'Why no salt ponds??.';

'>>4751372
Wouldn't it be a tide pool then';

'>>4751372
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9fiHZSWVXQ
Julian Sprung has one';

'>>4751364
This must be an expensive wrasse';

'>>4751364
>>4751372
>>4751385
>>4751386
>>4751517
Paul Cafarro has one in his pond I think.';

'>>4751364
This thread is dead';

'>>4751943
It's a hard hobby after all, at least harder than freshwater.';

'>>4752170
I’ll join you guys someday…';

'>>4752188
You can set up a fish only with live rocks tank. It’s way cheaper than a reef tank.';

'>>4752245
first i have to get a tank ;)';

'>>4752170
It isn't any harder, just more expensive. Reefers never know a damn thing about their livestock they just buy random fish that are prett and cost a lot for bragging. That's why biotopes aren't a thing in the saltwater "community." Just richfags seeing who can pay the most for a parasite ridden tang that will turn brown or die in three months.';

'>>4752519
>It isn't any harder
It is harder';

'>>4752543
No.';

'>>4752519
Lmaooo holy shit they’re all dead bro ease up';

'>>4752559
Post your reef tank then';

'>>4752170
I have a fowlr tank and I plan on getting rid of my one chromis and my one coral beauty to get a clown pair and a goby shrimp pair that or keep the chromis and just make it a chromis only tank.';

'she do be peeling';

'>>4752769
Is that slime?';

'why would you retards make a separate saltwater thread when the combined general was already slow as shit';

'>>4752770
haha no
the acros skin is peeling off
it was dying';

'>>4752775
Its better this way';

'>>4752776
So what have you learned to prevent others from dying?';

'>>4752775
it seems there a bit of… rivalry, going on between the two';

'>>4752543
barrier to entry is higher because of equipment because reef fags are obsessed with their rainbow bullshit corals and ugly blue lights. Honestly all you need is a reliable source of RODI water and some common sense on basic water chemistry and they're no harder than a planted tank.

>>4752519
Exactly. Reeffags just care about designer corals and inbred smashed clownfish nowadays. Its a soulless hobby. Caribbean biotopes are very easy to make and cost a hell of a lot less than indo stuff. Sea fans are comfy.

>>4752170
Nice abrotanoides. Tried a few maricultured ones back in the day and could never get them to be happy.


This is my tank. Fluval freshwater light, a ton of miracle mud, very well established rock and a canister No maintenance except topping off with RODI and feeding. I'll occasionally rinse out the canister filter foam or wipe the glass. The entire inside of the filter is filled with decades old rock rubble covered in sponges. I'll trade kenyas to the LFS every now and then to pay for fish food and purple up. I live in a flyover state now so my access to marine fish is way more limited than when I was a coastie.';

'>>4753072

Forgot pic';

'>>4751517
>>4751635
It's not, relatively speaking. Expect to pay about $100-200 for it. In terms of reef fish, it's not that expensive. lmao tang prices.

However if you're going for a reef on a budget, there are certainly wrasse under $100 that will be just as colorful. Lots of fairy wrasses and flasher wrasses to choose from, and quite frankly I like Carpenter's or McCosker's wrasses more than that guy and those are <$50.

>>4753049
I don't think it's as much of a rivalry so much as a few retards who think the hobby must be done a very specific way, then they run away to the other thread when no one is bowing down to their opinion.';

'>>4753049

because saltwater keepers are high IQ elitists that don't want their threads being shat up by gay dwarf shrimp keepers';

'>>4753073
If you think that’s anything close to a biotope you are severely retarded. That’s not even a T3. It’s the equivalent of adding anubias to an asian “biotope”.';

'>>4753199

never said it was retard. its my swamp tank';

'>>4752939
No idea why it happened so I learned nothing :(
Im having a post dino cyano problem so that could be, as well as too low of nutrients
either way
Now this strawberry shortcake is my best friend';

'>>4752775
No elitism from my end. I regularly posted in and started many of the /aqg/'s, but a handful of aspies couldn't help themselves.
/aqg/ was considered a quarantine thread and I have not kept track since.';

'>>4753423
You don’t know what killed your acro, I don’t know what is this weird green bubble inside my zoa colony near the tunicates. That’s how it goes.';

'>>4753423

shitty LED lights killed that acro.

