Addictive

Hi All,

So I got into reefing about a year ago now. I started with a biocube tank and I was planning on it staying on the cheap, as with all my hobbies that plan changed quickly.
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I started with some very misguided information that cost me a good chunk of change. That included a flame angel in a biocube, now I know that is ridiculous.
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I had the biocube setup for about three months next to my 30 gallon chiclid tank, the saltwater looked way better and I couldnt stand having them next to eachother so I began the conversion of that with some entry level equipment.
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The 30 gallon had a canister filter and the bio cube protein skimmer (added a second later). I had the fire fish, some cardinals, and my original snowflake clown fish.
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That was how the 30 gallon ended, I added a few anenome, a wrasse, and damsels. And added a sterilizer. I began fighting some hair algae for some obvious reasons, my parameters while ok were not perfect. After a sale at the local petco of a dollar per gallon and stalking some 40 breeder threads I upgraded to the 40, transferring over most equipment. I utilzed a hydor slim skim nano and a cpr backpack for a small refugium and ended up with a hob filter for a 90 gallon tank after an issue with my canister. Parameters came into check and I had some awesome growth in the corals I had going. I decided to get rid of the cardinals, damsels, and wrasse who was picking at my cleanup crew killing them off. I replaced them with a pigmy angel a lawnmower blenny and a engineer goby. The pigmy angel got picked on by my clown fish and ended up passing after a week and a half. I then went the route of a coral beauty. And it destroyed my tank after being treated in my hospital tank for a week, ended up with ich appearing on every fish and a fungus on my clown. I could not treat the whole tank because of the corals so they all went to the hospital tank for treatment for 8 weeks. I ended up losing everything but the goby and clown. While that was happening and my display tank was fishless I bit the bullet and built a sump/refugium out of a 29 gallon tank. I drilled the 40 for an overflow and got a sweet bubble magus skimmer, some media bags, and chateo. After the 8 weeks and the fish looking healthy again I reintroduced the two fish. They were looking good and healthy for about a month now. In that time I added some leather, ricordia, hammer coral and xenia. All of my corals are looking great again, zoas and star polyps are looking amazing and multiplying like crazy, the xenias are crazy active, the nems are looking great, and the ricordea starting to split. I decided to add another fish. Now this time I did research and I tried a new fish source, I decided to get a flame hawkfish.
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This is where it will stay for a while, hoping to start seeing awesome growth in everything and starting to truely monitor my water parameters. I am in the process of moving now and will be setting up a 75 gallon tank once settled in. Cant wait to learn from you seasoned hobbyist and become a part of this awesome hobby more.I will be cleaning the tank this week and I will upload some better pictures later as these are all with my phone.
 

jrpark22000

Premium member
Nice writeup and nice start! WElcome to CR. Enjoy the process not the end result, this is a hobby measured in years and has lots of possibilities of problems. Keep your chin up and enjoy the ride :D
 

anarchy

Active member
Welcome to chicago reefs! This is a very addictive hobby

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Thanks for the welcomes! I have definitely learned alot from all of this, for sure an addictive hobby! I will be letting this tank sit as is for a while now, maybe adding a coral piece here and there depending on whats in the stores when I go. I love getting lost in the tank, finding new life all the time, I might have been overly excited when the ricordia started splitting.
 
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