Need help (newbie)

[Canadia_eh]

hello everyone!

Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this but I'm very excited to be starting my tank.

I'm working on a very tight budget and wanted to ask some questions :

- is there anywhere people give/trade live rocks/sand/ coralline algae?

I want to make a reef tank so I'm also looking into how to start going to reef swap events. How can I get involved in this?

Any tips and advice would be great!

Thank you,
Steve

 

[kschweer]

Welcome!!! You may be able to find a member or 2 with some rock and coralline scrapings. If you become a member you can view the for sale section where you may find things as well. Where are you located? The next show in the area will be reef-a-palooza in June I believe.

 

[Canadia_eh]

I am located in Fort Lee NJ but I honestly don't mind traveling if anyone is nice enough to spare some scrapings. I do want to make this a reef tank so one day maybe I can return the favor with a frag some something!

Thank you for the reply I am going to try to become a member.

 

[Trio91]

What size tank Ru looking to set up? What Ru thinking about stocking?

 

[Canadia_eh]

Hey!

I really wanted something small so I started to circulate my 10 gallon tank which has nice looking dead rocks. I do have an empty 55 gallon tank but I rather keep it small.

I really don't know what type of reef I want to go with but I know that I want it to be full of color. I would like 1-2 fish but that's it.

 

[Mark_C]

Heya Canadia and welcome aboard!
Hate to say hi then start offering an opinion, but I will, and its meant in the best way.
If you have experience in reef tanks, great, you know what your getting into.
There's no need to read further.

But...
If you're starting up from scratch or switching from a freshwater, please let us know, theres a load of resources members can provide before you start.
If it is your first reef, 10g is a challenge, you're much better off going with a 55g, there's a lot of chemical balancing involved and a lot less room for error in a small tank.
A tight budget does not go with most reef tanks, even for a 10g tank the lighting alone is a considerable expense, as is the reef salt/RODI water/test kits/protein skimmer, etc... When I started someone told me that to experience a reef tank all I had to do was flood the living room and burn hundred dollar bills, they weren't far off.
Saying that, there's a lot of folks on here that swap and/or sell equipment cheaply, if you become a member you'll have access to the buy and sell forums.
Most of all, and can't stress enough, reef tanks are SLOW going and PATIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/RESEARCH/MAINTENANCE is required. For example - I started a small tank myself over a month ago. Today I added a small hermit crab and a snail, I'm hoping to add a coral or two next week and maybe a fish in a month or so. And a 90g I started 7 months ago still looks a bit barren, but I'm looking forward to the colors and growth next year.
The folks here are a great crew, and there's a ton of experience and knowledge to help you out.

Good luck. Ask questions.

 

[Canadia_eh]

Heya Canadia and welcome aboard!
Hate to say hi then start offering an opinion, but I will, and its meant in the best way.
If you have experience in reef tanks, great, you know what your getting into.
There's no need to read further.

But...
If you're starting up from scratch or switching from a freshwater, please let us know, theres a load of resources members can provide before you start.
If it is your first reef, 10g is a challenge, you're much better off going with a 55g, there's a lot of chemical balancing involved and a lot less room for error in a small tank.
A tight budget does not go with most reef tanks, even for a 10g tank the lighting alone is a considerable expense, as is the reef salt/RODI water/test kits/protein skimmer, etc... When I started someone told me that to experience a reef tank all I had to do was flood the living room and burn hundred dollar bills, they weren't far off.
Saying that, there's a lot of folks on here that swap and/or sell equipment cheaply, if you become a member you'll have access to the buy and sell forums.
Most of all, and can't stress enough, reef tanks are SLOW going and PATIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/RESEARCH/MAINTENANCE is required. For example - I started a small tank myself over a month ago. Today I added a small hermit crab and a snail, I'm hoping to add a coral or two next week and maybe a fish in a month or so. And a 90g I started 7 months ago still looks a bit barren, but I'm looking forward to the colors and growth next year.
The folks here are a great crew, and there's a ton of experience and knowledge to help you out.

Good luck. Ask questions.

Wow what a great post. My background is all in fresh water. I have lots of experience with that but I know they are not much a like.

When it comes to chemicals, well I'm a biochemist so I know exactly what you mean. I have no false hope. I know that I will have a colorful tank in the distant future.

I am going to join the board tomorrow and will look into buying everything needed. I'm between jobs which is why my budget is tight but this has been a dream of mine and I want to slowly start.

Any and all advice is much appreciated !

 

[mikem]

Welcome to the club. I have extra stuff laying around you can have.

 

[Canadia_eh]

Welcome to the club. I have extra stuff laying around you can have.

That's just awesome!!! Seems like everyone here is ready to help! Great community !!!

 

[greybolt03]

Welcome to the club. Any questions you have feel free to ask away. Lots of experience here and always great friends willing to help out.. Also as a club we do a monthly meeting at a members house. So you get to see different tanks and setups.

 

[Canadia_eh]

Thank you everyone!

Thanks to the great help from mikem my tank is full of life!

I was also convinced to start a 30 gallon instead of the 10. I'm very excited to get this going!!

Thanks again to everyone.


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