>>4753937
bubble algae';

'>>4753943
>bubble algae
Its not bubble algae it looks very different and hasnt grown in the last month or so I've noticed it. It's completely translucent. I think it's a tunicate thing but its odd because the other tunicates are still there somehow.
Ah, I might just end up popping it to see what happens. If it is bubble algae, its still not mature so there shouldnt be a big risk of spreading.';

'>Have strong pod presence after 4 months of cycling
>Suddenly white flatworms and no pods
Plz, I want a pair of mandarins.
I mean I still haven't done my rockwork and have no lighting but
plz. gif related';

'>Get nem couple weeks ago
>Feed it twice a week
>Starts regurgitating from overfeeding with partially digested white goop coming from its mouth
>2am fuck whatever, going to bed
I forget they do this.';

'I love video games';

'>>4755786
how the fuck did this get posted on /v/';

'>>4754341
You need tons of rocks. I have 24kg of rocks and my single mandarin is still skinny.';

'>>4756335
I've hoarded about 65kg of dead coral rock, plus about 30 more in marco which I consider inferior biologically as it's like twice as dense and """porous""", but far easier to scape with.
So far I have about 30/10 in there, please excuse my face. Will likely fill the gaps with islands and pillars.
I'm going 95% softies I reckon and will eventually get a magnifica, so I'm not how much more I can fit and leave room for growout. Trying to leave hideyholes in all the rockwork at least for grazing.';

'>>4755827
Sometimes posts uploaded at the exact same time get a little switcheroonied.
It's usually more fun when a completely unrelated post and image does it and derails a thread.';

'>>4756639
Your aquascape is a bit high. Just make sure you take into account how big you want your corals to grow. Maybe move your rocks a bit from the glass for ease of maintenance. I think that’s enough for a pair of mandarins.';

'>>4753943
the spectrum is fine you retard
the other corals are thriving under it';

'>>4757215

you have that thing mounted at a 90 degree angle. It can't get any light. Your meme Ecotech Radion(tm) lights create so many shadows might as well have put it under a rock.';

'>>4757800
you know what you son of a bitch
youre probably partially right, until relatively recently it wasnt getting great lighting my lights were too low so the spread wasnt good
HOWEVER
its been in rough sorts since i got it, so I probably didnt help it any, and it realistically just chugged along til it gave up
ALSO
horizontal acro mounting is a perfectly valid mounting option';

'>>4758390
Valid and has quietly been suggested for many years because of the spread and has slowly become more of a 'trend' since LED's hit the market. A lot of manufacturers are now trying to spread the light as wide as they can, but they will still need to push multiple fxtures because dur money, but also because more spread = more losses with the current close-grouping fixtures.
Coral Care, GNC fixtures etc are a good blend of the two but require getting over the compact fixture aesthetics.';

'>>4758390
>horizontal acro mounting is a perfectly valid mounting option

upside down is the superior way. Growth from all directions.

Also supplement with T5s and bye bye shadows';

'>>4758479
>>4758390
>>4758707
Spread issues are only a concern with tight grouping lights like Radions (i.e. more pendant style lighting). Imagine having 5" T5's covering a 4' or 6' tank. Yeah, sounds retarded. That is literally what Radions do. More traditional light bars like AI Blades have no issues like this and have coverage much more similar to T5's (however, if you're using four T5's to cover a tank, you're going to need two or four Blades to do the same, which is insanely expensive).

If you are not concerned with attempting to spawn or having a specific aesthetic concern (you like sunrise/sundown effects or like the color balance to show off certain coral) or have specific limitations (heat), don't discount T5's. They are very easy to setup, guaranteed to work without fuss, and contrary to popular opinion, you will not save money on LEDs long-term. I have been in the hobby a long ass time (my dad has been in the hobby since before I was born and he got me into it) and I've had every manner of fixture imaginable. Cost-wise LEDs haven't actually saved me money over the years. It's been nearly identical in cost over time. They do wear out, both the blue/violet/etc LEDs from use and just the electronics from heat, and even if they didn't, are you really going to keep the same lighting setup for 10 years? lmao I have had tanks that long and I didn't even keep the same T5 fixtures for 10+ years straight back when I used T5's exclusively.

