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

[Soccerjay]

Hey im jay ive got my second tank now a solana 34 seamless and i know quite a bit of reefkeeping but does anyone know of any clubs or groups in the hampton roads/ chesapeake area of VA?

[mrbirdfish]

I just got mostly set up with gear for a 30g reef tank with sump this past weekend. It's mostly setup...still need to set up the refugeum and pick out a skimmer. Good times.

[Fishyoga]

New to Reef Central, not so new to saltwater. Had a very successful 20 gal setup, but left it behind with the g/f.
Starting over with a 10gal setup. So far, both my initial setups have been super easy. No problems, no chemistry issues. Just good luck?

[G_Sanab922]

Hey everyone!
My name is Gabriel, I'm new to RC and to Saltwater tanks. I've had FW tanks many years ago as a kid and I've always been fascinated. Especially that I live in The Florida Keys. I've been surrounded by saltwater all my life and love the ocean.
Just bought a 60 Gallon Hexagonal tank with a 20g sump, rio pump, with a T5 and 10k bulbs. Haven't set it up yet, but looking to do that in the next weeks.

Looking to make it a reef tank with some fish and inverts.

[Jonsie]

Good Morning everyone.... Im going to say I am a newbie again.... I had 3 tanks about 3 Yr ago (30 Gal fresh , 10 gal Puffer, 29 Gal biocube )Shut eveything down divorce :-) ~ Still upset about my tanks! Hmmmp :-)
so Im starting out again... I have a 7 Gal fresh cube ( i only have a lava snail ~ thinking shrimp tank and a frog )
I kept my Biocube and realize I forgot pretty much everything, apparently sold alot of
stuff and OH My have things changed...

I have been reading my face off for weeks now...

I think I have my new equipment list - Tunz 9002 is a must ( I bounced around a few but I am set on the Tunze ~ I used to have the biocube skimmer and never was impressed- But options then were limited unless I made a sump)

I will upgrade my lighing in a year or sooner... I just replace ALL My lights...

Now one confusing question.... For me anyhow... DO I try to set up a light and chemo in the back or just go with a reactor - either "Innovative Marine MiniMax All-In-One Media Reactor " or Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor 150 Package ~ Im not shur the mini and the skimer would all fit in the back... ?? So I would be OK with the Little fishie on the out side

I got another tap water filter and will add water and live sand after I replace the propeller for my pump... :-/ when I get the skimmer when I get skimmer and other stuff I can start with the live rock...

So... Hi ALL !

[katherinemac]

Hi all I'm Katherinemac. I love animals, but my current life situation only allows for fish keeping. I did not anticipate how hard I would fall for these little creatures. A lifelong romance has begun.

[mbrooks85]

Hi! I'm a born-again-newbie. I had a 55g flat back hex with fish and soft coral about 6/7 years ago. I just ordered a 14g biocube and I want to do hard and soft coral with some fish this time. Wish me luck!

[Jonsie]

Originally Posted by mbrooks85

Hi! I'm a born-again-newbie. I had a 55g flat back hex with fish and soft coral about 6/7 years ago. I just ordered a 14g biocube and I want to do hard and soft coral with some fish this time. Wish me luck!

Hehehe ~ I like how you put that!

[stl_rock_guy]

Mine name is Maurice. I'm from Springfield Missouri. I've had freshwater tanks most of my life. Looked into saltwater a few years back but the price of lighting scared me off. I took the plunge this past June and bought a 55 off Craigslist. A few months later I upgraded to my 150.

[Jetlinkin]

Hello all, I'm Kevin. I have been involved in this hobby for ~15 years. I started out with a 55g FO with a HOB floss filter. This has led me to my present 100g DT with a 20g fuge, AI SOL Blue lighting, mixed reef. I think I have made every mistake possible in this hobby, yet still stick to it. I am fascinated every time I look at my tank. I am in the process of upgrading to a larger (125 or 220?) tank. I am still planning but hope to have a build thread like some of the ones I have read here.

I am completely amazed at the build threads, and love seeing how others do it. I am even more amazed at the fact that, it seems, I have learned more in the last month of reading here, than in all the years prior trying to pick up knowledge at my LFS.

This forum has helped make me even more enthused for my hobby.

Thanks,

Kevin

[JJ650]

Hi all, my name is Jason.

