New old reefer

[FishGuyBri]

Hi everyone! I'm new to R2R and am working on restarting an old hobby. About 15 years ago I was really into freshwater fish, and tried my first saltwater tank. It did well, but so much seems to have changed. I've tapped a new friend and a very friendly, knowledgeable fish guy to help me set up a new 90g reef tank. I've read the books and watched the videos and some of it I remember. I'm hoping to read through your posts, make new posts, and ask tons of questions as long as I don't pester anyone. Thanks for welcoming me to the forum and I look forward to tracking my tank/build on here!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Welcome to R2R, glad to have you!

 

[jsker]

Welcome to R2R and welcome back to reefing. I took about a 15 year break also and boy things have changed for the better. Please feel freed to asked and we will help you get the answers

 

[Brew12]

Hi everyone! I'm new to R2R and am working on restarting an old hobby. About 15 years ago I was really into freshwater fish, and tried my first saltwater tank. It did well, but so much seems to have changed. I've tapped a new friend and a very friendly, knowledgeable fish guy to help me set up a new 90g reef tank. I've read the books and watched the videos and some of it I remember. I'm hoping to read through your posts, make new posts, and ask tons of questions as long as I don't pester anyone. Thanks for welcoming me to the forum and I look forward to tracking my tank/build on here!

Welcome to Reef2Reef, glad to hav eyou here!

btw... pestering is highly encouraged... as are pictures!

 

[FishGuyBri]

Thanks!! I'll be putting up pictures starting this weekend throughout he startup process. I've got a 90 gal on the way and I'm trying to stick with the best of everything to start out right!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[FishGuyBri]

So I'm excited- the tank will be picked up this weekend with all of the goodies I bought. I've had a blast buying pieces off amazon and trying to get prepared to set up redundancy items since I live in sunny (stormy) SW Florida. Lets see how this goes!! Right now, I'm deciding what type of RO/DI unit to get. I live in a condo so there's not a lot of space to mount one and we have crappy chloramine heavy city water. Any recommendations? I've browsed the threads and there's so many different recommendations...

 

[JoshH]

Might give this a shot if you are a little handy. Plenty of room for extra filters to handle the heavier water load and still tucks away nicely.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-rsm-c-130-build.277137/

 

[NickNiz]

Welcome to R2R!!! I see you're from Ft Myers? I'm located in Naples...

I hope you start a build log in the Members Tanks section of the forum once you get started! As for your water issue, I just go to my LFS and pick up fresh water for $0.57 a gallon, and then mix it myself with Red Sea Coral Pro salt... I don't trust my water at home as I am on a well system. Not sure if it's cheaper in the long run as they sell saltwater for $1.19, but I love the Red Sea salt and I'm not sure if that's what they use.

 

[FishGuyBri]

Welcome to R2R!!! I see you're from Ft Myers? I'm located in Naples...

I hope you start a build log in the Members Tanks section of the forum once you get started! As for your water issue, I just go to my LFS and pick up fresh water for $0.57 a gallon, and then mix it myself with Red Sea Coral Pro salt... I don't trust my water at home as I am on a well system. Not sure if it's cheaper in the long run as they sell saltwater for $1.19, but I love the Red Sea salt and I'm not sure if that's what they use.

Sweet! Yep in Ft Myers. My spouse works in Naples... I unfortunately travel 4 days a week and work out of Tampa so that sucks. My LFS will sell for .90 a gallon so that's what I'm doing for now, but the idea of over he toilet placement seems perfect (see above). I am planning on using red coral as well. Definitely doing a build log, should start this weekend... do you have tank pics up? I'm looking for ideas for aquascaping for mixed coral.

 

[FishGuyBri]

Might give this a shot if you are a little handy. Plenty of room for extra filters to handle the heavier water load and still tucks away nicely.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-rsm-c-130-build.277137/

Man this is PERFECT for me. Thanks for sharing. I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to lengthen the RO membrane life since I hear chloramine in our area eats them up much faster even with a small carbon block...

 

[JoshH]

spectra pure and BRS both have special chloramine pre filters to replace the regular carbon ones which should help with that

 

[glb]

Welcome! You'll be pleasantly surprised by all the great changes that have happened over the past 15 years! Ask a lot of questions here. We all want to help!

 

[NickNiz]

Sweet! Yep in Ft Myers. My spouse works in Naples... I unfortunately travel 4 days a week and work out of Tampa so that sucks. My LFS will sell for .90 a gallon so that's what I'm doing for now, but the idea of over he toilet placement seems perfect (see above). I am planning on using red coral as well. Definitely doing a build log, should start this weekend... do you have tank pics up? I'm looking for ideas for aquascaping for mixed coral.

Ouch that's quite the drive... here is a picture of my old RSM 250 (67 gallon). Not much live stock left because I had a crash when the chiller broke while I was out of town and the water boiled...

If you're willing to be patient, you can always start with dry rock and seed it with one piece of live rock. Reefcleaners.org has some amazing looking pieces and free shipping on rock.

I don't have the RSM anymore, but am instead working on building up a Nano Cube that is a few weeks old. http://reef2reef.com/threads/nicknizs-12-gallon-nano-cube.280442/#post-3408880

 

[JoshH]

Man this is PERFECT for me. Thanks for sharing. I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to lengthen the RO membrane life since I hear chloramine in our area eats them up much faster even with a small carbon block...

Any time, I know your pains lol it was a little bit of a challenge finding a good spot that my girlfriend would approve of lol

 

[FishGuyBri]

I've been reading the MANY threads on Controllers. I don't want to spend $800 but I want to start off with everything as close to failsafe (and I know there's no such thing as perfect) as possible. I'm thinking the Apex is the right one, but it's such a huge investment. Does anyone know of a website that compares them against each other? I've watched the videos on youtube but i need to see them side by side. It's either Reefkeeper elite or Apex New. I have to make a decision before I get told no (better to seek forgiveness than ask permission) from the warden (aka spouse).

 

[FishGuyBri]

Ouch that's quite the drive... here is a picture of my old RSM 250 (67 gallon). Not much live stock left because I had a crash when the chiller broke while I was out of town and the water boiled...

If you're willing to be patient, you can always start with dry rock and seed it with one piece of live rock. Reefcleaners.org has some amazing looking pieces and free shipping on rock.

I don't have the RSM anymore, but am instead working on building up a Nano Cube that is a few weeks old. http://reef2reef.com/threads/nicknizs-12-gallon-nano-cube.280442/#post-3408880

Man that sucks!! Sorry about the crash. My LFS recommended the manmade purple reef-rock, wet sand and then he was going to give me some water from one of his reef systems. I'm not too sure about the last part, but his setups are SUPER clean and he takes meticulous care of them, so we'll see. I'm definitely going the patient route, this baby is going to get TLC from the start.

 

[tonto95]

Check youtube out for 52 weeks of reefkeeping done by bulk reef supply. They mighy have tips you can use since you have been out of the hobby

 

[FishGuyBri]

Check youtube out for 52 weeks of reefkeeping done by bulk reef supply. They mighy have tips you can use since you have been out of the hobby

I'm just now finishing the 52nd episode. It has been very enlightening on all of the new stuff they have out now. I think my next purchase is a Spectrapure RODI that has the chloramine pre filter and perhaps adding a carbon filter before the RO section, and I've just been given permission by the other half to spend a little $$ on the apex. We both agree that if we are going to get back into this hobby full steam, we have to do it right from the start. I'll start a thread when I get everything started to follow the build and get more help haha. Thanks!

 

[tonto95]

You will enjoy the apex and the info you can get from it at a moments notice. Start a priority list for the accessories you want. This will start you on the right path.