All that said, I do use LEDs exclusively now and now that I've tuned them in, I would definitely never go back, but it was certainly a lot of tweaking to get to where I am now.';

'>>4758707
>Supplement with T5's
Why? Just get an LED rig that does the job - photons are photons.';

'>>4758762
>>4759214

LEDfags really are coping hard in this thread. I'll stick with my 250w halides. 240 of the watts escaping through heat saves me a ton of money on temperature control';

'>>4753423
So you didn't watch BRSTV to help you or ask RB?';

'>dump trisodium phosphate into a cup of tank water
>test phosphate
>0.03ppm
Fuck Salifert. It's a fucking waste of money. I'm gonna buy Nyos.';

'>>4761448
just get the hanna phosphorus checker';

'>>4761486
I'm not too crazy with keeping my phosphate at a precise range. I just don't want it to go too high.';

'>>4761448
i support your decision because she’s cute';

'>>4760208
Sounds like understandism seethe.';

'>>4753167
Yeah but what's the name of the wrasse in the OP?';

'https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/eightline-flasher-wrasse-paracheilinus-octotaenia.1044/
Nevermind, found it. It's an eight line flasher wrasse. Truly majestic. Here's a thread showing growth pics of the fish.';

'I bought my first hammer coral. I didn't realize it was of the wall variety. I heard it can be difficult to keep but it has been in my tank for more than 2 weeks now so I'm feeling pretty good about it. It's nice to have some movement in my SPS-dominated tank.';

'undefined';

'>>4762991
nᵒᵐ nᵒᵐ nᵒᵐ';

'>Nyos phosphate test kit arrived
>test
>between 0.5 to 1.0ppm of phosphate
Now that’s more inline with my 80ppm of nitrate. It’s a miracle how my corals still survive in my tank.';

'Wrasses';

'Hey guys, somethings up with my black clownfish, does anyone have any idea what that could be? How do I help it?';

'>>4766312
That’s an open wound, probably got attacked by another fish. Try asking for help on https://humble.fish/community/index.php .

If the aggressive fish keeps attacking it, then it is be best to transfer the injured or the attacker to another tank. If not, then I would just watch and do nothing (probably not the best course of action) as further stressing the fish would make the problem worse.';

'Spirals';

'Was scraping together some money for some wavemakers and lights, diff in my car is beat and needs a rehaul.
I keep thinking reefing is expensive, but it's not. Buying old fucking cars as a daily driver is expensive.';

'This is one of my best shots from the monterey bay aquarium two years ago. I really like it because it looks like an old school screensaverr';

'undefined';

'>>4770539
damn that looks sick';

'>>4770563
Is this thread dead?';

'Wtf guys you never told me you were supposed to add in carbonate to your top-off water. I was stressing over losing .3 dKH per day for nothing.';

'>>4772500
If you want to, you can. If you can get your average dKH consumption and evaporation, bingo bango.';

'>>4772637
I'm planning on underdosing it between tests and balling doses while I figure the exact evaporation rate. I know its somewhere around 100-150ml per day. Parameters will still fluctuate but nowhere as much as they were before.
My only worry now is calcium because I use sea water and my ocean is a bit low on it and if the LPS pick up on their growth I might have issues on that end. And the balling kit very explicitly tells you not to mix the two, so no top-off method.';

'Just filled a spare 2.5 for my first limited foray into saltwater. Just want to do a basic bitch nano reef, already using aragonite substrate and have small-medium sized semi broken up liverock in there, planning to attach 2-3 small corals to it. also wanted to fuck around with an urchin but on preliminary reading doesnt sound like any would really work in such a small tank, not to mention destroying everything by just bumbling into everything all the time. anyway, what do i need for this, being just 2.5g i already know a sump and refugium are likely completely overkill but later on a small DIY one to ghetto rig to it would be neat. can i get away with a standard HOB with a small heater inside? the light is just a left over from one of my freshwater tanks that got relocated and will be replaced with a more salt focused light. also in keeping with my freshwater autism, whats a good species (if any) of shrimp to use in it?';

