New Reefer!

[dr.g]

Hi! Just about to buy my first saltwater fish today, a clownfish pair, and am very excited! Have finished fishless cycling my 38 gallon gallon tank; I'm a resident physician, so I'll be starting with soft corals to aim for lower maintenance for now, at least till my schedule gets a little better. Planning to add a goby, tailspot blenny, and maybe a few more fish if I can fit them in the future (suggestions welcome!). Chaeto's in the mail for the fuge, and will be getting the corals soon. Excited to see the little guys come home today!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[BonnieB]

Welcome to our R2R family!

 

[EnterName]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

If you just finished cycling the tank, I personally would wait a tiny bit longer until the ugly phase comes to an end before adding corals. Diatoms and green hair algae can overgrow corals and the competition for nutrients is quite harsh while there still is excessive algae growth. Once diatoms are gone and green hair algae starts to vanish, you can put in the first robust corals.

Of course there are ways to keep corals from basically day one, but you said you preferred low maintenance. The slow approach might be a bit "outdated", but it has still proven to be a viable option, especially when you don't want to manually remove algae and measure parameters all the time.

Enjoy the hobby and your new "roommates" :)

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[edsbeaker]

Hello and welcome!

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[HighDefAquaria]

Hello! I’m a newer reefer myself. I started with a 45-gallon cube and later added a 50-gallon tank. I approached each setup a bit differently. For both tanks, I used Fritz Turbo Start; however, for my first tank I only cycled for one week before adding fish, while my second tank cycled for a full month. I kept the lights off throughout both cycling periods. After each cycle, I introduced pods.

With my 45-gallon tank, I struggled with diatoms and brown hair algae until about the third month. In contrast, my 50-gallon tank has not had those issues.

If I had to identify the major differences that helped, it would be the extended no-light cycling period for the rock in the second tank and adding the cleanup crew on day one of introducing fish. I also perform weekly water changes and highly recommend keeping to that routine.

If you haven’t already, I suggest following Serious Reefs on YouTube or Patreon—it’s the best single source of information I’ve come across.

Good luck, and I hope you find as much joy in this hobby as I have!

 

[jsmkmavity]

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Evil1]

 

[Reef Jedi]

Welcome to Reef2Reef, the greatest community out of water!

make sure to update us once they are in! We want to see!

Also start a build thread so we can follow along!

 

[mythesis]

Welcome aboard!!!

Patience is a real thing here. Like, months of waiting for things to settle.

You're creating an entire ecosystem. It's awesome and I love it, but especially early on be prepared to just.... Wait

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[TJ42]

Welcome!!

 

[B&CinB.C.]

Hello . Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

 

[Utubereefer]

Welcome to the club

 

[Sam7]

Welcome to the neighborhood my friend