

HELLO all I am a 39 son to be 40 years old male from NE Ohio I have little to no salt water tank experience at all im in the process of buying and building a 90 gallon reef/fish tank I have no idea as to what Landscape type im going with I've been doing some reading about Andre Silvestre and his reef building skills and have found some very good reef building ideas but one thing I do know is I want a black tang in my tank but im not sure about others any advice tips tricks suggestions responses are very much appreciated ....

[grimanater]

hello all! i'm 22 years old and from the bay area. I've kept freshwater for a long time now and just started my first tank. Excited to learn more about what saltwater can offer

[hray]

I'm not a Newbie to Reef Central (was surprised to find my account was still here--registered in 2003!) but I haven't had a reef tank since 1999, when we moved. It was a 40Breeder, and was repurposed for growing orchids, then as a planted FW tank, and finally sold before the next move.

Anyway, I'm now learning the new technology (cultured live rock? LEDs? computer controllers? no more bioballs? wow!) and considering a nano or pico tank with low-moderate light soft corals or LPS, and a couple of little fish. Probably something in the 8-16 gallon range.

I have found a couple local stores and am going to check them out. Our water her is HORRIBLE but I don't want the hassle of my own RO this time, so I need to find a source of good water as well as equipment and critters.

Thanks in advance for the help here!

Hallie in NM

[darren.funk]

Hello everyone I'm Darren, coming back Into the marine aquariums after a few years of not having my old setup. I have a 20gallon and have been going through a cycle with 15lbs live rock, I'm looking forward to having my old stuff back but in a new way. Nice lights, heater, filter & am getting my submersible skimmer. I'm from Arizona so we don't have salt let alone water much here lol.

[SimplyLauraKB]

Hi! Brand new to this. My husband has had freshwater tanks before, but now we're venturing into saltwater. I do lots of research, and he gets stuff to actually work...we make a great team! .

We are in the process of setting up our saltwater/reef tank. Right now we have:
75 gallon tank, with a sump (20 gallons, maybe? Not sure.). A protein skimmer that we haven't actually turned on yet. 80 lb sand. About 50 lb dead rock and 20 lb live rock. And a snail, which hitchhiker in with the live rock. (Its name is Waldo, since we keep looking for it and finding it all over the tank.)

We already have our RO/DI system up and running. We also have a Neptune Apex Lite, which is working, but we haven't figured out out how to configure it. We have LED lights.

The tank has been cycling for a few weeks. I checked the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite the other day, and they're all at 0. I'll check again at the end of next week; we're hoping to be able to start adding live stuff in then!

All I can say about this hobby so far is...WOW, there is a lot to learn!!

Laura

[pbell101]

Hello. I'm fairly new to this. I have a 25 gallon freshwater tank that I've had for one and a half years. I just recently bought a 56 gallon tank that I'd like to turn into a reef tank. So far, I just have the tank, stand, and substrate. I plan to slowly buy items as I do more research.

Thanks,
Patrick

[DeusExLuka]

Hello,
I've been keeping freshwater fish pretty much since I was five years old. I started a saltwater tank about two years ago and it turned into a bust. I picked up some better equipment and have had my current setup for about 8 months now. Hoping to gain some knowledge from the community.

[KorD]

Hello all,
Figured this is a good spot for a first post.
I have had Freshwater tank in the past, and now upgraded to a nano tank (ok technically down graded from a 150gal to a 4 gal).

The saltwater nano reef is thriving and going great for my first go at it. Now I have the bug and want to turn the 150gal into a saltwater reef tank as well…

[collarman]

Hello All,

Been on a 5 year hiatus. Had a 90 reef setup. Now looking to go head first into a rimless 100-120g with LED's.

Already had some great input here on the forum!.

[Norman123]

Hi All,

I'm new to RC. I'm a female from Ontario, Canada that has been running a 30G nano for about a year. I've been learning lots along the way. I suffer from MTS. I have a 75G heavily planted freshwater tank, a 33G planted freshwater tank, 30G tall nano reef, a 40G FOWLR tank (for now). and finally a 20G saltwater quarantine. Lately I've been eyeballing the 75G... It's nice but it would be nicer as a reef tank. Hmmm....

This forum is full of great info!

[Jacket4256]

Hi all new to RC , the wife and I started a 65 gallon about 2 months ago first tank she had ever. I have taken about a 10 year hiatus previous tank was a 55 gallon. Excited to learn more on here feel like a newbie all over again a lot has changed.

