New Members and Introductions

[plankton]

Sara,

Welcome to the forum.

Looks like you have covered the basics.

What kind of tank do you have in mind? Predator tank? Little nemo snuggling in an anemone? LPS, SPS, Softies, fish only?

Our prez, Jake, put together a little Intro to SW tanks that you may find helpful:

http://www.nvreefers.org/reference/newtosalt.php

There is also a DVD in the club library which you could check out and view if you wished.

Other sources are RC, of course, webwebmedia and folks at Marine Aquarists Roundtable of Sacramento (MARS); which is near(er) to Corning, CA

Please post pics of your progress so we can follow along.

Scott

[povsan]

Corning???? Where is that? Well I hope you have a lot of contacts there. WELCOME!!!

[mothra]

Sarah,

Welcome to the club. Feel free to post threads for any questions you may have and we will do our best to help you out. How did you find out about NVR?

[rulesmith]

TaubBaer
Did you ever get help with your list?

Welcome to all the new members.

[RiOnRoxXx]

Hi there..the name is Ryan. I'm a 24 year old guy living up North in Stockton. I'm a SSC at Uni of Phnx in Modesto. (Yup I'm a commuter) I just started this very new very expensive hobby from what I've seen so far. My buddy got me into this and I like how Saltwater fish look compared to Freshwater. I like to skateboard for a hobby and I also collect Jordan shoes. (I know sounds funny but hey I like it hehe). Hmm I dunno what else hahaha. I seen posters for NVR at discount pet and thought I'd give it whirl since I'm on other boards for other various things.

Like I said I'm new so I have a 29gal tank. 2lbs of LR about 15lbs of base rock, 1 inch layer of "live sand." I'm running the Fluval 305 pump and heater. I have 4 Damsels in my tank. 1 Sgt, 1 Yellow tail, 1 3 striped, and a Chromis. The tank has been up and running for about 3 weeks now. All the fish seem to be happy and swimming all about. All my levels are all good also my salt level is good also. I use a liquid kit I bought at Twins. So just thought I'd say "Hi" maybe one day I'll get to meet some of you!

[drdoolittle]

Welcome Sara and Ryan, If anything we could do.. just ask.. the club is pretty helpful..

Ed

[Bdimas]

Welcome to the club.

[sand02]

This is a great club to get all the answers you need for your new tank.
Hope to see you at future meetings.


Sandra

[plankton]

Ryan - Welcome.

Hey, just a few questions:

- fluval 305 canister filter : What media are you running in the canister filter and/or how often do you clean it out?

- Did I count correctly that you have 8 fish now in your newly setup 29G tank that's been running for 3 wks?

- What are your current Specific Gravity, Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia levels if you don't mind me asking?

Scott

[RiOnRoxXx]

Originally posted by plankton
Ryan - Welcome.

Hey, just a few questions:

- fluval 305 canister filter : What media are you running in the canister filter and/or how often do you clean it out?

- Did I count correctly that you have 8 fish now in your newly setup 29G tank that's been running for 3 wks?

- What are your current Specific Gravity, Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia levels if you don't mind me asking?

Scott

I'm running the media that came with the Fluval. BioRock and the charcoal. Actually I only have 4 fish in the tank. 4 Damsels total. I'm using already cycled water from a friends tank ABout 20gal worth in a 29gal and just added mixed RO water to fill the rest. All his readings were good. I let the tank run 3 weeks before the fish going in. I just thought maybe with the already cycled water it'd be ok. Just had to let the natural things attach to the newer canister and other things. The live sand was already cycled also. I got most of the things used IE. tank, heater,ls... I bought the canister and glass top new from Twins. My current stats I dunno, but I'll know tomorrow. When I do the cleaning of the brown algae stuff growing on the glass.

[plankton]

Sounds good! Yeah, I've been wiping diatoms off my glass every day for the last week so I think I'm due for a water change...

Scott

[RiOnRoxXx]

Is that what that brownish stuff is? Diatoms?

[plankton]

Probably.

If the canister has a foam pre-filter you might need to wash it often or just not add it the next time you service the filter. Otherwise, detritus may just clog it up very quickly in a reef tank.

Otherwise, it looks like you did your homework before setting up your tank. Good for you.

Scott

[mothra]

Ryan,

What kind of lighting do you have and what are you using for water movement?

[RiOnRoxXx]

Plankton: The canister's only media and fiters are just three little bags of carbon and those BioMax rock things. I was told just to clean these out every 3 months or so. Maybe I was steered wrong. ::shrugs:: I just had a little of that brown stuff growing on the side of the tank nothing serious. Cleaned it up now it's gone.

