The beginning to a endless journey

C

Chief

Member
To whom it may concern,

My name is CPL Dyllion Eckhardt. I am currently a 19D Cavalry Scout in the United States Army Illinois National Guard. I work as a Project Manager in North East Illinois, but live in South East Wisconsin. I have a variety of hobbies, including but not limited to: scuba diving, motorcycle riding, and anything outdoors. My significant others brother recently put together a fresh water fish tank and it sparked my interest and lifelong hobby into growing an aquarium of my own. I will be receiving a biocube 29g tank that was used as a reef tank from a friend that I work with. I plan on using it as a reef tank for a combination of fish and coral(obviously). I have done a fair amount of research and still continue to research to mitigate my cost spending as much as possible while still learning and growing. Just yesterday (6/11/2018) I placed an order for: 1 - Kessel A80 Tuna Blue with a mini gooseneck, 1 Cobalt aquatics 100 watt heater, and 1 25 test strip testing kit. I am still working on exactly what I will need for the tank to start my initial first cycle, but I have not received the tank and thus do not know what it does or does not have.

Prize fish, as I am sure everyone has one. A fish that when someone looks at your tank full of water you always want to point out. Well my current prize fish is a Mandarin Goby, Mandarin Dragonet how ever which way you would like to call this beautiful species. I plan on creating a Refugium in the back portion of the Biocube 29g where the sump is held in bay 2 to create a biosystem of copepods to hopefully feed 2 Mandarins. I do not know how well it will work as I am new and well new.

What I hope to gain from ChicagoReefs.com is a network of friends, knowledge, and hopefully a beautiful tank in about 10 years or how ever long it becomes perfect for me. I come with an open mind and open arms(free knowledge....(and equipment) i mean....



Best,
CPL Dyllion Eckhardt


P.S.
I attached a picture because of the sticky on the introduction forum. (my SO and I(Male))



View attachment 24604
 
J

jrwoltman

Member
Welcome Dyllion!!!

I am sorry to rain on your parade, but in my opinion you are at least a year away from keeping 1 mandarin. You need at least a year for your tank to cycle, your rock to cure and mature and for your tank to produce a viable population of pods to sustain a mandarin. Otherwise, that mandarin will slowly starve to death. Without a doubt, a mandarin is a gorgeous fish, but not a fish for a beginner in a new tank. I am not trying to be a dick, just trying to give you some good advice. We were all new and excited once and I wish I would have received a lot more good advice when I started out to save me the many headaches and heartaches that come with this fantastic hobby. Just trying to help.

Jim
 
goatous

goatous

New member
Welcome!
Sounds like you’re patient and are in for the long haul, which is good, because only bad things happen quickly with a reef.

I second Jim’s thoughts on a Mandarin, unless you can find one that is already eating frozen, it will likely struggle to survive in a young smaller tank. They live on the pods in your tank so you’ll need a healthy established refugium to be your reservoir of pods to help repopulate as it consumes them. Letting your tank get well established is your best bet with Mandarins.

Know going in that you will have failures, and it’s not the end of the world, just be patient and monitor/test you tank regularly and try your best for stable conditions. Although, I don’t know if there is such a thing as a “perfect” reef tank; a healthy tank is constantly growing and changing, while most things look can great, something might not be so hot.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your updates.
James
 
C

Chief

Member
Hey everyone,

Thanks for replies and the information. My end goal currently is the mandarin. I know that until I can sufficiently supply a large enough ecosystem of copepods that the Mandarin will not survive or thrive. So I will be patient in going throughout the cycling phases, and learning. That is the main reason I am here so I can learn from everyones mistakes and try my best to mitigate any of my own mistakes which I will end up making.

When I think of a perfect tank I will say the word "perfect" is not the best word to use. But perfect is often believed to be in the eye of the beholder. I want to be proud of a an ecosystem I can grow with and can grow with me.

When motorcycle conversations come up, you hear a lot "oh I have never been down(crash)", but the thing is no matter how much you prepare and train, you either have been down or you are going down.
 
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