Introduction

[Cwindless]

Hello all,
I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm new to the hobby and figured I would go big to allow for maximum mistakes. I have kept freshwater for more than 18 years but was always cautious about diving into marine. Well a good buddy convinced me to do it, so I went big on my first go; 220g. It has been set up for about 2 months now and doing well. In the past month I have bought my first corals. I am a fan of LPS corals so that is what I went with. I have 2 acans, a frogspawn, candy cane, and green star polyps. I also purchased a bubble tipped anemone. (The tank was pre-owned so everything was already established so I didn't feel bad about purchasing so early.) so far it seems happy, no splitting, a little walking but nothing major. The tank came with several fish: Sailfin Tang with HLLE (trying to figure out how to fix), 5 pj cardinals...(willing to give away if anyone wants them), 3 Benggai Cardinals 2 showing courting behavior, 1 purple dottyback (also willing to part ways with), and 3 firefish (one didn't make the commute/setup), and by far my favorite of the bunch a lawnmower blenny; it has more personality than any other fish I have ever owned! I will post pics in he near future if anyone is interested. I don't have shots of my build but plenty of corals and fish!

[Dkray944]

Welcome to MAAST!! I have a 220g tank as well. I started off with LPS and over time switched to SPS. Let me know if you need any help along the way.

[Scutterborn]

Congratulations! Sounds like you have the footprint for an epic tank. Please feel free to ask any questions and poker around. We're here to help.

[Mike]

Welcome to MAAST. Good group of people on here, with lots of knowledge and experience. Shout if you have any questions or need help. Sounds like you are off to a good start with your tank.

As far as the HLLE, what has it been eating? Water quality and good foods, including plenty of nori should hopefully help. How old is the tang?

[alton]

Welcome to Maast, for HLLE feed spiralina brine or soak foods with vitamins along with plenty of algae sheets. Lps and softies are forgiving, not like Sps. For HLLE check for voltage in your tank?

[Cwindless]

The guy had the tang eating instant ocean marine chips (flakes) and sea weed. I am still feeding the same flake food and seaweed, but in addition I am also feeding frozen mysis and omnivore mix. I am not sure of the age of the tang. I want to say it is a couple years old, maybe younger. Water parameters are good. Salinity I keep around 1.024-1.025, 0 amonia, 0 nitrates/nitrites, less than 2ppm phosphates. Bought cheato to try to help keep it in check, the cheato died. So no excess nutrients. I believe it is getting better with the varied diet I have been feeding. It definitely isn't getting any worse. Thanks for the warm welcome from everyone!

[Dean]

Hello all,
I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm new to the hobby and figured I would go big to allow for maximum mistakes. I have kept freshwater for more than 18 years but was always cautious about diving into marine. Well a good buddy convinced me to do it, so I went big on my first go; 220g. It has been set up for about 2 months now and doing well. In the past month I have bought my first corals. I am a fan of LPS corals so that is what I went with. I have 2 acans, a frogspawn, candy cane, and green star polyps. I also purchased a bubble tipped anemone. (The tank was pre-owned so everything was already established so I didn't feel bad about purchasing so early.) so far it seems happy, no splitting, a little walking but nothing major. The tank came with several fish: Sailfin Tang with HLLE (trying to figure out how to fix), 5 pj cardinals...(willing to give away if anyone wants them), 3 Benggai Cardinals 2 showing courting behavior, 1 purple dottyback (also willing to part ways with), and 3 firefish (one didn't make the commute/setup), and by far my favorite of the bunch a lawnmower blenny; it has more personality than any other fish I have ever owned! I will post pics in he near future if anyone is interested. I don't have shots of my build but plenty of corals and fish!



Welcome to the club! Where's all the pics? ;)

[Amuzed01]

Welcome to the club....there are a lot of guys here willing to go out of their way to assist you. I know I would have failed if it wasn't for a few of the guys on this board.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

220 is a really nice footprint. Looking forward to some pics :)

[Paul28]

Pics pics :)

[Cwindless]

I can't figure out how to load them from my cellphone. since that is what i used to take all the pictures. As soon as I figure out how to do that it I will post. It is in it's infancy still but everyone is happy and healthy. I appreciate the warm welcome!

[Dean]

If you use the tapatalk app it's pretty easy to load pics.

