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

[Prazhechka]

Hello, good morning/afternoon/evening everyone ! My name is Katarina, I'm from Czech Republic. I'm 21 years old and I wolud like to learn more about marine aquarium. Today I have freshwater aquarium and my knowledge about marine ones are poor than less. So, I hope, that I will find some support here. Thank you very much and waiting for replies

[redheadedgirl]

Hello fish friends

My name is Samantha and I live in Birmingham, UK. I am at the very beginning of my marine experience and am eagerly looking forward to it. I have a 290 litre (empty) tank with refugium. I have finally succeeded with my test fill (or should I say my husband has - I'm not mechanically minded) and have my RO unit installed (thanks again to my husband). I have all the equipment I think I need - 2 heaters, protein skimmer, 2 power heads, 2 pumps, test kits (Salifert), refractometer, hydrometer, 2x 2000HD nature perfect LED tiles, 8-way lighting controller (with storm function - can't wait for that!), 1x Aquagro LED strip light (for refugium) and 2 thermometers. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I have opted for the Caribsea Life Rock instead of live rock as I don't want a bristleworm infestation and also because I don't like the look of live rock. I already have 20lb of Life Rock and will be purchasing another 40lb this weekend. I also have a bag of course sand and 2 bags of sugar grain sand (I think I may need more sand!).

I'm hesitating with regard to the next stage - filling the tank with salt water. I'm just going to have to get on and do it! The RO unit makes a pitiful amount of water per hour so I'm just going to have to spend a couple of days mixing saltwater in a bucket and pouring it in. Wish me luck!!!!!

[scott3569]

Originally Posted by redheadedgirl

Hello fish friends

My name is Samantha and I live in Birmingham, UK. I am at the very beginning of my marine experience and am eagerly looking forward to it. I have a 290 litre (empty) tank with refugium. I have finally succeeded with my test fill (or should I say my husband has - I'm not mechanically minded) and have my RO unit installed (thanks again to my husband). I have all the equipment I think I need - 2 heaters, protein skimmer, 2 power heads, 2 pumps, test kits (Salifert), refractometer, hydrometer, 2x 2000HD nature perfect LED tiles, 8-way lighting controller (with storm function - can't wait for that!), 1x Aquagro LED strip light (for refugium) and 2 thermometers. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I have opted for the Caribsea Life Rock instead of live rock as I don't want a bristleworm infestation and also because I don't like the look of live rock. I already have 20lb of Life Rock and will be purchasing another 40lb this weekend. I also have a bag of course sand and 2 bags of sugar grain sand (I think I may need more sand!).

I'm hesitating with regard to the next stage - filling the tank with salt water. I'm just going to have to get on and do it! The RO unit makes a pitiful amount of water per hour so I'm just going to have to spend a couple of days mixing saltwater in a bucket and pouring it in. Wish me luck!!!!!

good luck!!! this is a great forum, sounds like you(or your husband) is off to a great start!..as far as being hesitant well, that may just be a good thing, You don't want to just jump right in and do the first thing you thinking anyway, always ask research the answer and ask again!! there are many different ways to get your cycle going when you do get to that point. some pics would be nice!! I will be looking out for ya!! would love to see how it goes..I started with a 56 gal with a 40 gal sump. I am in the cycling stage and I think I am about ready to add my CUC

[RealDowJones]

Hello Reef Central!!

Out of all the reefing sites out there I chose this one because of extensive useful posts and what appears to be excellent moderation. I am a lifelong aquarist. Most of my tanks have been various African Cichlid tanks with specific families, types, and genus. That led to an interest in saltwater, but a fish only system. The LFS where I lived at the time had a beautiful mixed reef display tank, but the sessile nature of most coral didn’t excite me. Buying a maroon clown was all it took to get me hooked. I shortly bought a BTA for him and it was downhill from there. After almost a year that tank crashed and I went back to my Cichlid addiction. Well about a month ago after a five year break I bout a mini AIO and I am doing a mixed reef (NO FISH). It’s all about the challenge of perfect water parameters, exponential growth, and a low maintenance system. I look forward to contributing and getting good tips, ideas, and advice!

Happy Reefing

DJ

[RealDowJones]

Welcome!! Im new too, and I have quite a bit of experience with fresh water. I have had a few marine tanks over the years and its not as intimadating as some make it seem. Once have the basics its pretty easy to keep anything. Wish you the best!

