DannyGT
Community Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2025
- Messages
- 55
- Reaction score
- 74
- Location
- USA
- What state or country do you live in
- New Jersey
Hey everyone, I’m brand-new to the community (well, sort of) and wanted to drop in to introduce myself—and my budding reef tank—to all of you!
Many moons ago, I had a memorable cichlid tank with my father. Life happened (three kids and all!), and I’ve been away from aquariums for quite some time. Recently, I decided to dive back into the hobby and was pleasantly shocked by how much it has evolved. I spent close to 80 hours on YouTube and forums (shout out to BRS’s 12-tank experiment for blowing my mind!) just to get up to speed. Armed with my newfound knowledge, I pulled the trigger on an Aquatop Recife 40 a couple of weeks before Christmas.
I set it up with about 12 lbs. of Marco rock, live sand, and 40 gallons of water directly from my LFS’s show tank—figured it couldn’t hurt to bring in the “good stuff” to kickstart things. Like many folks do, I popped in a pair of clowns (one Snowflake and one Black and White) after about a week. Another week went by, and I added two PJ Cardinals. One more week later, I introduced a Firefish—definitely not the typical “take-it-slow” approach, but everything was checking out, so I rolled with it.
Around Christmas, I started to see the inevitable “uglies,” but they barely had a chance to make a scene. I grabbed a cleanup crew of 8 blue-legged hermits, 5 astrea snails, a Mexican turbo snail, 2 nassarius snails, 2 conchs, and a baby emerald crab—and they went to town! Within a week, they eradicated the light brown sand coating everywhere, and it was amazing to watch them chug along from rock to rock. Conchs in particular are just sand-cleaning machines.
As the tank was humming along, I brought home a gorgeous Royal Gramma, and then a Red Ruby Dragonette (yikes). The LFS owner also gifted me a baby discosoma and a kenya tree coral. For the first three weeks, I dosed Prime + Stability, and a bottle of copepods. Last week, the water went cloudy for a couple of days (bacteria bloom, I’m guessing), I added some filter floss, used a capful of Seachem Clarity, and within a day, the tank cleared right up. Now I’m spotting hints of coralline algae creeping across the rockwork—always a good sign!
So here I am, a few weeks in, still rocking the stock media (except for that filter sponge) and feeling pretty proud of how this setup is progressing. No losses, a vibrant cleanup crew, and a little coralline growth for that pop of purple. Some modifications include the Smatfarm G3, and an ATO.
Thanks for reading and letting me share my excitement! I’m looking forward to learning, contributing, and showing you all how this reef develops. Feel free to drop any tips or suggestions my way—I’m all ears.
Happy reefing, everyone! Here's a pic from a few weeks ago, to help track my progress.
Many moons ago, I had a memorable cichlid tank with my father. Life happened (three kids and all!), and I’ve been away from aquariums for quite some time. Recently, I decided to dive back into the hobby and was pleasantly shocked by how much it has evolved. I spent close to 80 hours on YouTube and forums (shout out to BRS’s 12-tank experiment for blowing my mind!) just to get up to speed. Armed with my newfound knowledge, I pulled the trigger on an Aquatop Recife 40 a couple of weeks before Christmas.
I set it up with about 12 lbs. of Marco rock, live sand, and 40 gallons of water directly from my LFS’s show tank—figured it couldn’t hurt to bring in the “good stuff” to kickstart things. Like many folks do, I popped in a pair of clowns (one Snowflake and one Black and White) after about a week. Another week went by, and I added two PJ Cardinals. One more week later, I introduced a Firefish—definitely not the typical “take-it-slow” approach, but everything was checking out, so I rolled with it.
Around Christmas, I started to see the inevitable “uglies,” but they barely had a chance to make a scene. I grabbed a cleanup crew of 8 blue-legged hermits, 5 astrea snails, a Mexican turbo snail, 2 nassarius snails, 2 conchs, and a baby emerald crab—and they went to town! Within a week, they eradicated the light brown sand coating everywhere, and it was amazing to watch them chug along from rock to rock. Conchs in particular are just sand-cleaning machines.
As the tank was humming along, I brought home a gorgeous Royal Gramma, and then a Red Ruby Dragonette (yikes). The LFS owner also gifted me a baby discosoma and a kenya tree coral. For the first three weeks, I dosed Prime + Stability, and a bottle of copepods. Last week, the water went cloudy for a couple of days (bacteria bloom, I’m guessing), I added some filter floss, used a capful of Seachem Clarity, and within a day, the tank cleared right up. Now I’m spotting hints of coralline algae creeping across the rockwork—always a good sign!
So here I am, a few weeks in, still rocking the stock media (except for that filter sponge) and feeling pretty proud of how this setup is progressing. No losses, a vibrant cleanup crew, and a little coralline growth for that pop of purple. Some modifications include the Smatfarm G3, and an ATO.
Thanks for reading and letting me share my excitement! I’m looking forward to learning, contributing, and showing you all how this reef develops. Feel free to drop any tips or suggestions my way—I’m all ears.
Happy reefing, everyone! Here's a pic from a few weeks ago, to help track my progress.