[Cwindless]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/c11187cf1e27a1b8a33232d50b5fa849.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/2551e14313fa0c1d2a586f6b063e65fc.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/ba9b4d15fa6104e1a52a11e79834d728.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/0b315cb7510b1cec2660870acfdb68b3.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/b5a4ed733a3508e34ebbe355917f0d42.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/5e8a952df58045e246fc10f6517ad0a2.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/d15d463a74b1cf0561231bbf149e6c81.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/b1f21d23dd086cd3dbd0e3425c691e88.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/94e71b955e61eba1f9349e37c84448dd.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/7410128543eaed0263523cf733a82dc2.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/0c03c1f23d5c19e541298570d6fc8181.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/7c60d569f3817c752269a867f00bd3b5.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/87543f89b3a86c62c909ca0fa7ce8ea8.jpg

I sent pics randomly but here is the set up. I can never get a good shot of any of the cardinal fish they suck and dodge the camera like I have never seen... Hahaha I recent added a bubble coral and 2 clown fish to the setup. As well as another frogspawn. As soon as they settle and open fully I will get pics to update everyone on them as well. I have fluorescent lights on the left side and LEDs on the right. I plan on switching to all LEDs in the near future as soon as I recover from the tank purchase and setup. Big work in progress. I'm a fan of LPS so it will be heavy that way but I figure it will be a mixed reef before too long.

[Paul28]

Very nice ! welcome to the addiction :)

[Dean]

Beautiful cabinetry. I love the integrated look. Very nice set up.

[Cwindless]

Thanks. I'm happy with it. I need to upgrade a few things but I'm happy. I spend hours a day staring into the tank. I get excited every time I find a new little organism.

[Cwindless]

25398
So I have been trying to figure out if this is new heads budding from the stalk. I don't remember them being there before but they are now. Sorry about the bad picture. There are 3 little dark rings on the stalk. If no one knows then I'll find out in a few months I guess:)

[Dean]

Sorry but it is hard to make anything out in that pic.

[Cwindless]

Yeah I realized after I posted. I will try again later

[Cwindless]

2540025401
I think I'm pretty sure they are new heads sprouting. They shrank with the lights out just like the coral. There are actually 3 of them but you can only see 2 in the pics. They are the little spots on the stalk.

[Cwindless]

2540225403
And on another note here is my bubble coral.

[Dean]

Nice bubble coral

[Cwindless]

I haven't posted Ina while and I figured I would post some more pics. The following are a few more corals I have added to the tank in the past few weeks. I have had the suncoral for 2 months now but it is only just starting to really open up and I think it is amazing. With a little patience I have helped it recover from near death and dieback. I'm not sure how much more the polyps will open or if they need to regenerate and grow but this is leaps and bounds from when I first got it. It will only get better😄2557925580255812558225583

[Cwindless]

25584 I have no clue what this is, it is a coral but not sure what if anyone knows I would greatly appreciate it.
25585

[Cwindless]

I suck at taking pics with my I phone... It is a small polyp of some type. Is seems more like an anemone than a coral, however it is growing on a hard skeleton and acts like a a torch coral. Each polyp is less than a quarter of an inch it is tiny. And looks like it is almost dead but I will see if I c an nurse it back to health.

[Cwindless]

So it has been quite a while since I last posted. The tank is doing amazing. Here is a little growth and a few new additions to the tank over the past couple weeks. There really is little difference between salt and fresh.... Shoulda started this years ago. 2588625887258882588925890

[Cwindless]

And the rest...2589125892258932589425895

[Cwindless]

Ok a couple more....hahaha258962589725898

[Dean]

Your tank is looking great! Nice new additions. :)

[Cwindless]

Yeah so.... My tank is doing outstanding.... I just came home to see one of my bengai Cardinals holding. The pair has been courting for quite some time now and looks like last night they finally sealed the deal😊

[Cwindless]

2592625927

[Pennies2Cents]

I suck at taking pics with my I phone... It is a small polyp of some type. Is seems more like an anemone than a coral, however it is growing on a hard skeleton and acts like a a torch coral. Each polyp is less than a quarter of an inch it is tiny. And looks like it is almost dead but I will see if I c an nurse it back to health.

Small hint for your pix. :) When using your iphone to take pix of your tank put the phone camera directly against the tank. :) Make sure you clean the area and your lens. Hope this helps you a bit! PS.. Love the cardinals. Keep us posted on their process.

[Cwindless]

Will try that next time and thanks for the tip.