Ahoy there mateys! New to saltwater, happy to be here. An overview of me and my new equipment (Any advice appreciated!)

Jimbhoy13 · Oct 11, 2023

Welcome to R2R and the salty world Noah. Take things slowly. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

shakacuz · Oct 11, 2023

welcome aboard the r2r board!

NoAhoysLeft · Oct 11, 2023

Digimes said:
Welcome to the reef. I tend to like rock heavy tanks so the extra may be a good way to go. With the sounds of the dry start for bio, I would be extra patient and not rush into anything. I am not a super fan of the chemical starters but I am fairly old school. The only thing it may be missing, and not a priority at the moment, is some type of wave maker or secondary pump to move the water around the tank in random patterns. I bought mine for $40 US from Amazon and then turned it all the way down for my nano tank. IMO on being new, start with stuff that is easy and gives pretty good wow return, like xenia, green star polyps, Zoanthids and Kenya trees. Keep the xenia on seperate rocks out front of your main rock stack so they don't try to take control of your tank in a year. Maybe the front and left corners. It would be very easy to scrape off the glass as it tries to grow out, if needed. You should be able to obtain frags in the $20 range and they will grow/fill in. Look into a small cleanuo crew to start, 2 small astrea snails and maybe 3 blue leg crabs after 2ish weeks. Also, watch your perimeters but don't go crazy with dosing everything because you will "chase the needle" all the time. Enjoy and welcome aboard !!

Thank you for the sound advice! I really appreciate all the insight I can get at this stage! It means a lot to me.

I am definitely going to add around 5 more lbs of dry rock at minimum. There is a lot of vertical space I failed to use up.

Right now I have a Fluval Sea CP2 Circulation Pump (pictured below), but in the future, I would really LOVE to upgrade it to this Hygger mini wavemaker in the future. (I generally have to aim for more 'budget-friendly' options- in case anyone is wondering why I am considering the Hygger wavemaker)

And thank you for suggesting some newbie-friendly corals.
I had never heard of Kenya tree corals before. They look very cool, and I think I will try to get one when my tank is mature enough. Same goes for the other corals I am considering.
I thought maybe I would begin with some corals such as duncans, green star polyp, and pulsing xenia, as well.

As for a cleanup crew, I love the idea of adding some small inverts as soon as I'm able.

Just today, I put a bottle of Tim's One and Only into the tank along with an under-dose of Tim's Fishless Fuel. (removed filter sock per instructions)

I am hopeful that my cycle will establish in the coming weeks (or months)...
And I'll need some curtains.

jsker · Oct 12, 2023

Diastro · Oct 16, 2023

Welcome! Macroalgae tanks are a beautiful combo of saltwater and freshwater in a way. But however you run your tank it will always be a ride. It will be beautiful and ugly and easy and a lot of work lol

CasperOe · Oct 16, 2023

Hi Noah! Welcome to R2R!

Looks like you're off to a good start..

NoAhoysLeft · Oct 17, 2023

Diastro said:
Welcome! Macroalgae tanks are a beautiful combo of saltwater and freshwater in a way. But however you run your tank it will always be a ride. It will be beautiful and ugly and easy and a lot of work lol

I love the look of macroalgae! I would love to include some in my tank if possible

Mangimi · Oct 17, 2023

Hi Noah

First to your tank. I think you're up to a good start. Tanks with a mix of macroalgae and softies can be really appealing. I had a 35cm cube (42l ~11gal) back in the day. With a DIY LED fixture, a heater and a stream pump. I only gave it old "waste" water from my main tank. I totally loved it, I was able to sell kenya trees two-three times a month and this thing never needed any work.

Please get rid of the bio balls and the coarse filter sponge. It's not needed in a marine aquarium.

NoAhoysLeft · Oct 17, 2023

Mangimi said:
Hi Noah

First to your tank. I think you're up to a good start. Tanks with a mix of macroalgae and softies can be really appealing. I had a 35cm cube (42l ~11gal) back in the day. With a DIY LED fixture, a heater and a stream pump. I only gave it old "waste" water from my main tank. I totally loved it, I was able to sell kenya trees two-three times a month and this thing never needed any work.

Please get rid of the bio balls and the coarse filter sponge. It's not needed in a marine aquarium.

Could you explain the last sentence? I'd love to hear why - especially after being recommended these filter medias by many other aquarists, specifically regarding saltwater (I was told it doesn't really matter what media I use for biological filtration surface area, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the aquarium parameters). What would you suggest in its place?

Mangimi · Oct 18, 2023

Filter sponge and biomedia are just traps for detritus which could potentially cause problems down the road.

Your dry/life rock will cover all the filtration needs your tank might have. You can use fine filter wool for a few days at a time if your water is a bit cloudy, but as the tank matures it will be clear even without mechanical filtration.