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

[rich_keyzz]

hello I'm rich

[Just Prince]

I am new to saltwater aquariums. I have a Biocube 14 with a DIY LED light I bought used. I want to start with a FOWLR and later add zoanthids. I joined in 2011 but this is my first post...

[Dread Pirate]

I am setting up a reef system for the second time. My last set up was 12 years ago!! looking for all the help I can get.

[rogerarias]

Hello everyone... My name is Rog and I have a 20 Gallon Nano Reef Tank for about 3 months now.. I have one Clown fish (had two but the female jumped out the tank and died ) - I have 4 frags, 3 Astraea Turbo Snail, 1 Turban snail, 1 small hermit crab (might get rid of this guy) and one Tiger Sand Conch that I love! My pump and filter were given to me with my first 10 Gal tank I originally started with 3 months ago and found a great deal on my 20Gal tank with Stand i couldn't resist.

I have always wanted a saltwater tank and worked in Brooklyn years ago that had a nano reef tank owned by my old Supervisor (Who is a member on here too) and had the advantage to know more than the average newbie. Please visit my profile and take a look at my pics.. Advise and tips/tricks are always appreciated although I have an excellent teacher (my old supervisor lol) "Latino277" He was the reason I joined here to learn and learn and learn all about being a reefer..

I'm building my rocks up although I already have live rock acclimated for a while but know I need some more... I'm a work in progress!

[joe1123]

well I been on and off in the hobby for about 7yrs. now I want to start my first reef tank, I have kept saltwater, fresh water systems in the past with more success in the fresh water systems. BUT now I really want to keep a reef tank. I have been looking for the equipment on craigslist and have found this so far..Precision Marine Acrylic Sump (16 gal - 24x11.5x14), single inlet with refugium chamber and a seaclear 60 gallon acrylic tank. I wanted to know what the best way of setting this up as far as the filtration goes
how many ways can I run the tank (filtration) some one told me I could run a refugium? deep sandbed?..or some other way were u dose the tank??

[BeachBum2012]

Hey folks. I'm new to these parts. I've kept various freshwater tanks for 25 or more years now. Everything from large aggressive tanks to pico shrimp tanks, and everything inbetween. The last 5 years or so in the hobby were spend on planted tanks. I've been away from aquariums for a couple of years now, as I've been raising kids rather than fish. My daughter is now old enough that she wants Nemo to come live with us. I'm happy to oblige.

I'm working on my plans to set up a 40b reef with a sump for my first foray into the salty world of aquaria. This has been a great resource, among others, for research on not only methods of setting up a reef tank, but on the equipment as well. I look forward to becoming a part of this community.

[moustachemike]

What's up fellas. Completely green to salt.

I found a 75 gallon tank with a ca. 50 gal refugium for the classroom at the beginning of August. I procured sand. I went with the 1lb/gal rule from the LFS guy (wow that place is expensive). I am afraid to add water, but am getting ready to buy some IORC (instant ocean reef crystals…due you guys abbreviate that?) on amazon. They have a 200gal box/$50 deal w/free shipping that I feel pretty confident in. LFS guy had that for $80.

Now I'm searching Craigslist for LED lights. I've been using $8, Walmart clamp lights with 100w, daylight, spiral CFLs on my planted tank, but recently heard that fluorescents start to encourage algae growth as they get older. I need a hydrometer too. Mg, I, Sr, and NO3- seem like they need to be actively monitored in a reef tank…but I figure, with exception of NO3-, won't change without coral.

I have one LED light that I bought with the tank. I figure I'll get the water in there, mix in the salt and get the equipment running; turn on the light, add some sand and chaeto to the refugium….and then breathe.

[radioactive2]

Well back into the hobby for the 3rd time. I used to have a 180g reef acrylic built in the wall.
Now I am firing up a 90g reef. I am learning this hobby all over again after an 8yr break, any help will be greatly appreciated. Just got everything plumbed today, live rock, sand and cycling.

I am going with a berlin system in the sump right now, however would like to add a 30g external fuge as I have heard 30% of the tank volume for a fuge is recommended?? advice??

Attached is the pic today of the tank cycling with moonlights "only" running.

Here is my current tank set up:
90g All glass aquarium
(2) RW8 Jabeo wavemakers
(2) Chinese LED lights
(2) R2 moonlights
(1) Fluval SP2 return pump
(1) RS-100 Eshopps sump (75-125g)
(1) Reef Octopus 150sss skimmer
(2) Eheim Ebo Jager 150w glass heaters
(1) Jabeo DP-4 doser kit (magnesium, calcium, strontium)
(1) Hydor auto fill/ top off
(1) Air water ice typhoon 75g per day RODI
90lbs Fiji live rock
Reef crystals instant ocean salt mix
.01-.05mm Natures Ocean Live Sand (white)

[boxedm3]

Hi, my name is Tommy and i'm a total n00b.

We're planning on buying a 180 gallon salt water tank for starters...i know... don't bash me. I will be researching this site like no tomorrow. just stopping in to say hi!

[joshbrookkate]

Originally Posted by moustachemike

What's up fellas. Completely green to salt.

I found a 75 gallon tank with a ca. 50 gal refugium for the classroom at the beginning of August. I procured sand. I went with the 1lb/gal rule from the LFS guy (wow that place is expensive). I am afraid to add water, but am getting ready to buy some IORC (instant ocean reef crystals…due you guys abbreviate that?) on amazon. They have a 200gal box/$50 deal w/free shipping that I feel pretty confident in. LFS guy had that for $80.

Now I'm searching Craigslist for LED lights. I've been using $8, Walmart clamp lights with 100w, daylight, spiral CFLs on my planted tank, but recently heard that fluorescents start to encourage algae growth as they get older. I need a hydrometer too. Mg, I, Sr, and NO3- seem like they need to be actively monitored in a reef tank…but I figure, with exception of NO3-, won't change without coral.

I have one LED light that I bought with the tank. I figure I'll get the water in there, mix in the salt and get the equipment running; turn on the light, add some sand and chaeto to the refugium….and then breathe.

Don't waste your money on a hydrometer, buy a refractometer. More accurate. And welcome to RC!

[Khrysocome]

Hello! Complete nub to saltwater here, running on dreams, a year of doing nothing but research (including browsing here quite a bit), and previous employment at an aquarium (which gave me very, very basic water chemistry knowledge).

My 120g hopefully-one-day-will-be-a-mixed-reef is still in its very early stages. Today I just got my first reading of nitrites - exciting stuff

[TrenchToast]

Hello folks! Trench here, I'm new to the hobby. It all started with a baby box turtle. (***!? right) So i was outside cutting grass in my backyard a few months back and happened to come across a baby box turtle about 2 inches in size. I was thinking that i was going to keep her until she grew to an adult size since i live in a wooded area and there are a lot of predators around here that would love to have her for a snack. Well I went to the local pet store and purchased a 20g long aquarium with a T8 full spectrum light, some substrate and some other little things for her to use. Well after reading up a bit on box turtles I quickly found out that this was the worst thing that i could do for her. Box turtles are dwindling in numbers because of people capturing them for pets and due to land clearing for development. Soooo... I decided to part ways with her and let her go back into the woods so she can make more baby box turtles one day... So, I was left with a 20g long tank and light with some misc. reptilian stuff. I was like "well, I have always wanted to have a salt water tank." So I converted it. I purchased a few pounds of live rock and began the acclimation process. After a few weeks I added 2 fish and 3 red leg hermits to the tank. All was going well till I noticed my Orchid Dottyback coming down with ich. After researching about treating Ich it became aware to me that I should have an quarantine tank. Please forgive me. (all this stuff up until this point was purchased at my local Petco) Fortunately the fish/reptile/floor cleaner guy at Petco was nice enough to refer me to a local fish store that was a saltwater store only. (thank God!) Since he told me about them I haven't gone back to Petco. In hindsight I believe this was fortuitous because upon my first visit to the store TikiCorals.com (for those interested) the co-owner told me about a customer of hers that wanted to get out of the hobby and was looking to sell all of her stuff for a good price after I questioned her about getting a Qtank. I pursued the offer and this is what I got.

A STEAL!! haha!!
Innovative Marine Nuvo Nano 24 w/platform but no top (serial# 470 so I'm safe on the glass)
IM Desktop Ghost Skimmer
Current Orbit Marine LED light system (to small for the 24gal but will fit the 20gal. Had to make temporary mounts for it.)
1 Koralia Nano 425 powerhead
Finnex 100w digital glass heater

Living items:
4 med-large live rock
1 Skunk cleaner shrimp
3 blue leg hermit crabs
2 turbo snails
1 bumble bee snail
1 Duncan with two heads (now 4 with another forming after attaching it to a rock) they had it just free floating around on the bottom
1 mushroom purplish green w/ 2 baby mushrooms that were all floating around in the tank because of the previous owners ignorance.

They included other stuff including food and test strips, instruction books, magnetic glass cleaner, algae glass scraper, etc.

All for $250

So now, the 24g is my display nano reef tank and the 20g is the quarantine tank. I have since added a few more pieces of live rock but that's it until I get the fish out of quarantine. Whats really nice is that I've already seen good signs of copepods and amphipods. I've had this tank up and running for about 3 weeks now. Granted it was already somewhat acclimated, but the owner of the LFS warned me ahead of time about the condition of the tank and about the owners not really caring for the tank as they should have. So far i believe I've gotten her back to good health. trying to control the nitrite and nitrate lvls though is getting difficult but I've read that during the first few months it's normal for decent fluctuations in those levels and will come under control with standard water changes. I'll post some pictures up tomorrow. (not much to look at but some live rock though except a lonely cleaner shrimp heh)

Since I've found places for the Mushrooms to attach themselves to they have double in size. Like I said above, the Duncan had two heads when I brought it home and now has 4 with another forming after attaching it to a rock.

I do have a question though about the filters.. it's a 3 stage media system. how often do you recommend i change out the filters? I clean them when I do water changes but have yet to actually change them out for new ones.

