Documenting my First Saltwater tank

[Jdeez20]

I started this a month ago and had zero knowledge about saltwater tanks. Went to visit my local fish store and that was the beginning of the journey to the poor house. I had kept Freshwater Discus fish before in a 65 gallon tank. That tank was definitely too big for our space, so wanted to keep it small this time and keep it simple. Was deciding between Waterbox 20 or IM Fusion and ultimately decided with the Waterbox 20.

 

[JumboShrimp]

“Journey to the poor house”…

You don’t hear me disagreeing with you, do you? Lol! Have a great time with your new tank.

 

[Jdeez20]

Mid May 2022 - Used Caribea Live sand, 15 pounds of live rock, upgraded return pump Sicce 1.0, Hygger powerhead, Prime 16 HD, Intank Floss Filter holder. I put Dr Tims one and only bacteria. Took 9 days to cycle.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I started this a month ago and had zero knowledge about saltwater tanks. Went to visit my local fish store and that was the beginning of the journey to the poor house. I had kept Freshwater Discus fish before in a 65 gallon tank before. That tank was definitely too big for our space, so wanted to keep it small this time and just keep it small. Was deciding between Waterbox 20 or IM Fusion and ultimately decided with the Waterbox 20.

You may want to move that paining cos it's gonna get wet.

 

[Jdeez20]

I always hear/read “patience is key in this hobby”. Wasn’t exactly sure what that meant or how specifically it applied. But I was in a rush to get the tank going so I figured patience must be for advanced reefers and I just wasn’t there yet. Got my first fish 10 days in to help with the cycling a Cardinal Banggai and a “CUC” - started learning the reef tank vernacular.

 

[Jdeez20]

When I first went to the LFS and inquired about starting a saltwater tank, I think the guy left out the part I had to perpetually come back every 2 weeks to buy water. He also didn’t tell me I had to top it off to maintain salinity. Or maybe I missed it. So I installed an ATO Tunze 3152, got a fancy ATO reservoir, and water jugs. Also started to watch more YouTube videos, and learning more things about what it takes.

 

[Jdeez20]

I also went back to look into what exactly this “AIO” tank that I got was and how it worked so decided to map it out. All I knew about was that it looked good and fit the space.

 

[Jdeez20]

Went to the LFS to get water and came home with a purple fire fish and a GSP.

 

[reeferpat137]

Went to the LFS to get water and came home with a purple fire fish and a GSP.

Keep that gsp on its own rock

 

[Jdeez20]

I pretty much started this hobby because I wanted to own clown fish. Then I learned about all these designer clown fish of all different colors and patterns. Like being a kid in a candy store - the downside being you can only get 2 pieces, and that’s it…forever coz they live for a long time. I went with Cultivated Reef - Mochavinci A, Davinci B. The two bonded pretty much immediately.

 

[Jdeez20]

After a month wait…finally received the lid - Kraken Reef - Quality stuff, good looking, but just like my ATO reservoir, way too expensive. My willingness to pay for it though is probably causing some of the inflation in the country (or maybe the next debt crisis)

 

[Jdeez20]

Then Memorial Day came…and temptation was too great…”you will save in the long run” is what a little voice kept telling me…pulled the trigger on this and said good bye to carrying water from LFS.

 

[Jdeez20]

It was time to get more corals…was I moving too fast? Was I not being patient? Oh well..I went to the LFS and asked for prices…I left pretty quickly and pretty shocked. I started looking online and took a gamble..then of course the online retailer made a mistake and sent the package a day early. I managed to move my schedule around to receive them. I’m the middle of working from home, had to do a crash course in dipping corals. One of the mushrooms I got was floating in the bag detached from the plug, so I had to do a crash course on what to do with that, and also a crash course on identifying the big worm that came out. Not a very good first time buying corals online. I ultimately lost the mushroom…somewhere in the tank…or maybe consumed by the CUC.

 

[Jdeez20]

But the other corals I got from them were nice, and the vendor was very helpful answering all my noob questions.

 

[tbrown]

Nice! Welcome to crash coursing to avoid course crashing! Keep learning and keep going! Also you can get a build thread badge - copy the link to your build thread and past it into your "About" on your profile page.

So you want a MY TANK THREAD badge???

Well, here's the way to get one! STEP 1: Start a tank thread in one of our member tank forums (CLICK HERE). *Btw, it doesn't have to be a new tank. It doesn't matter if your tank has been up for 40+ years, we would still love for you to start a tank thread where we can follow all the updates...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jdeez20]

Then one day I get a message/feed about this coral sale from the Facebook version of Reef2Reef with all these complicated rules, reserving/buying a day to receive them if you purchase corals. And that you could keep buying throughout the day and had to keep posting every hour to be able to win a prize. At first I thought man this is way too complicated. I wasn’t gonna waste a day to save a few bucks. But of course on the day of the sale, I was glued to my phone watching the pieces get posted, and how quickly people were grabbing them, and ultimately I was posting every hour on the hour just for the chance of winning. Was it a wasted day? Probably not. I definitely did save money. Ended buying a bunch of stuff and received them today. I also found out that the store I got it from was the same YouTube channel I’ve been watching for a while. Not only they’re helping us noobs to reefing, they’re also a legit place. Happy with Tidal Gardens. They can keep taking my money. (The corals haven’t fully opened yet so for now they’re good)

 

[tbrown]

Then one day I get a message/feed about this coral sale from the Facebook version of Reef2Reef with all these complicated rules, reserving/buying a day to receive them if you purchase corals. And that you could keep buying throughout the day and had to keep posting every hour to be able to win a prize. At first I thought man this is too complicated. I’m wasn’t gonna waste a day to save a few bucks. But of course on the day of the sale, I was glued to my phone watching the pieces get posted, and how quickly people were grabbing them, and ultimately I was posting every hour on the hour. Was it a wasted day? Probably not. I definitely did save money. Ended buying a bunch of stuff and received them today. I also found out that the store I got it from was the same YouTube channel I’ve been watching for a while. Not only they’re helping us noobs to reefing, they’re also a legit place. Happy with Tidal Gardens. They can keep taking my money.

Welcome to LiveSale hysteria. I lurk a lot of live sales even if I'm not shopping. Soooooo much fun!

 

[Jdeez20]

And finally..for now..the reason I started this thread is for the chance of winning more corals from World Wide Corals…and so I’m in..I’m hooked…I think after this last purchase I’m finally learning about patience…it takes time to save up money to pay for this hobby.

 

[Jdeez20]

Second Week Update for WWC - Did some redecorating and re aqua scape to give myself some shelves for temporary placement of corals.

 

[Jdeez20]

The one on the right was supposed to be a red xenia. Poor thing did not survive the trip. When I received the shipment the red xenia “leaves” where floating In the bag. After I placed it in the tank, it basically started to melt away over 3 days. I’m still hoping since Xenias are resilient maybe it will come back. The one on the left is a Zoa that has yet to open. I’m still hopeful. I’m in touch with the vendor who has been very helpful. I’m learning that you can hope there are no issues but issues can happen and what matters is how the vendors help you resolve these issues.