Need help with this saltwater thing

[Mike1995]

Hello,
I'm just struggling to wrap my head around everything with this saltwater stuff. I don't know anyone else with aquariums in general so R2R is really my only way to learn. I know it sounds odd, but I was wondering if anyone local or somewhat local to 19611 would come by and take a look at my tank and everything and give me some advice or what I can do to improve. I do best learning things after watching someone else do it. If anyone is interested PM me

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'd suggest posting in one of the club forums to see if someone could help.

HERE are the PA clubs, and my guess is the closest is the Eastern Penn Club.

 

[wesman42]

For what it's worth, I did a quick Google and found a place: Coral Reef Connection in Sinking Spring. Might check them out, but know they may try to upsell the crap out of you as most LFS do. Mine sure did....lol.

I'd follow the advice of joining a club, because they might be able to recommend an LFS (good one in the entire state etc).

When I was first learning about all of this, I was probably in my LFS 10+ hours per week. I'd always buy something freshwater because I had a fresh aquarium too...but once I was educated enough to know what I needed/wanted..it remained the place I went for quick pickups of things even despite the 20% markup.

 

[Geebs19]

Hey mike, I would highly recommend reading the beginner posts in the new to salt water section. There is some great advice. Don’t be afraid to start a thread if you have a question or use the search function. I bet most questions you have, have most likely been asked.

 

[HawaiianReef]

Welcome to the hobby Mike!!

Local clubs are the way to go.
If you want to watch how to set up a reef tank, step by step, google:
"bulk reef supply 52 weeks of reefing"

Whatever isn't in the videos could be answered here.
I just started out myself and I cant believe how knowledgeable the guys here are. You get replies in just a few minutes rather than days, which really helps when you see one of you fishes acting oddly.

David

 

[GoPitt88]

Welcome to the hobby.....lot’s to learn, but very rewarding.....and will keep you out of trouble Like said above.....Bulk Reef Supply’s website has great videos. And this forum is awesome!!!! Good luck! [emoji3]

 

[jrill]

YouTube is your best friend.

 

[Maggie321]

Post pictures and ask pointed questions. Tell us what your end goal is and lots of us will chime in, give you experiences and ideas, ways to improve and ways to avoid disaster. All you have to do is let us know a specific. Welcome to the hobby! It really is a great one to be in.

 

[Mike1995]

Thanks everyone I'll check out the mentioned suggestions!
Well.. here's my 75g. It's been up idk like 6 months.. still going thru the ugly stage. I have a clean up crew. A single maroon clown, and a single zoa frag .all these are doing very well it seems .

I just wanted to ask a few questions tho..
My tank seems to get really cloudy after awhile.. I do know my phosphates are a little high (or really high). I tested and it's like .30.. half my rock was dryand dead before I put it in the tank. I cured it for about a month before hand.. but for some reason it get all sorts of algea all over it.. and my water gets cloudy.. what could I do to fix this? Or is it just part of the ugly stages?

Another thing is my lighting. It's a finnex marine 247. I've seen lights at pet stores, my lfs uses radions and stuff and I makes my light look pretty dull in comparison. My single zoa frag is always open tho.. but my question is, it's especially opened up more at night when the ramping down settings are going. It's more blue than white at this point .do corals like the blue light more? Should I increase the blue during the day?

The last thing is my maroon clown (female) is terribly territorial. She killed a lionfish! So I now have a male, who is much smaller, but she chased him and nipped his fin. So he's in the sump for now. I think I'm gonna re-home them both. Can you guys give me some ideas for a new stocking? I know I would like a shoal of like 4-6 green chromis. But otherwise, what are some good tank mates for them? Would a more peaceful clown pair be okay?

 

[HawaiianReef]

Wow! Nice friggin scape! I thought it was a bigger tank looking at it.

Algae needs nutrients but it also really needs light. The spectrum of your light might be adjusted to offer more of those spectrums that the algae likes. I would start looking into that area. The Spectrum not so much how long you have the lights on.