First reef tank tips

[palbert_95]

Hello, I just got my first reef tank all set up a month and a half ago, yesterday I added my first load of lifestock
Hubert-Royal Gramma
Julio Seizure chavez- firefish goby
Mr. Whisker - banded coral shrimp
And am waiting for a snowflake ocellaris that I had to special order from my local fish store, I'm looking to add coral in the near future(once I get proper lighting) but trying to keep everything within a small/medium budget. Any tips will be greatly appreciated

 

[Dr. Phil]

Welcome to R2R! Be careful about adding too much too quickly. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Happy reefing!

 

[palbert_95]

Welcome to R2R! Be careful about adding too much too quickly. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Happy reefing!

Ill keep that in mind! thank you!

 

[Super Fly]

welcome and looks good so far. I notice u r using a HOB (Hang On Back) filter w live rock. I would recommend being very diligent with maintenance, i.e. water changes, if you plan to stick with HOB.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is not freshwater. Stock slowly, speed sparingly, monitor water and research before you buy.

 

[muzikalmatt]

As others have already mentioned, take it slow and be consistent with your husbandry (water changes, cleaning your filters, etc). I'd recommend adding some clean up crew as well if you haven't already. I'm a big fan of trochus snails and astrea snails for cleaning the rocks and glass, nassarius snails and conches for cleaning the sandbed, and maybe some cerith snails as well. You can also add hermit crabs but the can sometimes eat snails (and each other) . When you want to move into keeping corals, you'll need to test your water fairly frequently with quality test kits (Salifert, Nyos, Red Sea, Hanna checkers, etc) to keep your parameters in line. Stability is key with keeping corals. Best of luck to you!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Welcome. Looks good. Cannot tell from the picture, but make sure you have a lid on the tank. The firefish will jump.

As stated above, make sure to stay on top of maintenance. If you are looking at coral, keep track of parameters using good test kits and begin with some simple corals.

 

[fishguy242]

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun....

 

[palbert_95]

welcome and looks good so far. I notice u r using a HOB (Hang On Back) filter w live rock. I would recommend being very diligent with maintenance, i.e. water changes, if you plan to stick with HOB.

I'm doing 10-15% water changes every other week so far would you recommend that?, I plan on upgrading to a canister filter once i have the budget for it.
Thank you!

 

[palbert_95]

Welcome. Looks good. Cannot tell from the picture, but make sure you have a lid on the tank. The firefish will jump.

As stated above, make sure to stay on top of maintenance. If you are looking at coral, keep track of parameters using good test kits and begin with some simple corals.

I do have a lid on, Thank you for the advice!

 

[Super Fly]

I'm doing 10-15% water changes every other week so far would you recommend that?, I plan on upgrading to a canister filter once i have the budget for it.
Thank you!

10-15% biweekly is perfect. Canister filters also necessitate good regular maintenance or else it'll become a nitrate factory but it appears u have a solid maintenance plan.

 

[palbert_95]

As others have already mentioned, take it slow and be consistent with your husbandry (water changes, cleaning your filters, etc). I'd recommend adding some clean up crew as well if you haven't already. I'm a big fan of trochus snails and astrea snails for cleaning the rocks and glass, nassarius snails and conches for cleaning the sandbed, and maybe some cerith snails as well. You can also add hermit crabs but the can sometimes eat snails (and each other) . When you want to move into keeping corals, you'll need to test your water fairly frequently with quality test kits (Salifert, Nyos, Red Sea, Hanna checkers, etc) to keep your parameters in line. Stability is key with keeping corals. Best of luck to you!

I do have 5 Margarita snails and 6 hermit crabs, i added a bunch of empty shells in hope that the crabs will move into those if they need it instead of attacking the Snails but i guess we'll see how they get along (crossed fingers).
I've been making a habit of checking my salinity, PH, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates so far, I know once i start adding corals i need to check for calcium, Alkalinity and go more in depth with it. thank you!

 

[palbert_95]

10-15% biweekly is perfect. Canister filters also necessitate good regular maintenance or else it'll become a nitrate factory but it appears u have a solid maintenance plan.

yes! I've been taking it apart and deep cleaning it as much as possible every time i do a water change, also changing the filter once a month since I'm not concerned about the Live bacteria on it since i have a good amount of live rock and sand.
Thank you for your advice!

 

[palbert_95]

This is not freshwater. Stock slowly, speed sparingly, monitor water and research before you buy.

I have been doing my research, i know thats one of the most frequent mistakes new hobbiests make. Thank you for the tips!

 

[palbert_95]

I have been making upgrades to the tank, switched my HOB filter for a HOB protein skimmer(HOB 1.5 from aquamaxx) and also added a background to the tank, looks a lot cleaner. Next I'll be switching the stock lid for a mesh lid and a couple of reefing lights, still trying to decide which ones. Here is a picture of the progress made so far

 

[monti mike]

Welcome to the hobby! Are you using tap water? That was my big mistake when I first started! I switched from tap water to distilled water until I could buy a decent RODI unit.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Nice! Very clean look. I've heard great things about that skimmer. I actually looked into getting one for my AIO tank since the options are limited for skimmers that fit the back chambers.

 

[palbert_95]

Welcome to the hobby! Are you using tap water? That was my big mistake when I first started! I switched from tap water to distilled water until I could buy a decent RODI unit.

I have been, tap water with a water conditioner(don't remember the brand at the moment) but Im waiting on a RODI unit to arrive on the mail, can't wait till that's here and I can start doing my water changes with that

 

[palbert_95]

Nice! Very clean look. I've heard great things about that skimmer. I actually looked into getting one for my AIO tank since the options are limited for skimmers that fit the back chambers.

I've heard nothing but good things about it as well! Today is my first day with it and so far it's great, there was a pretty big amount of microbubbles the first 30mins but it's been going down by the hour

 

[jeffchapok]

The big 3 rules are:

1) go slow
2) slower
3) slow down!

But I think you get that. The only other things I'd add are to have a reason for everything you do. For example, I've seen people add a GFO reactor just because everybody else has one and it gets talked about a lot. But unless you have high phosphates it's not necessary and can even be detrimental. Corals don't like zero PO4/NO3. They need nutrients.

Research everything before you buy -- absolutely no impulse buys on livestock.

As for your tank, I like the look but I'd be a little concerned that you don't have quite enough rock in it. Rock is the home for your nitrifying bacteria, and as you add more bioload you may find that your bacteria is unable to keep up. Keep a close eye on ammonia as you add livestock. My rule of thumb is 1 lb rock for every gallon of water.