first reef aquarium

Below is a long account about jumping into a reef tank. It's rather humorous looking back. I have waited 26 years after getting my first aquarium to finally get a salt tank. 17 years of freshwater helped, but I learned more in the first 48 hours of salt than I did over several years in fresh...

Hi All, this is my first attempt at a reef tank. I live in Sunshine Coast, QLD Australia. I've been on the freshwater hobby for a long time, and did keep quite a lot of freshwater fish, though was always dazzled by saltwater aquariums, though stayed away because of apparent difficulty, higher...

I'm looking to set up my first tank and am trying to decide between a 40 breeder and an Aquatop Recife 40g AIO tank. I just picked up a used Aquatop with stand (included a return pump and the plastic media bucket things but the light it was supposed to have is missing and the skimmer it came...

In my most recent Reef this is my first addition. Build thread coming soon. "Show me what you got!"

Hi- I am a new hobbyist and am just cycling my first reef tank! I went to my LFS to purchase my live rock, and noticed some interesting hitchhikers. I have done some research and believe one is an Aiptasia anemone- and have read it is recommended to nip those in the bud. But don’t know what the...

Hey Guys! This is my first tank! And money is tight, so I have been using DIY and cheap stuff, or stuff I had laying around. It's a 200 liter display tank with a 54 liter sump. Tech: Populargrow 165W Reef LED Eheim CompactON 1000 return pump Fluval CP4 Circulation pump DIY Overflow 20 kg mix...

Hi All - I'm a long time reader of reef2reef and have finally created an account and decided to give back. This is an amazing community with tons of helpful information and I hope this post can be helpful for newcomers / interesting for the rest of you experts. Apologize in advance for the long...

I have been keeping fresh water “high tech” planted aquariums (CO2), and thought I should try something really high tech and start my first reef tank. I went with the Red Sea e170 max ($1744) since I liked the form factor and I liked the rear sump option. 45 G (37 G display 8 G sump) 24" L x...

Hello reefers, soon to be reefers and previous reefers! One week ago I move from the "soon to be reefer" to the "reefer" category myself, when I bought my first saltwater aquarium. An already up and running Red Sea Reefer 170. My name Filip, I live in northern Sweden and have for some years...

Look forward to my sharing my build over the next year and hopefully learn a ton from you all in the meantime. Please add suggestions or comments along the way!! 12/28/20 Ordered Waterbox Marine X 110.4 , not yet shipped 12/28/20 - 1/23/21 Planning phase: 50+ hours of research, I feel like I...

Hello I started my adventure into saltwater on January 1st this year. I was given a 29 gallon tank for Christmas from a family member who breeds fish. My lovely younger sister who has heard me talk about wanting a saltwater reef for awhile bought me a Tidal 55 HOB filter and a HOB protein...

Hello everyone! This is going to be the build thread for the first ever saltwater tank that my partner and I have done. We have had success with freshwater in the past, but it is time for something new! In my introduction thread, @P-Dub referred to our nascent system as the Emerald Reef, which...

Hello and welcome to my first saltwater tank build. My name is Matt & I will be your captain on this voyage. I think I'm going to split this adventure in a few parts. Since this is my first foray in saltwater, Part 1 will be dedicated to the 1st year. All 365 days starting with the setup...

Hello All! I’ve decided to start my first ever reef tank after spotting the AIO Fluval Flex 32.5 Gallon Tank Kit (Aka Fluval Flex 123L). Figured the all in on (AIO) was the way to go since I’m a first timer and the setup seemed pretty simple to grasp. However, after reading about this tank from...

My first saltwater tank after keeping a 75g freshwater for 8 years. Wasn't sure about upkeep so I didn't want to go all in, and decided the Biocube 32 would be a good intro for me. Sumps and skimmers seemed beyond my capacity (and budget) so an all in one was the best choice for me to see how I...

Hi all, I often find myself awake at ungodly hours of the night scrolling through this forum and dreaming of a mantis shrimp of my own. I’m a freshwater fish keeper, and just recently got a job in the freshwater section of my LFS. However, it’s safe to say the mantis has stolen my heart and has...

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This is my first saltwater reef tank that I’ve ever done I would like some opinions on it or some suggestions and tips

Hi Y'all! Today I thought I'd finally share my progress on my first reef tank, I have a lot of freshwater experience but I am completely new to saltwater so the entire first month has been a brand new experience. For my tank, I decided to go with the 40 gallon cube from Aquatop. picked this...

Hi all, in January I set up my fluval evo, all going well, other than the dinos i am currently watching fester. From what Ive read, the solution seems to be to raise phosphate and nitrate, mine currently being 2ppm nitrate and 0.1ppm phosphate, however am unsure of the best way to do this with...

Hey guys, So I started building my first reef tank in the summer of 2019 and figured I should make a post for the build. Tank was started early June and consists of the following: Tank Specs Display: Waterbox Cube 20 17.7'' x 17.7'' x 15.8'' Rock: Macro Dry Rock Sand: Caribsea Fiji Pink Live...

Hey everyone new member and with my first salt tank ever. I build the sump,stand, and plumbing. See what you think, pics attached! I cycled for a month and now have 2 clowns, 1 flame angel, 2 nems, gsp, zoa, cleaner shrimp, 4 small hermits, 2 snails!

Hey fellow reefers, I've very new to aquarium hobby and I have a (maybe stupid) cycling question. I've had my tank cycling for past 3.5 weeks and now my Nitrites(NO2) are extremely high(full purple) for past 1 week. I have very minimal to low algae growth. Equipment used. - Dry rocks and Dry...

I am still very early in the build so far I have done my rock work, and started cycling. As far as additional equipment I have a Tunze 9001 skimmer, an Intank media basket, an Aqueon Pro 150 heater. I used dry rock and 2 bags of live sand don't remember the brand. I used 2 bottles of Dr. Tim's...

A couple of weekends ago, I almost bought a brand new Innovative Marine Fusion Nano 20. It was on sale for $240 and came with lights. I debated and when I finally decided to pull the trigger on it, it was gone. It just disappeared from my shopping cart. POOF!! It was no longer available on...