First time reefer

JustOneMore

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 30, 2024
Messages
2
Reaction score
13
Location
Boston
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi Everyone! I've had freshwater planted tanks since I was a little kid, getting bigger tanks as well as more tanks for different species or regions. Eventually life got more demanding so I had to scale back. In the past years, I got back into the hobby but with small tanks, carefully picking both plants and animals that will not grow large, though still not yet saltwater.

However in the past half year or so I have been interested in with setting up a reef tank. I have been sporadically reading some forums and avidly watching YouTube videos. I have acquired some equipment, and even a small tank (IM AIO 15 G), though I haven't set anything up yet since I have to find a good place for it or any other tank. The main issue I have to resolve is that is that my house has lots of glass so it is very sunny throughout. In freshwater tanks I dealt with what would have been out of control algae growth by adding shrimp and snails that kept it in perfect check so that you didn't even notice that without those two inhabitants the algae would have been an issue.

I'm looking forward to seeing what wisdom others in this forum have to share for a newbie, though since my phone doesn't read forums that well, I generally rely on videos and audios sources for most of my information. However, I will pop in every so often hoping to find specific information.

--MT
 

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
54,143
Reaction score
119,879
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D
welcome-home-logo-greeting-png.1484246
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
108,424
Reaction score
243,659
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
17   0   0

Peace River

Thrive Master
View Badges
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
24,831
Reaction score
173,228
Location
USA
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

Clownfish.gif
 

Crabs McJones

Regional Reef Manager (AKA Revhtree's Boss)
View Badges
Joined
Jul 24, 2017
Messages
33,592
Reaction score
153,855
Location
Wisconsin
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Welcome to R2R!
Austin Powers Doctor Evil GIF
 

BryanM

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 27, 2024
Messages
8,064
Reaction score
9,934
Location
Morgan Hill
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Hi Everyone! I've had freshwater planted tanks since I was a little kid, getting bigger tanks as well as more tanks for different species or regions. Eventually life got more demanding so I had to scale back. In the past years, I got back into the hobby but with small tanks, carefully picking both plants and animals that will not grow large, though still not yet saltwater.

However in the past half year or so I have been interested in with setting up a reef tank. I have been sporadically reading some forums and avidly watching YouTube videos. I have acquired some equipment, and even a small tank (IM AIO 15 G), though I haven't set anything up yet since I have to find a good place for it or any other tank. The main issue I have to resolve is that is that my house has lots of glass so it is very sunny throughout. In freshwater tanks I dealt with what would have been out of control algae growth by adding shrimp and snails that kept it in perfect check so that you didn't even notice that without those two inhabitants the algae would have been an issue.

I'm looking forward to seeing what wisdom others in this forum have to share for a newbie, though since my phone doesn't read forums that well, I generally rely on videos and audios sources for most of my information. However, I will pop in every so often hoping to find specific information.

--MT
Welcome to the forums!!
 

Gumbies R Us

God, Bouldering, and Reefing
View Badges
Joined
Nov 10, 2022
Messages
29,691
Reaction score
52,506
Location
North Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome to Reef2Reef!
 

Salty_Fish306

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 7, 2025
Messages
98
Reaction score
81
Location
Hazen, Arkansas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi Everyone! I've had freshwater planted tanks since I was a little kid, getting bigger tanks as well as more tanks for different species or regions. Eventually life got more demanding so I had to scale back. In the past years, I got back into the hobby but with small tanks, carefully picking both plants and animals that will not grow large, though still not yet saltwater.

However in the past half year or so I have been interested in with setting up a reef tank. I have been sporadically reading some forums and avidly watching YouTube videos. I have acquired some equipment, and even a small tank (IM AIO 15 G), though I haven't set anything up yet since I have to find a good place for it or any other tank. The main issue I have to resolve is that is that my house has lots of glass so it is very sunny throughout. In freshwater tanks I dealt with what would have been out of control algae growth by adding shrimp and snails that kept it in perfect check so that you didn't even notice that without those two inhabitants the algae would have been an issue.

I'm looking forward to seeing what wisdom others in this forum have to share for a newbie, though since my phone doesn't read forums that well, I generally rely on videos and audios sources for most of my information. However, I will pop in every so often hoping to find specific information.

--MT
Welcome to the dark side! As a avid freshwater keeper with 13 tanks. I too just joined the saltwater side.
 

LagoonGuy

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 12, 2025
Messages
25
Reaction score
44
Location
Melbourne
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Same here bud, Tanganyikans and Pseadomugils were my passion until now. Trying to deal with algae at the moment in my first real Marine tank. From what I can gather your best bet for the algae are Trochus snails, Fighting Conch snails and Sand Sifting starfish. Not really working for me as I run a cold water setup but that your best bet as far as I know. That and trying to get your parameters sorted, if they’re out then the algae will make the most of it.
 

Fish Fan

Master of Disaster
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
13,281
Reaction score
34,639
Location
461 Ocean Boulevard
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
From what I can gather your best bet for the algae are Trochus snails, Fighting Conch snails and Sand Sifting starfish.
I'm just going to point out that those sand sifting stars really need a very old/mature and very large sandbed or they can quickly deplete their food supply, and then they often just waste away and die in many tanks. They don't eat algae directly, but feed off of biofilms on the sand grains. Trochus snails and a conch would be good additions. Brittle stars would also be a good addition, but the sand sifters from the genus Fromia tend to not do well in most tanks, unfortunately, even though they are offered for sale all the time at fish stores.
 

DO YOU THINK TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS ARE MORE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL TO REEFING?

  • More helpful.

    Votes: 16 32.7%
  • More hurtful.

    Votes: 3 6.1%
  • I think it depends mostly on the technology.

    Votes: 23 46.9%
  • I think it dependsmostly on the reefer behind the technology.

    Votes: 15 30.6%
Back
Top
Home
Post thread…
Market
What's new