Adrian Em
Community Member
Hello all,
Thanks in advance for any comments / helpful tips. I’m new to reefing, but have some years of fish keeping experience. I had 5 goldfish for 5 years + and those fish were unkillable! Bac k then, I knew nothing about the nitrogen cycle when my wife won our first fish at a county fair. We decided to keep him (or her) and eventually upgraded to a 29 gallon tank and bought him some friends. Soon after, upgraded again to a 50 gal. After getting my feet wet, I discovered I loved fish keeping and eventually found reef keeping. I couldn’t justify a second tank to the wife and my heart couldn’t let me get rid of my 5 goldfish that cost less than $20 combined. In 2019, we had to move to South Korea for work, so the choice was no longer up to me. The fish and tank went to a new home that hopefully are still taking great care of them to this day.
Returned to the states in October of 2021 and got setup in our new home in February 2022. Things on the agenda:
1 of 1: Setup reef tank!
Bought a used 72 gallon bowfront tank and stand with most of the equipment I needed from someone on craigslist that was moving too far to keep it (karma), and also bought a new 75 gallon tank and new stand. While I preferred the 75, the wife liked the look of used 72 bowfront better so returned new tank and stand ☹. Drilled back glass for return nozzle and overflow box (previous owner was running HOB). Re-siliconed aquarium and painted the back glass black. Plumed everything with a mix of hard and flexible tubing. Did a few other upgrades/refurbishing to the tank, sump, equipment and stand.
Started with dry rock and dry sand. Used Fritz Turbostart and also seeded with a single 2”x3”x1” bio-block from and established system, threw in a pair of baby clownfish and had an instant cycle. Never registered ammonia, nitrate or nitrite at any level detectable by my API test kits (I know not the most accurate). Phosphates are currently detectable at 0.25 ppm.
Added livestock slowly – roughly 2 fish per week. Had 3 losses ☹. 1 Clown – too small and went down into filter sock – did not survive. 1 Coral Beauty – would not eat found her (or him) laying on sand bed. 1 Royal Gramma – went missing – remains never found. Everything else seems to be doing fine. Had to remove and return a Midas Blenny due to aggression. Everything I read said peaceful fish!
Current livestock:
10 Hermit Crabs (5 red & 5 Blue)
7 Turbo Snails (oh…lost one. Down to 6)
7 Fish (Splendid Pintail Wrasse, Yellow (“flasher” I think) Wrasse, 6-line Wrasse, 2 Clowns (snowflake), Firefish, Tiger Wardi Watchman Goby)
12 Coral (GSP, Pulsing Xenia, Torch, Hammer, 3 Zoas, Blasto, Avleopora, Goniopora, 2 Mushrooms)
Began running tank 1 April 2022 and added almost everything within the first month due to my low patience (working on it). I keep saying I’m going to wait but the urges are sometimes uncontrollable .
I know some reading this may disapprove, but I wasn’t totally irresponsible. Did exorbitant amounts of water testing. I’ve also spent many months researching before proceeding. Everything was more or less done deliberately. I don’t think that I took a big risk in going at the pace that I did, however, I know that it was an accelerated pace to say the least. I don’t attribute any of the fish deaths to my process (meaning water quality/parameters or proper acclimation). I know that with marine fish and fish in general, it can be hit or miss and I had my water tested (as a backup) by my LFS when making purchases. In retrospect, the one thing that I would change would be to buy larger clowns and not the small ones I chose, however, I love the clown that did survive, and she has plumped up nicely and I’m hoping to have her for many years. I was able to successfully pair her with another clown. I’ve read that this can be hit or miss so I consider myself to be lucky.
Lastly, a big thank you to the members of this community for posting questions and providing answers! This site is an invaluable resource for the community!
Thanks in advance for any comments / helpful tips. I’m new to reefing, but have some years of fish keeping experience. I had 5 goldfish for 5 years + and those fish were unkillable! Bac k then, I knew nothing about the nitrogen cycle when my wife won our first fish at a county fair. We decided to keep him (or her) and eventually upgraded to a 29 gallon tank and bought him some friends. Soon after, upgraded again to a 50 gal. After getting my feet wet, I discovered I loved fish keeping and eventually found reef keeping. I couldn’t justify a second tank to the wife and my heart couldn’t let me get rid of my 5 goldfish that cost less than $20 combined. In 2019, we had to move to South Korea for work, so the choice was no longer up to me. The fish and tank went to a new home that hopefully are still taking great care of them to this day.
Returned to the states in October of 2021 and got setup in our new home in February 2022. Things on the agenda:
1 of 1: Setup reef tank!
Bought a used 72 gallon bowfront tank and stand with most of the equipment I needed from someone on craigslist that was moving too far to keep it (karma), and also bought a new 75 gallon tank and new stand. While I preferred the 75, the wife liked the look of used 72 bowfront better so returned new tank and stand ☹. Drilled back glass for return nozzle and overflow box (previous owner was running HOB). Re-siliconed aquarium and painted the back glass black. Plumed everything with a mix of hard and flexible tubing. Did a few other upgrades/refurbishing to the tank, sump, equipment and stand.
Started with dry rock and dry sand. Used Fritz Turbostart and also seeded with a single 2”x3”x1” bio-block from and established system, threw in a pair of baby clownfish and had an instant cycle. Never registered ammonia, nitrate or nitrite at any level detectable by my API test kits (I know not the most accurate). Phosphates are currently detectable at 0.25 ppm.
Added livestock slowly – roughly 2 fish per week. Had 3 losses ☹. 1 Clown – too small and went down into filter sock – did not survive. 1 Coral Beauty – would not eat found her (or him) laying on sand bed. 1 Royal Gramma – went missing – remains never found. Everything else seems to be doing fine. Had to remove and return a Midas Blenny due to aggression. Everything I read said peaceful fish!
Current livestock:
10 Hermit Crabs (5 red & 5 Blue)
7 Turbo Snails (oh…lost one. Down to 6)
7 Fish (Splendid Pintail Wrasse, Yellow (“flasher” I think) Wrasse, 6-line Wrasse, 2 Clowns (snowflake), Firefish, Tiger Wardi Watchman Goby)
12 Coral (GSP, Pulsing Xenia, Torch, Hammer, 3 Zoas, Blasto, Avleopora, Goniopora, 2 Mushrooms)
Began running tank 1 April 2022 and added almost everything within the first month due to my low patience (working on it). I keep saying I’m going to wait but the urges are sometimes uncontrollable .
I know some reading this may disapprove, but I wasn’t totally irresponsible. Did exorbitant amounts of water testing. I’ve also spent many months researching before proceeding. Everything was more or less done deliberately. I don’t think that I took a big risk in going at the pace that I did, however, I know that it was an accelerated pace to say the least. I don’t attribute any of the fish deaths to my process (meaning water quality/parameters or proper acclimation). I know that with marine fish and fish in general, it can be hit or miss and I had my water tested (as a backup) by my LFS when making purchases. In retrospect, the one thing that I would change would be to buy larger clowns and not the small ones I chose, however, I love the clown that did survive, and she has plumped up nicely and I’m hoping to have her for many years. I was able to successfully pair her with another clown. I’ve read that this can be hit or miss so I consider myself to be lucky.
Lastly, a big thank you to the members of this community for posting questions and providing answers! This site is an invaluable resource for the community!