[aeddins89]

Hey everybody I'm Anthony. I'm 25 from Bristol,RI. I build race cars for a living. I kind of got thrown into this when my friend gave me a 55g tank he had collecting dust in his shed. My tank is up and running just about done cycling (tested today all parameters on point). I am really more interested in building a living reef ecosystem not as interested in fish but the beautiful coral you can fill your tank with. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated and anybody sells drags locally or nationally please hit me up

[aeddins89]

Frags* stupid autocorrect

[lodger0]

Hello, my name is Lucie and I am very new to this amazing hobby :-)

I would like to say thank you to everyone who is posted such amazing amount of information. I been reading and reading for the past 2 wks.

And even thou you dont know it, you been a great help.

So a massive big HELLO

[ReefHaven.ATL]

Hello, this is my 75 gallon soon to be reef.
Wanted to go for a minimumlist aquascape look.

[Johnbarmy]

Hello I'm john and very new to the hobby I have a 240 g currently in progress and hopefully to be finished and cycling by next weekend

[TrenchToast]

Damn John! That's gonna be a nice setup when it's up.. I like the utilization of the bar wall there.

[mandaringoby26]

Hello my name Matt. I'm new to saltwater. I've been working with freshwater for over 4 years. I have 5 freshwater tanks. Starting at 1 gal, 3 gal, 15 gal, 37 gal 55 gal. I've always been interested in saltwater however I never really had all the equipment lying around until June when my 60 gallon tank burst while I was at work. Yet somehow 4 out of the 6 cichlids managed to stay live. I rushed out and bought a temp tank tell my insurance company cut me check. Luckily they did and I was left a filter, heater and an empty 20 gallon tank. So I decided to finally try saltwater. It's going well so far!

[dromonk]

New to site I have my reef tank for a little over a year still learning current tank is a 60 deep blue rimless cube with to jaebo w10s octopus skimmer nwb200 2 Chinese black box lights manly have lps zoas hammers frogs couple leathers 3 clowns one damsel sand sifting goby watchman goby and a small tang (yes I know tang police)

[Almogia]

Hey y'all

LONGISH PERSONAL INTRO TO EXPLAIN MY SITCH

My story is a bit strange - I work as an aquarium manager for a research lab that explores the effects of climate change on corals and biological clocks in cnidarians. I got hired last year as a student employee, to replace a full-time employee who they couldn't afford to pay anymore (they have gotten a grant since then :P)
Interestingly, I got this job purely because of my positive attitude - I had basically no experience with aquaria! Because I was simultaneously studying and working, I was almost entirely feeding and cleaning, and not doing much else. I simply didn't have the time to research proper care, and didn't think it was that important.

I have just finished studying, and am now employed full time in this job. As such, I have started to seriously research aquarium care, and I have A LOT of work to do!

END OF LONG INTRO, AQUARIUM INFO
Four aquariums, all have:
* Sump
* Protein Skimmer
* Lighting- 400W Metal Halide

FIRST AQUARIUM
* 24 C
* Galaxea and Turbinaria frags

SECOND AQUARIUM
* 21 C
* Leptopsammia and Balanophyllia frags

THIRD AQUARIUM
* 17 C
* Leptopsammia and Balanophyllia frags

FOURTH AQUARIUM
* 24 C
* "Leftovers" tank:

-euphyllia
-acropora
-several favia sp.
-lobophyllia
-turbinaria
-millepora
-fungia

All aquariums have 0 level nitrite/nitrate, but alkalinity is always low (I think I have a problem with the reactors). Calcium and magnesium are also slightly low, despite frequent water changes, and I might have to start supplementing by hand. Recently found out that two of them have INSANE levels of phosphates :/

Sorry for the long post :P
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

[jefflink33]

Hey all, my name is Jeff. Just getting started on my tank build. I'm looking forward to the process. Right now I'm ordering everything I need (or think I'll need). and looking for equipment advise.

[jujurama]

Hi!

It's been a few years since my last post inquiring about the feasability of keeping dwarf sea horses. I recently purchased a kreisel tank from jellyfishart with 3 moon jellies. I love my jellies, which are super easy compared to the complex reef tanks that you guys are setting up.

I realize that jellyfish are very different than the complex systems you guys are setting up, but I am interested in reef tanks and thinking of getting one in the future (let's see how the jelly fish do). Plus, the only aquarium stores in our area seem to be very reef oriented. I am amazed with the variety of corals and other creatures that inhabit the reef tanks. They are fascinating and so beautiful. So I have reef envy, but I think I'll watch for a bit and be a poser and hopefully learn by watching others.

So I guess that makes me sort of a reef apprentice. Developing my chops before I dive in.

[Rori1529]

Hello all - I was here a while ago - You can call me Aurora or Rori whichever you prefer..

About to reclean and re out fit my nano cube.. works needs to be done on the tank before i even think about getting it ready for some live rock .. *waves to all*

Will always be a newbie to the saltwater tank world

[Maverick79]

Hello everyone, my names John. I've been in the hobby for about 3 years (1 year freshwater and 2 years with saltwater). I fully converted from fresh to saltwater 2 years ago and currently have a 100g fish only tank. I'm looking to get advice and tips from more advance aquarist than myself. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!