Hello there, everyone. My name is Gary and I'm a real noob. I'm an avid snorkeler, occasional scuba diver and I just had to try and bring some reef into my living space. And so the adventure begins!
I bought a 45 gallon Red Sea Max 170e all-in-one tank and made the rookie error of cycling with dry rock. I'm dealing with a pretty good case of the uglies but I'm committed for the long haul and am definitely learning patience.
The tank has 20 lbs of live sand (probably my saving grace), 35lbs or rock, 2 clowns, a dwarf coral beauty, royal gramma, and a six line wrasse (loves to chill in the rocks at all times), and a green bubble tip anemone (too early, I know...), 2 zebra snails, 5 trocus snails, and 6 hermit crabs.
I'm currently dealing with diatoms. I've been struggling to get nitrates and phosphates above 0. I've increased my feeding to 2x daily and shut off the protein skimmer for a couple days now to see the effect that has. I have my light on for 6 hours a day at 50% blue and 25% white.
Well, that's me. I really appreciate all the great information here. I've been lurking since day one figured it was about time to say, "Hello!".
I bought a 45 gallon Red Sea Max 170e all-in-one tank and made the rookie error of cycling with dry rock. I'm dealing with a pretty good case of the uglies but I'm committed for the long haul and am definitely learning patience.
The tank has 20 lbs of live sand (probably my saving grace), 35lbs or rock, 2 clowns, a dwarf coral beauty, royal gramma, and a six line wrasse (loves to chill in the rocks at all times), and a green bubble tip anemone (too early, I know...), 2 zebra snails, 5 trocus snails, and 6 hermit crabs.
I'm currently dealing with diatoms. I've been struggling to get nitrates and phosphates above 0. I've increased my feeding to 2x daily and shut off the protein skimmer for a couple days now to see the effect that has. I have my light on for 6 hours a day at 50% blue and 25% white.
Well, that's me. I really appreciate all the great information here. I've been lurking since day one figured it was about time to say, "Hello!".



