Newbie here, take a look at my progress so far :-)

Stirfry · Oct 11, 2016

Hello all, just wanted to stop by and make a introduction post. I started my Aquarium back in June of this year and have had what I think is a decent amount of success. There have been plenty of things I have learned from other's experiences and my own and will try to share them moving forward as well as learn from everyone else's.

Day 1: Only live rock and sand

First tank inhabitants: Snails, hermits, skunk cleaner, and maroon clown.

First Corals: Bottom to top - Anthelia, Kenyatree/Paly/Zoa combo, Green Star Polyp

Stirfry · Oct 11, 2016

Since the beginning I have learned about how hermits murder snails for their shells and then get taken back to the LFS. How emerald crabs murder skunk cleaner shrimps and also get taken back to the store, and finally how Maroon clowns once established dominance will not allow any other fish to be added - subsequently getting him a ride back to the store as well. I recently have added a pair of normal clowns and a Watchman goby/pistol at the same time and everything seems to be working well.

I met a guy off of the "offer up app" who was trying to sell his whole tank. I talked him into fragging corals for me instead as he was having issues selling the whole tank. I came out like a bandit getting well over 5-700$ worth of coral for $60. Super generous guy. Anyhow, here is the tank post fish changes, post lighting upgrades, and post lucrative offer up trade.

Wide shot of whole tank:

Duncan, zoas, leather, paly:

Kenya tree, zoas, dying leather, frogspawn, anthelia:

Blue Star polyps:

Candy Cane and Watchman Goby:

Candy Cane and Ricordia mushrooms:

This leather is the only coral that seems to be doing poorly... Open to suggestions:

Anyhow... more updates to come. The original Kenya tree I put in in the beginning has grown about 10x its original size. The anthelia has grown about 4x its size... Water parameters are all nominal and are tested about once every 2-3days. Water changes about 2-3 times a month for about 3-4 gallons each time. Only water parameter I had issues with was nitrate and I got that down bby using the middle back chamber to house a mini refugium of green grape algae stuff. Worked like a charm. Went from 40ppm on avg down to under 5ppm in under a month. Anywho... more to come and I hope you like my wee piece of the ocean.

helen ann · Oct 11, 2016

Nice Tank!

Stirfry · Oct 11, 2016

helen ann said:
Nice Tank!

Thanks!

Chrisfish · Oct 11, 2016

Welcome to R2R, very nice tank:)

aythatguy26 · Oct 11, 2016

What a good idea on getting coral! Now I'm going to have to keep an eye out on offer up

Stirfry · Oct 11, 2016

aythatguy26 said:
What a good idea on getting coral! Now I'm going to have to keep an eye out on offer up

A search for "coral" brought up some female clothing line... I did "coral frags", "reef aquariums" etc etc to get specific results... Got lucky here in Dallas to meet someone with such a variety of coral looking to be rid of his whole setup.

aythatguy26 · Oct 11, 2016

I actually just did all of that and came across a oceanic Biocube 29 with sand and rock for $50?!

Stirfry · Oct 11, 2016

aythatguy26 said:
I actually just did all of that and came across a oceanic Biocube 29 with sand and rock for $50?!

ID TAKE THAT!!!

aythatguy26 · Oct 11, 2016

I can't believe it haha. I mean I'm only 3 weeks into a bran new Coralife Biocube 29 that I paid $260 for!

skybears · Oct 11, 2016

What a beautiful tank it looks like you had the right start welcome to reef2reef here you will find a great community of people helping others with education and dedication to the amazing saltwater world the threads are full of information I can spend hours reading ask as many questions as you can as there's never a stupid one. As you've posted pictures we love pictures and like to see how people progressed I'm glad you made it to our wonderful site and I hope you enjoy it as we all enjoy being here welcome to reef2reef