First salt tank: Fluval Flex 32.5

[Reef_Squirrel]

Hello everyone. This is my first foray into a salt reef tank and i am excited to be starting my journey. I've always had freshwater tanks and now that i'm retired from the Air Force i have the time to invest in this hobby. I have the Fluval Flex 32.5 AIO and so far it's going well. Started with live sand and a couple cycled rocks from my LFS. I used Aquavitro Seed bacteria to start the cycle just over 3 weeks ago. I purchased 2 Ocellaris clowns yesterday that are doing well. Looking forward to learning from everyone and hopefully, if all goes well, in a few months i'll have some corals in my tank. Wish me luck:)

 

[maleks.reef]

Welcome and good luck :)!

 

[MaxTremors]

Welcome! Do you have any pictures of your tank and what are your plans for it (FOWLR, mixed reef, SPS dominant, etc)?

 

[Reef_Squirrel]

It will be a reef tank and i'll only be keeping softies and LPS for now. I don't want to delve into the SPS side until I can afford to upgrade to a bigger tank and better lights. I'll probably keep this tank for at least a year so I can refine my reef keeping skills. Dream tank would be no bigger than a 150 gallon. In the picture my BTA on the left was being camera shy. He was opened up really nice earlier this morning. Didn't want to add a coral so early but got a deal last week i could not pass up. I also started to notice some brown stuff is creeping onto my white rock so i think my ugly phase is starting. Hopefully i can keep it under control.

 

[commanderwho]

Get a royal gramma

 

[mforde]

Hello everyone. This is my first foray into a salt reef tank and i am excited to be starting my journey. I've always had freshwater tanks and now that i'm retired from the Air Force i have the time to invest in this hobby. I have the Fluval Flex 32.5 AIO and so far it's going well. Started with live sand and a couple cycled rocks from my LFS. I used Aquavitro Seed bacteria to start the cycle just over 3 weeks ago. I purchased 2 Ocellaris clowns yesterday that are doing well. Looking forward to learning from everyone and hopefully, if all goes well, in a few months i'll have some corals in my tank. Wish me luck:)

Hey there, tank looks good. I just started a very similar setup a few weeks ago with the fluval 32.5. Good luck!

 

[Powahfull]

Nice I'm about 6 months into a bio cube I still find things I never knew came with the cycled rock I got from my LFS but lessons learned. I think about about a year or so I will upgrade too it's a lot of fun!

 

[chandavi]

It’s a great tank! My first which will be 1 year old on Dec 14. I’ve learned so much with this one. Looking forward to adding another larger tank soon!!

 

[Reef_Squirrel]

It’s a great tank! My first which will be 1 year old on Dec 14. I’ve learned so much with this one. Looking forward to adding another larger tank soon!!

Looking good! Did you seed the corraline algae? Or did it just start growing on it's own? I am considering buying a bottle to give it a try.

 

[Reef_Squirrel]

It’s a great tank! My first which will be 1 year old on Dec 14. I’ve learned so much with this one. Looking forward to adding another larger tank soon!!

Also, is that a hawkfish perched on your rock? He looks awesome!

 

[chandavi]

Yes....sold as dwarf hawk fish.
The coralline didn’t appear for 6 months and I think it came in with some turbo snails.

 

[Horton]

Hello everyone. This is my first foray into a salt reef tank and i am excited to be starting my journey. I've always had freshwater tanks and now that i'm retired from the Air Force i have the time to invest in this hobby. I have the Fluval Flex 32.5 AIO and so far it's going well. Started with live sand and a couple cycled rocks from my LFS. I used Aquavitro Seed bacteria to start the cycle just over 3 weeks ago. I purchased 2 Ocellaris clowns yesterday that are doing well. Looking forward to learning from everyone and hopefully, if all goes well, in a few months i'll have some corals in my tank. Wish me luck:)

This is a little off topic but can you measure the bottom of the tank from front to back I know the front of the bow is 15.75 just wondering how wide of a spot I need to put it on. I have 14.75 inches for the spot I want to put it.

 

[mforde]

This is a little off topic but can you measure the bottom of the tank from front to back I know the front of the bow is 15.75 just wondering how wide of a spot I need to put it on. I have 14.75 inches for the spot I want to put it.

The base is 14 1/4” deep. So if you have 14 3/4” you’re good

 

[NeedAReef]

Looking great and Thank you so much for your service!

 

[Reef_Squirrel]

Hello all! Just wanted to give everyone a long overdue update on my tank.
I had it set up for close to 6 months and ended up getting back into trucking...so ended up selling all my fish and corals and broke my tank down for a few years.

Recently, i decided that i am DONE driving truck. The $$ was...ok...but I had a hard conversation with my wife. After a 20 year career in the Air Force and being away from family on deployments, professional development trips and such I asked myself "why am i still in a career that takes me away from my family for weeks at a time?!"

Long story short...we decided that it's time for me to be home and start enjoying my retired life (at the young age of 44).

So the first 4 pics are of my tank now. It's been going for about 2 months now. Current fish are a Blue Velvet Damsel, Flame Angel, Storm Clown, Dispar Anthias & 3 Green Chromis. Coral are several hammers, an Orange Leptastria, Rodactis mushroom & a purple Stylophora I'm trying to nurse back to health. CUC i have a sea cucumber & various crabs and snails.

A few weeks ago i bought a Redsea Reefer 250 on Facebook Marketplace(last 2 pics) and am excited to get it going soon. It will be my first foray into a sump tank. I've been slowly gathering what i need to get it running(Bulk Reef Supply loves me! Ha!) and my special grade sand finally arrived today.

I will be exercising PATIENCE with the new build and doing a fishless cycle with Dr. Tims 1&only and Ammonia. I'll do my best to post more regularly now.