My Introduction and My New Obsession

[Addison]

Hey all! My name is Addison.

I have been interested in the water since I was 4 when my father started deep sea diving. (I'm 16 now) I have always had a fascination with keeping animals in there little micro habitat in your own home. Our family has been keeping guppies for years and we have always tried to stay away from saltwater/reef tanks because of the maintence cost etc. My true hobby has been herps. When I was 10 my dad got his first herp, a rosy boa. We didn't have much experience but he did his research and we still have it now. Then I was old enough to get my own herp. My first amphibian was a White's Tree Frog, which I also have to this day. One thing lead to another and soon we had a White's Tree Frog, 2 redbellied Newts, 2 Mali Uromastyx, our rosy boa, One pacman frog, and my true passion in life a small group of D. Azureus (2 males 1 female.) About a month ago me and my dad went into the local herp shop and i was talking to the owner he said he just got into Reef Tanks. He said he setup a small Eclipse system 6 for $200 and he hardly has to maintain it. He gave us a website article called My First Reef Aquarium which actually shows how you can make a small eclipse 6 aquarium with very little trouble. Of course my dad wanted the 12 so curently right now we have the Eclipse 12....which is empty. Finnaly my dad and I will create a reef tank.

So far my list has-

Reef Crystals Salt water mix
20lbs of live rock
Aquarium Sand
Nano Reef Pack From Saltwaterfish.com
Some Corals (Not sure on this)
Probably 2 anemones
and 2 Clown Fish


I was wondering If this pretty much what I need.

Oh btw did I mention i get a 35% discount at my local pet store whenever I go? So I pretty sure it will be about a total of $350-$400 for everything. We already have the eclipse.

[dobejazz]

Welcome to The Reef Tank Addison
Everything sounds like a good plan but what is a "nano reef pack"?

[Addison]

it comes with some janitors and such. Here I'll give you a link.

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=4

of course Ill prolly get some other things such as a purple lobster or coral shrimp. Any ideas on easy corals and anemones?

[Addison]

I pretty much decided on the following corals.

A multirock from Saltwaterfish.com- 4-5inch

Mushroom Polyp - Green Ricordea- again for saltwaterfish.com

Chily Coral- 2inch

So I do not believe this will cram the aquarium with 20lbs of live rock, the package, and 2 Clown Fish (percula)

If you have any suggestions at all please tell me. I also realized that anemones arnt the best for nanos because of when the die poison shoots out etc.

Apparently the filter, lighting and such should be enough for this nano.???

Also I was told that when water evaporates do not replace the water with salt water because (I assuming) it leaves salt behind???

[Bemo]

Just note that a chili coral does not like High intense lighting. I didn't see that note before I bought mine. Just an FYI.

[Addison]

Ahhh thanx for the heads up. I'm Pretty sure the stock eclipse light isnt going to be that powerfull. But idk

[Casey]

Hi Addison Welcome to TRT,The chilli coral is nocturnal they only look good at night when all the polyps come out I have a red one with white polyps and yes they like low light,Now mushrooms and ricordia like more light and are much more easy to please and yes you add freshwater as it evaporates your setup sounds nice will you run a skimmer?

[Addison]

I honestly Have no idea what a skimmer is....Looks like I did my research.

[dobejazz]

A protien skimmer uses very fine bubbles to remove Dissolved Organic Compounds from the water before they can break down and cause nitrates
(Hopefully someone that has a better understanding of skimmers will help out here).
I don't have a skimmer on my 24g or 5.5g but will be adding one soon on the 95g tank

[Casey]

Kelli has it right they basically help keep the water clean and keep bad algaes food sources down,a vital piece of equipment.

[Loverotties]

Yes I think of them so hi,I had one on my 5 gallon for 5yrs I had the tank runnig and it worked great!And have them on all my tanks!LOL even a empty tank has one ready!

[Addison]

ah so how much do you guys think this would cost? And do you just latch them on the back?

[Addison]

Current USA Fission Nano-Skimmer


This prolly the one I'm going to use do to it's size. Has anyone used this in there nanos?

[dobejazz]

Originally Posted by Addison

Current USA Fission Nano-Skimmer


This prolly the one I'm going to use do to it's size. Has anyone used this in there nanos?

Personally I would go skimmerless and use frequent water changes over that skimmer I have one and it's a pain to use and ineffective as well.

[Addison]

hmmmm....my dad just called and said he bought a skimmer...but well see depends on how it goes.