Was into this hobby with my dad around 20 years ago. He did most of the stuff (care, cleaning, stocking) in a 75gal salt tank.
I have decided to try it out on my own for now with a Cadlights Mini 8g, canister filter & Coralife nano skimmer.
Rock & sand from TBS

[ReeferNC]

My name's Ryan. Aquaria has been a hobby of mine for about 5 years now but up until now I've been doing strictly freshwater (tanks and ponds). For the past couple of years however, I've been very interested in saltwater. So I've done my homework and have started a 75 gallon reef tank. I'm using an Aqueon tank with a custom acrylic 30 gallon sump/refugium. I have a 6 bulb T5 light (3 12k, 3 actinic, 20 actinic leds), a power compact fuge light, 2 Koralia wave makers with Hydor controller, Reef Octopus NWB110 skimmer, Reef Octopus media reactor with a 50/50 carbon GFO mix, Danner MagDrive 18 pump, and a JBJ auto top off system. As for substrate, I'm using 100lbs of live sand and 100lbs of dry base rock seeded with about 5lbs of live rock. I'm about to begin cycling within the next week or so (super excited!) as soon as I finish plumbing the tank, perform a freshwater leak test, and prep my water. I'm trying a few things differently than I've seen others do, so after I've been up and running for a few weeks, I'll probably post video to youtube as long as everything goes to plan. Feel free to give me any input that you might have as I fully accept my role as a newbie and welcome advice from those that have been at this for a while.

[Dankrencisz]

New again, I was on here back a few years ago, lost the tank to a cayanobacteria infection. LFS said to put these drops in. Killed everything. Anyways, fast forward a few years, the 75g tank is back up and running. Currently building a custom 20g sump. Put it back together with some new live rock and a couple bags of seeded sand. Looking forward to being an active member on this forum and becoming an active in the local clubs too.

[Voight]

Hey everyone, New to the site and saltwater side of things. I've l been breeding cichlids and plecos for a few years now, but with four tanks it was just costing to much in power. I'm in the process of selling of all my FW fish and equipment, and have purchased a 75 gallon aqueon tank which I plan on turning into a reef tank. I also have an old 37 gallon which will most likely be the sump/refugium. I've been researching a lot, but still have a lot of questions so I will probably be posting slot on here in the weeks to come.

[lisamweston]

hi all, I have a 220 gallon saltwater tank with live rock and sand, sump, protein skimmer and refugium. I admit that I cheated and hired someone to get it all set up and help me learn. I also like learning from these forums, it is a fascinating (and addicting) hobby! After the tank got really ugly, I added 4 sandsifting sea stars, 4 spiny urchins, a bunch of snails and hermit crabs. Once they cleaned it all up I added my first fish: 2 orange clownfish, 2 black clownfish, 1 royal gramma, 1 foxface rabbitfish and 2 yellow-tail blue damsels, oh and 3 cleaner shrimp. They are all doing well, though the shrimp are sad because no one will let them clean them. It was suggested that I wait 4 weeks before adding any new fish so I am planning those out. I would like to get some larger fish that will let the shrimp clean them. I am also wanting to add a second tank that will be able to house seahorses. And I am quite fascinated by all the odd things that are growing from the live rock.

[Nikita6711]

Originally Posted by SaltyH2OReef

Hello all, I am very new to this hobby, my fiancée had a fresh water 39 G tank with a very large gold fish for years. We moved to a new house and the fish didn't make the move. The tank was sitting there for months so I decided to go get a new stand for it and start it up again. Ended up getting a 36 bow front with stand, and I am leaning towards going salt water. The fiancée is saying no to this due to potential costs. I will continue to do research to inform her, and educate her and myself.

I have to say she is right... haha I started a 47 gallon bow front a little over a year ago... since then I have spent over 10,000 while a lot of that is fish and coral, it is also the chemicals, the pumps, lights and one thing I never thought of.. my electric bill!! The problem is it is so addicting that I ended up starting a second tank, and between the two my electric bill went up an additional 100$ a month! However I have to say it is well worth it... I absolutely love the hobby, and love learning as much as I can about it. There have been days that I have considered throwing in the towel (like the day I came home and every fish in my tank was dead...) but I just couldn't. I just started back at square one. I am not trying to turn you off to the hobby by any means, I just figured I would give my honest opinion. However even if I knew then what I knew now, I still would have done it. It is so much more fun than freshwater. My fiancé and I sometimes sit in front of the tank for hours and every time we do, we discover something new. hope this was helpful.

