New Reefer!!

[gulf coast reefer]

Hey guys, hope all is well. Excited to start my reefing journey.
couldn’t wait any longer jumping from fresh to salt.
Current setup:
-Red Sea 170 with sump I picked up from my LFS
-Bahamian pink sand
-caribsea rock (thinking about adding more)

started my cycle 12/10/21. All I used to get bacteria going were a couple frozen cubes so far. Had a white slime build up (could’ve been a couple candles) so I aired out the living room and it seems most of it has gone away.

looking for Equipment recommendations:
Light, skimmer,heater, anything else I could need for the tank/sump etc
***no light so I pulled away blackout curtains for the picture**

 

[unchaotic]

Be smarter than I was, get more rock in there now. Get a nice sturdy aquascape before anything else goes in there. With my 60 gallon I've been adding rock and dealing with the uglies every time, not to mention lack of stability.

Lights depend on budget and what features you want. I'm doing fine with Viparspectras and Ocean Revives but you could definitely step up to a Hydra 32, Reefbreeder, Radion, etc.

I would personally get a titanium heater with a temp controller. Glass heaters and any heater that is independently temp controlled make me nervous.

 

[Ryde]

Hey guys, hope all is well. Excited to start my reefing journey.
couldn’t wait any longer jumping from fresh to salt.
Current setup:
-Red Sea 170 with sump I picked up from my LFS
-Bahamian pink sand
-caribsea rock (thinking about adding more)

started my cycle 12/10/21. All I used to get bacteria going were a couple frozen cubes so far. Had a white slime build up (could’ve been a couple candles) so I aired out the living room and it seems most of it has gone away.

looking for Equipment recommendations:
Light, skimmer,heater, anything else I could need for the tank/sump etc
***no light so I pulled away blackout curtains for the picture**

I run a single Radion rx15 G5 on my tank. They come at a cost but defiantly get the job done, I would look into them.
As @unchaotic said make sure you get your rock exactly how you want it. You'll want to make sure its stable so it can't be toppled over. I'm always messing with my scape because I failed to get it right.
I use Eheim Jager Thermostat Aquarium Heater for my tank, I use 2 of them recommended for half of my tank size so one can NEVER overheat my tank.
Now I don't have a skimmer and can't help you there but what are your bio load plans for than thank? You may hnot need one at first or never.
If you couldn't tell I'm a sucker for Ecotech's equipment like the MP40QD or Vectra return pump, but you'll need a powerhead/wavemaker to push water around the display.

Also, you might what to start planning your stocking list. This never has to be set in stone, but it gives you an idea on filtration and other things. Hope I helped!

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Be smarter than I was, get more rock in there now. Get a nice sturdy aquascape before anything else goes in there. With my 60 gallon I've been adding rock and dealing with the uglies every time, not to mention lack of stability.

Lights depend on budget and what features you want. I'm doing fine with Viparspectras and Ocean Revives but you could definitely step up to a Hydra 32, Reefbreeder, Radion, etc.

I would personally get a titanium heater with a temp controller. Glass heaters and any heater that is independently temp controlled make me nervous.

Thanks for the reply. All my rock is fitted together with reef safe epoxy and made sure it’s sturdy. Very difficult to be completely satisfied with your aquascape lol so I feel your pain. Will definitely add more. Have a few extra rocks laying around. I’ll check those lights out. Thanks!!

 

[gulf coast reefer]

I run a single Radion rx15 G5 on my tank. They come at a cost but defiantly get the job done, I would look into them.
As @unchaotic said make sure you get your rock exactly how you want it. You'll want to make sure its stable so it can't be toppled over. I'm always messing with my scape because I failed to get it right.
I use Eheim Jager Thermostat Aquarium Heater for my tank, I use 2 of them recommended for half of my tank size so one can NEVER overheat my tank.
Now I don't have a skimmer and can't help you there but what are your bio load plans for than thank? You may hnot need one at first or never.
If you couldn't tell I'm a sucker for Ecotech's equipment like the MP40QD or Vectra return pump, but you'll need a powerhead/wavemaker to push water around the display.

Also, you might what to start planning your stocking list. This never has to be set in stone, but it gives you an idea on filtration and other things. Hope I helped!

Great idea. I better look more into what I’d like to stock the tank with and figure out filtration after. Learn something new every day. Are you running that rx15 on a 170? Might just start with growing some simple softies to get the hang of things. Thanks for the reply!!

 

[Ryde]

Great idea. I better look more into what I’d like to stock the tank with and figure out filtration after. Learn something new every day. Are you running that rx15 on a 170? Might just start with growing some simple softies to get the hang of things. Thanks for the reply!!

No, I'm not running the rx15 on a 170, but I do run them on a tank just a little smaller, 32 gallons.

