Nick Jovita aka TekNick. Pretty new to the hobby as I just started my first tank this past March. Still learning so much but I am already obsessed with coral. Glad to be apart of a group within Arizona. Looking to meet some of you at the meet.
Heyo!
- Thread starter TekNick
- Start date
Right on Nick, what sort of set up do you have? Will you be joining us for this months meeting at VCA? it's this weekend...
I have a Aquatop Recife 40g. I am going to definitely do my best to make it. Sounds like it will be a blast!
So this is pretty new to me. Never have I really engaged much in forums, but here is goes...
I have always wanted a Saltwater Aquariums after seeing my uncle's when I was 9 years old. While growing up my folks would only get me small freshwater tanks and fish just to get me into how to take care of the perimeters, fish and be responsible. Well here I am, now in my 30's and I have finally purchased my very first saltwater setup. Had I known about R2R beforehand, I would have started a thread prior to setting everything up.
PS. I would be very open to a Reefing mentor since I am so new to the hobby.
EQUIPMENT:
Tank: AquaTop Recife 40 Gallon AIO with Stand (No Sump)
Light: Upgraded to an AI Hydra 32
Rock: Some sort of rock my LFS recommended. They stated they hand make it and it contain calcium in the material.
Sand: CaribSea Fiji Pink
Skimmer: IceCap K1 Nano
ATO: XP Aqua Duetto
Flow: AI Nero 5 and Hydor Koralia Nano 565gph
LIVESTOCK:
Pair of Mocha Storm Clownfish
Bi-Color Blenny
Small Scopas Tang (Looking to upgrade tank before he outgrows this one)
Cleaner Shrimp
CORAL:
Radioactive Dragon Eyes Zoa
Gatorade Zoa
Rasta Zoa
WWC Mambo Jambo Zoa
WWC Blue Steel Zoa
Temptation Zoa
Enchantress Zoa
Blue Moon Acans
Basic Green & Purple Acans
Fire & Ice Acans
Indo Ultra Rainbow Hammer
Top Fuel Favities
WWC Viper Favia
Neon Duncan
Purple Stylophora (First try at SPS)
No-Name Frogspawn from my LFS
Trying to grow some GSP on my back wall
PLUS JUST SPENT A FORTUNE ON WWC's ANNIVERSARY SALE
Pretty bad photo but I am waiting on an orange lens for my DSLR.
I have always wanted a Saltwater Aquariums after seeing my uncle's when I was 9 years old. While growing up my folks would only get me small freshwater tanks and fish just to get me into how to take care of the perimeters, fish and be responsible. Well here I am, now in my 30's and I have finally purchased my very first saltwater setup. Had I known about R2R beforehand, I would have started a thread prior to setting everything up.
PS. I would be very open to a Reefing mentor since I am so new to the hobby.
EQUIPMENT:
Tank: AquaTop Recife 40 Gallon AIO with Stand (No Sump)
Light: Upgraded to an AI Hydra 32
Rock: Some sort of rock my LFS recommended. They stated they hand make it and it contain calcium in the material.
Sand: CaribSea Fiji Pink
Skimmer: IceCap K1 Nano
ATO: XP Aqua Duetto
Flow: AI Nero 5 and Hydor Koralia Nano 565gph
LIVESTOCK:
Pair of Mocha Storm Clownfish
Bi-Color Blenny
Small Scopas Tang (Looking to upgrade tank before he outgrows this one)
Cleaner Shrimp
CORAL:
Radioactive Dragon Eyes Zoa
Gatorade Zoa
Rasta Zoa
WWC Mambo Jambo Zoa
WWC Blue Steel Zoa
Temptation Zoa
Enchantress Zoa
Blue Moon Acans
Basic Green & Purple Acans
Fire & Ice Acans
Indo Ultra Rainbow Hammer
Top Fuel Favities
WWC Viper Favia
Neon Duncan
Purple Stylophora (First try at SPS)
No-Name Frogspawn from my LFS
Trying to grow some GSP on my back wall
PLUS JUST SPENT A FORTUNE ON WWC's ANNIVERSARY SALE
Pretty bad photo but I am waiting on an orange lens for my DSLR.
HI Nick,
Welcome to the group. We (me and my wife) went to my first meeting in July and I have to say the entire group is a great bunch of people and alot of adivice to draw from.
The tank looks good.
We had a 140 acrylic tank built a little over a year ago and I built the stand,canopy and sumps. So we been back in the hobby for this time but prior to that we had tanks in NY. Me and my friend were servicing tanks and helping another friend import fish into New Haven CT for many years.
Last Nov we decided to have a 300 acrylic tank built, 96x30x24 height. We did not get it till mid Dec and we started the build process, which we are not rushing since we want to get what we feel is best from all the advice out there. This last month I have been cutting and gluing acrylic to make two sumps(24x28x15) and a 2 chamber refugium (30x13x16 height) which will all be tied together with 2" pipes. I designed the sumps by using the best of the best ideas out there and incorporated my ideas to try and solve the problems that we all learn over the years. I think this will allow me to be able to clean a chamber in a sump without totally upsetting the balance and have the flexibility if needed to add stuff in the extra chambers if or when needed.
