[Reefland]

Jason,

Several years ago (and even a few in a recent occurance) we lost a lot of images that were uploaded to the server when we performed a server move. Moving several gig's of data proved to be a difficult task in my early days and therefore there was some pain felt from my lack of skills. This should only be for posts that are pretty old though.

[nrthtwn]

hi my name is Darren im setting up 55 gl. im 4 weeks into cycling i have had no nitrates or ammonia water seems good i did a 5 gal change with salt water from the fish store tanks is it ok to start adding fish yet???

Originally Posted by Elmo18

To complement the "Who are you" post and also from out of curiosity I am starting this post to SEE the actual reefers behind these Reefland handles

So I'll start off:

Real name: Ilham
Nickname: Elmo
Mech E/Math Major
Age: 20 (oooo almost 21!)
Tanks: 25 gallon Eclipse/75 gallon Acrylic both reef
Current occupation is a college student, bank teller, and web designer
Hobbies: Duh this hobby....also enjoy swimming, jogging, reading, computers, badminton, tennis

And my bizarre pic.


- Elmo

[The Old Fool]

Originally Posted by nrthtwn

hi my name is Darren im setting up 55 gl. im 4 weeks into cycling i have had no nitrates or ammonia water seems good i did a 5 gal change with salt water from the fish store tanks is it ok to start adding fish yet???

you can never tell. You won't have any ammonia to break down without fish waste or a food source. Start with a couple damsels. No coral till next year.

[C7Prod]

Hello All,

I'm Gene, and I am "Over my Head in Saltwater", and loving it...

Just got started with a 175 gallon tank after a successful bout with a 40 gallon unit with some fish, shrimp, snails and some sps and Xenias...

The new tank is beautiful, but it is a bit overwhelming too. I just hope I can find a few kind souls to give me some good info.

Thanks ahead of time,
Gene

[charlie]

Welcome to Reefland, Gene. Yeah, there are a bunch of people just like you around here, hopelessly addicted, and nowhere to go but here.
You'll find alot of info just by doing a search here. If you can't find it, that's what we're here for.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by The Old Fool

you can never tell. You won't have any ammonia to break down without fish waste or a food source. Start with a couple damsels. No coral till next year.

Welcome to Reefland, Darren!

You don't have to add any damsels to cycle your tank unless you intend to keep them in the future( and it;s quite cruel to use fish for this purpose). There are other ways to start a cycle ( table shrimp, raw, for example).

Gene, Welcome to Reefland!

Like Charlie said, we all are bunch of reef addicts here and will be glad to help you out when you need it.

[SouthFloridian]

Hello All
Real name: Dave
Nickname: SouthFloridian
Tank: 105 gallon reef Tank (Coming in 2 days)
Current occupation: Endoscope Repair (those lenses that they put in your body for Athroscopic Surgery)
Location: South Florida (Duh!) Fort Lauderdale (Sunrise to be exact)
Hobbies: Computers, aquarium (Now), Shooting, RC Helicopters, Lots of hobbies not enought time!

I'm new to this. In fact, I haven't even started yet! I have my new reef tank being delivered in a few days. I haven't bought anything else for it yet...


I plan on getting a refugium (about 30 gallons) and an aqua c ev-180 Protein Skimmer.

As for lights, I haven't yest decided what lights to get yet. I need to see the hood to plan this. I'm probably going to get some "retro-fitted" setup, or do it myself. I guess I will need some suggestions about this.


I also plan on filling the tank with live rock. Not sure which kind yet, but a lot of it!

Now, to my main question. I will most likely need 100 lbs. of Live sand for my aquarium (48X21). I live in South Florida, not too far from Key Largo, so I was thinking about going diving, and getting all the sand myself.

There are several aquarium shops near me that sell it. But 100 lbs of live sand will cost me over $150.00. I can get it myself for free. If there a difference?

I know that I will have to cycle the tank for the rock, so would using this sand be a problem?

Thanks for the advice. I'll be asking for more in the future.....