 

[unchaotic]

Great idea. I better look more into what I’d like to stock the tank with and figure out filtration after. Learn something new every day. Are you running that rx15 on a 170? Might just start with growing some simple softies to get the hang of things. Thanks for the reply!!

Stick with softies until you get your parameters to stay nice and steady. I lost a lot of my first SPS additions due to Alk swings. I had kalk in my ATO reservoir, which caused ATO sensor issues in my sump, which caused big ATO dumps and Alk swings. Took awhile to recover from all of that.

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Ouch!!!
Thanks for the reply. Any recommendations on beginner softies?
Hope all is well @unchaotic

 

[ProxyAquarist]

... Excited to start my reefing journey.
couldn’t wait any longer jumping from fresh to salt. ...

Welcome to R2R !

You'll find a lot of great resources here.

I Look forward to your success in 2922,
Jim

 

[TnFishwater98]

Hey guys, hope all is well. Excited to start my reefing journey.
couldn’t wait any longer jumping from fresh to salt.
Current setup:
-Red Sea 170 with sump I picked up from my LFS
-Bahamian pink sand
-caribsea rock (thinking about adding more)

started my cycle 12/10/21. All I used to get bacteria going were a couple frozen cubes so far. Had a white slime build up (could’ve been a couple candles) so I aired out the living room and it seems most of it has gone away.

looking for Equipment recommendations:
Light, skimmer,heater, anything else I could need for the tank/sump etc
***no light so I pulled away blackout curtains for the picture**

Welcome to Da

Reef!

 

[Clown2020]

Ouch!!!
Thanks for the reply. Any recommendations on beginner softies?
Hope all is well @unchaotic

Any of the lower priced zoa are an excellent choice, the higher priced ones can be a bit tricky with light sometimes

mine are almost bullet proof while carefully removing hair alge near a head I accidentally caught it with my nail and ripped a hole in the side thought for sure I would lose the head, it stayed closed for a week and made a full recovery. This colony also grows a couple of new heads a week

ps if you shot the colony with a bullet I’m fairly confidant it would recover Lol

Mushrooms are good too for those darker spots

If your confidant in keeping your parameters stable you could even start with some hardy lps like candy cane or hammer fairly quickly If softies are going well.

 

[hubcap]

exciting, isn't it?

welcome to the madness.

ask a lot of questions. people here are pretty good about sharing their experiences.



-cap

 

[Ryde]

Ouch!!!
Thanks for the reply. Any recommendations on beginner softies?
Hope all is well @unchaotic

There's Mushroom Corals, Anthelia, Pulsing Xenia, Kenya Tree Coral, Green Star Polyps (GSP),
Toadstool Coral, Leather Coral, Zoanthids, Weeping Willow Toadstool, are all easy soft corals, but some can grow very quick possible tanking over a tank. Always research before you buy!

 

[unchaotic]

Lots of good suggestions so far. My tank was FOWLR for 3+ years before I added coral. I started with mushrooms, xenia, gsp, nepthea, and a basic green hammer. All of those have done very well despite all of the issues I had. Nepthea is cool but I've heard it can cause troubles with SPS if you don't have carbon filtration.

I've had Kenya tree long enough to only cautiously recommend it. I didn't see what everyone's problem with it was until it suddenly shriveled up and started dropping branches to spread. I now watch it pretty carefully.

 

[DAWREEFER]

Welcome to R2R! Its fantastic and addictive! I'm always saying 'Just one more coral, honey...' it's never just one more, haha. Its a great journey and the advice I can give you is that just keep calm and ride the wave of problems that will come to your tank in your first year! Looks awesome and I wish I could have a bigger tank :-/ mines a 20gal modified with an in house filtration system.

Hey guys, hope all is well. Excited to start my reefing journey.
couldn’t wait any longer jumping from fresh to salt.
Current setup:
-Red Sea 170 with sump I picked up from my LFS
-Bahamian pink sand
-caribsea rock (thinking about adding more)

started my cycle 12/10/21. All I used to get bacteria going were a couple frozen cubes so far. Had a white slime build up (could’ve been a couple candles) so I aired out the living room and it seems most of it has gone away.

looking for Equipment recommendations:
Light, skimmer,heater, anything else I could need for the tank/sump etc
***no light so I pulled away blackout curtains for the picture**

 

[G Santana]

Welcome aboard the Salt Train

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Got my lighting set up. Went with the Red Sea 50 instead of the 90. It’ll do exactly what I want for the soft corals I have in mind.
_
Also added a titanium heater as well.
can’t wait for fish and corals soon!!!

 

[KaitCorals]

Welcome Gulf Coast Reefer! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

- Cheers Kait.

 

[gulf coast reefer]

Welcome Gulf Coast Reefer! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

- Cheers Kait.

Thanks for tuning in!!

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

Looks like you are getting plenty of advice.