My First Saltwater

[mctecnica]

Hello everyone just wanted to introduce myself. The wife and I decided we wanted to take a crack at having a saltwater aquarium. We've been doing freshwater for awhile now. We got a 55G tank without doing a whole lot of research and decided it was going to be too big for the space we had so we downsized to a 29 gallon which fits the space a lot better and we feel will be a bit more manageable. Anyway, look forward to learning a lot and getting out to a few of the meetings!

 

[Flame Angel]

Welcome Aboard! and check out the forum header for local meetings and speakers.

We have a meeting coming up on Saturday December 21st in Framingham. Maybe we will see you there.

Good Luck with your first saltwater tank.

 

[Turbosnail]

Welcome to the BRS! :w My biggest advice to members new to saltwater is take your time. Nothing in this hobby goes fast except for a tank crash. Definitely make it to the meetings there is always a good conversation about reef tanks.

 

[mctecnica]

We are taking our time for sure. I almost feel like I'm over researching the different pieces of equipment and it gets frustrating hearing all the contradicting information. So far this is the equipment that I'm looking at getting:

Coralife T5 Quad Lunar
Remora Pro s protien skimmer w/ preskimmer (thinking about using the return box for carbon as it suggested but I might run a dedicated reactor)
Two Hydor Koralia nano 425's

That's basically what I'm looking at starting out with and then adding equipment as I go along, ATO, Sump, ect.

Another quick question I paid the $20 membership fee through Paypal but I haven't heard anything back about that yet and it's been a few days.

 

[stingythingy45]

Welcome to the club.

Looks like you have a good start on getting a nice tank set up.
Cudos for doing a lot of research before jumping in.

I'm sure you will get you BRS member logo and card in the mail soon.
If not,post in the "membership" forum and ask about it.

 

[jason401]

We are taking our time for sure. I almost feel like I'm over researching the different pieces of equipment and it gets frustrating hearing all the contradicting information. So far this is the equipment that I'm looking at getting:

Coralife T5 Quad Lunar
Remora Pro s protien skimmer w/ preskimmer (thinking about using the return box for carbon as it suggested but I might run a dedicated reactor)
Two Hydor Koralia nano 425's

That's basically what I'm looking at starting out with and then adding equipment as I go along, ATO, Sump, ect.

Another quick question I paid the $20 membership fee through Paypal but I haven't heard anything back about that yet and it's been a few days.

:w

Welcome aboard! There's a few members on here selling their own clown-fish babies. really cheap, check them out in the for sale forums.

 

[ReefKeeper1699]

Welcome!!!! I'm 3 months in. It's a big journey that May land a few bumps but it's amazing and breath taking and a lot of fun. Remember saltwater tanks aren't a lot of work unless you don't enjoy maintaining them and testing and so on. I'm addicted for life!!!! I would love to share my experiences and info

 

[mctecnica]

Welcome!!!! I'm 3 months in. It's a big journey that May land a few bumps but it's amazing and breath taking and a lot of fun. Remember saltwater tanks aren't a lot of work unless you don't enjoy maintaining them and testing and so on. I'm addicted for life!!!! I would love to share my experiences and info

I almost feel like I'll enjoy it more because of the maintenance/equipment aspect. Freshwater is fun but once you set it up and it cycles that's pretty much it other than water changes.

 

[KReardon99]

Welcome.,
As already stated.. slow and steady wins the race. My advice would be to set up your sump when you start the tank. It may be difficult to do once the tank is up and running. Good luck!.. This is a great place to ask questions!

 

[ReefKeeper1699]

I almost feel like I'll enjoy it more because of the maintenance/equipment aspect. Freshwater is fun but once you set it up and it cycles that's pretty much it other than water changes.

Yea it's a blast. I love every aspect of a saltwater tank!! I'll sit and watch it for hours. It's fun to design it and create what you want and to keep going what a lot of people see as impressive. It's an art and glad to have you on board!

 

[mctecnica]

Progress has been very slow which is fine because I've had a busy schedule lately. Painted the back of the tank with Plasti-Dip which came out amazing and if I ever sell it I can peel it right off. I also had to re seal it so I decided to use black as well. The Koralia Nano 425's are in the mail and I just picked up 50 lbs of live rock which will probably have to cycle again after I add them because they've been out of a tank for some time. Next up I plan to sand and re-stain the stand so it matches our other furniture and order the light and skimmer. The picture doesn't do the tank justice, it held fresh water for a week and you couldn't notice any of the scratches/water marks.

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[Ryan17]

The tank looks great. I have a 20 gallon and 3 koralia 425's, and I still think I need more haha. So just a heads up it might not be enough flow but great job!

 

[mctecnica]

Really? What kind of coral are you keeping? I am probably going to start with a FOWLR and then venture into LPS. I'm a complete newb to all of this and still learning everyday so that might change.

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[Ryan17]

I keep LPS SPS anemones, zoas but yeah I really feel like its not enough lol

 

[ReefKeeper1699]

Tank looks excellent! It will cycle for you before you know it as soon as you get it going. So happy to see your going in the right direction of things and please stick with the taking it slow attitude. Your tank will thrive

 

[mctecnica]

Welp, hit my first hiccup the place I bought my wave makers from only sent me one, so now I have to deal with that. On a better note I received my Boston Reefers membership card in the mail today as well. Not gonna lie I got a little excited. :glee:

 

[ReefKeeper1699]

Ha ha glad to have you apart of the family. I got mind the other day and know what you mean. Feel free to pm me whenever with questions and I'll even shoot you my number if you need to text or call with questions or bounce back and fourth ideas.

 

[mctecnica]

So I've been thinking about what fish I'm going to stock in my tank. I've decided on 2 Clowns, 1 Green Chromis and possibly a Yellowtail Damsel. I've heard mixed things about the Yellowtail saying that they can be aggressive towards other fish so I'm on the fence on that one. So tell me what you guys think.

 

[stingythingy45]

I've had a YT damsel in my tank for 5 years and he's been a model citizen.

 

[freakit]

I had two yt damsels. One I gave to petco two days ago because he was aggressive to me and all other fish. He was a bastard. The other damsel doesn't bother anything yet, but I have my eye on him. So I guess it depends on the individual fish just like ppl say some flame angels don't nip on corals.


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