Where do i go from here?

[kidsMadeMeDoIt]

When I said " get the biggest one you can" I really didn't expect this 180g tank to be mine someday. Here I am though, 7 months of weekly water changes later and not everything dies....yay? The kids love it, every week they say to keep it, so it's staying. Urchins surviving, two sea stars that make appearances, clownfish seem to be immortal, snails get eaten by giant hermit crabs and shrimp and I'm not sure if that's normal or not. I would really..... REALLY love a mentor that wants to talk about everything from bacteria to safe decorating. I don't want to hurt anyone more than I already am. Heeeeelllllpppppp.

 

[tzabor10]

I would not recommend teasing the children about removing a family pet. I read a book about that and it isn’t good.
Why did you say “I don’t want to hurt anyone more than I already am”?? Seems so creepy. Are you assuming responsibility for tank deaths?
52 weeks of reefing is a great start.
Stop by your local fish store and make friends. Seems like you might need to replenish your CUC

 

[eliaslikesfish]

well first, you can probably go 2 weeks in between water changes which will be nice.

 

[kidsMadeMeDoIt]

I really didn't realize i was being this hard on myself. Thank you! When we inherited the tank I really didn't know if the kids saw them as pets or competition for time. Kids are really small and it does take time away from them so I give them the choice. I got myself a dog a few months before I unintentionally inherited the tank too. I called the aquarium store right away and they've been helping me figure this out, but I do want to learn. I get my water from them, moving to a home system soon. I felt like I was torturing a purple fan coral I got, watching it slowly break and shrink over weeks. Monthly water tests show it was short on minerals ( Ready2Reef) so I moved to everyday.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

First off, love the name! Reef keeping is not easy. It requires lots of patience and research. I feel like there is never a point where you stop learning. With that being said, don't beat yourself up too hard.

There are lots of very knowledgeable members here that can set you on the right track. This whole forum is full of helpful people. I grew up with tanks. But growing up with your dad taking care of the tank, and then taking care of your own tank is two very different things. Here are some great resources that I used when I started taking care of my own tank (the stickied threads): New to Saltwater and Reef Aquariums? Post Here. Of course, if you have specific questions, start threads.

Again, if you're in need of some guidance, you're in the right place. Good luck and welcome to R2R!

 

[Serpentman2024]

You will find a treasure trove of valuable information and past experience here. You will also find that there are many paths and philosophies to reefkeeping so there is no one true "right" way to do things. Once common factor is that whether someone has been in the hobby for 50yrs or 5 days, every single person here has been in your shoes at one point so don't feel shy about asking questions.