[nwreefer]

Hi All-

I've been lurking on the site for a while figured I'd say hello. I'm new to the saltwater part of the hobby, done freshwater only for years.

Anyway my wife and I just setup our first reef tank 100 gallon bow front. We have actually decided to turn this tank into a FOWLR system, and do a reef tank on our newest project 50 gallon cube. Love puffers too much not to have one, and since puffers are not reef safe, well....new tank!

I'll post some pics of the build once I start doing it.

-NwReefer

[JoeVandal49]

Just wanted to check in.

I have been lurking on and of for several years. Finally was able to take the plunge. My 55 gallon is currently cycling.

Thanks RC for the great community.

[redheadedgirl]

Originally Posted by scott3569

good luck!!! this is a great forum, sounds like you(or your husband) is off to a great start!..as far as being hesitant well, that may just be a good thing, You don't want to just jump right in and do the first thing you thinking anyway, always ask research the answer and ask again!! there are many different ways to get your cycle going when you do get to that point. some pics would be nice!! I will be looking out for ya!! would love to see how it goes..I started with a 56 gal with a 40 gal sump. I am in the cycling stage and I think I am about ready to add my CUC

Hi Scott3569, thanks for your reply. It gets so confusing when asking questions as no answer is the same. Everyone has their own opinion (which is a good thing) but not when no-one agrees on the right way to do things. Good luck with your CUC. What have you decided on for your CUC?

[frogdog]

Hi all:

I haven't been around the forum much lately, but after a lot of life changes I'm back. I'm still researching and planning my first SW aquarium after many years of FW. I'm trying to avoid making any major mistakes in my design and planning before I start spending money.

I've been reading a lot both in books and on the internet, and I still believe that RC is the best group and info anywhere. I'm in western Canada on Vancouver Island.

Cynthia

[racin_33]

Hi everyone, new to this site and reef tanks, had fresh water tanks for years. Definity a lot more with saltwater than fresh.Jeff

[Ziggytzag]

Hi everyone
I am planning a Mixed Reef Build. I have been doing a lot of reading here on this site and would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences so freely with those of us that are just starting out.

[redheadedgirl]

Hello again fish friends!

Well yesterday I finally pushed on and bought the rest of the life rock (not using live rock as I dont want pests. I had to travel 200 miles round trip to get it. The rocks have been aquascaped and stuck together with epoxy, which is a perfect colour match for the life rock. Today I've started mixing my salt water and adding it to my tank. It's going to be a long day!!! Hubby has fitted my LED lights to the hood and the LED light to the refugium. It's going swimmingly so far ��

[seymour47]

Hey everyone. I'm fairly new here. I've spent the last 5-6 years working in a marine science research lab that works on ocean acidification. As such, I've spent a LOT of time with various assortments of our invertebrate friends, though usually not in the 'keep them happy and healthy' situations.

I've recently been working on a new, big experimental system for our lab and it's gotten the idea of setting up my own 'healthy' aquarium at home. So, I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes.

[racin_33]

Hi To all the new people.

[captainkirk]

Hi Everyone. I am going to be setting up a new tank in the next month. I am purchasing a 60x36x24 glass reef tank. I was thinking about Acrylic but so far glass is going to do it for me. This tank will be sitting in-between two rooms (family and living room). I have already purchased 2 Radion XR30w Gen3 lights and will be purchasing some ecotech vortech pumps. I am looking at 2 mp40wES or mp60wES. What I would love to know is will the lights cover the tank and which pumps to get. I know you want maybe 10 times turnover in water volume and the tank will be approximately 240g. Thoughts? I am very open to hearing all ideas. The plan is to do a full ecotech setup with reef link and battery backup.
Thanks!