Montra:I'm running are regular fluorescent bulb light and single housing at the moment. I read that that kind of light is just asking for that kind of algae to grow. I went to Kalypso's yesterday and I think I'll be picking up a new Power Compact or Halide still I don't know which way to go. I know I'll probably get a bigger tank soon here after 6 months or so, so I leaning towards the Halide. As for water movement I don't have any powerheads yet. I was thinking a MaxiJet 600 since my tank is so small don't want to over do it just quite yet. But since my pump is rated for a 70gal my 29gal I think is getting good movement out of my Fluval. If one of the Damsels gets in the way of the "out" tube he gets blown almost all the way to the other side of the tank.

[mothra]

You should determine what lighting to get by the corals that you plan to keep. If you're planning to keep mostly softies and/or LPS then Power Compact lighting is fine. If you want to keep some of the more light demanding corals (most SPS), clams, or anemones then you'll need metal halide or T5 lighting. In fact even if you're just keeping softies I'd recommend T5 but only use about half as many watts as you would have with PC.

If you stick with live rock and fish only, then the standard fluorescent lighting that you have is fine.


If you start to keep corals you may want to slowly remove the bio-media from your Fluval and only run carbon. The bio-media will be producing nitrates constantly.

[RiOnRoxXx]

Ok cool, I was thinking just soft corals for now. But with the ways things seem to be I might want to do maybe hards in the long run. This hobby is SOOOO addicting! So the Bio media is to be slowly removed out? If I decided to get more involved into this? I can see how it would effect with the nitrites since all the water is cycling in it's own garbage filth I guess you can say. Cool thank you for all the help. Guess I gotta just wait it out and see what the good ol' pocket book says after I buy these Jordan's I've been lookin for, for almost a year...hahahaha I know I know....weirdo huh

[RiOnRoxXx]

I was thinking about helping with a donation and become a full access member towards the NVR. I know I haven't been active for to long on these boards but feel like I should contribute to local area organizations that provide great services like the NVR. I'm thinking about using paypal and wanted to know how I should go abouts doing this. Unless there is an address I can send a check or MO to? Let me know guys

[Bdimas]

http://www.nvreefers.org/membership....35fa53c#donate

[RiOnRoxXx]

I seen that spot or link...only thing is the PayPal is registered in my girlfriends name and I wanted to make sure the NVR knows it's from me. The address is the same but just different name.

[mothra]

Ryan,

That's great that you decided to support the club by becoming a contributing member. Just let me know the name that the Paypal will show up under and we'll make sure you get credit.

[RiOnRoxXx]

Originally posted by mothra
Ryan,

That's great that you decided to support the club by becoming a contributing member. Just let me know the name that the Paypal will show up under and we'll make sure you get credit.

Ok coolness!

[Auntbeez]

Hi all,
My name is Barb. I am new to Reef Central, but not to the hobby. I’ve been a fish enthusiast since my first guppy tank a billion years ago. Since that time I have never not had a tank of some sort. In 1990 I got certified in SCUBA (It’s like swimming in a giant aquarium…SO AWESOME!). After that I set up my first salt tank. It didn’t last long as it was expensive and was hard to keep stuff alive in a 10g.
Currently I have a plethora of various aquatics. My pride and joy are, a 135g freshwater I have had for 18+ years and currently houses African Cichlids;
a 29g I got 2 yrs. ago and set up FOWLR. It was beautiful, but last summer’s heat and vacation killed everything but the blue devil. It is now back up to par and I even have a couple mushrooms. (The lighting is not enough for much else.).
And the last of my pride and joy is a 75g reef in the making. The tank has been running for 2 mos, with a couple pieces of live rock, 50lbs of sand, 6 chromis, and a carpet of diatoms. I am in the process of making a 20g long into a sump, and may try building a DIY protein skimmer… (Any suggestions or links for this would be appreciated).
I am trying to do it right so am reading a lot… That’s what brought me here.
Thanks for all the good info. I am looking forward to maybe seeing you on the tours and at meetings.
BA

[Bdimas]

Hi Barb! Welcome to NVR. It sounds like your an addict like the rest of us. I know there are a few guys in the club that have done some diy skimmers, hopefully they can help you out in that area. Keep us posted on the progress of the 75.

[RiOnRoxXx]

Welcome to NVR. I'm really really new so I don't have any advice as of now. But welcome to the boards indeed.