I'm still a newbie but so far I have had pretty good luck. I started a 10 gallon tank for 6 months to see if I liked it then went to my 125 gallon tank. Its been running for 9 months and I just did the last "big" addition to the tank. I want a fish/reef system so I've been fighting all kinds of decisions along the way.
This is just my opinion based on what has worked for me. Start with some snails. I started with way to many (mostly Nassarius) because I used the "recommended" quantity but I have cut back to about 40. I also had about about 5 Cerith and 5 Astrea. I lost a most of them and just added 10 more Cerith and 20 Astrea. I tried blue leg and thin leg hermits but have removed all of them because they all were rather aggressive. It seemed they would rather pull food out of the corals than go forage elsewhere and they did more damage than good. Still looking for a good alternative, I am considering a few red legs.
Do not do the Damsels either! I use yellow tails and find them to be rather territorial and somewhat aggressive to new comers. I started with 5 and with all the rock I could only catch 2 of them so far!!! (I gotta figure out how to build a trap.) Get a pair of
young clownfish, it doesn't matter what their s e x is because they will pair up and one will end up female and one male anyway. Plus they have cool personalities and are fun to watch play in the tank.
I started with 70# of live rock and a 2-3 inch sand bed. I fought Nitrates and Phosphates until a month ago when they went from 15-20 to 0! I added 100# of dry rock and it has all stayed stable. I have done several things to try and get those parameters under control. I have a skimmer and I pull out about 1-2 cups of gunk out every few days. I have been Vodka dosing for 4-5 months and I started using a phosphate reactor about 6 weeks ago (I was already on my way to zero when it was added). I have had my algae blooms of brown diatom, green hair and Cyano. When I see it just starting I watch what I am feeding my critters more carefully because I find I start to overfeed easily. When I cut back so does the algae, except the Cyano. Its tough to get rid of. I had it so bad once I used Chemiclean to get rid of it. It cleared it up and it didn't seem to hurt anything else in the system. With my recent new additions I'll have to readjust again so I'll be watching ever so carefully for the next few weeks.
I know I'm just a newbie and this is a bit long but I thought maybe you'd like to hear about someone starting from the ground up like you are doing. The biggest thing to remember, and you'll hear this over and over, is BE PATIENT!!! Go slow and add a little at a time. Watch, adjust and enjoy! It will work and the saltwater hobby is not nearly as difficult as its been made out to be as long as you do your research first
The hardest thing for me has been to find compatible critters because I want both fish and corals and I don't want to use MH lighting. I do believe I have a great looking tank (although it still needs some maturing) and it will keep getting better as I keep adding corals here and there. This has been the best hobby I've ever gotten into and I'm sure I'll be doing it the rest of my life.
Phil