Dave

[jkellwoo]

"Now, to my main question. I will most likely need 100 lbs. of Live sand for my aquarium (48X21). I live in South Florida, not too far from Key Largo, so I was thinking about going diving, and getting all the sand myself.

There are several aquarium shops near me that sell it. But 100 lbs of live sand will cost me over $150.00. I can get it myself for free. If there a difference?'

Just Don't get to close to shore line because of pollutation that rolls up and in the water make up. The farther out would be better because of this, but be careful and legal. Do it responibile, learn first so death is at a small amount. Sorry for misspelling in a hurry.

[hobokenaddict]

Name: Matt
Alias : HobokenAddict
Can be found: Living in Hoboken NJ, working in NYC, and chilaxing on the beach in Manasquan and Bayhead NJ

I've had my first little slice of the reef for 18 months now. I'm big into DIY, and prefer to get my corals as CPR frags, through trades, or from GARF. When not staring into the 7 gallon, I'm usually creating new recipes for food, fly fishing and surf fishing, sponging(bodyboarding) when there's waves, and snowboarding through the winter. I'm the guy in all camoflauge ripping past you like a blur. I also like to take film and digital pics so usually i'm lugging a camera around. My wife and I are going to have our first baby in November, so I need to get all my DIY tank projects done soon.

I think these forums are the absolute best place to learn about responsible reefkeeping, and are a plethora of valuable information. I found your site link through the SeaCrop site, and I am glad to be here. Here's a thumbnail of me and the misses at a wedding by the sea!

[zhenya]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to Reefland!

And, don't be a blur, stick around for a while...

PS. I am from NJ as well, Middlesex County to be exact.

[hobokenaddict]

Will definitely stick around, I'm a fan of this site and nano-reef.com , well and also njreefers, and manhattan reefers.....

Originally Posted by zhenya

Hi Matt,

Welcome to Reefland!

And, don't be a blur, stick around for a while...

PS. I am from NJ as well, Middlesex County to be exact.

[julioperez]

New to this site and will soon be posting all of my info on my tank.

[zhenya]

Welcome to Reefland, julioperez!

[My2heartboys]

Hi, my name is Anne Wanger and I live in Wichita, Kansas. My husband is a public school teacher and together we have had 2 boys. Our 12 year old has 3 heart defects-one of which has been corrected with surgery. He also deals with developmental disabilities which have physical, social, and educational impacts. He also struggles with asthma when his heart acts up. Our 6 year old has one heart defect which has had to have corrective surgery. He also struggles with asthma when his heart gives him trouble. They are the main reason I am starting up a tank. So that they will have the chance to see something that they will most likely never see in the wild. I also believe there are some lessons that they can learn as well. Since our oldest son has trouble with upsets in his routine, I am also hoping that this will serve as calming influence on him.

Because of the boys and their conditions, I have been unable to work outside the home, so we are surviving on a public school teachers' salary. Not easy and I will be trying to do this take with a budget that is skinnier than a shoestring.

Well, that is all I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions for me please ask away.

Anne Wanger

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland!

I think it will be a very pleasing experience for your boys and soothing for not only them, but their parents as well. We are here to help you out in this venture anyway possible.

[zhenya]

Hi Anne,

Welcome to Reefland!

Sorry to hear of the health problems with the boys... Any chance they can outgrow this conditions ? I know, probably wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, starting a reeftank will certainly require some funds but there are many ways to set up a small marine aquarium cheaply. Plus, it can be set up in stages( which can help keeping it in a budget). What I mean is that you can aquire the tank first, then some sand( if you wish to go with a sand bed) and some pieces of live rock, even one piece at the time. You can set up the tank and if you put a bit of live sand in it you can start to observe some lifeforms developing in the sand and the live rock as well.
As money become available you can add some more rock and maybe some polyps, like mushrooms and such, those will not require intense lighting and are pretty easy to keep and watch them grow. Perhaps some soft corals as well, watching them swaying in the current can be quite calming.
This is just an example though, there are many, many ways to set up a tank.

If we can be of any help just let us know and good luck with everything.

[My2heartboys]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Hi Anne,

Welcome to Reefland!

Sorry to hear of the health problems with the boys... Any chance they can outgrow this conditions ? I know, probably wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, starting a reeftank will certainly require some funds but there are many ways to set up a small marine aquarium cheaply. Plus, it can be set up in stages( which can help keeping it in a budget). What I mean is that you can aquire the tank first, then some sand( if you wish to go with a sand bed) and some pieces of live rock, even one piece at the time. You can set up the tank and if you put a bit of live sand in it you can start to observe some lifeforms developing in the sand and the live rock as well.
As money become available you can add some more rock and maybe some polyps, like mushrooms and such, those will not require intense lighting and are pretty easy to keep and watch them grow. Perhaps some soft corals as well, watching them swaying in the current can be quite calming.
This is just an example though, there are many, many ways to set up a tank.

If we can be of any help just let us know and good luck with everything.

__________________________________________________ _____

Thank you for your response. I have already aquired the tank which turned out to be larger than originally planned. There are a few pieces of equipment that I still need, not to mention all of the test supplies and chemicals. I will be posting tank size and equipment needs in a little while. I don't mind using used equipment as long as it is still in good working order. Hopefully somebody has some of it lying around that they haven't used in a while and would be willing to part with it cheap.

Anne

[scubadude]

Originally Posted by My2heartboys

Hi, my name is Anne Wanger and I live in Wichita, Kansas. My husband is a public school teacher and together we have had 2 boys. Our 12 year old has 3 heart defects-one of which has been corrected with surgery. ......... Since our oldest son has trouble with upsets in his routine, I am also hoping that this will serve as calming influence on him.

Because of the boys and their conditions, I have been unable to work outside the home, so we are surviving on a public school teachers' salary.

Anne Wanger

WOW! First off welcome to Reefland Anne
I am very sorry to hear about your boys and the struggles that you and your family are going through with the situation on hand. I commend you on your stance in the matter, and you sound like a very headstrong woman. I lived in Wichita for a few years and alot of my family still lives there. My dad just sold his auto-glass business there because the market is going downhill from what he has told me.

Originally Posted by My2heartboys

Hopefully somebody has some of it lying around that they haven't used in a while and would be willing to part with it cheap.

I have a few things lying around and would definately hook ya up with some stuff let me know what you need and I will see what I can do for you.

[My2heartboys]

Originally Posted by scubadude

WOW! First off welcome to Reefland Anne
I am very sorry to hear about your boys and the struggles that you and your family are going through with the situation on hand. I commend you on your stance in the matter, and you sound like a very headstrong woman. I lived in Wichita for a few years and alot of my family still lives there. My dad just sold his auto-glass business there because the market is going downhill from what he has told me.



I have a few things lying around and would definately hook ya up with some stuff let me know what you need and I will see what I can do for you.

__________________________________________________ _________

Thought I included that in my post, but here is the list anyway. I don't want or need high end high dollar stuff if a cheaper knock off would work as well, then that is good enough for me. Just please still be sure that the equipment is still in good working order.

I need the following:

Hood that has reef lighting capabilities (dimensions of tank from inside are 48 inches long and 12.5 inches wide. I cannot hang anything from the ceiling or walls.
Skimmer
Pump
Heater
Filter system

I only plan on have some softies, just a few LPSs and few fish intially. When I have more experience, I plan on adding a clam or two and a sea cucumber to help with sand issues.

Anne Wanger

[zhenya]

Well,

I have pretty new AquaC EV 120 skimmer laying around that I'd willing to donate to the cause, if that helps any. It will definately be able to handle your 55g tank bioload. If you could get someone to construct a DIY canopy for your tank, then assembling a nice VHO lighting should be relatively easy. You could argueably fit at least 4 bulbs over that tank. That should sustain many corals lighting needs.