alan mcilvried April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 Hello from Damascus, MD. New member just checking in. Rapidly getting sucked into this chinese finger-trap of a hobby again. 20 years ago I had a 55 gallon SW with an undergravel filter and a Magnum canister. Just fish. Kept it about 5 years with very good luck, and finally took it down when my wife started doing daycare. Now 15 years later I'm back at it with a 75 gallon overflow tank. I don't remember it being this expensive. What happened?!? This time I built my own stand to match the furniture in my living room and then decided to put the tank in the family room. Turned out beautiful, but it doesn't match anything in the room. Not very smart. I keep hearing about expensive mistakes in this hobby. I got my first one out of the way before I put water in the tank. Been up and running almost 2 weeks with 2 yellow tail damsels and about 55# of live rock and 60 # of aragonite. Will add some additional aragonite this weekend. Waiting for the tank to "cycle", whatever that means. Checking ammonia, nitrites and nitrates daily. All still at zero. I added the second batches of live rock a few days ago. Today while at work I got a magic present of brown algea growing on the original live rock (in areas that aren't covered with coraline algea) and spotting on my sand bed. Not sure it's related to the new rock or not. Will be watching that. Pretty sure I'm not overfeeding. Piggies eat everything in 30 seconds. I have a CPR CY192 wet/dry with protein skimmer running. Light is a 48", 6-bulb CF light with 2 actinic, 2 10000K and 2 50/50 bulbs. I've been told I should take the bio-media out of the filter and let it just be a sump with the skimmer in it. Will probably do that this weekend. Not sure If I should run a canister filter too? So far the tank is crystal clear. Of course I don't have much load on it right now. Have orderd "The consciencious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner and "The New Marine Aquarium" by Michael Paletta. No particular reason, just looked good on Amazon. Not sure I'm going to whole way to a reef setup, but I'm not intimidated by it. In 1 week I've met two super guys in WAMAS. James and Dave - thanks for the rock and your advice. I'll probably keep emailing for advice until you tell me to stop Anyway, so now you know what I've got going. Glad to be here. Looking forward to meeting more of you. Alan McIlvried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 Hey, welcome to wamas Alan. You did well on your book selections. Fenner takes a very common sense approach. As for you setup, you should be fine for a while, depending on what you plan to do with your aquarium. For fish only, should be fine, but nitrates could go up, but not horrible as long as there is just fish. Typically, after your liverock is established, you will not need. As for canisters, best if just used for carbon. You could even get a fluidized carbon reactor for that job as an alternative. Water changes are probably still the best way to reduce pollutants. Again, all depends on what you want to keep. If you go the reef route, the peeps here are very generous to support newcomers, don't be afraid to ask. Also, update your profile as to where you live, as reefers in your area can get to know you, and where to recommend you go. Glad to see the bug never leaves us! Welcome, and ask away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 welcome Alan, if youre ever in silver spring, stop on by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 Feel free to keep the questions coming Alan. Good to here everything is coming along smoothly. How are those snails treating ya? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 Welcome again sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 welcome to wamas alan. people are indeed generous as i still have several pieces from friends on the boards and you came at a good time when the social on the 28th will be a good venue for meeting new folks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nat'nCritters April 7, 2007 Share April 7, 2007 This the the BEST club I have ever been in. I did not know there were such knowledgable and helpful and generous people around the area til we joined a month ago. We have truly enjoyed being part of it, even just our first month! So, welcome, and hope we meet you someday! If you are ever in Charlottesville, stop by! We are newbies at this, so might not have much knowledge to give, but we enjoy meeting others with this expensive-addictive-but-awesome hobby! Natasha and Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emissary April 8, 2007 Share April 8, 2007 Welcome back to the hobby. Those are good books to start with. You'll find this is a very different hobby than when you left it, I think. I've only been in it for about 7 years. You'll find more information in my website (link below) about what I stock etc. Make sure to hit up the tank tours -- a GREAT source of information. Start putting aside money now for the 180G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak April 11, 2007 Share April 11, 2007 welcome, expensive indeed, but well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia April 11, 2007 Share April 11, 2007 Welcome to the club Alan. Looking forward to some tank shots and progress reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lletellier May 11, 2007 Share May 11, 2007 welcome to the club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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