tuesday8877 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Hello Everyone, We (myself, my fiance Robert, and my kids) moved to Austin about a month ago and found this group through the Aquadome. Love that place! We have been reef keeping for a very short time (about 6-8mos) and only recently became serious about it. Here is a lil history on our saltwater adventures: We purchased a 55 gal SW set up off of Craigslist that was in horrible shape. It came with the tank, a HOB filter, a very old Coralife PC light, rocks, and crushed coral and thats it for equipment. The live stock that was still alive was a clown, a damsel, cardinal, some tiny starfish, hermits, and about a million worms. Everything was covered in algae. Even though we had absolutely no experience with SW tanks, we figured that we couldn't do much more damage to these critters and decided to try and save it. It's been a fun and frustrating learning process with much success and failures. Since then, we added a Remora C HOB protein skimmer, a Odyessea Quad HO T5 light ( I think we have 3 X 10K and one Atinic running during the day), a Fluval canister filter, and various other equip. We also recently upgraded it from the 55 to 75 gallon. Here is a list of the live stock we currently have (sorry if the names are wrong): Clarkii Clownfish - he's my least favorite cuz he nips at the corals but has the most personality Damsel Pajama Cardinal Cleaner Shrimp Coral Banded Shrimp Sea Cucumber Sea Star Knoch Bubble Tip Anemone A couple of leather coral, i think one is a cabbage and one is toadstool? Several mushrooms Green Hammer - he's not doing so great, kinda deflated but looking better today GSP and a couple of other kinds of coral that I got at Aquadome but forgot the name and hermits will be adding a CUC with snails and more hermits after the Group Buy tomorrow We are hoping to build a sump/ refuge in the near future and possibly do an LED DIY fixture when time and money permit. I'm so glad to have found this group and look foward to learning and making my tank awesome with your help! Tuesday Hayden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks to the Aquadome for pointing you our way, and welcome to the club! Sounds like you've gotten your hands wet and are having fun doing it. We love to see new members jump in and speak up and we're all glad to have you here. Take some pics and setup a thread for your tank so we can see your handiwork, and then put our monthly meetings and events on your calendar so that we can all meet up in person! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBMarlin Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 What an adventure you've already had! Welcome to the club. Aquadome is such a great store, not so much for my bank account though I'm there frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Welcome to Austin. It is a great place. For the corals that you have, the four T5 that you have should be fine even in the 75G tank. The ratio of three 10K bulbs to one actinic will maximize your PAR value. If you want to maximize floresance in coral, focus on blue light range. If you wanted to try some decorative macro algae in your DT, come visit my seaweed farm. Enjoy the hobby. La bonne temps roulee, Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Welcome to Austin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuesday8877 Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Thanks for the welcomes! Hi Subsea, I actually tried to call you a couple of days ago about the waving hand. Will definately need to come out to your place sometime soon. I forgot to mention that for moonlight I'm using a couple of led kits that I got from IKEA of all places. The color is adjustable and gives a good night time glow but doesn't have enough wattage I guess to make any real difference with the main lights on. I've noticed most peoples tank have a nice calm blueish tint while mine is pretty stark white. Definately need to upgrade my lights one of these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new55galSALT Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Welcome to austin and the club all of the members are very helpful with information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesWebb Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Welcome! If your looking at a DIY sump pet I is having its $1 a gallon sale and you can pick up a tank real cheap for the next two days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuesday8877 Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Thanks for the info James! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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