[Laztrans]

Hello RC.. cool to see that there is this great forum for fish tank lovers. I have a 50 gallon saltwater tank for 7 years but took a break from the hobby after the great flood of 2007. I woke up and return valve from my canister filter had popped of and all the water from my tank was in the living room. Tried to get back into it right away but lost the passion.

Just had my first son and want to set up a tank again for him. This time, I don't want to mess around, going for a 220 gallon 72X24X30 tank. Got the spot for it, now I just need to find it. Been tough finding places that build tanks in California though.

Looking forward to browsing the forums.

[Cesfilly]

Hello! I am planning to start a reef tank in a year or two but needed a couple questions answered. I've been in freshwater tanks for a while now and was hoping to upgrade. The questions are as follows:

Is it "bad" to purchase a used established reef? Or is it better to start from square one until I get the hang of things?

What is the difference between a wave maker, a power head, and a filter?

Are fish bought based on community like in freshwater tanks? (I've been reading a lot about territorial fish, aggressive fish, and then peaceful ones and didn't know who would be stressed in what community)

What is the difference between a sump and a refugarium?

What kind of clean up crew is a good one (obviously it depends on tank size but let's assume it's between 55-75, and just typical combinations)?

What is the weekly cost of maintenance on an established reef tank? (Again I'm sure it depends on what you have and what food they require but ballpark average)

Thanks in advance! I would just like to plan so I can get exactly what I want out of a tank.

[JoAnnaMarie]

greetings and salutations !

i just started this cool fish tank quest in the beginning of the year, it was a christmas present from the boyfriend. its the biggest tank that would fit in our room with out looking ridiculous ....i had so many questions and stumbled across this website, its a godsend .... everythings still alive (so far) and looking happy and healthy, thanks to everyones input and the info I've gotten from here ....
so thanks so much everyone

i know i have a lot to learn still, but eventually id like to set up a 80 gallon my dad gave me into a reef tank

[PanicBuyer]

New reefer here saying Hi. I'm currently in the process of building a 65 gallon reef. I'll get a build thread going sooner or later on here. I know how much everyone likes pictures

[Jholt11]

Hi everyone.

I have a 50G tank that is FOWLR that I would like to begin adding in corals. I have a 3" sand bed w/approx. 60lb. of LR. I have in my tank 2 true perculas, 2 green chromis, 1 purple basslet, 1 diamond goby, 8 peppermint shrimp, 1 pencil urchin (came in LR) and a CUC.

I look forward to learning from the experienced members of the forum.

[mike.porterm]

Hi all, I'm new to fish keeping so decided to jump in at the deep end and start with a 60ltr marine tank. The tank has been set up for only 2 days. What temperature should I set it to? I've been hearing so many different suggestions.

[NAClFiSHy]

78-81 works fine for me.

[Raquiros]

Greetings everyone!

I'm new to the hobby, I started a 20 gallons tank back in November 2013, here's the setup:
Fluval 206 Canister Filter
Lee's Protein Skimmer
Marineland Reef Capable LED 18''
Sand from the beach (cleaned)
Cured live rock from a store

Currently the salinity is 1.023 and PH is 8.0

As far as the habitante goes I have:
x2 Clown Fishes
x2 Yellow Tail Damsels
x1 Yellow Wrassle
x1 Fire Shrimp
x1 Sand Sea Star
x1 Ritteri Anemone
x 3 Turbo Snails

Here are a couple of pictures with different lightning:

[jghilani]

Hi everyone. I've been in freshwater for a very long time and am finally getting into Saltwater. I have a 54 gallon corner bowfront pre-drilled. I am building the stand and canopy my self, so it will be a while until it'sup and running still have to figure out tthe plumbing for the under tank sump which is going to be a 20gal. Any tips you all could give me about setting it up the right way would be appreciated I have a blank canvas here lol.

[mightyjoe72]

Hello every one I have a 29 reef tank I started it about 8 months ago lost a few fish at the beginning but all is good now

[popsbjd]

Hello everyone!

I've been in the hobby for about 8 years now. I have a standard 29 with a 10 gallon sump and am currently cycling a 29 biocube. I also have a 55 gallon freshwater planted tank. I've stalked around the forum for a while and finally decided to join. I look forward to sharing my experience with you all while learning from you and growing in the hobby. Thanks!

Pops

[jtsreef]

Opps didn't see this till after I post my thread.
Names Jeremy
Tanks a 20 long mixed reef
Location. douglasville Georgia

[potatocouch]

hi All, new to this hobby.

Started 5g Pico tank few days ago and currently in cycling mode.

Hoping to learn lots of things from you guys. Thank you.