Howdy all

[vinnyvidivici92]

Well where to start, i first got into the hobby when i was gifted a pair of newly hatched painted turtles from a coworker.
I let them go that following summer as they got rather large quickly and opted for something a little easier to care for with the time available with my job. Over the next 2 years i ended up with 35 tanks all freshwater mostly neocaridina and the harder to keep caridina "cherry" shrimp.
each have their own challenges, neo have to be color specific or they will revert to wild color over time.
caridina require very pristine, specific water parameters and can be mixed to create new awsome variations.
I also have some Hawaiian volcano shrimp called opae ula they breed in brackish but can live in all 3 and will cull them into my reef tanks anyways,sorry for the tanget ha...
Anyway im finally ready to try my hand at a reef tank and collecting materials to run a duel 40 gallon breeders into a eshopps r-300 refugium and have been looking at live rock from arc reef.
Im looking at a pair of black ice clowns and a pair of tankbred mandarin dragonets.

Sorry about the novel haha
Any help will be greatly appreciated! Im sure ill need it

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[Zach B]

Welcome

 

[Schraufabagel]

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Kennya]

Welcome to R2R

 

[vinnyvidivici92]

Thank you everyone!
What are some things i should be aware of before i start the build?
After doing more reading i think im gonna opt for the trition44 v2 sump instead.
Since there isnt a whole lot of threads of return and overflow placement im using eshopps medium over flow.
so far i think im gonna put it in the center of the back pane and split my return to come in on the top corners either side of the overflow.
I plan on setting up two gyre wake makers vertically one blowing along the back wall of the tank going to the left then the front of the tank on the right for circulation.
That way i get my north south movement along the short panes from the return and the east west movement from the gyres.
Now im not sure if i wanna run triton, reef moonshiners, or red sea colors program... it seems each has its own pros and cons... sometimes research only makes it more complicated lol
Oh and im trying to do minimum water changes as its an hour and a half drive to the nearest reef shop and i have a shallow well so rodi is a no go for now

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Jonify]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Billldg]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[threebuoys]

A wealth of info here, you will learn a lot.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world Vinny. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[Jedi1199]

Welcome to the Dark Side...

 

[threebuoys]

Oh and im trying to do minimum water changes as its an hour and a half drive to the nearest reef shop and i have a shallow well so rodi is a no go for now

Where do you get water for your freshwater tanks? That's an unfortunate problem, and can get expensive too!

 

[vinnyvidivici92]

Theres a pet shop 20 min from my house and i was getting it there but i had a falling out with the owner, wasnt a fan of morals or sales tactics. So i went to the rodi system at walmart and thats not cheap so i kinda shut everything down, now say a decent water change over the course of a week once every 6 months or so i could manage but i know im gonna have to dose trace minerals and get a well working fuge going to make up for that

 

[maceto]

Welcome!!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Well where to start, i first got into the hobby when i was gifted a pair of newly hatched painted turtles from a coworker.
I let them go that following summer as they got rather large quickly and opted for something a little easier to care for with the time available with my job. Over the next 2 years i ended up with 35 tanks all freshwater mostly neocaridina and the harder to keep caridina "cherry" shrimp.
each have their own challenges, neo have to be color specific or they will revert to wild color over time.
caridina require very pristine, specific water parameters and can be mixed to create new awsome variations.
I also have some Hawaiian volcano shrimp called opae ula they breed in brackish but can live in all 3 and will cull them into my reef tanks anyways,sorry for the tanget ha...
Anyway im finally ready to try my hand at a reef tank and collecting materials to run a duel 40 gallon breeders into a eshopps r-300 refugium and have been looking at live rock from arc reef.
Im looking at a pair of black ice clowns and a pair of tankbred mandarin dragonets.

Sorry about the novel haha
Any help will be greatly appreciated! Im sure ill need it

Welcome! Glad you joined. I'll suggest you wait to add dragonets, unless you are committed to culturing pods in another small tank for them (I use beverage containers and a 2.5 gallon tank, so I do mean SMALL). With your prior experiences, culturing pods to support your main tank likely wouldn't be any big deal but to the dragonets, it could mean life or death. They have tiny stomachs, constantly need food, and their preferred food of pods is everyone else's food too... An established tank will give pods IN tank and sump a chance to grow/live. You'll also find a great feeder suggestion searching Paul B mandarin feeder, but personally I've left the brine shrimp hatching (recommend those flat ones, if you do baby brines aka BBs) given how well culturing pods has been going for me. Pods are less work than BBs for me. I have pod info in my build thread link below. I am going to be adding airstones to see if that increases my pod productions (likely) but I have just been following someone else's info (search lazy banana peel method) scaled down for indoors (though I've got 2 Reef Nutrition Tigger cultures (like tig size and ease of ME seeing pods, AlgaeBarn EcoPods (4 strain mix - no idea if one is eating another as they are all so small) and AlgaeGen Apocyclops - also super small).

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Hello and welcome to R2R. We sure are glad to have you here.

 

[vinnyvidivici92]

Welcome! Glad you joined. I'll suggest you wait to add dragonets, unless you are committed to culturing pods in another small tank for them (I use beverage containers and a 2.5 gallon tank, so I do mean SMALL). With your prior experiences, culturing pods to support your main tank likely wouldn't be any big deal but to the dragonets, it could mean life or death. They have tiny stomachs, constantly need food, and their preferred food of pods is everyone else's food too... An established tank will give pods IN tank and sump a chance to grow/live. You'll also find a great feeder suggestion searching Paul B mandarin feeder, but personally I've left the brine shrimp hatching (recommend those flat ones, if you do baby brines aka BBs) given how well culturing pods has been going for me. Pods are less work than BBs for me. I have pod info in my build thread link below. I am going to be adding airstones to see if that increases my pod productions (likely) but I have just been following someone else's info (search lazy banana peel method) scaled down for indoors (though I've got 2 Reef Nutrition Tigger cultures (like tig size and ease of ME seeing pods, AlgaeBarn EcoPods (4 strain mix - no idea if one is eating another as they are all so small) and AlgaeGen Apocyclops - also super small).

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

Good info to know! Thank u and i did plan on running 2.5 and/or 5 gal next to sump for pods and plan on culturing phytoplankton as i want a handful of those electric flame scallops.
i probly will start a build thread but its been -30 windchill here at nite some nites and dont think ordering live rock in winter is the wisest decision, but i have my tanks and overflows so far, by spring i should have all the equipment i need and can start but with my adhd brain building the tank and stand is gonna force me to build my storage couch so i can nix my work desk and move my art supplies to inside the couch and set the tank up where the desk is... probly unimportant but there is some work/ challeneges to overcome before i start or ill get side tracked half way thru the build