New member, new tank

[baum89]

hey all, i am fairly new to ecrc and very new to the sw hobby. I just set up my nano reef (5 gallon hex) a few days ago. i have had fw tanks for many years but decided to broaden my hobby. anyway the nano has crushed coral as a base substrate with about 5 lbs of live sand on top and then a little over 5 lbs of lr. currently the water temp is at 77* and all levels are fine although ammonia was a little high. also salinity was at 1.019 so ill have to work on that. ( i assume low salinity is bad for lr and live sand?) i plan on adding some shrooms this weekend to spruce things up a bit. so thats pretty much me, i just wanted to introduce myself and let you all know what im about. its cool to know that ec has its own local club here, i was quit supprised to find this while browsing the reef tank. anyway i want to thank everybody for their current and future help
thanks
~ mark

[baum89]

yea i forgot the pics, these are from yesterday the tank is about a day old here

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT also! I wouldn't add the shrooms till the tank cycles.

[betamed]

Looks like a good start. Its tempting to add stuff right away, but even low levels of ammonia can kill livestock so I would wait until that is zero. 1.019 SG is low. 1.023 is about minimum for corals, but the LR should be OK for now..

[chazz-66]

Welcome Mark! I would also let that ammonia get down to 0 before adding stuff. I hope to get a local meeting going once I get my 150 up and running so keep an eye on the board here.Let me know if I can help at all. Chuck

[baum89]

hey great, im already making a habit of checking the reef tank daily ( its addicting) and as i said earlier i look forward to a meeting. once again thanks all for your help, and yes im verrry tempted to throw somthing in there but i suppose i could wait...

[betamed]

Most shrooms are a good first coral. I think I started with just a single loose shroom that lived for a while. This site if full of good advice. I can answer most of my questions just looking at old posts.

[baum89]

yes i have found looking through past posts to be very helpful, it is always fun tho, to make your own threads and actually have people answer you exact questions... how long did you first shroom last? im guessing it probably isnt worth putting one it?

[schneijt]

It sounds like you have lots of reading/research to do, just like I did when I first entered the world of reef tanks. And I still spend an hour or more every day reading and learning and sharing my experiences/thoughts with others.

Be sure to check out these other sites:
www.reefcentral.com
www.wetwebmedia.com

The internet is full of help, and it's there for you to read and learn from. Probably the single biggest mistake any of us can do is not properly research something before we buy it, try it, etc. And those of us who have done something poorly have posted it online so others don't make the same mistakes and hurt living creatures or treat them improperly. You'll never be an "expert," but the more you research everything and discover mistakes before you make them, the less frustrating this hobby will prove to be for you.

So, welcome to ECRC, and best of luck reading the infinate amount of stuff out there relating to our wonderful hobby! Also, we're here to help as needed...but everything we'll tell you is something that's already out there somewhere if you just search long enough for it. But still, we don't mind being tested once in a while. :-)

-Joe

[pogodzib]

Welcome to TRT and the ECRC Mark. The ECRC has some great members that should be able to help get you off to a good start. The key to reef tanks is patience. Nothing good happens quickly in our tanks. Make sure your tank is through cycling before adding corals. When your tank is cycled and your ready to start adding corals, let me know. I live in La Crosse, but I'm up there often and could pass a few corals your way to help get you started.

One other thing that you will learn is that every tank is different and what works for someone else may not work for you. The same is true with corals, what thrives in one tank may die off in another very similar setup. Educate yourself as much as you can so you can make informed decisions, but don't get too upset if everything doesn't go as planned. Nothing ever does and we all make mistakes. The key is to learn from them and to figure out what does work in your tank.

[davidsreef]

As others have stated, welcome to ECRC and TRT! For my 2 cents, I will just say that there are MANY ways to keep a reef tank, all of which could create a beautiful setup. Some of the techniques may have very strong supporters, and the debates can get heated (e.g. bare bottom vs. shallow sand bed vs. deep sand bed vs. remote deep sand bed). Always remember that what someone says is their opinion, and it may be correct and it may work for them, but it doesn't mean it will work for you or in all circumstances. This is just reiterating what pogodzip said, which is right on point, in my opinion. Good luck and if you have any questions be sure to post here and see if we can help you.

[condiman]

Yep just threw trial and error you will find out what best works for you.

[baum89]

hey you guys are great, good responses