highschooler's thread!!

[emilytompkins]

im a tank hopeful- im hoping to get my first tank in the spring- did you all start with a reef or work your way towards it? i wish i could start with a reef. ive had freshwater fish before but this will be my first saltwater tank. you guys take great pics! Any tips for the gal on a budget??
-Emily Tompkins freshman, 14

 

[wangotango]

emily: most people start out with a fish-only tank or a fowlr and slowly progress towards a reef. some corals like mushrooms, zoos, and leathers are very easy to keep and dont require the lighting that most corals do, so you can try some of these too. saltwater really isnt as hard as people make it out to be (at least i dont think so), but it does take time and patience.
good luck
-Justin

 

[reef diver]

Originally Posted by lvmtn2day
Hopefully this pic will show. I cant seem to get pics in this area.
IT showed, nice anthias. I decided to bump the thread cauyse its a good one

 

[reef diver]

Originally Posted by emilytompkins
im a tank hopeful- im hoping to get my first tank in the spring- did you all start with a reef or work your way towards it? i wish i could start with a reef. ive had freshwater fish before but this will be my first saltwater tank. you guys take great pics! Any tips for the gal on a budget??
-Emily Tompkins freshman, 14

I made a partial mistake, and went to reef, but I corrected myself early, in the first 2 months, ouyt of about 6, and decided to start with lower light, such as hammer, frogspawn and zoos. And about the budget, all I can say is BEG BEG BEG BEG! Any saltwater tank requiers effort put in to the equipment, and I kno from experience, that being on a budget can severly limit you later, and add extra costs, such as, if you got a simple lighting system for a FOWLR, you would have to throw that away to make room for a higher power light such as Metal halide, if you want to move up to reef. I advise buying a powerful light fixture so when you feel the need to change, or upgrade, then lighting does not have to change, and cost hundeds more. However, If you choose to start FOWLR, and start a seperate tank later on for a reef, then a simple light fixture for a FOWLR is alright.

 

[richarl5]

Originally Posted by JayC
Some closeups:

Corals eating:

My Christmas favia: lol

-Josh

Wow, Your tank looks great...how long has it been up? Are you the only one that takes care of it?
-Lisa

 

[nickadam]

heres some photos of my 75gallon reef. And I'm 17years old.

 

[reef diver]

Wow, nickadam that looks great! What is your cleaning/waterchange regimen :happyfish

 

[emilytompkins]

nicadam- how long have you been 'reefing'?
:happyfish

 

[jayc]

Originally Posted by richarl5
Wow, Your tank looks great...how long has it been up? Are you the only one that takes care of it?
-Lisa
Beatiful pics nickadam!! Thanks richarl5!! Its been setup for about 3 months now. I upgraded from a 55 gal that had been setup for about 2 years. And yes I'm the only one that takes care of it.
-Josh

 

[nickadam]

WOW! Thanks everyone for the good compliments on my tank.Reef diver your going to be surprised but I haven't completed a water change in a little over 2 1/2 months and my paremeters have all been monitoring well since I added a refugium in my sump .I just allow the tank to pretty much take care of itself and so far nothing has died. As to cleaning I just clean the sponges in my sump and my protein skimmer and scrape the glass every day so nothing builds up. Emilytompkins I have been in reefing for maybe a year and half, and before i got really into it I had a 55gallon that i setup and a couple days later I was adding lionfish and anemones so I didn't have anyexperience at all. Research Research
PS: Working in a Strictly saltwater business helps.

 

[emilytompkins]

yeah i wish i had a lfs the closest i can get to one is ***** or petsmart. anyone heard of any fish stores that might be in connecticut?? That's what you get for living in a small state!

 

[fishieness]

emily: area you kidding? CTs got tons of LFS!!
send me an email at skifishn@yahoo.com
if you tell me the town you live in or general area i can probably ramble off a few LFSs and ill also give you the link to our club forum. our next meeting is this month on the 28th at aquactinics.

 

[reef diver]

Originally Posted by nickadam
WOW! Thanks everyone for the good compliments on my tank.Reef diver your going to be surprised but I haven't completed a water change in a little over 2 1/2 months and my paremeters have all been monitoring well since I added a refugium in my sump .I just allow the tank to pretty much take care of itself and so far nothing has died. As to cleaning I just clean the sponges in my sump and my protein skimmer and scrape the glass every day so nothing builds up. Emilytompkins I have been in reefing for maybe a year and half, and before i got really into it I had a 55gallon that i setup and a couple days later I was adding lionfish and anemones so I didn't have anyexperience at all. Research Research
PS: Working in a Strictly saltwater business helps.
I have to say a refuge helps. I had to move my macro out of my refuge I set up 2 weeks ago, because I made 2 big mistakes, and 1 forgot to buy substrate, and 2, I underestimated the flow that was coming from the tank, so teh algae was being blown around so much it was dying. But I have also noticed an increase in quality, and clarity, since the addition of the macro

 

[reef diver]

Originally Posted by emilytompkins
yeah i wish i had a lfs the closest i can get to one is ***** or petsmart. anyone heard of any fish stores that might be in connecticut?? That's what you get for living in a small state!
Try yellowpages.com

 

[jawfish101]

I'm 16, a sophomore, and my mom pays for a lot of my corals. But I repay her by getting up at the crack of dawn to feed the horses (along with cleaning stalls, hay, water, and turn in/out...) and feed and turn out a kennel full of dogs...so she dosn't have to! It's a mutual agreement...
Great tanks everyone
here's mine:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/248525/my-72-bow

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by Jawfish101
my mom pays for a lot of my corals.
you're lame

nice pics though!
hey everyone, here is another pic about a month old of mine (i dont think i have already posted this in this thread?)
anyways, please excuse the mess. this is the day i upgraded my lights or maybe the day after... anyways, i still dont have my hood built, hense the wires in front of the tank and the 2X4s holding up the lights and junk
you cant really see most of the sps because most of them are small frags that are all clustered together.... and those two brown colonies, i bought them like that

anyways, here is a quick pic....

 

[reef diver]

Very nice!

 

[triga22]

Im14 years old.. But trust me you dont want to see pics. Mabey in a few months when I get the reef set up.

 

[mopar9012]

im 15

 

[<3scopas55]

Hey guys, ur tanks are all amazing!

I have a 38 right now (fowlr) which i got as a b day gift 2 years a go but now im saving my money to set up a 55 reef!

ive decided to do this one entirely on my own. Ill post pics as soon as i start setting it up, wish me luck!