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

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by MikeyB73

My name is Mike. I should call myseld the impatient reefer. I began about 15 years ago with a 75 gallon reef experiment and got out of the hobby about 2 years after. I recently got back into it over purchasing a goldfish for my daughter. BOOM, the itch was on. I soon picked up a used JBJ 24 gallon nano cube with live rock, fish and a few pices of coral with the water. Instant saltwater tank. 2 Months after that I set up a 65 gallon FOWLR tank that I have a couple puffers and large hermit crabs in. This weekend I just set up and began running my 120 gallon reef tank. My wife is recanting the notion of letting me start this hobby. I feel it is very theraputic. At least that is my excuse. I also set up a 55 gallon saltware mixing station that is connected to my RO unit in the garage. So far so good. I am currently waiting the week or so for my 120 gallon to cycle with the sand and live rock in it.

Glad to be aboard.

Mike

To Reef Central
looks like your not going to miss a beat. If you haven't already, be sure to read up on all the new ideas/equipment that have been made in the last 15 years.

[Marcalo]

Hello again Reef Central!


My name is Tim I'm 28 I have been running a reef system for 5 years I have a 55g with 70-75 lbs of LR still running my T-5 nova 4x54w but am in the process of building a new tank stand and canopy that will house 2 100w Metal halides and a couple of other bulbs haven't decided yet but leaning toward 50/50s with the metal halides. on a side note I picked up the MH ballast, pulse start, sockets and bulbs all for $9.00 each found on clearence at lowes no less! lol I'm glad to be back and hope to answer a lot of questions

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Marcalo

Hello again Reef Central!


My name is Tim I'm 28 I have been running a reef system for 5 years I have a 55g with 70-75 lbs of LR still running my T-5 nova 4x54w but am in the process of building a new tank stand and canopy that will house 2 100w Metal halides and a couple of other bulbs haven't decided yet but leaning toward 50/50s with the metal halides. on a side note I picked up the MH ballast, pulse start, sockets and bulbs all for $9.00 each found on clearence at lowes no less! lol I'm glad to be back and hope to answer a lot of questions

To Reef Central
Since when did lowes start carrying reef lights?

[jessejames32]

Yep, im back on here,after a 2 1/2 year divorce.lost my 120g reef and now starting on a new one, that i bought online, that was already set up as a fowler. Well forgot every thing i new and feel like im starting from scratch, so forgive the retorical questions. OH btw im jesse, and i have the fever again

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by jessejames32

Yep, im back on here,after a 2 1/2 year divorce.lost my 120g reef and now starting on a new one, that i bought online, that was already set up as a fowler. Well forgot every thing i new and feel like im starting from scratch, so forgive the retorical questions. OH btw im jesse, and i have the fever again

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[yerdaddy]

hello to all, my name is Greg & My wife's name is Jodee, she does most of the tending to the tank, having some issues i think, we have kenya trees, psp, toadstool leather, fiji leather, trumpets, zoo colony, and couple small ones, devil's hand, some other sort of leather looks like a potato?! ric mushroom, other small mushrooms, acan, button polyps? (i think tyhats what they are) as i am new to this, not positive on all names, been relying on 1 friend in hobby and other info.
i have a small gallery just posted tonight
kinda worried about a couple things, trumpets looked good for about 2 weeks, had them high then rearranged tank and put them low, toadstool = same thing, toad stool started forming a green looking sort of fuzz on the top, then wouldnt come out when lites were on, trumpet started becoming deteached!!! one kenya tree, which was doing awesome just went almost limp and did not bloom when lites on , dont want tank to crash, any advice would be appreciated
thanks
yerdaddy

Posts: 2
Joined: 06 Apr 2010 21:05
Private messageE-mail

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by yerdaddy

hello to all, my name is Greg & My wife's name is Jodee, she does most of the tending to the tank, having some issues i think, we have kenya trees, psp, toadstool leather, fiji leather, trumpets, zoo colony, and couple small ones, devil's hand, some other sort of leather looks like a potato?! ric mushroom, other small mushrooms, acan, button polyps? (i think tyhats what they are) as i am new to this, not positive on all names, been relying on 1 friend in hobby and other info.
i have a small gallery just posted tonight
kinda worried about a couple things, trumpets looked good for about 2 weeks, had them high then rearranged tank and put them low, toadstool = same thing, toad stool started forming a green looking sort of fuzz on the top, then wouldnt come out when lites were on, trumpet started becoming deteached!!! one kenya tree, which was doing awesome just went almost limp and did not bloom when lites on , dont want tank to crash, any advice would be appreciated
thanks
yerdaddy