[Surfthrees]

Hello All,
I just wanted to say hello to everybody. The last time I had a reef aquarium was in 95. I had to tear it down and sell it due to a move to Hawaii. (Hawaii does not allow the import of practically anything, especially live corals and all non-indigenous creatures.) Companies won't even ship there, the last time I checked years ago.
I was heavily into all the "new technology" back then and I'm pleased to see that although there appear to be some excellent advances (especially in lighting) many things remain exactly the same! This day and age looks like heaven for a modern reef keeper. Back then, my gospel for keeping my 55 "mini reef" as it was called, were Albert Thiel's books. I simply followed his recommendations to a T and wound up with the best system I could have hoped for. Back then, keeping a sand bed was considered only for the maintenance masochists. Now, it appears that most keep a sand bottom.(I do love the look of them) Anyway, I have much to learn now that I am back in, and I'm LOVING every minute of it. There is so much available to the reef hobbyist and YES, I'm going to use ozone because thats all I know!
So Hello, to everyone and thank you for this great forum to better understand and propel this awesome hobby! Fish nerds rule!

[adamswiatek]

Hello Reefcentral Forum

I am Adam and live in Ireland. I had two marine tanks in past, small cube 58litr and 275 litr , sumped tanks. All of this gone now.
Currently I am in process of a new project a new tank. over 500 liters (145X60X60cm), and I am relying on experiance the people from this forum.
I will open a new tipic and introduce my project with drawings.

Regards

Adam

[SaltyWalter]

Hello everyone! New member to the forum, but I have been keeping smaller-sized reef tanks for a few years now, I've always kept tanks under 50gallons, my current set up is a total of ~45 gallons with tank, sump & refugium. I love this hobby and I'm a big LPS guy but my latest tank is the first time I'm adding some sticks into the equation, so I'm here to learn some more about SPS care. So far I'm doing great, looking forward to sharing!

[FlyfisherDan]

Hi,
Never had a saltwater tank, but we found someone who was unable to care for theirs anymore so my wife and I now have a rescue tank. The existing tank had a dsb full of worms, no liverock in the tank, no cleanup crew and an overload of fish.
I worked with a local LFS guy and we moved the 55gal. to our house and set it up. I upgraded the ancient filters to an Aquatop 400 filter, put in crushed aragonite at 1-2", added about 15lbs of base rock and the added about 25lbs of live rock on top of that. We have a turbosnail, 2 nassarius snails, 5 margarita snails and 1 peppermint shrimp for a cleanup crew. Livestock:
Threadfin Butterfly (seems to eat everything except for the glass!)
Yellow Tang
Common Cleaner Wrasse (again.....eats like the butterfly)
Pair of mated Clownfish
2 Pajama Cardinals
6 asstd. Damsels
We have a Coralife HO T5 fixture and am running a 10000k and an Actinic bulb for 10-12 hrs a day and a blue led light bar in the bottom of the tank in the back for the rest of the time. Levels are all near or at zero but I can't seem to budge the ph over 8 even with dosing. Any comments, suggestions?

[tiago andrade]

hi, I am Brazilian aquarist and I learn a lot here with friends, especially with corals techniques. Greetings!

[markalex]

hi im mark from the uk just outside London,been keeping a reef tank for about 5 years although my first attempt was back in 93.look forward to posting a tank thread and picking up some ideas!

[RevisionedHD]

Hi I'm Jake from the US and I've been in the hobby for around 4 years now. Starting with 20 gallon goldfish systems, I now have a 75 gallon mixed reef system, and an 8 gallon mixed reef system.

Looking forward to being on this forum. Thank you!

[spydercarl]

Hello everyone my name is Carl. I bought a small 5.5 gallon fluval spec v for my "daughters birthday" but I have quickly taken it over. Im in the pool industry and understand water balance for that so I am beginning to learn all about your lovely hobby. Anyhow thanks

[Impactinc]

Hello all,

New to this forum, bought a 55g off Craigslist with the intent of doing a cold water aquarium but the deal came pretty much ready to run with corraline covered rock, some corals and fish. Couldn't bring myself to breaking it all apart so I'm giving the warm water a try. I have already got so much great info from this site!

[sandipan.ece]

Hi,

I am from Richmond, VA. I have been doing freshwater tank for a long time. I have been a passionate discus keeper for the last 5 years. I have a 150 gallon discus only tank in my permanent residence.
The marine/reef bug has been chasing me for a few months now. Since I currently stay in an apartment, I have decided to go nano. I am thinking of building 14 gallon bio cube reef tank. Wish me luck.
I am currently researching and reading about marine/reef. I guess it will still take me a couple of weeks time to feel confident and then I will start buying tank and stuff.

Regards,
Sandipan