IM BACK! and on the Dark side too!

[CatfishSoup]

Hey everyone!!! well, its been a fairly long time since I have been back on this forum. I used to be a goldfish owner a few years back, when I started, and then went my way to small 10 gallon tropical tanks, to 55 tropical, then also was running a 10 gallon starfire shrimp tank. all live plants, pressurized co2, lighting for days, and dosing here and there.

Then eventually, as with all progression, I wanted to start my first reef tank! and here it is. tore down my shrimp tank, and made it into a nano reef. May upgrade to a 22 because the guy gave me more live rock than I asked for which is always nice.

no idea who is still around theese days from the names I could remember. I used to post a lot, had nearly 1000 posts before I stopped a while back. Lol. Branched off to other niches of the hobby. Anywho, ill try to be more active - im on one too many fish forums

Also, Koko, your site has improved greatly since what I remember it. Looks real nice!!

Smashing Pumpkin Zoa still opening

Golden Sakura (one of my favorites!

Pink Hippo (sorry for the under exposed image, havent bothered taking out the DSLR

[yafashelli]

Very beautiful!

[DawnMichele]

Beautiful!!!!!

[Mr. Hyde]

Very nice.

[Flipper]

Great tank

I've always dreamed to keep keep seahorses

[CatfishSoup]

Much thanks on the replies!! jesus, you guys have some serious post counts hahaha avid users no doubt. sorry for the out of focus stuff, my iphone is meh. not too sure how many reefers are in this forum, but any one any advice on the pipe organ coral? All my frags have done well except that coral.Its been closing up and dying slowly. I have no fish aside from hermit crabs and a turbo, daily 1 liter water changes, params are stable, and i got plenty of light and flow. I added a hob and stuffed more poly filter in there to maybe remove more metals or anything that could be harmful. I only dose magnesium once a week or so, Also use RO water.

Oh, and im also redoing my 55 FW tank due to a LOONNNGGGGG battle with bearded algae and algae on my rocks. So i said screw it, redoing it. So im working on a log hopefully in the next few days ill have it all done. Trying to do this around my work schedule - also got my rocks drying out in the balcony so that the algae can dry up and die! Doing a vinegar bath, and hydrogen peroxide 27 percent baths (not mixed, two baths) to clean up my power heads

[Mernany]

Your tank looks lovely! Most of us have high counts because we play a game in the subscribers section plus being avid users or a moderator.

[4prettyfish]

Hello and Welcome back. You must have been a member before my time for your name doesn't ring a bell to me. I've been here for almost two years.

Your tank looks really cool. It must be really nice to just sit and stare.

[Daniel]

Gorgeous tank! Welcome back to the site.

[CatfishSoup]

Hello and Welcome back. You must have been a member before my time for your name doesn't ring a bell to me. I've been here for almost two years.

Your tank looks really cool. It must be really nice to just sit and stare.

I think if im not mistaken I have been on this site since 2009. thats the time I started this hobby so around then.

I love looking at my tanks. So peaceful, and its really great knowing you can sustain life in a small tank, or just a tank in general. - at least, sometimes sustain life as we have all had some bad crashes xD

Your tank looks lovely! Most of us have high counts because we play a game in the subscribers section plus being avid users or a moderator.

so your post count is based off of games and not actual posts? (or well both but you know what i mean)

[Flipper]

No, the game is causes us to post very frequently which subsequently increases our post count.

I know Koko does or used to keep a reef tank, but I don't think there are a ton of us that do.

Good luck with your frag

Edited July 18, 2014 by Flipper

[koko]

there

I used to have a sw tank

As for that coral, how much light and do you give it Supplements like Iodine, Trace Elements?

There is more than that to the subers, there is games, and alot of other forums in there, giving Subbies more to post about.... Also more space in there PM and other things.

[CatfishSoup]

there

I used to have a sw tank

As for that coral, how much light and do you give it Supplements like Iodine, Trace Elements?

There is more than that to the subers, there is games, and alot of other forums in there, giving Subbies more to post about.... Also more space in there PM and other things.

hey long time no seee!!

I got a 54 watt PAR38 LED, "full spectrum" over a 10 gallon so thats more than enough. I got some medium to high flow from a wp10, lights on for 8 hours, flow 24/7 on else (random) mode) I dont dose anything except magnesium to keep it at 1400. With the daily water changes I figured id be okay with supplimenting naturally. Also with such a small body of water I fear changing one thing, to then change everything else. I did think about it though. Was contemplating getting reef roids but havent bothered yet as again, with a 10 gallon most of these corals are fine with thats in there.

Been using poly filters to see if i could remove anything that could be bothering it. I went back to the store a while back to get more frags, and they had the other half of what they fragged mine from , and its beyond healthy, and I asked about it. They have it under some serious light ( some powerful LEDs), and high flow and it looks great. So he recommended the poly filter which would be very similar to carbon.

when I placed the coral closer to the surface of the water, with a higher flow zone, it seems to be doing better, but it doesnt seem like its growing though. Its the only coral giving me issues, aside from a small colony of zoas were dont wanna open all the way.

