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Salty UKAPS?

BigTom

Member
Joined
1 May 2009
Messages
2,281
Location
Edinburgh
Hi all,

I've just started a little foray into the salty side and wondered if anyone had a recommendation for a reef forum to poke my nose into? Preferably with some of the same sort of knowledgeable and progressive folk that we have on here!

Cheers,
T
 
I am not really into reefs tanks anymore but I was for about 30 years.
I found in the early days of internet forums about 15 years ago, the ones I was involved with, were nice and friendly.
However finding a cosy, informative one without the "know it all arguments" & differing opinions, in the later years was very difficult!.
Not much help ... sorry..
 
Hi all,

I've just started a little foray into the salty side and wondered if anyone had a recommendation for a reef forum to poke my nose into? Preferably with some of the same sort of knowledgeable and progressive folk that we have on here!

Cheers,
T

Hello,

If you want a knowledge base to learn from etc, then you will be hard pushed to beat the site listed below. I used it for years, made some good friends and can not fault the majority of things you find on it, very informative, you just got to be able to ignore the banter sometimes.

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/forum.php?s=338a01e403de3a39a74d3af45d3e1ab8
Hopefully a link to a reef site is not in breach of policy, if it is I apologise.

kind regards

Jay
 
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I keep 1000l reef tank, I'm a member of Ultimate reef and The Salty Box, the later being a smaller more friendly forum but with a better knowledge level. The downside is there is less variation in answers and they're mostly northerners :lol:
 
What have you got set up so far? What filtration method are you adopting?

It's a difficult hobby, expensive and frustrating but very rewarding when it comes together. I had two very difficult years plagued with problems and pests but I'm on top of it at the moment, things are looking good and it's all worthwhile.
 
What have you got set up so far? What filtration method are you adopting?

It's a difficult hobby, expensive and frustrating but very rewarding when it comes together. I had two very difficult years plagued with problems and pests but I'm on top of it at the moment, things are looking good and it's all worthwhile.

Its a ~40cm AIO cube (40x42x30 when you discount the back section). About 60l realistic water volume... just got the water, salt, heater, return pump and powerhead in there at the moment. Pet rocks are going in today. Flow is a little low at about 25x turnover but will probably add a second powerhead soon. Lighting is not extreme - Cherry Aqua iNano. Planning on a lagoon style scape with Caulerpa, buttons and mushrooms probably, and eventually a pair of blue stripe pipefish. It's mainly just to teach myself the basics of reefkeeping so I'm less useless on the marine section when working in my LFS.

Hoping to get away without a skimmer... going to have lots of live rock rubble, chaeto and floss in the back and just do very regular water changes which isn't too inconvenient given how easily I can get RO and the small volumes involved.
 
25x turnover is fine for softies and LPS, you only need more when you have SPS. Skimmers aren't essential by any means, just need to keep on top of water changes to keep organics down. Testing is the main thing, keep on top of your water parameters and everything else will generally take care of itself, nitrate at about 1ppm and phosphate at about 0.03ppm or less is ideal. Once you get in the swing of it you can guess reasonably accurately your phosphate levels by the daily build up of algae on the glass, controlling phosphate at 0.03 is the main issue. With softies you'll not need to supplement the water at all, water changes will keep it up to par.

I personally wouldn't have Caulerpa anywhere near my tank, I had it go sexual on me once and it wasn't pretty, nearly took my tank out overnight, I do use Chaeto and miracle mud in my sump lit 24/7
 
Thanks Colin. I have heard a few horror stories about Caulerpa but I do really like the look of it, and it'd fit the sort of habitat I'm aiming for. Still plenty of time to do some reading and wimp out, haha.

10kg of pet rocks just went in, still need some more rubble for the back.

jGYEZv.jpg
 
That's just screaming "Mantis shrimp!!"

