Real newbie here

[Pennymom38]

Hi. My grandson has a 29g Nano Cube reef which just fascinated me so for my birthday just recently the family got together and got me a 14g Nano Cube DX. With my grandson's help it has been stocked with live sand, live rocks and salt water from one of our local vendors. This was done May 7th of this year. It is sitting there, nice and clear, and I plan to take water to our other local vendor for testing and tons of questions. That's about all I can tell you right now but I'm sure I'll be reading lots from this forum and asking questions. Love the forum so far. I live in South Florida on the east coast. Thanks. Ann

[Dyl1234]

That's a pretty awesome gift that you got!

[Pennymom38]

Thanks. I thought so. I even got money for fish, etc. Now I just need knowledge which I expect to get here.

[Dyl1234]

Oh yes, do you have any questions that you want to ask? Or is there anything your unsure about? Stocking, etc?

[Autumnsky]

Congrats and welcome to AA.

[Smoothmullet]

Welcome I live in north palm beach county. We're are you? There are some good lfs in this area if your local I'll let you know.

[Pennymom38]

Thanks for the welcome and YES I have questions. BTW, I live in Stuart. Tank is cycling just fine and I am surprising myself with my patience. Need a hood which I can get online for $139 next month unless I decide to go with something else, like egg crate and a light. Which would be best? I've been all over this fantastic forum, following new set-up post questions and answers.

At this point, I am really interested in a macroalgae tank with some inverts and maybe one fish. 14 gal is pretty small and, yes, I'm already looking at bigger but not until I get this one under my belt satisfactorily. How does that sound?

[Dyl1234]

Sounds good! And at least you live in Florida here there is plenty of fish stores. I live in NC, my nearest so called "petstore" is 40 mins away.

[Pennymom38]

Yes, living in Florida has its advantages. I remember years ago people collecting fish from our local reef for their tanks. Probably illegal now. We have two lfs's, one about 10 minutes from me and one about 15. Heading to one in a few minutes just for the fun of it and to get a nitrite test kit and to let them test my water. I've been doing it myself. Ammonia is almost 0 and nitrates were going down. Didn't have a nitrite kit. Also need to learn what else I need to test once the cycling is over. Lots to learn. Good luck in NC.

[Dyl1234]

Lol yea. And the store that's 40 mins away is a petco. We do have a reef store called "majestic reefs" about 2 hours away. They have everything you need. But they're expensive!

[Pennymom38]

Probably don't have any competition to speak of. How does internet ordering work? Have you tried it?

[treemanone2003]

Stuart is a pretty nice area. My father and brother lived there for a few years but then moved back to Ct about 10 years ago. Welcome to AA.

[Dyl1234]

Originally Posted by Pennymom38

Probably don't have any competition to speak of. How does internet ordering work? Have you tried it?

I have ordered my clean up crew online. It's pretty simple. Shipping is kind of high on some websites but I would much rather pay for shipping then drive 2 hours to get them and then 2 hours back home! But I actually bought my 2 clownfish from petco.

[Pennymom38]

Thanks, Treemanone. Yes, Stuart is nice. I've been here since 1947 except for the time I was with my Air Force career husband and he retired and we came back here. We're having a major water problem right now with dumping from Lake Okeechobee into our waterway. Some of the aerial views of the brown water spreading into the Atlantic at our inlet are heartbreaking. It looks like finally something is being done after grass kills and oyster kills, etc. Slow process.

[Pennymom38]

Brief update on my 14g Nano Cube DX reef tank. PWC yesterday and today's readings:

Ammonia 0 to .25
Nitrites 0.25
Nitrates 80

Getting there. Just kinda waiting it out. Can't order the new hood until next month so there's no hurry to get anything in there without lights. Nothing added but new salt water at change and RO water for topping off. I've been all over this forum and Google and YouTube reading and watching. Great forum. Love the threads about starting new tanks. Now I need to head over to the fresh water section. I've started cycling a 10g for a Betta.