Fishy Business

New to salt water

Qckslvr

Supporting Member
Hello all! I was lured here by SlingFox on R2R.

Kinda new to salt water. I have had fresh water aquariums on and off in my life (rental agreements can be a pain). But never a saltwater tank. During that time I built a 180 gallon mixed reef tank, with stand, chiller, refugium, and 4 AI Vegas to light it for a family member. I can proudly say that the tank ran for 8 years before it had a catastrophic event. The owner accidentally put a bleach contaminated filter in it during regular maintenance. Wiped out the tank.

Fast forward to present day, and my wife has fallen hard into aquascaping. So in our research of big box stores, I told her to really learn about it we need to go to a real aquarium shop. Not sure if that was a mistake or not, time will tell. The first shop we visited was Neptune Aquarium. I can say everyone there has been super helpful. And while there of course my wife saw the clowns, corrals, angel fish, and so on. It was now determined we would have two tanks, a fresh water aquascape, and a salt water tank.

I got lucky that while on FBM I spotted a used Coralife Biocube 32 with stand, skimmer, and wave maker. The family member that lost their tank was more than happy to give us a bunch of gear including their AI Vegas. So now we have a 20 and a 37 gallon fresh water tank for aquascaping, and the 32 gallon biocube for saltwater.

The biocube is still in the build phase so to speak. I have the rock placement ready. I need to make a trip to Tap Plastics so I can make a mounting bracket for the skimmer, and supports for the Vega. I did get a Five Star Aquatics filter basket, and I need to get media for it. I also have 10 bags of dead "live" sand that I need to wash before I can use it that was given to me. I have a RODI system, and half of a 5 gallon bucket of salt. Although I will most likely get sea water from Neptune to start the tank off.

And that is where I am

Pleased to meet you all, and look forward to meeting you all some day.

here's a pic of the tank as it sits.... Check out my high tech used pho container light stand :D
IMG_0325.jpeg


BTW shout out to AI, these Vegas were being a complete PITA! I was seriously fearful that I was going to need new lighting. But they have been super helpful and for being 13 years old are working as they should.
 
The rock that's in the above pic is NOT suitable for marine aquaria.
You want a calcium carbonate based rock (live rock) not the volcanic "bowl" or "lace" rock that's pictured in the tank.

and who's the feathered friend that lives next store?
 
The rock that's in the above pic is NOT suitable for marine aquaria.
You want a calcium carbonate based rock (live rock) not the volcanic "bowl" or "lace" rock that's pictured in the tank.

and who's the feathered friend that lives next store?
Could be Texas holy rock. If it is. That could work. I’ve seen that before. If not. I got some dead rock for ya.
 
Welcome to the board. You should sign up and come to the frag swap in November.

I have a bunch of MarcoRock around if you end up going the dry rock route. I won’t be using that MarcoRock anytime soon since I only use live rock nowadays. More expensive but reduces the headache of battling the uglies in the long run.
 
The birds of the house are two sun conures Perci and Conni, and a Nanday named Andy.

As for the rocks which one? The one on the right or left? They were both pulled from aquariums. I am curious though, what problem does the wrong type of rock pose?

View attachment 73560
The issue is leaching contaminants in the water. It won't happen over night in most cases it's a gradual release. Which can kill coral, inverts cause alage blooms the list could be very much endless.


Seeing that you went to neptunes, I have many lbs of already cured(ready to go liverock no pest were in a stocktank without fish or corals etc) available in santa clara left over from setting up a new tank. Your welcome to stop by and have your pick of what I have available. Easily enough for maybe 3 biocube32s.

I'm honestly happy to see another biocube32 build underway. I currently have 2 of them and have ran atleast 1 biocube since I started keeping corals a few years back.

If you ever want tips or wanna talk about biocube32 feel free to reach out. Also message me if you wanna come pick out some rocks. Only concern here is that you get things started in the right direction and avoid future headaches of rocks potentially effecting your reef tank.


There is a large difference in water quality in saltwater compared to fresh water. Most reefs are extremely pristine environments in refrence to water quality.

Welcome to the club and please feel free to ask questions no matter how minor or silly they may seem.

Consider coming join us on November 2nd at our frag swap. Details can be found on the main fourm page.
 
Thank you all, my wife and i will be gone this weekend. But when we return will reach out for rocks!

If I remember correctly the rocks I currently have came from King Aquarium about 13 years ago. They are left overs from the 180g build.
 
Oh man they are beautiful! Where did you get them?
Perci (left) is from a breeder in Prundale. Rene’s Exotic Birds. Conni (Center) is from a lady in Riverside. Conni is a little meaner, she was not hand cared for has a hatchling where Perci was. Andy (right) is from Petco, sadly he has PTSD. Took us a bit to work him out of it, but he has triggers. Any box he sees will set him off.
 
Welcome to the club! @Slingfox gave you great guidance you come over here and @robert4025 has an incredible store to get your gear and animals from. You can't go wrong there. If you don't have an RODI system yet, they have both fresh and salt water you can fill up jugs with I'm the meantime.

Beautiful birds too!
 
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