Posts: 2
Joined: 06 Apr 2010 21:05
Private messageE-mail

always acclimatize your corals by placing them low in the tank and gradually raising them up. This will cause less stress to the corals
Keep in mind the flow too---some corals do not like to be in high flow areas--especially lps corals and soft corals.

if you could post the size of your tank, the flow rate and the lighting of your tank we could probably offer more advise


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[Hike]

Hello my name is Hank and I will soon be starting a reef tank. This will be my first marine tank though I have been keeping a freshwater with live plants and mostly live fish for about 6 years now. I was fortunate enough to get most of my gear for free from my mother in law. She saw how pretty marine tanks were and had to have one. So without any research she picked up a tank, filter, light combo and started reef keeping with about as much success as you would figure. So after a few thousand dollars, an upgrade to a MH light, and 1 hurricane she decided to heck with this money pit. This is where I come in. It took me about 2 years to convince her that there was no good reason that all that equipment should sit in her storage building when there was a perfectly good spot at my house for it. So now I have the goods and after some extensive reading I feel like the time has come to set it up.

Equipment is as follows:

Tank is 30 gallons
250w MH not sure about the bulb but will replace anyway
coralife 65 skimmer
Pro aquatic 70 wet/dry flilter with bio balls removed

have to get overflow box and a powerhead or 2. I am hoping to have it running with some live rock by tuesday.

[COG]

hey RC, my name is dave. I've had lots of tank but all were FW but now i got a 24g nano that's been going for about 9 week now and i love it!!!!!

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Hike

Hello my name is Hank and I will soon be starting a reef tank. This will be my first marine tank though I have been keeping a freshwater with live plants and mostly live fish for about 6 years now. I was fortunate enough to get most of my gear for free from my mother in law. She saw how pretty marine tanks were and had to have one. So without any research she picked up a tank, filter, light combo and started reef keeping with about as much success as you would figure. So after a few thousand dollars, an upgrade to a MH light, and 1 hurricane she decided to heck with this money pit. This is where I come in. It took me about 2 years to convince her that there was no good reason that all that equipment should sit in her storage building when there was a perfectly good spot at my house for it. So now I have the goods and after some extensive reading I feel like the time has come to set it up.

Equipment is as follows:

Tank is 30 gallons
250w MH not sure about the bulb but will replace anyway
coralife 65 skimmer
Pro aquatic 70 wet/dry flilter with bio balls removed

have to get overflow box and a powerhead or 2. I am hoping to have it running with some live rock by tuesday.

To Reef Central
Sounds like you got a great start. I would steer away from the bio balls, start off right and don't use them, your live rock will suffice for that purpose.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by COG

hey RC, my name is dave. I've had lots of tank but all were FW but now i got a 24g nano that's been going for about 9 week now and i love it!!!!!

To Reef Central Can't wait to see a thread of your nano started.

Originally Posted by COG

and I need 50 post fast lol

Be careful with statements like that. that will put you on the radar. No need to worry about your post count, if you get into the site and have fun with it you'l have well over 50 'meaningful' posts in no time.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by COG

and I need 50 post fast lol

suggest you start your own build thread and post some pictures of your cube there. You will get more attention then on an extremely long thread like this and all your questions and information will be in one spot.

[hobbydave]

Hello everyone, my name is David and as you can see from my user name I am not new to hobbies at all. In fact, I am extremely good at spending money I don't have on things I don't need and rationalizing it to my wife! Its good to find this online community since this can be a little complicated at first.

I started a 24g JBJ nano about 4 years ago as a FOWLR. I had a few problems with the pump, uncontrollable algae and kept loosing fish. After several months trying to get it going I just gave up. I can only buy so many expensive fish and explaining to my 5 year old that daddy killed nemo again was not my idea of fun. The tank sat for about a year with water inside and post-its of fish stuck to the outside. We recently moved and I decided to setup the tank again since I was forced to clean it out anyway. New LR, LS and water got me going and excited about this again. It was up for about 3 weeks when disaster struck. The freakin glass cracked draining 7/8th of the tank on my living room floor. I rushed nemo to the LFS and a day later had a 50 gallon tank up to running. I am currently turning an old 15gal tank into a fuge. Looking forward to getting this tank stable and filled with fish and coral. I am glad the nano is gone and hopefully my bad luck went with it.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by hobbydave

Hello everyone, my name is David and as you can see from my user name I am not new to hobbies at all. In fact, I am extremely good at spending money I don't have on things I don't need and rationalizing it to my wife! Its good to find this online community since this can be a little complicated at first.

