So much to learn!

[Reef Devils]

Hello! I'm excited to be here and learn from you all. I'm fairly new to this hobby and didn't know there was so much to learn. It's been pretty overwhelming but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I've always wanted a saltwater tank but couldn't afford one while raising 5 kids. I've had several freshwater tanks over the years and had a really nice 65 gallon. A friend told me that he knew someone who was selling his 180 gallon saltwater tank really cheap so I talked my husband into buying it for me for Christmas. Since I knew nothing about saltwater tanks, I hired a couple of guys from Whitlyn's Aquatics in Evansville, IN to move it for me. They moved it in freezing cold weather with an inch of snow on the ground. They worked really hard tearing down, moving and setting up the tank in my home. They set it up beautifully and I didn't lose any fish. They are truly amazing!!!

I've had my saltwater tank for a year now and still have a lot of question so I figured this would be a great place to get answers. I've been buying a few corals and trying to figure out placement, water flow and lighting. Last week I put a refugium in my sump and bought a couple of Hydor Koralia wave pumps with a smart wave controller. I'm not sure if the pumps should be placed high, low or middle and what settings. I figure it would depend on my rock formation and corals. I could use a lot of advise in this and other areas of reefing. I am looking forward to hear from you all and learn from your experiences and expertise.

Welcome!

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[zheka757]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! Make sure you have some pointing at the surface for water agitation, this will help with gas exchange. Pictures?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[-Nana-]

Welcome, glad you are here! Make sure you have some pointing at the surface for water agitation, this will help with gas exchange. Pictures?

 

[kevgib67]

Very nice! I like your choice of fish, that angel, wow!

 

[threebuoys]

A lot of trial and error goes along with pump placement as well as light intensity when it comes to coral. Good luck!

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

As for your pumps, it really is hard to give good, generic, recommendations. Even photos only help a little. It comes down to placing a pump and watching its flow then adjusting for dead spots, too much flow, etc.

I think that starting a build thread would be helpful for you and add the url for your build thread to your account profile to make it easy to find. That way people can give advice as you progress with changes. To do that. Start a thread in one of the 'Member's Aquarium Discussion' forums. Once you make the first post, copy the URL from your browser and paste it into the 'My Tank Thread' field in your account profile. A few minutes later you will have a clickable 'My Tank Thread' button that shows when you post. That makes it easy for someone o look at the photos and text on your specific tank and hopefully give you some targeted advice. Your photos are very good by the way. Try to take few 'Full Tank Shots' (FTS is the common acronym for them here). These will give people a better understanding of you particular aquascape.

One trick to use when trying to get your pumps positioned well, they are never perfect, is to watch the movement of things in your tank when you add them, like food or additives. That will help you to 'see' the flow and make adjustments. Also watching the movement of the corals and even the fish will help you to find dead spots or blast spots.

 

[Nano_Man]

Welcome to the family