New Hobbyist First Build

[Riggins76]

My journey started 5 years ago with a fresh water tank and is the tank I started with on my first saltwater build. I used the tank for approximately 2 years and in that span I had a good amount of mollies however my wife was mad at the location of the tank in the house and I had to move it. Being as I was very inexperienced (and still consider my self very inexperienced) I lost all the fish in the move. I then put the tank in the garage for the last 3 years. Flash forward to June 2023 while cleaning the garage I found the old tank and that coupled with wanting a new challenge I decided saltwater was the way to go. So this is likely the first of many saltwater tanks I hope to build one day considering the tank is just too small for the saltwater hobby. Having said that I don’t plan on actually buying a new tank anytime soon but rather making it a part of house in laid in the walls as I am somewhat of a handyman and will hopefully be able to be a new home in the near future. Regardless here is my current setup:

30”L x 23”H x 12”D - from what I remember it was $150 for tank and stand can’t wait to get a larger one eventually
40lb of Dry Rock - $70
20lb of Caribsea Arag Alive Sand - $25
Instant Ocean Sea Salt - Purple (plan to start phasing it out to orange when I want to start my reef) 200lbs - $40 bought more so I could use in water changes
Top fin Power 50 HOB Filter - $45 old one that came with tank broke
Orlushy Submersible Aquarium Heater 300W - $30
Jebao MP 70 Smart Crossflow Pump -$140 can buy it cheaper on Amazon but wanted to support my LFS

Currently ordered:
NooPsyche K7 PRO III kit with arm bracket - $190
- Shout out to @90’s reefer for the light recommendation we will see how it goes

Livestock
2 Ocellaris Clownfish - Dancy Dory aka Double D and Ruby are their names (kids named them)
1 Flame Hawkfish - Knuckles
1 Yellow Watchman Goby - Tails
EDIT
2 Hermit Crabs

If you’re wondering about Sonic, I bought a blue tang but it passed away. RIP. I have an entire other post about this fish. I plan to replace Sonic with another blue fish sometime in another month or 2 but haven’t decided which type of fish I am getting.

Wishes
Potentially a hang on back skimmer or if I can DIY a sump to fit in my cabinet a skimmer that is custom fit for the job.

Plan to use a bunch of softies when I start putting in corals but haven’t decided which yet.

If all goes well with softies my try my hand at SPS and LPS but I would imagine this will be in 1-2 years assuming I can grow softies. Maybe by then I’ll have a much bigger tank

Feel free to comment

 

[cmaxwell39]

Very nice start. If I could make one suggestion it would be to ditch the air stone in the tank. It will cause a ton of salt creep building up as the bubbles rise to the surface and pop.

As far as a HOB skimmer, they can be finicky, but I have had decent luck with the Reef Octopus HOB. One of the downsides of it is that it is on the large side. Keep the updates and questions coming.

Also, if you haven't already, get yourself a good cleanup crew. These are snails, shrimp, crabs, and other inverts that help consume algae, uneaten food, etc. A cleanup crew won't eliminate the need for maintenance, but will help to keep the tank running well.

Congratulations on your jump to the salty side. It is a very challenging, but very rewarding hobby.

 

[Riggins76]

Very nice start. If I could make one suggestion it would be to ditch the air stone in the tank. It will cause a ton of salt creep building up as the bubbles rise to the surface and pop.

As far as a HOB skimmer, they can be finicky, but I have had decent luck with the Reef Octopus HOB. One of the downsides of it is that it is on the large side. Keep the updates and questions coming.

Also, if you haven't already, get yourself a good cleanup crew. These are snails, shrimp, crabs, and other inverts that help consume algae, uneaten food, etc. A cleanup crew won't eliminate the need for maintenance, but will help to keep the tank running well.

Congratulations on your jump to the salty side. It is a very challenging, but very rewarding hobby.

Thanks for you comments and also thank you for reminding me about the CUC. I left the little fellas out however I do have 2 hermit crabs and was planning to get some snails when the algea started to be apparent. I didn't get any shrimp and probably won't because my LFS fella that sold me the fish said that Flame Hawkfish will eat them quickly.

As for your air stone statement, I thought it was helping by adding oxygen like in a typical fresh water tank, is this not the case? I don't know what salt creep is so if you could elaborate on what it is and what the effects are I would appreciate it.

As a side note, the reason I have that air stone in their in the first place was because I am seeding that sponge filter to be by bio filter for my QT tank when I make it. I have been meaning to post a question about that as well so I will go ahead and do it on another thread. Again thanks for your comments.

 

[Khoi_La]

I agree with cmaxwell about getting rid of the airstone. For better oxygen in the tank, I'd recommend looking into WaveMaker, or power heads to create surface agitation. You can look at some cheaper options like Jebao (Chinese brand), they're hit or miss, but mine has been performing well over a year. Or some a more reputable brands like AI, Ecotech Marine, or gyre (my fav for larger tanks).

