n8harp
Community Member
TLDR: new here, upgrading from 26g to 60g display with sump this year. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.
Hey all- my first FOWLR tank was when I was about 13 after seeing the tanks at the Rainforest Aquarium in Disneyland. Got a freshwater tank and made it salt after reading one book, I had no idea about saltwater tanks or husbandry. The fish survived, but algae and problems plagued it. Got a reef guy to get us a TruVu tank with a sump and he did maintenance and that worked better.
When I left for college we took it down. And after a Hawaii trip I decided to bring the tank to college and set it up again. I struggled with maintenance and fish survived, but algae and problems. Could never keep coral.
Fast forward to 2022 and a brief stint in the mental hospital for psychosis (after struggles with addiction) I decided I wanted to get back into the hobby so the tank has some sentimental value as well as a timestamp of when I was at my worst. The tank has been running for 3.5 years now. Battling aiptasia but just bought some beghia, other than that corals are doing pretty well.
It is time for an upgrade in the coming year, and I am pretty set on the UNS R90 tank. It will fit perfectly in between my laundry room and bathroom, and will allow more fish and space for coral :)
My father has been helping me greatly with the tank and he has learned to love the hobby as well. We are hoping to have the nudibranches take care of the aiptasia before upgrading to the bigger system.
Tank parameters are right around the following:
Alk: 8.6
Calcium: 430
Magnesium: 1200
Phosphates: 0.41 today, were .17 yesterday. Just added 4 tablespoons of rowaphos so hopefully that helps.
Nitrates under 1ppm. I have chronically low nitrates and might start dosing ammonium bicarbonate.
Supplements are seachem reefcomplete for calcium and reef carbonate for alkalinity.
The LFS owner recomended to me the All for Reef by tropic marine but I am worried about my tanks CA vs ALK uptake. I seem to have to dose alkalinity every other day and calcium stays good with 1-2 doses a week with water changes. With the new tank, I will probably do a two part system with dosing pumps. Calcium reactors scare me, but perhaps I am missing out. The tank will be total 81 gallon system with 60g display. Perhaps not big enough to suffice a calcium reactor?
One thing I struggle with that I do not try to affect much is pH. It is around 7.6-7.8 most days. I would love to figure out how to raise that for the new tank, or does it matter?
I love reefing because I feel I know just the surface, there is so much science, chemistry, and options for how to improve so it is a lifelong pursuit. And I love that.
Hey all- my first FOWLR tank was when I was about 13 after seeing the tanks at the Rainforest Aquarium in Disneyland. Got a freshwater tank and made it salt after reading one book, I had no idea about saltwater tanks or husbandry. The fish survived, but algae and problems plagued it. Got a reef guy to get us a TruVu tank with a sump and he did maintenance and that worked better.
When I left for college we took it down. And after a Hawaii trip I decided to bring the tank to college and set it up again. I struggled with maintenance and fish survived, but algae and problems. Could never keep coral.
Fast forward to 2022 and a brief stint in the mental hospital for psychosis (after struggles with addiction) I decided I wanted to get back into the hobby so the tank has some sentimental value as well as a timestamp of when I was at my worst. The tank has been running for 3.5 years now. Battling aiptasia but just bought some beghia, other than that corals are doing pretty well.
It is time for an upgrade in the coming year, and I am pretty set on the UNS R90 tank. It will fit perfectly in between my laundry room and bathroom, and will allow more fish and space for coral :)
My father has been helping me greatly with the tank and he has learned to love the hobby as well. We are hoping to have the nudibranches take care of the aiptasia before upgrading to the bigger system.
Tank parameters are right around the following:
Alk: 8.6
Calcium: 430
Magnesium: 1200
Phosphates: 0.41 today, were .17 yesterday. Just added 4 tablespoons of rowaphos so hopefully that helps.
Nitrates under 1ppm. I have chronically low nitrates and might start dosing ammonium bicarbonate.
Supplements are seachem reefcomplete for calcium and reef carbonate for alkalinity.
The LFS owner recomended to me the All for Reef by tropic marine but I am worried about my tanks CA vs ALK uptake. I seem to have to dose alkalinity every other day and calcium stays good with 1-2 doses a week with water changes. With the new tank, I will probably do a two part system with dosing pumps. Calcium reactors scare me, but perhaps I am missing out. The tank will be total 81 gallon system with 60g display. Perhaps not big enough to suffice a calcium reactor?
One thing I struggle with that I do not try to affect much is pH. It is around 7.6-7.8 most days. I would love to figure out how to raise that for the new tank, or does it matter?
I love reefing because I feel I know just the surface, there is so much science, chemistry, and options for how to improve so it is a lifelong pursuit. And I love that.
