start of my reef tank

so after months of trying to decide if i was going to do a reef tank i finaly just went for it theres still a ton i need like more rock and a power head but i figured I'd show you what it looks like right know today i bought a small blue/green chromis at all for fish for like 4 bucks so it was preaty cheap to use for a starter fish.


i will post up a picture of my chromis when he comes out of hiding probley tommorow

Nice start man.Things look so white right now but that will change when the cycle kicks in.Is it lit with T-5s?Its a nice crisp white.Now you need some nice branches or ledges to deck it out.

Actually right know it's light with just a normal light. I'm going to get a t5 light fixture Monday so I can some coral

So tomorrow I'm going to get a t5 duel lighting high out put unit for the reef should I wait or anything before putting a coral in there after I put the t5s on theyre

Patience man.I woulld wait for your algae bloom here in a week or so.

Ok I got my t5 light today the tank looks way better but know my salinity is low how can I fix that

When I have a low salinity I will take out a pitcher of water and dissolve a quarter cup of salt and add small amounts of that via the filter,sump,or circulation pump.Keep checking each time you add some a few minutes later to make sure its all mixed together right.

So I tried what you suggested and it didn't seem to help is they're something else I can try

It will/did help it just takes a little while.Its best to increase the salinity slowly as it can have some negative effects on your livestock if you raise it too fast.This method also can vary depending on the size of the tank and the amount of increase in salinity that is desired.If ts still not at the level you want it to be repeat the process,also what is your salinity right now?I know this happened to my brother when he first started out in the hobby and it ended being the tool he was using for measuring salinity.You have to rinse them well in between each use for an accurate reading.

My salinity is 1.019

So like I was saying repeat this process every few hours and you should be good to go.Many people and most shops keep there salinity/specific gravity at .023 unless its a fish only system and then some shops keep that at a lower salinity.I personly love my inverts and corals and try to keep my salt a little higher at around .025 but if you plan on keeping things high or low you need to keep up on water top offs as to avoid unacceptable levels of salinity.

I got it fixed I'm at .024 so that's much better

So a couple things I want to say in case you haven't heard / read yet. The mor live rock you put in the easier it will be. And salt water, especially reef tanks, is all a waiting game. Honestly, didn't even think about adding coral until 7 months into my tank, and even then, I had an ammonia spike that demolished half my pieces. And I hadn't even added that many fish. It was just part of the cycle kicking in I think. It came up out of no where lol so to save yourself some pain and money, and stop yourself from commiting genocide against your tank, you might take things a little more slowly.

Well looks like you got a nice start on your reef there. Once you start adding coral I got some starter coral I got I am willing to give you, just to see what works in your tank and what doesn't. Recently all of my coral has almost tripled in size and are attempting to start coral wars. I have some zoas, plenty of monticap, and some shrooms I might be able to start ya off with. Of course I have a massive over abundance on macro algae. Good luck on setting that tank up though.

So today I went to animal house a bought a start to my clean up crew I got a cherry red shrimp and a turbo snail I also got another snail that's much smaller but I'm not to sure on the name hopefully this helps my algea problem I also did a water change a few days of go that seemed to clear it up a little

So is the red shrimp a peppermint shrimp?Turbos are a really good work horse as far as indescriminant algae clean up goes.If you have hair algae a sally lite foot crab will go a long way in helping keep up with the green stuff.Oh and macro algae can help compete for nutrients wich would also help curb your algae problems.I know I have a few types and hamstern has alot of grape caulerpa,most salt water stores have a couple types as well.

I think it's peppermint shrimp my bad on messing up the names a.d I will have to go buy some macro algea to help to

if you want to save a few bucks I am sure one of us would give you a type to try out for free.

Ok ya that would be awesome I appreciate all the help

I have three different types of macro algae I could contribute, they are great. Let me know, I can get them to badx some time soon probably

See man,it will all come together.I ca have a package deal for you here soon
On another note morgan I got that ricordea from R2G today wich is green.I will post up some pics of the goodies later.

Sweet, Vince will be stoked. We need to talk him into cutting his ricordea in half haha

As Badx said I have massive amounts of grape macro and you can save alot of bucks....my macro is getting out of hand and I am willing to give you a large amount for free

So I got another snail and a glass scrubber for my tank and its looking much better. And I can't wait to get a couple corals in there I think I will try some mushrooms if they're a easier coral to take care of.

Mushrooms eh? Those happen to be my favorite coral, and one of my specialties...however I have a little too much fuzzy shrooms that are getting out of hand...and are consuming any and all coral who stand in their way...so I could start ya off with one or two if you would like