I used to have a tunze hob skimmer which I absolutely love, they're smaller than the reef octopus and can blend well with the background, just giving you another option to take a look. At first, it'll create A LOT of micro bubbles, but after it's break in period (about 2 weeks) it'll be a lot better. Below is my 40 breeder with hob filter and skimmer.

And welcome to the salty side!

 

[cmaxwell39]

Thanks for you comments and also thank you for reminding me about the CUC. I left the little fellas out however I do have 2 hermit crabs and was planning to get some snails when the algea started to be apparent. I didn't get any shrimp and probably won't because my LFS fella that sold me the fish said that Flame Hawkfish will eat them quickly.

As for your air stone statement, I thought it was helping by adding oxygen like in a typical fresh water tank, is this not the case? I don't know what salt creep is so if you could elaborate on what it is and what the effects are I would appreciate it.

As a side note, the reason I have that air stone in their in the first place was because I am seeding that sponge filter to be by bio filter for my QT tank when I make it. I have been meaning to post a question about that as well so I will go ahead and do it on another thread. Again thanks for your comments.

Glad to hear you have a small cleanup crew going. Continue to add to that as needed.


As far as salt creep, it is little bits of salt left from dried saltwater that sprays around. As the bubbles from the air stone rise to the surface and pop, they each create a little spray that will deposit small droplets of water outside the tank. As those small droplets of water dry, the salt is left behind. This can be annoying, but also if enough happens over time and you are adding fresh water to replace what has evaporated, you will lower the salinity of the tank. This is a slow process, but it is cumulative over time.

Keep asking questions. It is how we all learn. You have a really good start.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My journey started 5 years ago with a fresh water tank and is the tank I started with on my first saltwater build. I used the tank for approximately 2 years and in that span I had a good amount of mollies however my wife was mad at the location of the tank in the house and I had to move it. Being as I was very inexperienced (and still consider my self very inexperienced) I lost all the fish in the move. I then put the tank in the garage for the last 3 years. Flash forward to June 2023 while cleaning the garage I found the old tank and that coupled with wanting a new challenge I decided saltwater was the way to go. So this is likely the first of many saltwater tanks I hope to build one day considering the tank is just too small for the saltwater hobby. Having said that I don’t plan on actually buying a new tank anytime soon but rather making it a part of house in laid in the walls as I am somewhat of a handyman and will hopefully be able to be a new home in the near future. Regardless here is my current setup:

30”L x 23”H x 12”D - from what I remember it was $150 for tank and stand can’t wait to get a larger one eventually
40lb of Dry Rock - $70
20lb of Caribsea Arag Alive Sand - $25
Instant Ocean Sea Salt - Purple (plan to start phasing it out to orange when I want to start my reef) 200lbs - $40 bought more so I could use in water changes
Top fin Power 50 HOB Filter - $45 old one that came with tank broke
Orlushy Submersible Aquarium Heater 300W - $30
Jebao MP 70 Smart Crossflow Pump -$140 can buy it cheaper on Amazon but wanted to support my LFS

Currently ordered:
NooPsyche K7 PRO III kit with arm bracket - $190
- Shout out to @90’s reefer for the light recommendation we will see how it goes

Livestock
2 Ocellaris Clownfish - Dancy Dory aka Double D and Ruby are their names (kids named them)
1 Flame Hawkfish - Knuckles
1 Yellow Watchman Goby - Tails
EDIT
2 Hermit Crabs

If you’re wondering about Sonic, I bought a blue tang but it passed away. RIP. I have an entire other post about this fish. I plan to replace Sonic with another blue fish sometime in another month or 2 but haven’t decided which type of fish I am getting.

Wishes
Potentially a hang on back skimmer or if I can DIY a sump to fit in my cabinet a skimmer that is custom fit for the job.

Plan to use a bunch of softies when I start putting in corals but haven’t decided which yet.

If all goes well with softies my try my hand at SPS and LPS but I would imagine this will be in 1-2 years assuming I can grow softies. Maybe by then I’ll have a much bigger tank

Feel free to comment

I like your aquascape!

 

[Riggins76]

I like your aquascape!

Thanks I appreciate it. I certainly didn't know how much enjoyment I would get out of trying to be artistic because my mind is pretty bland when it comes to artsy stuff, but I loved every second of trying to figure this out and I can't wait to do another one.

 

[Riggins76]

Just got my new light in. Did a time lapse video attached. This is 3 hours from lights on to full power. I have a noopsyche K7 pro v III with the following settings at max:
White: 15%
Blue: 55%
Green: 55%
Violet: 40%
Light Blue: 5%
Red: 55%

Any thoughts or comments are welcome.