Ok, I have health issues that can be unpredictable, so automation is the way I want to go, otherwise my loving husband has to do maintenance, but the ocean it is MY passion. Currently we live in an upstairs apartment, so I can not do the hard plumbing that I want to or the room/ability to hook a r/o, have a fish room, or really much room to store stuff. We purchase filtered water from a local pure water company to mix with reef salt.
I have a 55 gallon (not able to put sump under due to mid bracing) with 4" sand base, live rock, low population density which is mostly cleanup crew. This has been a fairly stable tank for over two years. I say fairly because my health has interfered with the maintenance schedule. I am at the point where I want zoos, gsp, mushrooms, etc. I know I am not ready yet for hard corals, but would like to get there soon.
Here's my situation; within the next year to 18 months, I should be able to purchase my first home. When that happens, I have been conditionally granted a BIG tank (200 ish?) or a couple of smaller (55 gal) display tanks, depending on layout and underlying structure. So a dream tank has appeared in my dreams. Most of all we want a happy community reef tank, with soft and hard corals, enough natural pods to support one (or two) mandarins, bonus would be anenome with mated pair of clownfish. Color, movement, automation and tidy setup are the main words we would use.
I strongly believe to never automate what you don't understand, otherwise if it goes wrong you don't know how to fix, so I need to learn a LOT in the next year. I do have that 55 to practice on and learn, and I prefere buying systems where 55 gal is the smallest it is designed for. So I also have this year to buy basic equipment that could also be transferred to a much larger tank. I do not intend to go over 200 gallons, or at least not by much! The trickiest fish I would want is that mandarin or a reef safe trigger.
My next post will have current water parameters, current equipment list and personnel.
I have heard rumors of fully automated systems, lights, water changes, dosing, feeding, water quality etc. being emailed each day to the owner. That way if there is no email, I would know something is wrong with wifi, if parameters drastically change I know to do tests to determine if probe has gone bad or if something happened to hunt down the source. If I could have that type of system, my happy dance would be extreme! I still expect there to be work and testing to maintain, I just want to reduce it as much as I can.
But I have very little idea where to start, what to buy, etc. we watch our tank constantly for visual clues of health and happiness. We regularly spend a half hour each day looking through the tank to find the latest hiding spots, see how frags are progressing, that the fish look fat and happy with strong swimming.
So I will throw myself on your collective mercy and beg for training. I am not a patient person, but have learned to only change/add one thing at a time. Once that new "thing" is stable, then I move to the next "thing" on the list.
So given all of that, where do I start? What should be the first thing on my list? I am not up on all the acronyms (or hardly any) so please explain if you use those, I WILL eventually learn them. Is there a line of equipment already set up for the basics, then add on as my tank requirements require?
Begging for mentors to help guide me through the next year! I promise to keep up on my thread and read others as well, will be re-reading my reference books now looking for that next level of reef keeping.
Also I have no knowledge of a local club for Anchorage Alaska USA. I may be willing to start one up, just to have more connection to the hobby, but would rather join one.
Deitta
I have a 55 gallon (not able to put sump under due to mid bracing) with 4" sand base, live rock, low population density which is mostly cleanup crew. This has been a fairly stable tank for over two years. I say fairly because my health has interfered with the maintenance schedule. I am at the point where I want zoos, gsp, mushrooms, etc. I know I am not ready yet for hard corals, but would like to get there soon.
Here's my situation; within the next year to 18 months, I should be able to purchase my first home. When that happens, I have been conditionally granted a BIG tank (200 ish?) or a couple of smaller (55 gal) display tanks, depending on layout and underlying structure. So a dream tank has appeared in my dreams. Most of all we want a happy community reef tank, with soft and hard corals, enough natural pods to support one (or two) mandarins, bonus would be anenome with mated pair of clownfish. Color, movement, automation and tidy setup are the main words we would use.
I strongly believe to never automate what you don't understand, otherwise if it goes wrong you don't know how to fix, so I need to learn a LOT in the next year. I do have that 55 to practice on and learn, and I prefere buying systems where 55 gal is the smallest it is designed for. So I also have this year to buy basic equipment that could also be transferred to a much larger tank. I do not intend to go over 200 gallons, or at least not by much! The trickiest fish I would want is that mandarin or a reef safe trigger.
My next post will have current water parameters, current equipment list and personnel.
I have heard rumors of fully automated systems, lights, water changes, dosing, feeding, water quality etc. being emailed each day to the owner. That way if there is no email, I would know something is wrong with wifi, if parameters drastically change I know to do tests to determine if probe has gone bad or if something happened to hunt down the source. If I could have that type of system, my happy dance would be extreme! I still expect there to be work and testing to maintain, I just want to reduce it as much as I can.
But I have very little idea where to start, what to buy, etc. we watch our tank constantly for visual clues of health and happiness. We regularly spend a half hour each day looking through the tank to find the latest hiding spots, see how frags are progressing, that the fish look fat and happy with strong swimming.
So I will throw myself on your collective mercy and beg for training. I am not a patient person, but have learned to only change/add one thing at a time. Once that new "thing" is stable, then I move to the next "thing" on the list.
So given all of that, where do I start? What should be the first thing on my list? I am not up on all the acronyms (or hardly any) so please explain if you use those, I WILL eventually learn them. Is there a line of equipment already set up for the basics, then add on as my tank requirements require?
Begging for mentors to help guide me through the next year! I promise to keep up on my thread and read others as well, will be re-reading my reference books now looking for that next level of reef keeping.
Also I have no knowledge of a local club for Anchorage Alaska USA. I may be willing to start one up, just to have more connection to the hobby, but would rather join one.
Deitta
The type of town home we are looking at usually has good cement floor, but a very small footprint. For now, let's assume the tank(s) must be as self contained as possible.