[tithra]

welcome back!!

it's nice to have someone dust off the marine forum over here lol

Your tank is beautiful

[CatfishSoup]

welcome back!!

it's nice to have someone dust off the marine forum over here lol

Your tank is beautiful

much thanks! Its my first saltwater tank, which im happy with !

Yeah right? I clicked marine, and I saw how old these posts were. But I mean, its called Kokos goldfish, so something tells me we dont got no saltwater goldfish hahhahaha

[koko]

welcome back!!

it's nice to have someone dust off the marine forum over here lol

Your tank is beautiful

much thanks! Its my first saltwater tank, which im happy with !

Yeah right? I clicked marine, and I saw how old these posts were. But I mean, its called Kokos goldfish, so something tells me we dont got no saltwater goldfish hahhahaha

Would be very interesting lol

As your coral ... I do remember those needing some intense lighting and supplements and Current.... I wanted at one time something like that and what always took me off was the high amount of light and the current they like....

Maybe the issue hun

[CatfishSoup]

well I feel like I have plenty of light. 54 watts on a 10 gallon seems more than enough, flow I got that, but supplements I dont. My concern is the supplement dosing may change my params in such a small body of water. dont know if I should do it or not. I could get coral food, but the corals I carry arent that demanding food wise. Im stumped. well, I guess i gotta do more research. Tis how we learn. hha

on the funnier side of things. before i went to bed i saw this

I watched him for 15 minutes and he had no chance of escaping. so i saved him, and oddly enough he was realllllyyy wedged in there. He has also left the tank once. - i may not own the smartest turbo snail out there. lol

[koko]

....

Just dont wind up with a gorilla crab... Bad news I had one and it killed so many things in there till I got him out

Can you ask them what kind of Sup they are giving there coral and see if you can add just a small amount... I know when I added it to my nano I had to do half amounts... My nano was a 15 gallon tank

[Mernany]

Hello and Welcome back. You must have been a member before my time for your name doesn't ring a bell to me. I've been here for almost two years.

Your tank looks really cool. It must be really nice to just sit and stare.

I think if im not mistaken I have been on this site since 2009. thats the time I started this hobby so around then.

I love looking at my tanks. So peaceful, and its really great knowing you can sustain life in a small tank, or just a tank in general. - at least, sometimes sustain life as we have all had some bad crashes xD

Your tank looks lovely! Most of us have high counts because we play a game in the subscribers section plus being avid users or a moderator.

so your post count is based off of games and not actual posts? (or well both but you know what i mean)

I post a lot in the "Lets talk about Fish" thread in the subscriber section and I do post some in the "Last one to post" game thread in the subscriber section as well but I do post in random areas of the open forum too

Basically the game is about trying to be the last one to post and we tend to have long conversations and share about things that are not goldfish related. It's super fun and crazy. This all adds to our post count since they are still posts

[*Amanda*]

Welcome back! I've been on here since last fall. I really like your tank. I have considered doing SW but it just seems soooo involved, LOL. I think I'll try my hand at dojo loaches first. My goldfish tank doesn't have room for another fish, so I'd have to start a new tank if I were to do that. I know they've been banned in a lot of places due to aquarists releasing them into the wild and wreaking havoc on local ecosystems, and I wouldn't want them to be banned in California before I have a chance to get a few!

[Helen]

welcome back. i am a newbie.. :rofl

good to see you return! and such a lovely tank you have grown! looking forward to updates

[koko]

welcome back. i am a newbie.. :rofl

good to see you return! and such a lovely tank you have grown! looking forward to updates

Right and Im a Cat

[CatfishSoup]

Welcome back! I've been on here since last fall. I really like your tank. I have considered doing SW but it just seems soooo involved, LOL. I think I'll try my hand at dojo loaches first. My goldfish tank doesn't have room for another fish, so I'd have to start a new tank if I were to do that. I know they've been banned in a lot of places due to aquarists releasing them into the wild and wreaking havoc on local ecosystems, and I wouldn't want them to be banned in California before I have a chance to get a few!

Honestly, saltwater tanks arent that bananas. BUT.... they can be. There is a lot of high tech stuff involved but it all depends. My tank is as the following

10 Gallon tank, rimless starfire

15-20 pounds of live rock

10 pounds of aragonite

wave maker (aka power head just with a control module )

power filter that I sometimes put on with a poly filter to remove extra stuff

16 x 3 watt PAR 38 Full spectrum LED

and thats it (aside from coral) Also got an algae scrubber (two little fishes nano mag) then all you gotta do is top off evaporated water once a day to keep salinity stable. I live in Oakville Ontario for my schooling, from Toronto, but anything around here, at times it can get real hot. and I live in an apartment with no ac, plus two tanks, and a giant computer makes a lot of heat but the top off of fresh water is that bad. What im running now is about as simple as it gets. Of course the initial expense can be a bit more, i.e. salt, testing kits, and the small things here and there but after that its normal. At the very most I have been consider an auto top off system , which tops off the fresh water for me, but again, doing it myself in a small system has been fine, so atm , its not something i NEED but rather want. haha

Corals get expensive. I have spent from 5 dollars for a frag, to 40 dollars, with just one head, and frags can go up in the hundreds too. BUTTTT, what i love about saltwater tanks vs freshwater tanks, is that they really pay for themselves. In a fresh water tank, plants arent that expensive. So when they grow, trimming and selling them is a small profit. On the other hand, I can buy a 40 dollar frag, with one head, and as it grows over the months, now lets say I have 20 heads, and I frag it to single heads... the profit margin is huge. I have seen people with 200 plus gallon tanks, with rooms for sumps etc, and with the coral growth they get it all back financially. Some equipment carries great value as well.

