Newbie's First "Real" Tank and Post

[hoffmeyerz]

Just wanted to finally join in and say hi. My wife and I decided to get a fish tank during shutdown time of the pandemic while we were spending all out time at home. So we got a used 29gal and I decided to go saltwater. Unfortunately I got a lot of really bad advice from the lfs and ended up with a TON of diatoms and hair algae and was sold a nem way too early with the wrong light setup. I got very frustrated but finding this place was a game changer! I learned so much from reading here and even picked up most of the gear for the new tank here in the classifieds!
I'm now 5 months into our new 75gal with a Lifereef sump, skimmer, and reactors running carbon and phosgaurd. I hated the diatoms and hair algae so much, I really wanted to avoid that stuff. Started with 80lbs special grade live sand and 70lbs live base rock from a great lfs and it's been wonderful! We only have what we moved from the 29gal, a couple clowns, royal Gramma, and a pajama cardinal with a chocolate chip star right now. We would eventually like to add some corals and new fish but I'm really trying to be cautious and monitor things for awhile first.
Anyway I wanted to jump in and say thank you so much for the community!

 

[Gtinnel]

Hi welcome to R2R. Be cautious of advice given by a store trying to sell you something. Also, corals and chocolate starfish don’t usually mix well.
PS nice profile pic.

 

[PatW]

Welcome aboard. Nice looking aquascape. And a good system. I would take anyone’s advice on a provisional basIs. There are a pile of moving parts in a reef aquarium. I think that once a tank settles down and runs well, it is its own little system. And it might be a bit different than what other people think of as optimum.

 

[hoffmeyerz]

Thank you and I completely agree. In the relatively short time I've been in the hobby I've learned that what works for one tank may not work in another. I've learned enough now to take advice and combine it with what I've learned and what I know works with my tank.
And @Gtinnel, nice profile pic as well. I'm heavily leaning toward a bicolor angel (nice maize and blue color) for the tank when it's ready!!

 

[boacvh]

nice! welcome aboard, mine is a 75g as well. Nice looking rockwork, look forward to watching how the tank evolves!
(With that avatar I had to ping @sfin52 for you )

 

[Gtinnel]

I'm heavily leaning toward a bicolor angel (nice maize and blue color) for the tank when it's ready!!

I would love to put a bi color angel in my tank, but they are also questionable when it comes to corals.

 

[sfin52]

Just wanted to finally join in and say hi. My wife and I decided to get a fish tank during shutdown time of the pandemic while we were spending all out time at home. So we got a used 29gal and I decided to go saltwater. Unfortunately I got a lot of really bad advice from the lfs and ended up with a TON of diatoms and hair algae and was sold a nem way too early with the wrong light setup. I got very frustrated but finding this place was a game changer! I learned so much from reading here and even picked up most of the gear for the new tank here in the classifieds!
I'm now 5 months into our new 75gal with a Lifereef sump, skimmer, and reactors running carbon and phosgaurd. I hated the diatoms and hair algae so much, I really wanted to avoid that stuff. Started with 80lbs special grade live sand and 70lbs live base rock from a great lfs and it's been wonderful! We only have what we moved from the 29gal, a couple clowns, royal Gramma, and a pajama cardinal with a chocolate chip star right now. We would eventually like to add some corals and new fish but I'm really trying to be cautious and monitor things for awhile first.
Anyway I wanted to jump in and say thank you so much for the community!

Welcome sir. Great to have you aboard. Watch the coral with the chocolate chip star they are a coral eater.

Really like the set up.

Love the bicolor.

Go Blue

 

[hoffmeyerz]

Thanks for the warning on the chocolate chip. It's a hold over from the 29gal where we were just planning fish only, maybe I'll have to start up another tank!! I'd like to start adding some color to the tank soon, let me know if anyone has any starter ideas. Feather dusters maybe??

 

[sfin52]

Thanks for the warning on the chocolate chip. It's a hold over from the 29gal where we were just planning fish only, maybe I'll have to start up another tank!! I'd like to start adding some color to the tank soon, let me know if anyone has any starter ideas. Feather dusters maybe??

Is this all rock from the 29?

 

[hoffmeyerz]

No. The 29 was caribsea rock that I got sold from a lfs dry out of the box but was told it would "instantly go live" once I put it in the tank...lol they must have seen me coming a mile away!! That rock ended up completely covered in diatoms and gha, I didn't keep it.
I learned my lesson and was much more careful picking this rock.