My First Reef Tank

[Chico]

Hello Everyone,

New to the hobby. I have a 36 gal tank that has been running for 3 months now and I'm hooked.....love this hobby. Other than the fish shown in the pic (minus two clowns), I have a goby with a pistol shrimp and a fire shrimp.

Needless to say in this short amount of time I've had my share of "rookie" mistakes (to discuss later). So far (I think) everything is good except this past weekend I saw my nitrates spike to 20ppm (ammonia and nitrites at 0ppm). Been dealing with that as of date.

Anyways, this site is "amazing" and the people here are so knowledgeable & friendly. Look forward to sharing stories, looking at everyone else's awesome tanks and receiving any advice. [IMG][/IMG]

[dc2sd]

welcome to sdr! tank looks awesome. just don't rush into anything. take your time and do the research first. enjoy the process.

[crabbysd]

Welcome!!
I love bow fronts.
Are you running a sump and fuge?
the weird little spikes could just be new tank as the biofilter ramps up and weird dieoff in the rock.

[Chico]

Yeah, the bow shape makes it look really nice. Just wish I would have gone with a 46 gal minimum. Oh well....live and learn.

I'm running a CPR Aquatic Cyclone Bak-Pak 2 Bio-Filter Protein Skimmer with an Aqeuon 55/75 filter, both hang on the tank. I've been told that having a sump makes the maintenance/upkeep a lot easier, but not necessary. Thoughts?

[crabbysd]

Its fine. Different. Imo. Are you getting lots of gunk in there? Thats the important part. I personally really like HOB refugiums for nutrient export too. cpr make them And I do this.
http://www.amazon.com/Marina-Hang-On...ds=breeder+box

Food for thought.

[jkennedy1007]

nice tank
welcome to the reefs