A careful way of getting into reef keeping

Paulip

Paulip

New member
I am interested in getting into reef keeping. I am not entirely new to fish keeping as I have had many fresh water and a simple saltwater setups over the years.
I do understand that there is a steeper learning curve, so I joined the forum. The much bigger challenge is the logistics of the hobby.

* I am a CS student living in the Pilsen Neighborhoods and yet to find a pet store.
* My small apartment is on the second floor of an old flat that seems to have uneven floors. No way can I setup anything beyond 30 gallons.
* I think I have achieved the professional maturity to intentionally understock and underfeed. :P
* Electrical power source is a scary problem. My landlord has no idea about the wiring which I inquired about for my computers.

First, thing that I intend to address is water collection. I believe that water changes (chemistry goes without saying) is the key.

1) Get an RO/DI filter to top off the Keurig.
2) Setup an innocuous water collection facility via 30 gallon polyethylene drum in my bathroom.

Is this a good prep for somebody who has a mild inkling of what's in store?
Additionally, is a bare tank the way to go for a low maintenance nano/pico? I intend to streamline my water change procedures. (Tank goes in the bathroom, too.)
Btw, pls send me a PM if you know a frag club around the near Southside.

Thanks for reading.
 
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Paulip said:
I am interested in getting into reef keeping. I am not entirely new to fish keeping as I have had many fresh water and a simple saltwater setups over the years.
I do understand that there is a steeper learning curve, so I joined the forum. The much bigger challenge is the logistics of the hobby.

* I am a CS student living in the Pilsen Neighborhoods and yet to find a pet store.
* My small apartment is on the second floor of an old flat that seems to have uneven floors. No way can I setup anything beyond 30 gallons.
* I think I have achieved the professional maturity to intentionally understock and underfeed. :P
* Electrical power source is a scary problem. My landlord has no idea about the wiring which I inquired about for my computers.

First, thing that I intend to address is water collection. I believe that water changes (chemistry goes without saying) is the key.

1) Get an RO/DI filter to top off the Keurig.
2) Setup an innocuous water collection facility via 30 gallon polyethylene drum in my bathroom.

Is this a good prep for somebody who has a mild inkling of what's in store?
Additionally, is a bare tank the way to go for a low maintenance nano/pico? I intend to streamline my water change procedures. (Tank goes in the bathroom, too.)
Btw, pls send me a PM if you know a frag club around the near Southside.

Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...

Welcome to CR!

I think you have definitely some of the basics down. RODI is a must (but I don't think I'd ever personally drink it) lol.

As far as the "do bare bottom tanks reduce maintenance" I would say no. Instead of vaccuming (or stiring) sand once in a blue moon before a water change, you'll have food and waste particles collect on the bottom of the tank that need to be vacuumed out before they start producing ammonia. If you keep up with that, there is certainly advantages there; however, a sand bed does provide natural filtration that needs to be maintained every few months. Short answer = personal preference once the benefits and opportunities are weighed!

My #1 and #2 addition to lower maintenance is an Auto Top Off and a dosing pumps if you want to get into LPS and SPS corals.

Good luck!
 
I used to live by Pilsen. Have you been to Bodhi Thai on 18th? Pretty good Thai food.

* Do you have a car? If so, the nearest fish store will be Golden Aquarium by Archer and 35th. They don't have much corals but do stock saltwater fish. New Fish by Milwaukee and Division (not Fullerton) has both corals and fish.
* A IM 10 or IM Lagoon 25 are good choices to start if you are looking for AIOs.
* Feeding is good for corals and fish as long as you export the excess nutrients via water change or filtration.
* You can buy GFCI plugs / adapters that plug into any wall outlet to provide protection.
* When I was living in a condo, I bought a small portable RODI unit that I store under the sink when not in use. When I need to do a water change, I hook it up and run it for an hour or two. With a nano tank, you only need to change 10-20% water volume weekly.
* Not sure why you need to put the tank in the bathroom. With a nano tank, it takes me 15 mins to do a 2 gallon water change using just buckets.

Having said all that, please consider carefully whether you have the time and $$ to take care of a saltwater tank while going to school full time. Maybe just use your time to study hard and when you graduate and land a $100k job, then get a tank.
 
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Yeah tank in the bathroom does not sound like a good idea. Every time you take a shower the steam will mess with all your gear and bounce the temperature around.

30 gallon breeder makes a good size for a reef -- big footprint and shallow tank

I'm not that far from you at Division/Western -- you're welcome to come check out my tank and I can give you some ideas to save money on setup. Some folks live in the city but the majority of the board is in the suburbs. I can toss you some corals when you're ready too.

If you can do RODI its well worth it. If not you'll be getting water from a fish store (New Fish is good) so it can work at first, if you have a car.

Welcome to Chicago Reefs!!
 
Never been to Bodhi. Still enjoying the many Mexican and Chinese restaurants. I was stationed in El Paso, TX for a few years. Surprisingly, I like Chicago Mexican food a lot more. Must be a provincial influence.

I did find Golden Aquarium on the web. It is a 15 min bike ride. I can use it for supplies. I have confirmed that Petco has no marine animals. Anyway, they don't exactly have the best specimens.

The reason for the bathroom is for proximity to an intended water collection/disposal point. I wanted to streamline the workflow with some modular plumbing. (I am really overthinking it.)

I am in the process of getting a biocube 14. It already has LEDs, so that should have taken the notorious overheating problem. RO/DI is on the way. The odds and ends are adding up really fast.

1) RO/DI
2) Plastic Hygrometer
3) Digital Thermometer
3) 160G Salt Mix
4) Gravel syphon
5) Purigen and Prime
6) Nylon media bag
 
Looks like you're off to a good start.

By the way, don't drink DI water. It is bad for you. RO is fine, but not DI.
 
#theMatrix said:
Cough.

Theres a nice giveaway going on
Click to expand...


Oh, I am quite aware of the the Dry and Live goods area. That's where I found an excellent biocube. I was wondering about the live goods. When I was into fish keeping, I was always impressed by the quality of the specimens at Living Sea, Palatine. Though people were blah about it's demise. I have yet to travel to where the best specimens can be found. I am not even looking at exotics or SPS.

Well, an exotic clown variant is incredibly attractive, but a rock filled 14G wouldn't be enough space for him. We need pygmy strains.
 
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I decided to go with biocube 14 in the living room. Effective gallons is really more around 12 when calculating medications...er...I mean supplements.

I decided to put the 6 pounds of live rock thru a muriatic acid bath. Never worried about phosphate for fishkeeping. Apparently, it is THE big thing with corals. I read a thread about phosphate from rocks wicking thru the coral skeletons and hollowing them out (for algae to weaken them further) got me totally freaked.

The most excitement I have had all week since filling up a a 14 gallon and doing an equipment check is a non-event. Using Chicago tap, I'll do a 99% water change when the RODI is in. 9 pounds + of rock to go which I will get this Sunday. If it's corraline encrusted, I will leave it alone.

After Action Review (AAR): Don't piss in the tank to get the Ammonia cycle started. You might have to work in the tank it very soon after.
 
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i wasn't a big fan of golden aquarium...every time i went in there all their tanks were covered in cyano...always made me change my mind about buying anything...i usually go to old town for stuff...it's expensive and hard to find parking but they have quality stuff in the city...just last week i saw those long fin clownfish for the first time...$600 for a pair! no thanks...i mostly just go in there to restock on LRS food and window shop

ps - you picked a great major...you'll never have a hard time trying to find a job :)
 
I highly recommend new fish. I have bought a number of fish and corals from them and have been very pleased. Good prices too!
 
Rallos said:
I highly recommend new fish. I have bought a number of fish and corals from them and have been very pleased. Good prices too!
Click to expand...

That or a cleanup crew after my first algae outbreak. Here my initial attempt at rockwork. Not much I can do with a small cube. Unless, I breakup some rocks, glue rubble together and build something to scale with the big tank setups. I can't bring myself to break up my baseball mitt sized pukani's.


Anybody see the Dragon and her baby at the mouth of the cave den? ( Don't worry, I am not getting the plastic diver with treasure chest.)

1) Will this arrangement work for flow? It has multiple tiers for specie requirements. The bottom will have eventually have 1"-2" of no1 Aragonite.
2) What is that pink luminescence? It changes colors and intensities during the evening and I have unchanging light sources.

View attachment 15410
 
Can you post a bigger image? That one is so small I can't see anything.

Also, with rock work less is more. If you build some structures (you can use those fiberglass driveway markers, cut them into pieces, drill your rock and then use epoxy to secure them) to let the fish swim around it will increase the flow. Negative space is a good thing, if you have too much rock and not enough open area it can make a small tank look even smaller.

This is a really nice looking small tank. Room for lots of coral but still has nice open space. Ultimately it's your tank so you do whatever looks good to you. Just making suggestions. :)

View attachment 15429
 
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