'>>4773368
I have a 2.5g as well. Your main issues are going to be alkalinity (and my saga here >>4773120), having your skimmer draining your minerals if you dont run it super dry and coral aggression. You CAN get some bigger animals to populate it but do note that they will likely outgrow it within a year, but urchins arent a good idea. Stick with hermit crabs, crabs and shrimp imo.
>can i get away with a standard HOB with a small heater inside?
You'll have to. You're not running a reef without those. Saltwater is not like freshwater where some of the animals can be sensitive to flow. In normal circunstances you can blast them all you want, only taking care to move a few corals lower a tad. On a small tank you will need to be a bit more careful but it's quite hard to go overkill. I have a 250l/h pump but there's small 3g tanks out there that come with a 6000 l/h pump (dont do that it's a special project engineered around it)
>the light is just a left over from one of my freshwater tanks that got relocated and will be replaced with a more salt focused light
Yeah you will need a different light later on. Corals need more blue and having a UV light brings out their colors more. You can find lights across the entire price range but they only get good at the $100 mark for aquariums this size. There's, like, kessil, aquaillumination/ecotech, orphek (prettiest one imo, spectra, maxspec, zetlight and others. There's also some HQI metal halide lamps that can work give the correct setup but those are only for larger tanks.
>whats a good species (if any) of shrimp to use in it?
There's some very fancy species of shrimp for saltwater. The ones I can remember out of the top of my head are the more common pepperming and cleaner shrimps (lysimata sp.), pistol shrimps, camel shrimps, mantis shrimps, coral banded shrimps, and harlequin shrimps. Dont get a mantis shrimp they will kill you.';

'I fed my anemone a tiny bit of salmon and it ated it ::3';

'>>4773407
Nta, just driveby URL postan.
https://www.blueharbor.co.jp/en/Coral-Color-Management.html';

'>>4773537
Be careful with feeding dense food like that because it can rot inside of it before it gets digested. People feed capellin roe as it’s easier on them.
Yesterday I removed a huge piece of glue from my torch’s mouth that it picked up off the water column.';

'>>4773825
Tbh I think saltwater (especially without corals) is easier solely because you don't use tapwater. Tapwater has fucked me over so many times in FW. Literally stress less over SPS than my freshwater tank.
And at high end FW you mostly have to monitor the same shit as a reef tank (Ca, Mg, C, NH4, Fe, Po4, K) sans a few of the trace minerals that arent very important for plants.';

'>>4774027
I'm working on replacing it. RODI + mineralize + fresh trace. I wish some company just sold salt for freshwater aquariums like the do for SW.';

'I tested the moonlight setting of my new light and the female clownfish started beating the shit out of the male.
I turned it off but I hope they don’t fight at the beginning of the photoperiod.';

'>>4773695
Understood, it was a tiny piece maybe the size of a pinky nail.
They seem to appreciate mysis and blended prawn better though.';

'I was reading an article in the news about another coral bleaching event happening somewhere and it had a clickbait style sub header suggesting that a temperature change as little as 1C could cause bleaching. I'm not going to deny climate change or whatever but that doesn't really pass the smell test, since corals often live in very shallow water surely the natural variation is greater than that?';

'>>4775894
This is a small rabbit hole we went into last thread but there is a noticeable drop in temperature of the ocean in the fire few cm because of gas interchange or something like that. Past that point, the only noticeable decline in temperature is past 100 meters with the thermocline. The historical data also shows that the temperature varies considerably at 5m depths and particularly so through the year (some reefs go from 22° to 27° yearly. probably more if you account for currents and shit). So, unless the change was from 28° to 29° (remember, this kind of shit is never measured in F), I find it unlikely.
But from our daily experience in aquaria in a region that is naturally quite warm, having a high temperature usually leads to the polyps closing and acting weird before the coral finally melts and dies. Bleaching is usually the result of high lightning, possibly over time, instead. So the answer could be something more complex than a simple temperature change but perhaps the change in rain patterns that happens because of it or something like that.';

'Wow what a nerd';

'Anybody make a big jump in water volume after being comfortable at a smaller size for a long time? How did the change go for you?