Since we are doing no sand in the 300, so we can increase flow for all the corals where needed, the refugium will have 2 " layer of sand and critters in the second chamber.
Sump 1, which will be mechanical and biological, heater ,skimmer, Brightwell blocks and it has a large chamber in it for coral rubble.
Sump 2 is for mechanical and chemical processes, reactors, UV and dosing chamber.
The 140 is going to get relocated so that the 300 can take it place. The 140 will stay up while the 300 cycles. we are going to seed it with filter media and water from the 140. Then we will sell the 140, stand and all the EQ.
You have a lot of frags in your tank. Are you testing the water? Ca,Alk,Mg ? Are you manual dosing? ( I am on the 140 but will not be on the 300)
Are you using any kind of supplements to feed your coral?
Hope to see you at the next meeting....
Sal
Welcome to the group. We (me and my wife) went to my first meeting in July and I have to say the entire group is a great bunch of people and alot of adivice to draw from.
The tank looks good.
We had a 140 acrylic tank built a little over a year ago and I built the stand,canopy and sumps. So we been back in the hobby for this time but prior to that we had tanks in NY. Me and my friend were servicing tanks and helping another friend import fish into New Haven CT for many years.
Last Nov we decided to have a 300 acrylic tank built, 96x30x24 height. We did not get it till mid Dec and we started the build process, which we are not rushing since we want to get what we feel is best from all the advice out there. This last month I have been cutting and gluing acrylic to make two sumps(24x28x15) and a 2 chamber refugium (30x13x16 height) which will all be tied together with 2" pipes. I designed the sumps by using the best of the best ideas out there and incorporated my ideas to try and solve the problems that we all learn over the years. I think this will allow me to be able to clean a chamber in a sump without totally upsetting the balance and have the flexibility if needed to add stuff in the extra chambers if or when needed.
Since we are doing no sand in the 300, so we can increase flow for all the corals where needed, the refugium will have 2 " layer of sand and critters in the second chamber.
Sump 1, which will be mechanical and biological, heater ,skimmer, Brightwell blocks and it has a large chamber in it for coral rubble.
Sump 2 is for mechanical and chemical processes, reactors, UV and dosing chamber.
The 140 is going to get relocated so that the 300 can take it place. The 140 will stay up while the 300 cycles. we are going to seed it with filter media and water from the 140. Then we will sell the 140, stand and all the EQ.
You have a lot of frags in your tank. Are you testing the water? Ca,Alk,Mg ? Are you manual dosing? ( I am on the 140 but will not be on the 300)
Are you using any kind of supplements to feed your coral?
Hope to see you at the next meeting....
Sal
Hey Sal,
Yeah I messed up the timeframe of the last meeting and showed up fashionably late, lol. Pretty embarrassing tbh, but I will make sure to be on time for the next one if not too busy. Your build sounds amazing, however I don't know too much about sumps and builds and all that. I pretty much just went with an AIO for my first tank to try and keep is simple. I do have quite a bit of frags, I am currently testing Alk on a daily basis and it seems as though my weekly water changes are still keeping that pretty stable. I have a calcium block in the back chamber which was recommended by an associate of the Ocean Floor. I plan on getting a test kit to regularly check Ca and Mg as well. Once my numbers are being held stable by the water changes I plan on getting the Kamoer X1 Pro 2 to dose All For Reef. As far as feeding the coral, every Tuesday I do about 6ml of AB+ and every Friday I feed Reef Roids.
If anything I am doing sounds wrong, please let me know. As stated, I am completely new to this and could use all the help. I am pretty nervous even to rent out the Par meter as I have no clue on how to even use the thing and do not want to break something. I have just been looking at other folks setups around my tank size and same lighting and copying their light schedule.
Thanks for chatting!!
Nick
sounds like your on your way to success and bigger and better things.....The group are great people and full of knowledge and all willing to help.
Just be careful of what a person who works at a retail place tells you, they sometimes do not know what best....
I used AB+ for about a month long ago and I found it raised my Phosphate levels, alot but I was using alot, and after I did a little research others also said the same thing. So I stopped did not want to deal with the issue. But using it in moderation in a smaller tank would be ok and keep checking your phosphate levels.
Almost anything food etc will do something to phosphates, it just a matter of how much they do....
I just moved on to making my own frozen food for small to medium size fish and corals....
Have a great day.....
Just be careful of what a person who works at a retail place tells you, they sometimes do not know what best....
I used AB+ for about a month long ago and I found it raised my Phosphate levels, alot but I was using alot, and after I did a little research others also said the same thing. So I stopped did not want to deal with the issue. But using it in moderation in a smaller tank would be ok and keep checking your phosphate levels.
Almost anything food etc will do something to phosphates, it just a matter of how much they do....
I just moved on to making my own frozen food for small to medium size fish and corals....
Have a great day.....