A small scale nano tank, like mine, can run you 300-500 bucks. lots of stuff I got for free from my local community forums. So all in all, its not too bad..... yet. hahaha as later on ill sell my soul im sure.

As for the dojo, I didnt know they get banned. Pretty sure I see them in most if not all LFS i vist. lol

....

Just dont wind up with a gorilla crab... Bad news I had one and it killed so many things in there till I got him out

Can you ask them what kind of Sup they are giving there coral and see if you can add just a small amount... I know when I added it to my nano I had to do half amounts... My nano was a 15 gallon tank

havent seen any yet 0_0 I know I have three crabs in there, but all fine. Not sure the names. Same goes for the snails I got floatin out and about. (okay not literally floating haha)

I may call them and ask. The store though deals with massive frag tanks, plus dosers and all that fancy stuff. and spending a lot on supplements for such a small tank is a bit daunting, BUT, ill call and ask and see what they do. Because i do really like this coral.

[*Amanda*]

Welcome back! I've been on here since last fall. I really like your tank. I have considered doing SW but it just seems soooo involved, LOL. I think I'll try my hand at dojo loaches first. My goldfish tank doesn't have room for another fish, so I'd have to start a new tank if I were to do that. I know they've been banned in a lot of places due to aquarists releasing them into the wild and wreaking havoc on local ecosystems, and I wouldn't want them to be banned in California before I have a chance to get a few!

Honestly, saltwater tanks arent that bananas. BUT.... they can be. There is a lot of high tech stuff involved but it all depends. My tank is as the following

10 Gallon tank, rimless starfire

15-20 pounds of live rock

10 pounds of aragonite

wave maker (aka power head just with a control module )

power filter that I sometimes put on with a poly filter to remove extra stuff

16 x 3 watt PAR 38 Full spectrum LED

and thats it (aside from coral) Also got an algae scrubber (two little fishes nano mag) then all you gotta do is top off evaporated water once a day to keep salinity stable. I live in Oakville Ontario for my schooling, from Toronto, but anything around here, at times it can get real hot. and I live in an apartment with no ac, plus two tanks, and a giant computer makes a lot of heat but the top off of fresh water is that bad. What im running now is about as simple as it gets. Of course the initial expense can be a bit more, i.e. salt, testing kits, and the small things here and there but after that its normal. At the very most I have been consider an auto top off system , which tops off the fresh water for me, but again, doing it myself in a small system has been fine, so atm , its not something i NEED but rather want. haha

Corals get expensive. I have spent from 5 dollars for a frag, to 40 dollars, with just one head, and frags can go up in the hundreds too. BUTTTT, what i love about saltwater tanks vs freshwater tanks, is that they really pay for themselves. In a fresh water tank, plants arent that expensive. So when they grow, trimming and selling them is a small profit. On the other hand, I can buy a 40 dollar frag, with one head, and as it grows over the months, now lets say I have 20 heads, and I frag it to single heads... the profit margin is huge. I have seen people with 200 plus gallon tanks, with rooms for sumps etc, and with the coral growth they get it all back financially. Some equipment carries great value as well.

A small scale nano tank, like mine, can run you 300-500 bucks. lots of stuff I got for free from my local community forums. So all in all, its not too bad..... yet. hahaha as later on ill sell my soul im sure.

As for the dojo, I didnt know they get banned. Pretty sure I see them in most if not all LFS i vist. lol

....

Just dont wind up with a gorilla crab... Bad news I had one and it killed so many things in there till I got him out

Can you ask them what kind of Sup they are giving there coral and see if you can add just a small amount... I know when I added it to my nano I had to do half amounts... My nano was a 15 gallon tank

havent seen any yet 0_0 I know I have three crabs in there, but all fine. Not sure the names. Same goes for the snails I got floatin out and about. (okay not literally floating haha)

I may call them and ask. The store though deals with massive frag tanks, plus dosers and all that fancy stuff. and spending a lot on supplements for such a small tank is a bit daunting, BUT, ill call and ask and see what they do. Because i do really like this coral.

Well, that's good to hear. I've also heard that many saltwater fish are very picky about food, and will even starve themselves to death in some cases. [emoji17] But I don't know if this is common among people who actually feed their fish the appropriate foods, or if these stories are only coming from people who didn't do their homework before purchasing the fish.

My boyfriend's friend spent hundreds of dollars on a SW setup and fish, and all the fish died within a week. But knowing this guy, I wouldn't be surprised if it were an impulse buy and he didn't do the proper research beforehand. It does seem like a lot of preparation, but that's important for any tank.