I've ran nano tanks no larger than 30 gallons for almost 15 years. Never had a sump before and I never even touched a skimmer until last year. Got an Apex controller for some insurance and intrigue two years ago. Just water changes, hardy fish, and relatively simple corals. No major crashes (*knock on wood*).

I have my finger on the trigger on an Innovative Marine 75 gallon EXT. It'll be over twice the size of anything I've handled, and has plumbed sump. I'm excited to push myself further and try new fish and corals (more sps), but I'm not sure exactly what I'm in for... Any tips? Anything you didn't think about when you made the transition? Really not sure what to expect for power consumption, maintenance costs, and the "feel" of larger water changes. I got really used to doing 25% biweekly changes, but I'm guessing I'll have to rethink my tried-and-true method of lugging 5g buckets around and dumping the wastewater in the toilet.';

'>>4775987
>So the answer could be something more complex than a simple temperature change but perhaps the change in rain patterns that happens because of it or something like that.
This is one of the issues with complex systems like this. We can easily correlate the times when temperatures rise to bleaching events, but it is not so easy to find exact causation. This leads to all kinds of room for retarded arguments on all manners of subjects.';

'>>4776689
I have an IM INT (I wanted to try a coast-to-coast overflow) and did the same thing. Overall I'm extremely happy with IM, although there's some quirks, like their stand comes with a shelf... but the shelf has no cut-outs for when you actually put in plumbing. I also wish the stand in general was just a bit taller, like waterbox ones. The bean style drain is insanely quiet when dialed in. The whole system is quieter than my planted tank's single Aquaclear HOB.

I used all the rock from my nano system. Almost none of the sand though because I was switching granularity, but I did throw in a few handfuls just for whatever was growing in there.

Couple of things:
1) While IM has one of the most complete systems for sale, it still doesn't have everything, so give yourself a decent budget for additional things, like heaters (which they do sell separately).
2) Their videos are far more helpful than their included instructions, unless they have changed that.
3) The inside of the stand is actually not that roomy so be prepared to have equipment outside the tank still. Unless you're getting like 120+ gallon (which unfortunately neither of us do). Like I really can't see fitting an Apex in there.
4) I don't do water changes, just top-offs and dosing. I have been running mixed reefs this way for years. This comes at a cost of more meticulous dosing and testing though. Brute food grade trash cans, pumps, and a heavy duty dolly are your friend for water changes though.
5) Really plan out how you're going to transfer stuff, if you are. Getting rockwork from one tank to the other was a giant pain in the ass, particularly because I wanted to attach new base rock to the old rock for stability (in a nano I was okay haphazardly stacking my rocks, but in the new tank I wanted them to be really stable). It required quite a bit of superglue and accelerant (Insta-set) with reef putty on top, and doing it by myself with anemone and coral already on the rock was... not fun.';

'>>4776831
>I don't do water changes, just top-offs and dosing. I have been running mixed reefs this way for years. This comes at a cost of more meticulous dosing and testing though. Brute food grade trash cans, pumps, and a heavy duty dolly are your friend for water changes though.
Watch out for your silicate bro. It usually comes from dust around your room so it will build up over time.';

'>>4776689
Went from a 20/20/40gal fresh to 160 main plus 60 sump.
Figured I may as well just start off with the biggest that would fit in my room. I just don't understand how people are content with a pico/nano/25. Perhaps it's monetary and I completely understand, I've had to spread my 160 out over half a year before it even had coral in it. Still.';

'>>4777042
>Watch out for your silicate bro. It usually comes from dust around your room so it will build up over time.
I haven't come across this issue, but it's interesting and it makes sense. It may not be an issue for me because I keep an actual lid instead of a mesh unlike most reefers. Were it an issue, I would have seen it by now in ICP testing (I have this done around 3-4 times a year). I imagine any silicates introduced via dust would be consumed by diatoms and the diatoms would be not noticeable at the slow rate the silicates are introduced.';

'How risky is it to frag an anemone?';

'>>4779167
Loaded question. Lots of people are against it in general. Assuming bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), it's usually not very risky for a healthy, large specimen. If you feel comfortable with your anemone not eating for weeks, then it's probably okay. If you rely on feeding or you are at all worried about your anemone's long-term survivability in your tank, then it's probably not okay.

