Marine Newbie Intro

I have had freshwater tanks for decades. I went through the MTS (multi tank syndrome) phase, but am now down to 1- 125 gl. My partner in crime for going to LFS for years has been trying to get me over to the dark side - marine. I was resistant because in my youth (I was born in the 50’s) the thought of keeping a marine tank was like launching a lunar landing and the cost was about the same. So I had put the thought of marine completely out of my mind. I had convinced myself they were too hard to maintain, too expensive, the fish had short life spans and all coral would die. Back in the 70’s & 80’s that was the case.

On one of my shopping trips with my LFS friend, I came across a Fluval M90 with all the things needed for a marine tank. Protein skimmer, powerhead, return pump, light, heater, tank and cabinet - delivered and set in place for $500 CND. It was a one day tent sale so it was buy it then or never. So with the serious prompting/harassing of my friend I bought it.

Once I bought the tank it was time to start the learning curve. I had to learn acronyms like FOWLR. Figure out the difference between a reef tank vs. marine tank. Decide which type of tank I wanted. Figure out which corals and fish play nice, live rock vs dry rock, etc....

The tank arrived in August and didn’t get set up until the end of Oct. Due to budget I used 75% dry rock and 25% live rock. My substrate is the Hawaiian black from CaribSea. I was amazed at how many “creatures” lived in the live rock -some good, some not so good.

Like all good newbies I started slowly. After my tank cycled (I used Dr. Tim’s One & Only + ammonia). I added seeding copepods & rotifers c/w macroalgae. After checking my water parameters and then having them re-checked at the LFS I bought my first fish - 2 sm. blue chromis. A week later I bought some very tiny blue legged crabs and 5 cerith snails. Then a brittle star, an urchin, a couple of astrea snails, a cleaner shrimp - all at least 10 days apart, constantly checking my water conditions. Like I said I started slowly. Then in Jan the frenzy hit, the kid in a candy store fugue state. The phase when you see all the lovely coral and want them now. Then there are the sales you can’t refuse. Then the fellow whose tank starts leaking and he has to give just about everything away. Seems there are any number of reasons to switch gears.

So far I have been fortunate. My water parameters stay where they should. My fish population has increased to 4. 3 chromis and 1 lawnmower blennie. My coral collection has exploded from 3 sm frags to more than any sane person should have in a 4 month old tank. I don’t even know the name of some of the corals. Flood sales don’t come with much information. You just hand over money and get what ever is in the tupperware container as you step around the wet towels and try to talk over the sound of a wet shop vac.

 

Welcome to 3reef skye.
125g aquarium is a great size, lots of corals and some really nice fish can be added.
What type of lights and powerheads are you using?
Do you have a sump?
Are you dosing?
Some pictures when you're able to would be great. We all love looking at pictures.

If you have any questions, ask away. A wealth of knowledge abounds though-out the folks at 3reef.

 

Here are the answers I can give you:

Tank was set up Oct. 29/15. To cycle the tank I used Dr. Tim’s One & Only & ammonia as recommended. Initial water was 100% RO and the salt mix was Instant Ocean Reef.

Size: 36 x 17 x 17” - total, sump is built-in and is 5” and runs the entire length across the back wall of the tank. The tank is a Fluval M90
Total US gl. 36, tank gl. not including sump 27
Filtration is protein skimmer & 60 lbs. live rock & macro algae in sump
Power head 740 GPH
Sump return pump 950 GPH
Lighting 312 LEDS, 25,000K, 25 W, 1,115 LIM, 2,627 Lux

Water:
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Calcium: 390
pH: 8.4
Phosphate 0.1
Magnesium: unknown

Fish
3- Blue green Chromis - 14 weeks
1- Lawnmower Blennie - 4 weeks

CUC
1 - brittle star
4 - blue leg crabs
3- Astrea snails
4 - Banded Trochus
5 - Cerith
1 - Cleaner Shrimp
2- collector urchins (they are going to be re-homed)

 

welcome to 3reef! I loved your intro post. You have the fever you've come to a great place to hang out and get answers to questions. What are your plans for the tank?