[ReeferNC]

Originally Posted by Voight

Hey everyone, New to the site and saltwater side of things. I've l been breeding cichlids and plecos for a few years now, but with four tanks it was just costing to much in power. I'm in the process of selling of all my FW fish and equipment, and have purchased a 75 gallon aqueon tank which I plan on turning into a reef tank. I also have an old 37 gallon which will most likely be the sump/refugium. I've been researching a lot, but still have a lot of questions so I will probably be posting slot on here in the weeks to come.

Just a quick note if you didn't know already. Aqueon tanks have tempered bottoms but plate glass sides (anything 55g and up) so you'll be safe to drill the back if you want. It took some research for me initially but I finally got a hold of Aqueons tech support and spoke to someone that really knows their products inside and out.

[ReeferNC]

Originally Posted by Nikita6711

I have to say she is right... haha I started a 47 gallon bow front a little over a year ago... since then I have spent over 10,000 while a lot of that is fish and coral, it is also the chemicals, the pumps, lights and one thing I never thought of.. my electric bill!! The problem is it is so addicting that I ended up starting a second tank, and between the two my electric bill went up an additional 100$ a month! However I have to say it is well worth it... I absolutely love the hobby, and love learning as much as I can about it. There have been days that I have considered throwing in the towel (like the day I came home and every fish in my tank was dead...) but I just couldn't. I just started back at square one. I am not trying to turn you off to the hobby by any means, I just figured I would give my honest opinion. However even if I knew then what I knew now, I still would have done it. It is so much more fun than freshwater. My fiancé and I sometimes sit in front of the tank for hours and every time we do, we discover something new. hope this was helpful.

I gotta say I agree completely. I finally have everything I need to start cycling and just amongst my tank, sump/refugium, and my peripherials, I'm at a total of $2500. And quite frankly that cost is me buying the bare minimum without officially cutting corners and buying crap equipment. It's a lot of fun, but saltwater is a totally different animal than fresh.

[yeyarean]

WHuddup everybody!! Been leaching for awhile. Total newb here, just bought a 37g column tank, stand, skimmer and overflow, and a undone sump. Let's do this!!

[vipermaverickk]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum, new to the hobby. Glad to finally (officially) be a part of the community. I've been doing some heavy reading over the last 30 days, and I'm about ready to set up a ten gallon nano. Don't worry, I'm taking it slow and steady. My passion for animals and nature is a huge driving factor is ensuring I keep everything happy and thriving. I'm very excited to have my own balanced ecosystem right here in my office! Look forward to getting to know you guys,

Andrew.

[gengle1984]

Hello all,

New to the forum, somewhat new to the hobby. I had a 50 Gal years ago for about 3 years.

Starting fresh with an IM 16 Gal nano. All stock at this point. Just put my sand and live rock in...

[sherief.elsayed]

Hello, i am new the saltwater aquarium hobby, and looking forward having a place to come to seek advice from your experienced aquarists

[Voight]

Originally Posted by ReeferNC

Just a quick note if you didn't know already. Aqueon tanks have tempered bottoms but plate glass sides (anything 55g and up) so you'll be safe to drill the back if you want. It took some research for me initially but I finally got a hold of Aqueons tech support and spoke to someone that really knows their products inside and out.

I actually did call aqueon and spoke to someone who gave the the info almost immediately. I was impressed, the phone call lasted less than 2 minutes. I definitely recommend making the call to anyone who is unsure.

[AbsoluteAquaria]

I am new to this forum for a second time (I was active here lots of years ago under a different name)

I currently maintain a 24 gallon nano system with seahorses, a 90 gallon mixed reef, and a 55 gallon freshwater planted aquarium.

[JerSaint]

Hi All,
My name is Jeremy. I am from Mystic, CT. I just jumped back into the reef keeping portion of the hobby. I currently have started a 29G(about 3 months old) mixed reef that I am planning on stocking at the CT Frag Farmers market. I also have a 37G, 29G & 5.5G planted tanks and a 20G Long planted shrimp tank that have been running for over a year. I have been lurking about reading a ton over the past few weeks and look forward to learning more!