I can often induce my anemones to split if I really wanted to (I really, really don't). All I have to do is piss one of them off by having the gall to poke them into moving. We currently have an armistice going though. I don't bother them and they don't take over the tank.';

'>>4779189
I planned to frag them as a way to control their size and stop them from taking over the entire tank, but it’s probably a bad idea. I will just wait to get a bigger tank so that they can grow as much as they want.';

'>>4779376
Are you able to lower the amount they're fed if feeding?';

'>>4779189
>An armistice
>The dozen BTA's sitting at the back rockwork realizing you can't see them';

'Has anyone here started their first aquarium with saltwater rather than freshwater? Would you recommend doing freshwater first? Lastly, how difficult would moving a fairly mature (1-1.5 year old) saltwater aquarium be?';

'>>4780717
My dad did, I believe, but at the time he lived near the ocean so he literally got his water and fish directly.

>>4780467
This is actually what they do when the split (go to the back/underneath of the rockwork to heal), but the way I designed this iteration of rockwork makes it possible to see them all anyway, heh.

>>4779376
>I will just wait to get a bigger tank so that they can grow as much as they want.
They, and coral for that matter, will just grow to however much space, food, minerals, and light you give them. I've seen 120G tanks filled with nothing but rocks, BTA, and a giant harem of clownfish. I would just keep doing whatever you want for the rest of the tank, and if it splits, sell off the split. The size part is pretty tricky. I haven't fed mine in like three years yet they still grow (zooxanthellae of course, and I'm sure they've caught stray food now and then).';

'>>4780717
Ooh I should add, I vote going straight to salt. Yes, some knowledge in freshwater will carry over, but it's not like you can't learn those lessons with saltwater. Moving mature tanks is pretty fucking hard though, unless it's a fish-only (with live rock) tank. When you have mature colonies of coral, it's pretty nerve wracking trying to take them out and transfer them to a new tank, ESPECIALLY if the new tank isn't even in the same house.';

'>>4753173
I've never kept a dwarf shrimp tank specifically but just watching a bunch of shrimp scraping biofilm off the substrate doesn't sound very interesting desu. As part of a community tank amanos are nice because they get big enough to not be easy snacks for your average community fish.';

'>>4780717
You can absolutely start with saltwater. A simple reef with soft corals and hardy LPS will be easier than an entry high tech freshwater tank.
There’s less unexplained fuckups in saltwater because the water you add in is much more controlled than the random well or tap water you use in freshwater.';

'My cleaner shrimp died. Yesterday I saw him struggling with a molt and I guess that has gotten to him. Sad, had him for 9ish months. He was probably, what, 16 months old?';

'>>4780733
>, ESPECIALLY if the new tank isn't even in the same house.
This whole time I've constrained myself to keep only tanks that will fit in my room. I needed to think BIGGER. I NEED A HOUSE';

'Oh I'm sorry am I late to the handsome meeting';

'What fish should I add to my tank? I have a 10 gallon tank and I have two Moorish Idols so far';

'>>4782303
I recommend adding more gallons.';

'>>4782303
You could try Moorish idols harem tank.';

'>>4782303
>>4782313
What a strange namr';

'best light for corals for a 2.5g? i think its more or less ready to go now, just needs a proper light and probably another week or two before i add corals but cant find a decent light that isnt going to immediately vaporize the thing because 99% of lights seem to assume youre running 40g+';

'>>4783755
At that size I think you're going to want some Chinesium blackbox thing. ReefBreeders? Nicrew? Maybe Kessil A80 on the high-high end? Never really went that small. A refugium light is probably the right coverage and power, but wrong spectrum.';

'What sort of aquatic plants do you recommend?';

'>>4783755
I have a Spectra Aqua Knight V3 and it's pretty good. At max setting it gives, like, 900 PAR on the corals near the top. I run mine at 20ish % strenght (it has individual channel intensity control). A better option would be an Aquaillumination prime, I guess but it would be a huge overkill.';

'Always forget how tiny new fishies are.';

'sigh left my nitrate going accidentally and now its 50ppm up from 2';

'>>4785548
Time to bust out the chaeto factory and put traces on speed dial.';