New to the Hobby!

GoldeneyeRet · May 27, 2019

Welcome to r2r!

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Billldg said:
I live in Carrollton, GA. I buy all my stuff online, I have had great luck from TSA, Battlecorals, Legendary corals, Cherry corals, and such. I buy my fish from fishy business aquatics. I buy everything online.

That is awesome! I work in Carrollton and just graduated from UWG. I continually look online but haven't bought anything.

Billldg · May 27, 2019

I would recommend since your tank is new to only get sofites and LPS corals, SPS tanks need an established tank to live. How big is your tank?

I have a few acans I can give you.

BadFish619 · May 27, 2019

Seems strange a large city with so few lfs to enjoy. Looks like its internet for you!

reef lover · May 27, 2019

Welcome to r2r !

Lovemyreef2015 · May 27, 2019

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Billldg said:
I would recommend since your tank is new to only get sofites and LPS corals, SPS tanks need an established tank to live. How big is your tank?

I have a few acans I can give you.

I have a 16 gallon tank, which I know is small and harder to keep water parameters stable, but I have done well so far and am up for the challenge. How long have you been in the hobby?

Dylan Adams · May 27, 2019

Fish7 said:
Thank you!
There is a saltwater fish store about an hour away from my house, which is not far but also not convenient! I live in GA. I have not found a fish store that I am in love with yet, but I am still trying! I am 100% afraid of online buying!

I also live in an area where saltwater isnt popular. My lfs went out of business and has left me to go to petco. The closes lfs is an hour away and still isn’t good at all. I’m super worried about online and shipping costs seem insane

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
Welcome to the family! Got any pics? This is a great community. Got any pics? What kind of setup are you running? Oh yeah. Got any pics?

Mastiffsrule · May 27, 2019

Welcome to the group. Us seasoned veterans reefers = old crabby people are here to help

Auquanut · May 27, 2019

Looking good!

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
Looking good!

I have a 16 gallon biocube. Live rock, live sand, biological, chemical, and mechanical filters, a heater and the API Saltwater and Reef test kits. I also check my salinity and chemicals around every three days.

Billldg · May 27, 2019

Fish7 said:
I have a 16 gallon tank, which I know is small and harder to keep water parameters stable, but I have done well so far and am up for the challenge. How long have you been in the hobby?

I'm still a newbie myself, been in the hobby for a little over a year now.

Auquanut · May 27, 2019

Fish7 said:
and the API Saltwater and Reef test kits.

Just one thing. I trust API with my freshwater tanks. Freshwater is much more forgiving. For the reef tanks I use salifert. There are others, but salifert is easy, relatively accurate and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I just don't trust API with the marine tanks.

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
Just one thing. I trust API with my freshwater tanks. Freshwater is much more forgiving. For the reef tanks I use salifert. There are others, but salifert is easy, relatively accurate and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I just don't trust API with the marine tanks.

I have looked at those before, I will be sure to take a look at them again! What chemicals do you check? I do not check for magnesium yet, I was told my the fish store I bought my critters from that I did not need to until my tank was well established. I just want to try and do everything I can to have a successful tank!

Auquanut · May 27, 2019

I check Alk, Calc, No3, PO4 and Mag. Water changes should keep you Mag in check, but with having corals, you may need to keep a closer eye on your Alk and Calc.

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
I check Alk, Calc, No3, PO4 and Mag. Water changes should keep you Mag in check, but with having corals, you may need to keep a closer eye on your Alk and Calc.

My Alk has been good but my calcium is high. I have tried to do a water change but it is still running high. I try to do everything as "natural" as possible. I do not want to be a chemist and have to balance chemicals often, I understand sometimes that's necessary but I read that doing a water change would help my calcium but it's been 3 days and it is still the same. Any suggestions?

James M · May 27, 2019

Welcome to reef2reef !!!

Auquanut · May 27, 2019

Fish7 said:
My Alk has been good but my calcium is high. I have tried to do a water change but it is still running high. I try to do everything as "natural" as possible. I do not want to be a chemist and have to balance chemicals often, I understand sometimes that's necessary but I read that doing a water change would help my calcium but it's been 3 days and it is still the same. Any suggestions?

How high is high? Are you mixing your own saltwater or getting it from the LFS? A little deviation with the calcium isn't going to cause a major issue. Alkalinity is where you can get into trouble.

Fish7 · May 27, 2019

Auquanut said:
How high is high? Are you mixing your own saltwater or getting it from the LFS? A little deviation with the calcium isn't going to cause a major issue. Alkalinity is where you can get into trouble.

My calcium is very high, 520. But my alk is 10. I mix my own water.