Planning to get back into the hobby after 20+ years away

[IL Dreamer]

Hi all. I had a 55 gallon reef back in the 90's and am wanting to get back into the hobby. I'm waiting for a 180 gallon plus used tank to become available for a great price in my area.

Some of my favorite fish are:
Marine Betta
(2-3) Engineer Gobies
Melanurus Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Crosshatch Trigger

Since so many of my favorites interact with the sand bed, I have a number of questions:
1. How deep of a sand bed should I be looking at?
2. Is the live sand from TBS or KP too coarse
3. Since inverts are likely on the lunch menu with my favorite fish, what are the best ways to compensate?

As far as corals go, I had a huge leather toadstool in my old 55 gallon and I'd like to get another one. I'd also like to plant some plating monties around 7-8 inches above the sand bed to create some additional hiding places for the fish and to minimize the area shaded.

I have all my old rock (about 100 lbs) from TBS (dry after 20+ years) that I'll aquascape with directly on the bottom before adding the sand to keep the rock stable.

Spending my time learning and researching all the changes that have happened while I've been away.

Suggestions are welcome.

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

About an inch deep sandbed is pretty common now. It's easy to keep clean.

I have not owned a lot of wrasse however so them sleeping in the sand may change how deep you want it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[revhtree]

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

 

[jsker]

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R! I usually like a sand bed about 1"-1.5" deep. Enough to satisfy many, but not all, critters I like but shallow enough to be easy to care for. No idea on the sands from TBS or KP.

 

[Jedi1199]

Welcome to the Dark Side...

 

[Sean Clark]

Welcome to the party.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! I too started in the mid 90’s and after ten years jumped back in. A lot of changes but this forum brought me up to speed, good luck!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello, and welcome to the channel.

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!!

 

[LisaMarie]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! So glad you're here.

 

[Adolfo]

 

[Reefer Matt]

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hi all. I had a 55 gallon reef back in the 90's and am wanting to get back into the hobby. I'm waiting for a 180 gallon plus used tank to become available for a great price in my area.

Some of my favorite fish are:
Marine Betta
(2-3) Engineer Gobies
Melanurus Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Crosshatch Trigger

Since so many of my favorites interact with the sand bed, I have a number of questions:
1. How deep of a sand bed should I be looking at?
2. Is the live sand from TBS or KP too coarse
3. Since inverts are likely on the lunch menu with my favorite fish, what are the best ways to compensate?

As far as corals go, I had a huge leather toadstool in my old 55 gallon and I'd like to get another one. I'd also like to plant some plating monties around 7-8 inches above the sand bed to create some additional hiding places for the fish and to minimize the area shaded.

I have all my old rock (about 100 lbs) from TBS (dry after 20+ years) that I'll aquascape with directly on the bottom before adding the sand to keep the rock stable.

Spending my time learning and researching all the changes that have happened while I've been away.

Suggestions are welcome.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Since you seek both suggestions and changes, to me lighting, foods and pods have been biggest change upon my return to the hobby couple years ago. Pods used to be hated, and now everyone loves them (species matter of course - I still have healthy fear of 'wild' pods)... but I've come over to the 'I LOVE PODS' side and despite wrasse my female mandarin is so fat her name is Orson Wells. Here is my experience with the easy, lazy, banana peel and spirulina method:

raising tig pods - tiny 2.5g tank experimental culture #2

2nd attempt at raising tig pods is officially underway. Original attempt was outdoor lazy banana leaf method I found online - that is still underway but seems to be failing. Suspect Texas temperature and full day direct sunshine is too much, but that pod culture experiment still underway. 2nd...

forum.dfwmas.org

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID). No time is too early!

This might help you find people local to you in IL:

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.

www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board!

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef