Murmaider
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello everyone, I am new to the wonderful world of saltwater aquariums. I have had various freshwater aquariums in the past but never ventured into saltwater until recently when a friend gave me a 34 gallon Red Sea Max he didn’t want anymore.
So far the experience has been fun. I did a ton of research before setting it up and learned a lot about the nitrogen cycle and bio filters. I started with a combination of live / dry rock and the tank only took about a week to cycle.
I started with my cleanup crew of a Turbo Snail, a Lawnmower Blenny, 2 Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs and 2 Emerald Crabs. After the tank was running for about a month I added 2 Blue Green Chromis and a Firefish.
I have been doing 10% water changes every week and testing the water conditions dutifully since the tank was setup 2 months ago. I haven’t had any major problems except one of my Peppermint Shrimp killing my turbo snail (and being subsequently returned to the LFS) and some algae growth. I just added 3 Astraea Snails and cut the light back from 12hrs a day to 11 to combat the algae growth on the walls.
Eventually I want to add some corals, but I may just stick with FOWLR for a while. I have some starfish that I received as hitchhikers, a little Chocolate Star, 2 Striped Brittle Stars and some Asterinas. I have read that they will eat corals, but my GF loves them so I may keep them and hold off on corals.
Here is what the tank looks like currently after 2 months (with all the algae on the walls)…
So far the experience has been fun. I did a ton of research before setting it up and learned a lot about the nitrogen cycle and bio filters. I started with a combination of live / dry rock and the tank only took about a week to cycle.
I started with my cleanup crew of a Turbo Snail, a Lawnmower Blenny, 2 Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs and 2 Emerald Crabs. After the tank was running for about a month I added 2 Blue Green Chromis and a Firefish.
I have been doing 10% water changes every week and testing the water conditions dutifully since the tank was setup 2 months ago. I haven’t had any major problems except one of my Peppermint Shrimp killing my turbo snail (and being subsequently returned to the LFS) and some algae growth. I just added 3 Astraea Snails and cut the light back from 12hrs a day to 11 to combat the algae growth on the walls.
Eventually I want to add some corals, but I may just stick with FOWLR for a while. I have some starfish that I received as hitchhikers, a little Chocolate Star, 2 Striped Brittle Stars and some Asterinas. I have read that they will eat corals, but my GF loves them so I may keep them and hold off on corals.
Here is what the tank looks like currently after 2 months (with all the algae on the walls)…
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