Nice scape, not tempted by an orange and a green digi Montipora? Look ace in there top left and right with some Zoas bottom left. Could be easy with such a low bio load
 
Mantis shrimp? Arnt those the ones that could smash through tank glass? I've never ventured into marines very interesting though.
 
There are different types of Mantis, some have clubs that potentially could smash the glass when they get very big (never actually heard of it happening) and some with a spear tip that wont. Peacock Mantis are prized possessions to many reef keepers

 
They are beautiful creatures Colin, I remember seeing a bigger one with the clubs on deadly 60 watching it with our boys. Where they were showing the power they have. Awsome. along with cuttle fish my favorite.:)
 
Don't know any reef sites but would love to be updated. I would like to set up a nano reef tank say 50 litres or similar. I don't really have much of an idea though. I have watched a few videos on youtube.

I love the soft coral but I've heard its a very expensive hobby, this and my lack of knowledge has put me off so far. It would be great if you made a thread of your progress, with different equipment etc, how much it costs, what it does and why.

Anyways, have fun :)
 
On salty sites, I'm most active on ultimatereef but it is one of those sites that are a bit too big for their own good. It is easy to get lost in the noise there so don't be surprised if you don't get a reply. I also joined saltybox more recently but am not active enough there to form an opinion.

I've got an infestation of Caulerpa (suspected racemosa) in one tank, and it has got a foothold in a 2nd. Grows pretty fast and not fussy about light. Not had it go sexual yet and must have had it many months. To best of my understanding that is a last ditch attempt at it surviving when conditions really don't suit it. So it would seem I have the right conditions for algae... caulerpa taxifolia is very popular with seahorse keepers so that might be a more interesting one to go for.

Oh, on the nitrates/phosphate thing, that should be fun for later. Conventional marine wisdom is you want them low, but there is a small but growing group saying it doesn't matter. I have long wondered if there are echos of ideas I first heard about here that might apply in this scenario.
 
It needn't be an expensive hobby but invariably it does. All you really need is a tank, light. flow pumps, heater, live rock and salt water (which is free if you live by the sea). But! Ideally you would add a skimmer (a thing that generates bubbles that collect organics and removes them from the tank), a sump is handy to keep stuff in, skimmer, heaters, carbon and phosphate reactors, miracle mud/deep sand beds etc. If you keep stony corals you will need to supplement your calcium/magnesium and Kh either by dosing or with a calcium reactor, lighting needs to be good then too, flow needs to be better. Still if you stay with the cheaper kit that's recently come on the market such as Jeabao and Evergrow rather than Ecotech and Dastaco etc you can keep costs down to the barely affordable.
 
On salty sites, I'm most active on ultimatereef but it is one of those sites that are a bit too big for their own good. It is easy to get lost in the noise there so don't be surprised if you don't get a reply. I also joined saltybox more recently but am not active enough there to form an opinion.
Agreed, I've given up with the place personally, too busy and I find the moderation sometimes can be a bit harsh, but then rules are rules and they are written down (somewhere!)

I've got an infestation of Caulerpa (suspected racemosa) in one tank, and it has got a foothold in a 2nd. Grows pretty fast and not fussy about light. Not had it go sexual yet and must have had it many months. To best of my understanding that is a last ditch attempt at it surviving when conditions really don't suit it. So it would seem I have the right conditions for algae... caulerpa taxifolia is very popular with seahorse keepers so that might be a more interesting one to go for.
Not sure why mine went, it was in the sump over mud, lit 24/7 with a 125W CFL. Was getting regular WC with NSW and was great for months and then one morning I woke up to a tank full of milk

Oh, on the nitrates/phosphate thing, that should be fun for later. Conventional marine wisdom is you want them low, but there is a small but growing group saying it doesn't matter. I have long wondered if there are echos of ideas I first heard about here that might apply in this scenario.
A mate of mine has had good results with sky high nitrates and phosphates 5+ but then he got a Bryopsis outbreak that went mad
 
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