wesmx
New Member
My first saltwater aquarium started almost 11 months ago. It was a hard learning curve, a lot of trial and error and ended being an expensive mistake.
My first saltwater aquarium was a Camry Q3-380 30L. It wasn't the best but it was mine and I was excited to watch this glass box transform into what I could call my own reef and it did...
I had purchased two juvenile clowns, It was a rollercoaster with these little guys, from not sleeping due to the stress of finding them in a trans-like-state on the sand, to watching them become female and male. I adored them, in the morning they got Premium Reef Flakes for breakfast and a nice helping of Mysis for dinner.
The tank was home to 2 hermit crabs and 2 turbo snails. 6 months later... I had my very own little reef. I honestly sat for hours just watching the aquarium.
What happened...
I started getting cyanobacteria all over my rocks. It was like a red-beast that covered every surface it could find. It took hold of my sand bed and every crevasse it could find. My first aquarium was being dominated by this red giant. I didn't know what to do... I changed my lighting cycle to an hour a day and left the tank in darkness the rest... I did 10% water changes weekly and reduced feeding... but this cyanobacteria just kept on taking over.
I found myself researching the mythical red giant killer. ChemiClean.
I dosed the tank according and followed directions like a child following directions from a parent. I added two air-stones to the tank and removed all carbon filtration I had running at the time, switched of the lights and left the aquarium alone for 48 hours.
48 hours later... I did a 20% water change, I replaced filtration sponges and added in carbon filtration and I assumed that was all i needed to do...
...
The LFS whom I was a local, urged me to purchase the ChemiClean. I was never educated that I do not need to replace filter media and I should add bacteria in weekly again to give the tank what the ChemiClean so viciously took. I was a newbie, I had extremely basic knowledge and experience... if any...
I replaced ALL sponges...
I never added bacteria back into the tank...
...
A few days later my babies started exhibiting extremely abnormal behaviour, I never saw much of the hermits... and my rose bubble tip anemone was closed almost 24/7. A week later the tank crashed and my first reef was no more...
4 - 5 months passed before I decided that I should give the reef aquarium another try...
I have a 2ft glass aquarium accompanied by the Tidal 35. It has a custom glass-cut lid. It is currently 3 days old. I purchased live rock from my LFS to help seed the tank. In terms of lighting I plan on adding the Zetlight ZA1201 Wifi with the Jebao MLW5 Wavemaker.
My first saltwater aquarium was a Camry Q3-380 30L. It wasn't the best but it was mine and I was excited to watch this glass box transform into what I could call my own reef and it did...
I had purchased two juvenile clowns, It was a rollercoaster with these little guys, from not sleeping due to the stress of finding them in a trans-like-state on the sand, to watching them become female and male. I adored them, in the morning they got Premium Reef Flakes for breakfast and a nice helping of Mysis for dinner.
The tank was home to 2 hermit crabs and 2 turbo snails. 6 months later... I had my very own little reef. I honestly sat for hours just watching the aquarium.
What happened...
I started getting cyanobacteria all over my rocks. It was like a red-beast that covered every surface it could find. It took hold of my sand bed and every crevasse it could find. My first aquarium was being dominated by this red giant. I didn't know what to do... I changed my lighting cycle to an hour a day and left the tank in darkness the rest... I did 10% water changes weekly and reduced feeding... but this cyanobacteria just kept on taking over.
I found myself researching the mythical red giant killer. ChemiClean.
I dosed the tank according and followed directions like a child following directions from a parent. I added two air-stones to the tank and removed all carbon filtration I had running at the time, switched of the lights and left the aquarium alone for 48 hours.
48 hours later... I did a 20% water change, I replaced filtration sponges and added in carbon filtration and I assumed that was all i needed to do...
...
The LFS whom I was a local, urged me to purchase the ChemiClean. I was never educated that I do not need to replace filter media and I should add bacteria in weekly again to give the tank what the ChemiClean so viciously took. I was a newbie, I had extremely basic knowledge and experience... if any...
I replaced ALL sponges...
I never added bacteria back into the tank...
...
A few days later my babies started exhibiting extremely abnormal behaviour, I never saw much of the hermits... and my rose bubble tip anemone was closed almost 24/7. A week later the tank crashed and my first reef was no more...
4 - 5 months passed before I decided that I should give the reef aquarium another try...
I have a 2ft glass aquarium accompanied by the Tidal 35. It has a custom glass-cut lid. It is currently 3 days old. I purchased live rock from my LFS to help seed the tank. In terms of lighting I plan on adding the Zetlight ZA1201 Wifi with the Jebao MLW5 Wavemaker.
