Hi All!!
New to the reefing world, having begun only four months ago, but you could say I'm addicted. Recently retired, and in search of a hobby, and discovered reefing. Ironically, it was my wife that wanted a reef aquarium, but we've learned that our interests compliment without competing. She is into fish and corals, however I'm more interested in attempting/maintaining a biological system, or a small slice of ocean, inside our home.
There is only one lfs for miles in any direction, and I realize now that his interests of primarily monetary, so his information is often hit and miss. For trendiest two weeks of our new hobby, my wife and I were using the word "cycle" in place of "water change." Our lfs never corrected us in this, so you can imagine the quality of info we got from him.
The lfs suggested a canister filter for our 55 gal reef setup, and within two weeks, we were up and running with three fish (two black Oscellaris, and one Cardinal). Of course, we knew nothing of the "nitrification cycle," and about week five, the tank began to crash. Woke up one morning and Cardinal was dead, and the others were floundering. Immediate 50% water change saved the day. I returned to lfs and he called it an ammonia spike, and tried to sell me a replacement Cardinal. So, from that point on, I've used the Internet for my research and purchases.
Tank is four months old now and running great. I've kept bio load down with only five fish, skunk shrimp, two BTAs, and a mushroom. I've got about 50# of LR sitting on 2" LS and covered with 20# of crushed coral. I recently experienced my first diatom bloom, but it is going away quickly, as I've added 10 Cerith snails and 10 Nerite. My goal is to have more corals, but I'm waiting to convert to a sump/skimmer and the resulting stabilization of water parameters.
Although I'm aware of the impulsivity within this hobby, and have stopped my purchases of livestock, I realized that people exit the hobby proportionate to how they entered it - suddenly. With that in mind, I began scanning online for "fire sales." I recently picked up 90 gal tank with 1/2" glass, and oak stand for $50. The guy threw in a 30 gal tank/stand w canopy, saying his wife was tired of it sitting around and wanted it out. I had no idea what I would do with the two tanks, but I've since decided to make the 30 gal a quarantine/hospital tank. I'm toying with placing the 90 gal on the opposite side of the same wall as the 55 gal and running one sump/skimmer for both. As it stands now, the 90 gal & 30 gal are sitting empty until a final decision is made.
New to the reefing world, having begun only four months ago, but you could say I'm addicted. Recently retired, and in search of a hobby, and discovered reefing. Ironically, it was my wife that wanted a reef aquarium, but we've learned that our interests compliment without competing. She is into fish and corals, however I'm more interested in attempting/maintaining a biological system, or a small slice of ocean, inside our home.
There is only one lfs for miles in any direction, and I realize now that his interests of primarily monetary, so his information is often hit and miss. For trendiest two weeks of our new hobby, my wife and I were using the word "cycle" in place of "water change." Our lfs never corrected us in this, so you can imagine the quality of info we got from him.
The lfs suggested a canister filter for our 55 gal reef setup, and within two weeks, we were up and running with three fish (two black Oscellaris, and one Cardinal). Of course, we knew nothing of the "nitrification cycle," and about week five, the tank began to crash. Woke up one morning and Cardinal was dead, and the others were floundering. Immediate 50% water change saved the day. I returned to lfs and he called it an ammonia spike, and tried to sell me a replacement Cardinal. So, from that point on, I've used the Internet for my research and purchases.
Tank is four months old now and running great. I've kept bio load down with only five fish, skunk shrimp, two BTAs, and a mushroom. I've got about 50# of LR sitting on 2" LS and covered with 20# of crushed coral. I recently experienced my first diatom bloom, but it is going away quickly, as I've added 10 Cerith snails and 10 Nerite. My goal is to have more corals, but I'm waiting to convert to a sump/skimmer and the resulting stabilization of water parameters.
Although I'm aware of the impulsivity within this hobby, and have stopped my purchases of livestock, I realized that people exit the hobby proportionate to how they entered it - suddenly. With that in mind, I began scanning online for "fire sales." I recently picked up 90 gal tank with 1/2" glass, and oak stand for $50. The guy threw in a 30 gal tank/stand w canopy, saying his wife was tired of it sitting around and wanted it out. I had no idea what I would do with the two tanks, but I've since decided to make the 30 gal a quarantine/hospital tank. I'm toying with placing the 90 gal on the opposite side of the same wall as the 55 gal and running one sump/skimmer for both. As it stands now, the 90 gal & 30 gal are sitting empty until a final decision is made.
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