I started a 24g JBJ nano about 4 years ago as a FOWLR. I had a few problems with the pump, uncontrollable algae and kept loosing fish. After several months trying to get it going I just gave up. I can only buy so many expensive fish and explaining to my 5 year old that daddy killed nemo again was not my idea of fun. The tank sat for about a year with water inside and post-its of fish stuck to the outside. We recently moved and I decided to setup the tank again since I was forced to clean it out anyway. New LR, LS and water got me going and excited about this again. It was up for about 3 weeks when disaster struck. The freakin glass cracked draining 7/8th of the tank on my living room floor. I rushed nemo to the LFS and a day later had a 50 gallon tank up to running. I am currently turning an old 15gal tank into a fuge. Looking forward to getting this tank stable and filled with fish and coral. I am glad the nano is gone and hopefully my bad luck went with it.

hopefully you will have a better go of it this time


To Reef Central

[hobbydave]

Thanks, looking forward to it!

[jayann007]

I'm Jessica, I'm completely new to the hobby, that's for sure. I just started a 29 gal tank. It's smaller, but I'm in the Army and on a deployable status, so I am trying to get as much knowledge about it while I can. I have always wanted a saltwater fish tank and hope that I can get as much insight and advice on here as possible!

I have an endless amount of questions about my puny tank, hopefully I can get some replies!

1. Since my tank is so small, do I need a skimmer?
2. How many lbs of liverock should I get for my tank?
3. What are good starter fish?
4. Think I should maybe get a book? haha

[sneaky5]

Hello RC, names John been keeping tanks on and off for ~15years. Mostly fresh but a fish only salt here and there. It will be some time till I setup a reef but I plan to troll and lurk in the shadows gathering info till Im ready. (Moving in under a year and dont want to break down a reef)

On a positive note I picked up 75gallon to do a fresh planted with for $100, will be getting to that tomorrow.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by jayann007

I'm Jessica, I'm completely new to the hobby, that's for sure. I just started a 29 gal tank. It's smaller, but I'm in the Army and on a deployable status, so I am trying to get as much knowledge about it while I can. I have always wanted a saltwater fish tank and hope that I can get as much insight and advice on here as possible!

I have an endless amount of questions about my puny tank, hopefully I can get some replies!

1. Since my tank is so small, do I need a skimmer?
2. How many lbs of liverock should I get for my tank?
3. What are good starter fish?
4. Think I should maybe get a book? haha

To Reef Central
It'll be tough to manage your tank while deployed but as long as you can devise a plan and have someone that will take care of it while your gone things will be fine.

1 In my opinion I always recommend a skimmer, it makes things a lot easier.
2 Live rock will roughly be about 1-1.5 pounds of rock per gallon of water. 30 pounds is probably enough.
3 what are your intentions for this tank? if you are wanting to get corals make sure you get fish that are reef safe. But keep in mind that a 29 gallon is fairly small so you are limited to the size and amount of fish you add to your tank. Stay away from the larger fish such as angels and tangs.

Good luck, oh and I have the same problem with deploying and that's where the family steps in and takes care of the tank while I'm away.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by sneaky5

Hello RC, names John been keeping tanks on and off for ~15years. Mostly fresh but a fish only salt here and there. It will be some time till I setup a reef but I plan to troll and lurk in the shadows gathering info till Im ready. (Moving in under a year and dont want to break down a reef)

On a positive note I picked up 75gallon to do a fresh planted with for $100, will be getting to that tomorrow.

To Reef Central
you're right about having to break down the tank in a year, I wouldn't start a tank, until you are settled. Lurk around and read up, but don't stay in the shadows too much when and if you have questions, be sure to start a thread and ask.

