Brand Newbie *Added Pictures!*

Welcome too 3reef. Nice Set up

 

Welcome.. And you beat me to it mike.. ;D

 

LOL You are observant!

Thanks for the welcome.

I just got done acclimating my tank's first resident!
He seemed to do great during the drip acclimation. He was shy at first, but then swam over to my hand a few times while I was putting water in the bag. Since I've let him out, however, he swam momentarily before finding a cozy spot by the heater. Based on the single fact that my filter is EHEIM'S rating of 2x the size that tank needs, I am pretty sure (I don't want to stress him by moving the thermometer right now) the temp in the tank is even.

Anyhow-- He is swimming up and down, over and over again, in the corner at the heater. Stress or normal?






I have a heater that flows water through it, but I'm waiting on a part to arrive. This free-floating heater that I'm too lazy to attach to the tank is very temporary...

 

make sure your salinity is between 1.022 to 1.026, and water temp 76-80 (set heater at 76) for your new fish. you can get a cheap hydrometer for like 8 bucks.. not the best tool but will do. btw: you might not need a heater in that tank. I live in florida and your in georgia. I usally keep my AC set at 78, and my heat at 73 in my house. my tank temps are usually around 75-80 without a heater.

if your salinity is low take some water out and add salt to water, mix and slow add back to tank. dont do big raises in salt to quick.

you can buy some background paper from your local fish store and tape to back of tank to hide wires/tubing etc.. pretty cheap.

looks like you have a standard t12 or t8 light fixture. if you want corals you will need to upgrade to t5s.. unless you get some low light stuff maybe some mushrooms, or something similiar..

 

Thank you for all of the information. I think I am going to stick with just fish for now. And yeah, we have heaters on all of our tanks in the house. I guess we like to keep our house like an ice box!! That's right where the salinity and temperature are right now... He seems to be doing great now!! I gave him some frozen food and offered some veggie flakes. Now he is exploring all over the tank. I think the current in there is stronger than what he's used to, but I think he'll eventually enjoy that. I really like him a lot.

 

well your tank looks great and form you description of blackish water and 6 months of stagnant gross water you have done a great job bringing it back to life. you should do fine with your canister and skimmer with a low bio load tank but i agree with above post that if you want to keep even low light demand corals you should look into good PC lights but probably your best bet is a small T5 fixture.
remember to go slow when adding new live stock, adding too many fish too soon will be bad news bears.

 

Welcome to 3reef!

 

Nice recovery! Are you planning on adding more rock? (hint, hint), and stay on top of the maintenence on the canister and you should be fine. Welcome.........

 

He is right, if you are planing on coral just go with T5 lights. I spent way too much un unsesery money on the tank by trying to be cheap. Finally got some t5's about 2 month ego and it is one of the best investments I have made.

Grate tank by the way

 

For those of you joining us that are new to the hobby - the best piece of advice you'll get around here as a saltwater newbie is 3Reef's slogan
"Go slow, let it grow."
And for those experianced hobbyists joining us - it's still good advice
good luck and post pics soon