Hey R2R! I thought I'd document my first shot at a reef tank, hoping to give some insights from a noob that might help other new folks starting out... plus it's a good way to document progress. I started it in March, so it's been going for almost 4 months, luckily I have taken a few pictures along the way.
I'm no stranger to keeping exotic critters and freshwater fish, but the saltwater hobby had always held a fascination, but also a fear to begin (fear of spending a lot of money and failing to provide proper care for the delicate inhabitants). I decided to make the plunge in 2019, when I received a free, brand new JBJ 45 Gallon AIO. It was free due to a break in the acrylic between the display area and rear "sump". One night of messing with some acrylic bonding solution and I had it fixed. Crack is still visible, but it worked.
Next step was reading.... a TON of reading. Books, forums, and online articles. It still wasn't enough, but I think it's essential preparation to not experience total failure as I began.
First task before the wife would allow the tank in our room? Custom Stand that had to fit the "vibe" in the room... or something like that. Turns out a good family friend does great woodwork, and created this based on the specs I gave her.
Now it was time to fill the tank. I went with the recommendation to fill with freshwater to test for leaks. A good idea, and all was well. I wish I would have spent a little more time thinking about this next bit. If I were to do it over again, I would have created my RO/DI and Saltwater mixing "station" before doing this... having saltwater on hand would have been so helpful, but oh well. I mixed the salt in the tank and felt like I spent quite some time trying to get the salinity spot on. I totally was not prepared for the cloudy mess, either. Luckily that cleared up pretty quickly.
Then it was time to get equipment going. I was super fortunate that my cousin heard about me starting up this hobby and let me know he had reefing equipment that had been sitting in his garage, and he'd love for it to go to a good use. Amongst all the amazing goodies were a Vortech MP-10 and a Reef Keeper! I was beyond thrilled. These two pieces of equipment were out of reach for me in the beginning and allowed me to jump into corals alot sooner. I felt comfortable having some failsafes (heaters controlled by the RKL, constant pH monitoring, etc.). Not the cleanest assembly of cords, but here you go.
After the tank was running for several days, I decided to get live sand and live rock. I went with Fiji Pink CaribSea live sand and went to my LFS for 45 lbs of live rock. I was so excited seeing they had a ton of purpleish/pink rocks, thinking I had a jump start on coralline algae. I found out later it was fake/painted rock. Oh well, the price was good and at least no reefs were harmed in the making
.
I was shocked by the cloudiness of the addition of the live sand. If I were to do it over, I'd scape the rocks completely, then add sand and level the sand out once it had cleared up (about 24 hours to clear). Instead I experimented with at least 20 ways to scape the rocks while the water was super cloudy, obsessing over every piece. The end result:
Then it was time for the cycle. I tested religiously, and recorded my results in a spreadsheet. I went through copepod explosions, diatom blooms, and was continually fascinated by the hitchhikers I observed. I also kept busy by keeping pests at bay, namely aiptasia. Finally it was time for livestock. Being at my wits end with aiptasia, I decided to try two peppermint shrimp as my first additions. Luckily they DECIMATED all aiptasia. I was thrilled, and decided to occasionally reward my shrimp with the finest of flake foods. He soon became fearless and made a habit of eating out of my hands. Probably not the best move as far as him going after more aiptasia, but he earned it.
Then it came time for the first fish. I went for a classic "first choice", getting a DaVinci ocellaris and a regular ocellaris clownfish.
Then one day while at the LFS, I spotted a chunk of coral rock, with what appeared to be beautiful little flowers growing all over it. I asked them about it and was told they were zoanthids, and easy to take care of. I let him know I was new, this would be my first coral, and wasn't sure if I was ready. He assured me they were easy to care for, quizzed me on my parameters and tank, and gave me a huge discount since it was my first. I walked away with a zoa colony of at least 60 polyps for $20. Granted, they were just red zoas, but they were (and still are) awesome to me. I brought them home, knowing very little. Why were they closing up? How do I best acclimate? Can I expose them to air? I didn't realize how much I didn't know until doing some Google searches like a mad man while they drip acclimated. That's when I learned about dipping. Oops. With no dip on hand, in the tank they went. Luckily, I've had no issues (that I know of)
That was over three months ago, since then I've added clean-up crew (including a Halloween Hermit), Cleaner Shrimp, YW Goby, Cardinal Fish, royal gramma, and a midas blenny. All have been doing great. I've also added corals! More zoas, kenya tree, GSP, purple xenia, mushrooms, hammer, frogspawn, duncan, devils hand leather. Oh, and I've added two AI HD Primes...gotta grow those corals!