[Jhoan Mosquera]

hi folks! My name is like my nick... Jhoan Mosquera. i have a 69 GAL tank with 400 watts MH, 90 VHO 50/50 since 16 months ago. I would like success a mix lps soft tank with some fishes. nowdays i have
torch coral, frogspaw, green star polyps, a Anemone , Lysmata shrimp, red-banded shrimp,1 yellow tang,1 ocellaris clownfish, 1spotted damselfish, six line wrasse, 1 rusty angel.

Actually have some problems about cyano and other threads. but here, I been reading very interesting posts. i hope can receive all knowledge that i need for success of my tank.

[Sisterlimonpot]

To Reef Central
Read as much as you can. Good to have you with us.
Good luck with your quest to have an LPS tank

[Switters]

Hello to all. I'm Derek and I'm trying to learn and absorb as much info as I can before getting my tank running. I used to run FW tanks but got rid of them about 10 yrs. ago. I recently came into a 6 ft. 135 gal. tank and am trying to decide on the best way to get a salt tank started. I'm hoping to run a reef tank once I learn how to maintain the proper water chemistry but in the meantime will likely be FOWLR.

I'm trying to decide on a few things so I can purchase the right equipment, etc. in the right order and do so without breaking the bank but I'm discovering that there seem to be a lot of people who swear you should do just about every different option out there and they all seem to know what they are talking about.

Here's what I'm wondering most:
a) What substrate?
b) I'm planning on getting a skimmer, but do I want anything else or will my LR be enough of a bio-filter?
c) How much LR?
And of course, drum roll please... d) What to do about lighting?

Sage advice is most welcome.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Switters

Hello to all. I'm Derek and I'm trying to learn and absorb as much info as I can before getting my tank running. I used to run FW tanks but got rid of them about 10 yrs. ago. I recently came into a 6 ft. 135 gal. tank and am trying to decide on the best way to get a salt tank started. I'm hoping to run a reef tank once I learn how to maintain the proper water chemistry but in the meantime will likely be FOWLR.

I'm trying to decide on a few things so I can purchase the right equipment, etc. in the right order and do so without breaking the bank but I'm discovering that there seem to be a lot of people who swear you should do just about every different option out there and they all seem to know what they are talking about.

Here's what I'm wondering most:
a) What substrate?
b) I'm planning on getting a skimmer, but do I want anything else or will my LR be enough of a bio-filter?
c) How much LR?
And of course, drum roll please... d) What to do about lighting?

Sage advice is most welcome.

To Reef Central
a) Substrate is basically your sand, some may even bundle your live rock into as well.
b) Most definitely, as long as you have enough live rock to sustain the bioload (the amount of waste that needs to be converted by the biological filtration, usually referred to as the amount of fish in the tank).
c)With that said, as much as I dislike rule of thumbs, a good starting point for LR is having 1-1.5 lbs per gallon of water in the display tank. The reason why it differs from tank to tank is because rock can come more or less dense.
d) The lighting is going to be determined by what you are going to have in the tank, if you plan on having corals, then it's wise to get Metal Halides, VHO's or T5's (or a combination of them)

If you haven't already, read through this

[Mrs.kbmdale]

sister gave u a GREAT link derek!! good luck and welcome to rc and the hobby!

[johnd651]

Originally Posted by Switters

I used to run FW tanks but got rid of them about 10 yrs. ago. I recently came into a 6 ft. 135 gal. tank and am trying to decide on the best way to get a salt tank started. I'm hoping to run a reef tank once I learn how to maintain the proper water chemistry but in the meantime will likely be FOWLR.

i am in a similar spot. I am switching from FW to SW, and must say best idea ever. I like the fish in both FW and SW but for me it was the coral. just a heads up, u will need an RODi unit for water for your SW tank, something i didnt realize until I started reading thorugh the forums.

Originally Posted by Switters

I'm trying to decide on a few things so I can purchase the right equipment, etc. in the right order and do so without breaking the bank but I'm discovering that there seem to be a lot of people who swear you should do just about every different option out there and they all seem to know what they are talking about.

before you buy anything, look for it second hand. craigslist, etc. I have mananged to obtain almost everything at half price second hand. some stuff reef'ers bought and never used, so it was brand new other things needed a vinegar bath and a quick scrub and look brand new.

you will hear many different opinions, from many different people. its one of those, take everything you hear with a grain of salt things. it depends on your situation, what you can afford, and how much work you want to put into it. The link above is worth the read.