New to R2R and the hobby

theguyinasia · Apr 23, 2013

Hi everyone,
I am new to this site and to the Hobby. I am currently located in Penang, Malaysia of all places in the world and am looking up to set up a few tanks. I will be receiving a 40g tank today with a 2 in 1 filter and pump for a simple set up. i plan on using this tank for an alternate/ quarantine tank for a bigger 260g tank currently being custom made. i have done a noobs worth of research for saltwater tank and noticed its hard to get quality equipment in malaysia. I would appreciate any help provided from the community. im currently like a little boy in a candy shop. lol. i need to remind myself to slow down.
Oh, my 40 G tank doesnt have a light as of now.... is this important for cycling?
looking forward to hear from you all. :smile:

justgotwet · Apr 23, 2013

Hello and welcome to reef 2 reef!

MelissaKathryn · Apr 23, 2013

Howdy from the US of A and welcome!

We didn't have our halides on for the first month (after adding the live sand and live rock) and then had only actinics on half the day for a few months. When we DID turn on our metal Halides, we did it an hour a day, increasing it by one hour every few days until we built up to 6-8 hours a day. My boyfriends buddy builds and maintains aquariums professionally for corporate and medical offices, etc. and he actually recommends and wanted us to leave the lights off the first 3-6 months to let the tank cycle and grow pods and then gradually increase the light exposure. He does this mainly so he only has to feed and change the water like once or twice a month because the tank is already so well established with tons of pods (food) and bacteria to break down waste. We don't have a filter... we use the natural, biological filter established in the tank and a refugium and a protein skimmer.. not sure if that makes a difference. Other than that, I would say it is not a necessity that you start out with lights ;-)

Just make sure not to suddenly start your lights for long periods of time each day, or you could get a really frustrating algae bloom and kinda throw your tank outta wack. We even added most of our snails and crabs after just 2-3 weeks, then two months into the tank, we added clownfish, then chromis. All can live without light.. we had ours that way for months... but we didn't get a bunch of blue legged hermit crabs and turbo snails until after the lights, so they had ample algae

I hope that helps. We have our blue spectrum/actinics on most of the time, with 12 hours of complete darkness, and only like 6 hours of the white/halide lights. The blue spectrum/actinics is what coraline algae usually likes the most.

So, in closing, from what I have learned, the light isn't important in the VERY beginning to cycle, but when you DO add light, do so in increments so your system gradually gets used to cycling with it.

Hope that made sense and helped! Hope you enjoy!
Melissa

theguyinasia · Apr 23, 2013

Mellisa,
Thanks for the explanation. That really helps at this point and time and also buys time for me to decide the exact lights I want to buy. I'm thinking on only using led for the 40g tank, but I have time to make a move. : ).
I really want to run a bio filter on this tank but I don't know where to start. I'll play around with this and see where it takes me

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

MelissaKathryn · Apr 23, 2013

Of course!

Everyone has their own way of doing things. We are coming up on our 5 month mark in our 55 g and have fish, crabs, snails, different corals, etc. with lots of the coraline algae growing. PM me if you want me to list it out kinda like step by step/ sorta calendar format. I already did it with one member, so I can just copy and paste it

How long have you been in malaysia? Did you grow up there or are you a transplant?

theguyinasia · Apr 23, 2013

I've been in Malaysia for almost 2 years. Out here for manufacturing business. I'm very much a SoCal boy : ). So it's now to take a trip to Bali once in a while.

Fortunately fish are cheap here. 3 usd for a clownfish. So I'm in a good spot, but I'm afraid the equipment here isn't good quality.

I'll definitely pm you, any help is more than appreciated

it's hard to be so calm though, I'm trying to learn patience

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

VB68 · Apr 23, 2013

Welcome to Reef2Reef

Reefing Madness · Apr 23, 2013

revhtree · Apr 23, 2013

Hello and welcome to R2R!

We appreciate your membership!

Thanks for joining and please make sure and post often!

SeahorseKeeper · Apr 23, 2013

Welcome to R2R!!

spspirate · Apr 23, 2013

Welcome from far away!!!!! Make your self at home!

mike007 · Apr 23, 2013

Welcome to r2r lots of good info here. As far as the lights i have never had a problem turning them on from the start.

theguyinasia · Apr 25, 2013

Thanks for the info. I'm still skeptical about getting lights here in Penang. It seems all equipment is 5 years+ behind. I have to order over flows from US or make them because no one here uses them. :/

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP