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Jay Duke

Jay Duke

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Hello everyone,

My name's Jay and I'm an addict...

I had a couple freshwater fish tanks when I was a kid, but my parents did almost all the work, including selecting the fish.

Now I'm a grownup and have a son of my own. Every time we go in the doctors office he would stare at the huge fish tank, absolutely transfixed on the colourful, peaceful world. We live in Vancouver, BC, Canada which has the fantastic Vancouver Aquarium, and again when we took him there his little eyes lit up with delight.

So the wife and I decided to dig around on the classifieds and we ended up getting a used 40g tall tank. A couple months later, it's up and running (with fake plants and the basic package LED light and an undergravel filter.) And everything is great.

Except I keep searching. And reading. And researching. And now I want to do a planted tank, and want to upgrade my light, and get a canister filter...

And every time I go to the LFS I walk every so slowly by the saltwater tanks and oogle at the reef tank...

And now I spend my nights watching BRStv videos and reading Reef2Reef and searching for local deals on reef tank supplies.

So, I've signed up to this forum today because I plan on making my own build thread eventually and I know I'll need a LOT of help. I'll also need to save some money, as it seems the 300 bucks or so I spent to get this freshwater tank up and running wont be a drop in the bucket, pardon the pun.

I'm thinking 75 gallon reef tank with softies and lots of fish...

Can't wait to get into it!
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Top Shelf Aquatics
Welcome to R2R!!
giphy.gif
#WelcometoR2R
Be sure to take pictures, we love pictures:)
 
My story is nearly identical. First tank in college was a cichlid tank, then moved to saltwater, then softies and LPS, and now LPS SPS.

My advice is to make hard corals your goal immediately... because you're going to want them... you just are. And they arent even that hard. Except the skeleton. That's hard.

I just bought a deep blue 80 gallon frag. Look it up--pretty cool!

Good luck! it's addicting.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
I’m not against hard corals...

But I like the look of the soft and sps more than hard, and (I probably shouldn’t say this here) but the fish is what really attracts me to marine.

That said I can’t see myself with a fish only tank. It looks naked. I want a little slice of the ocean...
 
Jay Duke said:
I’m not against hard corals...

But I like the look of the soft and sps more than hard, and (I probably shouldn’t say this here) but the fish is what really attracts me to marine.

That said I can’t see myself with a fish only tank. It looks naked. I want a little slice of the ocean...
Click to expand...

Fish are of course the best. I love love love my bluethroat trigger.

So SPS (small polyp stony) and LPS (large polyp stony) are the hard corals. SPS corals in particular especially need pretty high turnover, low nutrients, high light, and essential minerals in the water with which to build skeletons. LPS corals need less flow, and have larger polyps with greater amounts of soft tissue. They generally are more forgiving.

Acropora, pocillipora, and montipora are the most common SPS in our reef tanks. Pretty much anything branching or plating falls in this category (chalices are an exception--LPS). Some, like montipora, are very easy to keep as long as you have adequate lighting and lower nutrients.

LPS generally is euphyllia and favites. Most of these can be kept in lower flow portions of SPS reefs. Pretty much any coral with "meat on the bones" goes in this category. Generally, they are pretty easy to keep.

Softies are cool and definitely easy to keep, but many use chemotaxis to defend space. They are typically incompatible with SPS because of this, but I always keep zoas (i dont think they use chemical warfare) and toadstool leather. They also get stressed in high flow. Some, like green starry polyps and mushrooms, will grow too fast and truly be impossible to get rid of.

We all eventually gravitate towards SPS corals, which is a sure reason to consider this route initially
 
View ReefStash's latest YouTube video!
Hello and welcome to R2R Jay.

As you learn more about the advances in the hobbie since you last had system, you will find it is simpler to keep your system dialed in. Great tank size to start with, I have had many 75's:)
 
Jay Duke said:
Why is that, though? Just the challenge of it? To be successful with SPS you need to have your tank totally dialed in?
Click to expand...

I would say there are two general reasons for this. First, softie tanks tend not to match (but they can) the sheer unadulterated beauty of a mature SPS reef with LPS gems. Second, keeping corals such as acros thriving and with good color is the pinnacle of reef keeping. I recently did a couple stupid things that contributed to a small ammonia spike and managed to kill a good number of my acros. They do require consistency and perfect chemistry.

The good news is that perfect chemistry isnt that hard, and near perfect chemistry truly only requires diligence. If you have been successful in keeping a low nutrient freshwater tank, you can keep a low nutrient reef. LPS corals and Monti's will thrive in this environment. Add a protein skimmer (sump is really best), a cpl powerheads, and an intense LED, and youre set!

When you're just starting, you can use a reef salt and eventually guide yourself into dosing as your "frags" grow into colonies and consume heavy minerals. Initially, water changes and maybe some easy chemical adjustment (alk) will be all that is necessary.

So start slow, learn from a few inevitable mistakes, and have fun
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Avast
Reefkeeping is the best!! I was on & off with FW cichlids for 20 years myself, then SW sucked me in and it was over...

Here's a pic from one of my favorite articles on reefkeeping, applicable to new hobbyists and old as well, maybe you're seen that article, maybe not...

eb_reef.jpg


Long-term stability and balance are the keys, and you just can't shortcut the process significantly. That's always the #1 thing to keep in mind!
 
Dinkin's Aquatic Gardens

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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