New To Marine Keeping

Marty.h · Feb 21, 2015

Hi

My names Marty I'm from the UK and have just setup my first marine tank i use to have tropical. The tank is currently 6x2x2 with a 50"x 18 " x 17 " sump.

The system has been running for a few days now and it appears I have a few corrals that have come with the rocks and some hitchiker clean up crew. I'm happy with how it's going at the moment and can't wait to get it stocked once ready and then let it mature. I am currently waiting for some more equipment I have ordered to arrive. Nice looking site here I'm going to have a look around here is a few pictures so far gone on at the deep end with a large system

Hermit crabs are also acrobats

Cheers
Marty

Mike J. · Feb 21, 2015

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Gotta love hitchhikers. Are you checking ammonia? Make sure it stays low so you don't lose any of your hitchhikers. That's a great size tank.

Reefing Madness · Feb 21, 2015

Marty.h · Feb 22, 2015

Mike J. said:
Welcome to Reef2Reef! Gotta love hitchhikers. Are you checking ammonia? Make sure it stays low so you don't lose any of your hitchhikers. That's a great size tank.

Tested water last night

Ammonia 0
PH 8.2 ish
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5 - 10 ppm

I'll keep an eye on things

Thanks for the welcome

swhobbie1 · Feb 22, 2015

Nice scape and rock.

Marty.h · Feb 22, 2015

Thanks

The corral that was on the rocks has settled down its not ideal having corral in a new tank but I risked killing it trying to remove it but they have cheered up and seem happy as they are opening here is some pictures.

kschweer · Feb 22, 2015

Welcome to R2R! Looks great

legomaheggos · Feb 22, 2015

Welcome! I'm very new to the hobby myself. I gotta say, of all the forums I've browsed, this is the best one I've seen!

Marty.h · Feb 22, 2015

Thanks for the welcome.

I added this to the system a short while ago gives it a chance to get seeded

Marty.h · Feb 27, 2015

Added the skimmer tonight it's doing its job already they ordered the wrong one so ended up with a Deltec SC1456 it's still well within spec and is doing its job already so I'm happy with it so far.

Within a few hours it's doing it job

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2015

:tea: Cheers to a great start.

merlberg · Feb 28, 2015

Congrats n I'm loving your tank already!

Libimagana · Feb 28, 2015

Welcome![emoji122][emoji122][emoji1][emoji2][emoji2]

Marty.h · Feb 28, 2015

Thanks

Here is some pictures please excuse the quality they not very close up as I don't want to spook them they are still settling.

Current fish stock is now

1 x Regal Tang
1 x Yellow Tang
2 x Blue cheek Goby (paired)
1 x Algee Blenny
2 x Black edge true percula clowns (paired)

They have all settled in well after 2 hours drip aclimatising them

Here is some pics and a vid of feeding time.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/220gtiturbo/media/20150228_181933_zpsc0tiiiqi.mp4.html

I've been unable to get a pic of the blenny yet

Promise I'll get some better pics in a few days but there welfare more important then me spooking them with a camera at the minute hope you understand

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2015

Very good start. That must be a tiny Regal Tang, it's cute. If you added all those fish at once make sure you keep an eye on ammonia level.

Marty.h · Feb 28, 2015

Yeah it is only little I wanted a little one so it gets use to me ect and it's nice to see fish thrive and grow from your work and not just put big ones in also not such a large bio load and the system will mature with the stock. I will not be adding anymore fish for quite a while.

I also added some more hermits so I have around 15 hermits in there now

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2015

I agree, cute little fish. I got my Maroon clown 9 years ago and it was 6 weeks old from hatching: about 5/8" long. Back then it was a bigger deal to tank breed clowns. That fish is over 6 inches and hefty now. The reason I'm stating that you should watch your ammonia and be ready to do a 20 - 30% water change: There is only enough bacteria to handle what the current load is. Nitrosomonas bacteria grow slowly, like 10 days to catch up with an increased amount of ammonia. Just to be safe. It is a very common occurrence in new tanks.