And here's what it looks like today
Thanks for letting me write the novel and sharing my beginner's version of a reef tank! More updates to come, and of course I welcome any tips and advice from you experienced reefers.
I'm no stranger to keeping exotic critters and freshwater fish, but the saltwater hobby had always held a fascination, but also a fear to begin (fear of spending a lot of money and failing to provide proper care for the delicate inhabitants). I decided to make the plunge in 2019, when I received a free, brand new JBJ 45 Gallon AIO. It was free due to a break in the acrylic between the display area and rear "sump". One night of messing with some acrylic bonding solution and I had it fixed. Crack is still visible, but it worked.
Next step was reading.... a TON of reading. Books, forums, and online articles. It still wasn't enough, but I think it's essential preparation to not experience total failure as I began.
First task before the wife would allow the tank in our room? Custom Stand that had to fit the "vibe" in the room... or something like that. Turns out a good family friend does great woodwork, and created this based on the specs I gave her.
Now it was time to fill the tank. I went with the recommendation to fill with freshwater to test for leaks. A good idea, and all was well. I wish I would have spent a little more time thinking about this next bit. If I were to do it over again, I would have created my RO/DI and Saltwater mixing "station" before doing this... having saltwater on hand would have been so helpful, but oh well. I mixed the salt in the tank and felt like I spent quite some time trying to get the salinity spot on. I totally was not prepared for the cloudy mess, either. Luckily that cleared up pretty quickly.
Then it was time to get equipment going. I was super fortunate that my cousin heard about me starting up this hobby and let me know he had reefing equipment that had been sitting in his garage, and he'd love for it to go to a good use. Amongst all the amazing goodies were a Vortech MP-10 and a Reef Keeper! I was beyond thrilled. These two pieces of equipment were out of reach for me in the beginning and allowed me to jump into corals alot sooner. I felt comfortable having some failsafes (heaters controlled by the RKL, constant pH monitoring, etc.). Not the cleanest assembly of cords, but here you go.
After the tank was running for several days, I decided to get live sand and live rock. I went with Fiji Pink CaribSea live sand and went to my LFS for 45 lbs of live rock. I was so excited seeing they had a ton of purpleish/pink rocks, thinking I had a jump start on coralline algae. I found out later it was fake/painted rock. Oh well, the price was good and at least no reefs were harmed in the making
.I was shocked by the cloudiness of the addition of the live sand. If I were to do it over, I'd scape the rocks completely, then add sand and level the sand out once it had cleared up (about 24 hours to clear). Instead I experimented with at least 20 ways to scape the rocks while the water was super cloudy, obsessing over every piece
. The end result:Then it was time for the cycle. I tested religiously, and recorded my results in a spreadsheet. I went through copepod explosions, diatom blooms, and was continually fascinated by the hitchhikers I observed. I also kept busy by keeping pests at bay, namely aiptasia. Finally it was time for livestock. Being at my wits end with aiptasia, I decided to try two peppermint shrimp as my first additions. Luckily they DECIMATED all aiptasia. I was thrilled, and decided to occasionally reward my shrimp with the finest of flake foods. He soon became fearless and made a habit of eating out of my hands. Probably not the best move as far as him going after more aiptasia, but he earned it.
Then it came time for the first fish. I went for a classic "first choice", getting a DaVinci ocellaris and a regular ocellaris clownfish.
Then one day while at the LFS, I spotted a chunk of coral rock, with what appeared to be beautiful little flowers growing all over it. I asked them about it and was told they were zoanthids, and easy to take care of. I let him know I was new, this would be my first coral, and wasn't sure if I was ready. He assured me they were easy to care for, quizzed me on my parameters and tank, and gave me a huge discount since it was my first. I walked away with a zoa colony of at least 60 polyps for $20. Granted, they were just red zoas, but they were (and still are) awesome to me. I brought them home, knowing very little. Why were they closing up? How do I best acclimate? Can I expose them to air? I didn't realize how much I didn't know until doing some Google searches like a mad man while they drip acclimated. That's when I learned about dipping. Oops. With no dip on hand, in the tank they went. Luckily, I've had no issues (that I know of)
That was over three months ago, since then I've added clean-up crew (including a Halloween Hermit), Cleaner Shrimp, YW Goby, Cardinal Fish, royal gramma, and a midas blenny. All have been doing great. I've also added corals! More zoas, kenya tree, GSP, purple xenia, mushrooms, hammer, frogspawn, duncan, devils hand leather. Oh, and I've added two AI HD Primes...gotta grow those corals!
And here's what it looks like today
Thanks for letting me write the novel and sharing my beginner's version of a reef tank! More updates to come, and of course I welcome any tips and advice from you experienced reefers.
