Hello from the UK!

Hydra138 · Apr 19, 2022

Evening/Morning!

I'm brand new to the reefing scene, always wanted a tank and finally in a position to set one up. Making an account and a post on here upon recommendation from a friend saying its a great community, which i hope to be a part of. I had a great opportunity to pick up a 150 gallon 5x2x2 second hand and cheap. It was previously a freshwater tank but I managed to successfully drill two holes in! (a few stressful moments there).
So far I've got my sump, heaters, pump, and had a stand made.
Ive decided on using marco rock for the aqua-scape and am picking it up tomorrow, plumbing pieces have been ordered and im still trying to figure out exactly which lights will work.

My plan is to start off with LPS and Softies which from what i can gather seems to be the way most people go at the start. Love the look the flow generates with all the movement.

Still researching exactly how to cycle etc but think I'm going to let it do its thing without putting any live rock in there at the beginning as its a massive learning curve and i want to fully understand how everything works before I put anything living in it.
Ive attached a few photos but ultimately probably boring for anyone to look at until I've at least got some rock and water in it.

Thanks for your time and I'll post some updates as I get them.
Peace o/

Peace River · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

vetteguy53081 · Apr 19, 2022

ReefRondo · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome!

Sean Clark · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to the party.

Miami Reef · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to the forum!!

Billldg · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to R2R!!!

DE FISH · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to R2R from uk Essex

PeterC99 · Apr 19, 2022

Welcome to R2R!

Nice work!

Hydra138 · Apr 19, 2022

DE FISH said:
Welcome to R2R from uk Essex

Ah brilliant, i'm getting my marco rock from Coral Passion in Essex, they came recommended.

ying yang · Apr 19, 2022

Hi and welcome to r2r,hope all is well.
If you using dry Marco rock then there's nothing living on it as its dry.
If me and I was starting cycle I would put Rock in first then sand if using it then start your cycle with bottled bacteria or ground up fish flakes ghost feeding,as rocks are the main filtration in saltwater tanks so leaving them out while cycling tank imo isn't right thing to do.
You do right by reading/ researching before starting.
Research cycling and start your cycle,then as the tank is cycling,then research the next step which would be add fish so researching what fish you want and if they compatible with each other and which order to add the fish from most peaceful to most dominant etc.
Then add cuc of snails,hermits,urchins at various stages ,your tank will tell you when you need to add cuc and research what cuc eat what and add whichever cuc is needed at that time and keep adding periodically.
Then keep up with your water changes and maintenance and all should be well.^_^

Hydra138 · Apr 19, 2022

ying yang said:
Hi and welcome to r2r,hope all is well.
If you using dry Marco rock then there's nothing living on it as its dry.
If me and I was starting cycle I would put Rock in first then sand if using it then start your cycle with bottled bacteria or ground up fish flakes ghost feeding,as rocks are the main filtration in saltwater tanks so leaving them out while cycling tank imo isn't right thing to do.
You do right by reading/ researching before starting.
Research cycling and start your cycle,then as the tank is cycling,then research the next step which would be add fish so researching what fish you want and if they compatible with each other and which order to add the fish from most peaceful to most dominant etc.
Then add cuc of snails,hermits,urchins at various stages ,your tank will tell you when you need to add cuc and research what cuc eat what and add whichever cuc is needed at that time and keep adding periodically.
Then keep up with your water changes and maintenance and all should be well.^_^

Thanks mate, appreciate your time. I was going to go with the bottled bacteria once the marco rock was in. People have suggested using a few pieces of live rock to speed things up but ive heard of all the nasties you can pick up and wasn't sure if it was worth it or not just to speed things up.