I love my aquarium! Thank you SWF.com community!

tirtza

tirtza

Member
I just wanted to take a second to thank every single person who has helped me on SWF.com, without you guys I would have never made it this far in the hobby! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. It amazes me that people are so generous with there time and knowledge and are willing to help out a bumbling newbie such as myself.

I absolutely LOVE my aquarium, I'm a newbie and have been in this hobby for 2 1/2 months and I'm totally addicted to it! Since I was a kid I've always dreamed of having a SW aquarium. It just always seemed overwhelming in terms of the amount of time it requires, knowledge that's needed, and cost. I've certainly had my ups and downs and many many 'freak-outs', but it is so totally worth it. Between SWF.com, books, and my own mistakes...I have learned A LOT along the way.
I'm now a 'groupie' (as my husband calls me) at the LFS, and I actually find myself correcting those guys every once in a while. Please don't get me wrong, I still have tons and tons to learn!! I couldn't have done this without my friends at SWF.COM, thank you!!!

It's still a very new 30 G. nano tank w/4 fish (two Ocellaris Clowns, an LMB, & a Firefish) plus a small CUC (3 scarlet hermits, a Mexican Turbo snail, 5 Nassarius, and 2 Peppermint shrimp). Since I set it up I haven't lost any fish or inverts (not including the two yellow tail blue damsels that went back to the LFS after I realized how mean they are).
My water quality has been perfect lately, I got rid of my Long Hair Algae problem, I learned how to use a refractometer, I've made really good adjustments to my chemical filtration system (using Purigen and Chemi-Pure Elite), and today I successfully carried out "Operation Destroy The Fireworm!" I used the hypersalinity method to get rid of the evil pest.

There's still lots to learn and do (which I'll definitely request help with in future discussion threads!)
Thank you again to the swf.com community, you guys rock!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
So happy to hear you have had a great experience so far....there are a lot of very helpful people here
How about a current picture of your set up?
 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
Okay, here's a photo I took tonight...please keep in mind it's kind of bland since it's so new...so there aren't any fancy corals, red algae, anemone, or pretty coralline algae yet :)
There's only base rock, live rock, fish, inverts, some Zoa button polyps, and a few white feather dusters...
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
tirtza, I love the rockscape as well. You did an awesome job, not only of how you set your rocks but in your selection of them...I love the shapes.
Just think, if your tank looks that good BEFORE all the pretty coraline and fancy corals....how lovely it will be later. Remember there is always one of three stages that a saltwater tank is in at all times.
Stage 1...The building stage.....purchasing fish, CUC and corals...learning new things, and making the tank what you always dreamed it could be
Stage2...perfect.....everything is just the way you want it...Note: show it off with pictures!
Stage 3...Oh CRAP! What happened????....sometimes minor, sometimes major, at any rate it pushes you back into stage 1.
LOL...enjoy the ride!
 
rainbow grouper

rainbow grouper

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/388413/i-love-my-aquarium-thank-you-swf-com-community#post_3425367
tirtza, I love the rockscape as well. You did an awesome job, not only of how you set your rocks but in your selection of them...I love the shapes.
Just think, if your tank looks that good BEFORE all the pretty coraline and fancy corals....how lovely it will be later. Remember there is always one of three stages that a saltwater tank is in at all times.
Stage 1...The building stage.....purchasing fish, CUC and corals...learning new things, and making the tank what you always dreamed it could be
Stage2...perfect.....everything is just the way you want it...Note: show it off with pictures!
Stage 3...Oh CRAP! What happened????....sometimes minor, sometimes major, at any rate it pushes you back into stage 1.
LOL...enjoy the ride!
couldn't of said it better myself.
 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
hahaha....you were right Flower! I was at 'Stage 2' then I realized woops...I haven't been using a power head! In fact I no idea what one was. I'm such a newbie! Now I'm at stage 3 and trying to learn about and find the right power head to add to my system. I'm thinking of going with a Koralia 450. What do you think?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/388413/i-love-my-aquarium-thank-you-swf-com-community#post_3425430
hahaha....you were right Flower! I was at 'Stage 2' then I realized woops...I haven't been using a power head! In fact I no idea what one was. I'm such a newbie! Now I'm at stage 3 and trying to learn about and find the right power head to add to my system. I'm thinking of going with a Koralia 450. What do you think?
I use the koralias, they have those MP10s now, if you can afford one of those, that would be sweet. It really is a budget issue. when it comes to equipment get the best you can afford. You want to create a nice wave, but at the same time not blow your fish out of the water.
LOL...You are far from stage 3...stage three is when you think you killed everything....or the tank is so cloudy you can't see anything or the tank breaks . Or what happened to me, my heater broke and electricuted the tank.... Needing another power head.... is the building stage, and all is still going sweet.
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/388413/i-love-my-aquarium-thank-you-swf-com-community#post_3425444
LOL...You are far from stage 3...stage three is when you think you killed everything....or the tank is so cloudy you can't see anything or the tank breaks . Or what happened to me, my heater broke and electricuted the tank.... Needing another power head.... is the building stage, and all is still going sweet.
"Far from stage 3"... I couldn't agree more; the same thing happened to me.
Now Tirtza, don't be scared, almost everyone goes through it!
 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
Here are some new photos...It's still a pretty bland aquarium, but it's slowly getting better and better! I've added some Red Algae as well as some more CUC. It's now 3 months old! The Nassarius snails are really interesting, I have 10 in the tank and a few of them are really huge! Most of the time they just hide unless I'm feeding the fish and then they all come out.




 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
Thanks Traveler! Roughly 80% is 'dry' rock, and 20% is live rock. The live rock is a combo of Fiji live rock and Tonga Branch live rock. I read that mixing different types of live rock was beneficial because allows for more diversity of life.
Fiji Live Rock

Tonga Branch Live Rock

I have a couple of questions.....
1. The Tonga Branch Live Rock is really fuzzy with algae (especially compared with other rock in the aquarium). It seems like the only place in the entire aquarium where my Mexican Turbo Snail has trouble cleaning. I think it might be because the turbo is so big and the branches of rock make it difficult for it to get in there and move in between the rock branches and really clean. Should I add some smaller snails to help out with this rock? If so what would you recommend? (I have some new Ceriths and so far they only seem interested in whats on the back of the aquarium wall).
2. Does dry rock eventually become live rock?
3. Will all of the rock (dry rock included) eventually grow coralline algae? If so, how long does that usually take?
4. I know that the more live rock I have the better, but I still want to actually have room for the fish to swim and eventually add some soft corals. Should I increase the amount of live rock?
 
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