New Saltwater Noob

[adrian912]

Hello ARC peeps, I joined the forum in early February and became a member last week. I've been doing freshwater for 5 years or so but I couldn't hold off the salt flu this year so I caved in and decided to go through with it. I just got my first starter set up to get my feet wet and to get used to getting all the parameters and salinity stable (I'd rather be safe than sorry). Then eventually this 56 gallon tank will be my QT/Hospital tank and I'll move up to a bigger tank (150+ gallons hopefully) before getting into corals and such.

That being said I'm patiently waiting on the right tank to jump on so that I can have that already in place. That way I can start curing the additional rock in that tank by itself before I transfer everything from the 56g to the new tank. I have seen something that concerns me though, because the two 6 foot non RR tanks I have now don't have a center brace where as a lot of the ones I have seen for sale on Craigslist and such do have either one or two center braces. Would those center braces cast a shadow in the tank? Might be a silly question but I have never been put into that kind of situation before lol.

I know that in this hobby things take a long time and you need patience but.....I can't wait to get my reef on. :Banane09:

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

First...welcome to the addiction! LOL!! Once bitten by the saltwater flu, you're never gonna be the same.

Good luck in joining the "Big Tank" club. It's definitely a commitment that can't be taken lightly but you'll find that the bigger the tank, the easier to care for (and more expensive).

As for the braces....my 180 has two braces across the top. It's not a problem and here's why: most lights applicable for reefing only cast a 2'x2' spread anyway. Center each light over the section and you're good to go! Besides, reefs have shaded areas too and there are some critters that prefer lurking in the shadows!

 

[bcavalli]

Welcome to our community. You should start a build thread and document your progress. Ask lots of questions as we have some of the most experienced and successful reefers in the world. Generally there isn't anything our members haven't experienced or done to a tank.

 

[snowmansnow]

welcome aboard I'll help however i can! good luck and happy reefing

 

[lsu_fishfan]

Welcome to ARC!!! As Brett said, start a build thread to share your progress.

 

[ricky5415]

Hi
Welcome to the crazy addicting hobby. Dont be hesitate to ask if u need help on anything. Reefing related of course

 

[adrian912]

porpoiseaquatics;1109226 wrote:
As for the braces....my 180 has two braces across the top. It's not a problem and here's why: most lights applicable for reefing only cast a 2'x2' spread anyway. Center each light over the section and you're good to go! Besides, reefs have shaded areas too and there are some critters that prefer lurking in the shadows!

That is awesome news! Now I can just focus on getting the tank that I prefer without having to worry about that.

Bcavalli;1109246 wrote: Welcome to our community. You should start a build thread and document your progress. Ask lots of questions as we have some of the most experienced and successful reefers in the world. Generally there isn't anything our members haven't experienced or done to a tank.

Okie dokie, I will start doing that pretty soon. Perhaps this Friday or maybe Sunday. Maybe if I start doing something silly one of ya'll might save me some trouble by pointing it out lol. Thank you guys for the warm welcome!

 

[bcavalli]

You will never believe some of the mistakes I've made and if I had asked first I would have saved a ton of time and money.

 

[adrian912]

Was about to start my tank progression post but I can't seem to figure out how to place a picture in my post. I am sure that I am overlooking a very simple step.

 

[adrian912]

Adrian912;1109611 wrote: Was about to start my tank progression post but I can't seem to figure out how to place a picture in my post. I am sure that I am overlooking a very simple step.

.....Nevermind I figured it out, or should I say my wife told me how to do it. I am not very active on the whole internet social stuff like facebook or whatever so my lovely wife introduced me to imgur so that I can insert a url into this forum. :yay: