Hi I just got into the hobby of keeping reef tanks.I started out with a 5 gallon and made every wrong mistake in the book.My parents were starting to worry that I was losing money but I didn’t give up. So this Christmas I got a 40 gallon breeder for me to be more successful with the hobby I am 14 and my name is Grey.I am super excited to meet new people In the hobby and to learn more about keeping reef tanks.I have two domino clowns cycling my tank. Any device on corals livestock or just advice in general would be great looking forward to meeting people and getting deeper in the hobby. Questions down below.
New member QA
- Thread starter Grey.E
- Start date
Thank you
Cool. You're in the right place for questions and answers. Welcome! I would encourage you to post a pic of your setup just so we can see what you're working with when you ask questions.
If you were to recommend coral to a beginner what would it be?
what livestock would you recommend for a beginner?
If I were going to get a anemone what would I get?
why do we use carbon for in our fish tanks?
I got new clownfish which are domino clowns and they are laying on the bottom on the sand bed still moving don’t know what to do?
what livestock would you recommend for a beginner?
If I were going to get a anemone what would I get?
why do we use carbon for in our fish tanks?
I got new clownfish which are domino clowns and they are laying on the bottom on the sand bed still moving don’t know what to do?
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I am sure you know not to get an anemone until your tank is more mature. Are you going to add a protein skimmer for nutrient export, or are you going to use a refugium, or both? Also, carbon is used on an as needed basis, if you are counteracting a chemical additive, or if your water is yellowing, etc. no need to run all the time 
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.I am using a refgium and hope to add a skimmer.
Looking good man. One thing that jumps out at me is the sump configuration. It looks like it's got 2 chambers. Could you post a pic showing the plumbing? Looks like you've got 2 drain lines, one going to the filter socks on the left and one going to what could be a refugium on the right. Looks like the overflow in the center back is where the return pump is located. Is that right?
Well if you need any macroalgae, folks on this forum have been very nice about providing new reefers with a nice supply. Also, the meetings have been really helpful and informative. Welcome to the ARC! So nice to see a young reefer in the community! Your tank setup looks great!
Thankyou
How low in the water in the small return compartment? I'm asking because the sump looks like it has quite a bit of water in it and when the power goes out, there's always a decent amount of water that drains into the sump, raising the overall water level. Whenever I set up a new sump, once I get it how I like it, I turn off all of the power as a test. When the powers off, I'll see how high the water goes and let the be a guide to how much water is in the return compartment. You've probably take care of this since everything else on the plumbing side of things look really, really good and well thought out but I thought I would double check.
Thank you so much and I am grateful you told me this. That would of been a horrible accident if I didn’t know this.Thankyou again
I recommend to watch the brstv videos on YouTube. The 5 minute videos guide has a lot of the basic information and if there is anything else that you would like to learn more about they have videos for A LOT of reefing topics. Of course you can always ask questions here and people will be super helpful but the videos might have answers to questions I would never think to ask.
Thankyou so much Doberman for this advice
1st coral - Softie - Leather, zoa, toadstool or stuff like that. Great way to start and watch something grow. Beyond those, you'll start looking at the stony coral, LPS and SPS.
SPS - Montipora, pocillopora, bird's nest (seriatopora).
LPS - Favia, Candy cane (caulastrea), duncan.
Everything listed above is pretty hardy and readily available. Start with a softie or two and go from there.
I have a few favorite fish but for your tank, I would seriously consider a yellow coris wrasse. They're hardy, have a great personality and are brilliantly colored. As long as you have a complete and tight lid, they are one of my favorites. However, the do jump out of the tank (carpet surf) a lot, seriously, all the time. I'd be willing the bet that they are the most common fish that end up as "fish jerky" if you don't have a good lid. They're such a great fish to keep that they'd be $$$$$$ if they weren't so easy to come by. Caveat: I would say most of the same stuff about the Royal Gramma and that's another one to consider.
Rock Flower anemone's are awesome and come in all kinds of crazy colors. Clown don't typically "host" in them but they're a great into to keeping anemones.
Carbon absorbs a lot of toxins. Carbon itself is very porous and will absorb a lot of "organics" as well as any metals, chemicals or other contaminants that can get in our tanks. Rather than go down a rabbit hole, check out this link: https://reefhacks.com/carbon-media-reef-tank/
One thing you'll hear over and over again in this hobby is in regards to patience. It's brought up all the time because a good, mature tank takes time to develop. There are all kinds of products on the market to try and reduce the amount of time it takes a tank to mature but they really only help the process along and the whole process takes a long time. You know what a cycle is but for marine reef tanks it can mean 2 different things. There's the actual nitrogen cycle. Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate and then there's the "cycle" to get a tank to what we often call maturity. That's why most systems that are less them 1 year old are referred to as "new." Once the nitrogen cycle has run it's course and things are stable, you'll start to get diatoms, algae and other nuisance things that pop up while the rest of the system, beyond the specific nitrogen cycle, start to get balanced out.
Thank you so much for the advice !
