Advice for anyone new to the hobby

[CarChase]

Hello all. I just wanted to introduce myself and say what a wealth of info can be found on Reef 2 Reef. I have been out of the hobby for about 12 years. Much has changed since then. My current set up is a standard 30 gallon tank, CPR Back Pack 2 Skimmer, Aquamax Nemo LED fixture, Hang on the back refugium, and Whisper power filter (for carbon, phosphate media and filter pads). Livestock: (1) percula clown and (1) fire fish, (2) mushroom polyps and (1) Acan Echinata frag. Tank goal is LPS and soft corals. I would like to stress that anyone starting out in this hobby should spend at least a month researching and planning their tank build. I jumped back into the hobby to quickly and made a few mistakes that could have been avoided. There is a ton of info available here on R2R and some really great videos on Bulk Reef Supply. The first mistake I made was not planning on adding a sump to my system. Although I don't think a sump is a necessity, it sure would help with the look of the tank by eliminating the hang on the back equipment. Also, I should have bought a better light fixture that could be used for a future tank upgrade and provide better PAR (such as the Aqua Illumination LED). As a result, I'm going to add two T5 fixtures to my system which will probably end up costing me more than if I have bought a decent light in the first place. It also means more power cords and an additional timer for the lights. So far the tank is looking good at the 2.5 month mark. I had a huge hair algae problem that is now under control and my fish and corals look happy.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!!! Great advice

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R and back to the hobby.

 

[PanchoG]

Welcome!

 

[Scottsquatch]

Welcome to reef 2 reef! Great group of people here and LOTS of good info. I am just coming back in myself after a two year break due to health reasons. I did keep somewhat up to date, so nothing was a huge shock to me coming back in. Before that, I came off of a 14-15 year break and lemme tell you... THAT was a shock! The hobby has changed in leaps and bounds since the 90's. How do you like the 30 gal? Is that the same size you ran before? I am doing a 33 long build that I originally started two years ago. It's the same dimensions as a 55 gallon, but shorter. I also have a reef ready 220 gallon that I will eventually set up as well. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck to you. Happy reefing!

 

[CarChase]

Welcome to reef 2 reef! Great group of people here and LOTS of good info. I am just coming back in myself after a two year break due to health reasons. I did keep somewhat up to date, so nothing was a huge shock to me coming back in. Before that, I came off of a 14-15 year break and lemme tell you... THAT was a shock! The hobby has changed in leaps and bounds since the 90's. How do you like the 30 gal? Is that the same size you ran before? I am doing a 33 long build that I originally started two years ago. It's the same dimensions as a 55 gallon, but shorter. I also have a reef ready 220 gallon that I will eventually set up as well. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck to you. Happy reefing!

T

The 33 long sounds like an interesting size. Since its shallow lighting the tank shouldn't be to expensive. The 30 gallon I have is a bit small for me and it's located in my basement. I had the 30g sitting in storage so I ended up using it. When space allows I plan to get a 50-60 gallon cube tank. My tanks before this was a 46 gallon bow tank, mostly fish and a small mushroom colony. Prior to that I had a 70 gallon reef tank. Speaking of the 90s , back then I was using power compact fluorescents! Remember those! Also I had a deep sand bed in the tank with a plenum underneath, which was supposedly they way to reduce nitrates, and of course the wall of live rock covering the entire back of the tank. I did have success with soft corals with that tank.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Oh man! Plenums! Thats a blast from the past. I remember when T-8's and an icecap ballast was the pinnacle of modern lighting if paired with halides. LEDS were probably still being researched and aquarium usage was still only a far off possibility.
Yeah the 33 long is a nice tank if space is limited. Youre right, lighting is nice and easy for this tank. I have two SB reeflights and two T5's to prevent shadowing. That should give me enough light to easily do any sticks I want.
I also have a 220 in the basement I plan to use one of these days. I am really looking forward to getting that one up and running. Keep us posted on your reef. I love watching them mature.

 

[WWIII]

Welcome to R2R @CarChase !

 

[CarChase]

Thanks, so far this site has been extremly informative. So much to read and so little time!

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

We need pics ! !

 

[cracker]

I remember when LED lighting was New untested technology .

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Welcome to R2R

 

[CarChase]

Ok here is a pick of the tank when I fist set it up in November.

 

[A_game43]

Welcome Back!!!

 

[CarChase]

This was after adding live sand, rearranging the rock work and LED fixture

Next came the first fish and Acan echinata and 2 mushroom polyps in late December.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Don't you hate waiting for coraline to cover your rock? Drives me nuts.

 

[CarChase]

Yes, absolutely. I have been trying to get it to grow faster by scraping and grinding up shavings from the pieces of live rock that I purchased. So far it hasn’t helped.

 

[Velcro]

Make everyone send you a picture of their tank before you take their advice.

 

[CarChase]

This is a recent pic of the tank. I should be recieving the corals that I won in a bid from Pieces of the Ocean Tomorrow so the tank will finally get some color.