A Few Newby Pictures

[Wreck-Diver]

Greetings All,

Great site! I am brand new to saltwater aquariums and have been working on getting my tank just the way I want it. Now that it is going, I wanted to post a few pictures. Also feel free to go to my web site... http://www.ramponi.com/aquarium/ ... I have a lot of pictures of the tank at various stages. I have been trying to update it as I go. Thanks again for the great site!

Wade

 

[Len]

Wade,

Beautiful pics, and nice tank!

 

[investigator1]

If I had a big boy tank I would buy a school of chromis like you. I saw a chromis school swimming in a tank at Encinitas Tropical fish once and I was mezmorized!

 

[Wreck-Diver]

Thanks for the compliments! The tank is a 60 gallon that my good friends gave to me... her and her husband did not have the time to keep it up, so I took it off thier hands and have been making a lot of upgrades and improvements as I go along. This sure is addictive and fun! Great to find this board as well!

 

[Anonymous]

Your nick is Wreck-Diver, got any pics of that kind of stuff, too?

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome, Wade! Nice to have another Wade posting pics in the Photo forum.


Cool pics- keep 'em coming!

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and I love jawfish! Very cool.

You have quite a lot of fish for a 60. 4 chromis, hippo tang, yellow tang, trigger (niger?), clownfish, jawfish. Have your friends had it up for awhile? Did they have many corals? I see a few.

HD

 

[Wreck-Diver]

Thanks Hiddendragonet… Good to be here. Well my friends that had the tank, ran it as a fish only tank. They said that they were never able to keep a fish alive in it, except for 1 domino Damsel. Then again, from what they said, they never even did the very basics of water checks... no PH, ammonia, nitrites etc… etc… .

When I got the tank home it was pretty nasty… but they did give me everything they had, like the live rocks and equipment. I started the tank from scratch and am learning as I go. When I got the tank cleaned up, added new sand etc, it looked like “ “. I have posted a lot of pictures on http://www.ramponi.com/aquarium/ also… Everything from what the tank looked like when I first set it up, to what it looks like now. I think I have put about $1000 into it so far… that is everything from better equipment, live sand, salt, fish and so on.

I was wondering about how many fish to put into a 60gallon. The ones that I have are just little guys for the most part, except for the yellow tang and clown. I have been planning on a much larger tank sometime next year though.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, many people will tell you that 2 tangs in a 60 gal is at least one too many. 9 fish is quite a few for a 60, IMO. But, like you said, most of them are small. If you want to keep those tangs around, I'd get cracking on a bigger tank, personally. That's JMO, of course.

Keep an eye on that nitrate level. With a newish tank and a full load of fish, it will probably be on the high side, which can cause lots of yucky algal blooms. I haven't checked out your site, so I don't know if you've been through this already.

The key to success in this hobby is take it slow. Good luck! And keep posting pics in the photo forum!

As I keep telling people in the Sump, people who don't visit the photo forum are ugly nerds.

HD

 

[Wreck-Diver]

Very true... That is key... taking it slow. That has been the hardest part so far, for me. But, if you dont take it slow, the consequences can be disastrous.

Here is what the tank looked like when after I got it home, cleaned it up, and got some water in it:

How about that protein skimmer that came with it! :mrgreen:

After I made updates and stuff:

I have been planning out the new tank already... now if I can just explain the need to my fiance! haha

 

[Wreck-Diver]

Hi seamaiden,

I dont have a bunch of pictures of wreck diving or anything since the most I do is in the midwest, but here is one from Mermet Springs IL... this was the actual Boeing 727 used in the movie US Marshalls!

There are more if you go to my web site location of http://www.ramponi.com/Wade/. I have some pictures on there from a trip I did in Texas to dive an abandoned nuclear missle silo to. You all would really like the pictures my friend Kristina took while scuba diving... just go to http://www.ramponi.com/Travel/ and click on Kristinas pictures. I wish I could take decent underwater pictures, but never have been able to! She is also using a pretty high end camera from what I understand... that has a lot to do with it to!

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like you are on the right track, WD! If you haven't already, I HIGHLY recommend getting John Tullock's "Natural Reef Aquariums" book. It's THE newbie bible, IMHO. Easy to read, and full of great info.

Is that a bio-wheel or sponge filter you have on there? Like a penguin or something? At first those seem to work pretty well, but IME over time they tend to cause awfully high nitrate levels. They become what you'll hear of as "detritus traps." If you are religious about cleaning them out, you might be ok, or if you're using them for water movement only, then take out the filter media.

I do toss one on from time to time just to run carbon for a few days, but don't normally use one.

HTH

HD

PS- I love wreck diving! I did a few nice wrecks in Barbados a few months back, and now I'm dying to get some more in. Diving in the midwest sucks, though. And it seems like too much work to get dry-suit certed to dive Superior.

 

[Reef_Monkey]

Very nice...Keep up the good work. What size is that tank anyways?

 

[Wreck-Diver]

Thanks hiddendragonet,

Sounds like a good book… that is what I need… something to get a newbie off to the right start. Right now I am borrowing one from a friend by the name of "Aquarium Corals" by Eric H. Borneman. Great book, although very in depth for someone just starting out like me.

The device that you were asking me about in my tank is the power head to my protein skimmer.

Speaking of nitrate levels, I think you asked me about mine the other day and I forgot to answer you on that… so far ammonia and nitrate are reading 0, and nitrate at 15… maybe a tick less.

Ah a fellow wreck diver! I enjoy all kinds of diving, from ocean to lake with limited visibility. The reason I got in to scuba diving years ago was to do rescue and recovery diving, but that seems to be handles by voulenteer firefighters more than anything. I do enjoy strange and unusual dives though… I am from St. Louis and go to Table Rock Lake 4 or 5 times per summer, and a few times in the winter. My favorite is diving the dam. This time of year is interesting because they usually have all 4 generators running… talk about a freight train sounding noise! The dam has 4 penstocks each measuring 18 feet in diameter with 4 smaller penstocks 3 ½ feet in diameter. They reside at 140’. I have never come across them and hope I never do! The intake pressure on the gates is said to be 98.x psi. That could ruin a fellows day. The water temperature there is generally in the mid 80’s this time of year, dropping as you go through the thermals of coarse. I was there a few weeks ago… 132 feet measures 40 degrees even. This is strange though… I have been going there a long time… I have never seen a fish below 35 feet or so… talking bluegill and such. This year the lake is very high… I came up on a bluegill at 72 feet! I am not sure how it survived down there with the frigid temps, low oxygen and such. When I saw him, he was stationary and bolted when he saw me. I should take a few samples of the water at depth… just curious.

Another good place to dive is Bonne Terre Mine… about an hour or so south of St. Louis. It is an abandoned lead mine… no fish or anything and easily over 150’ visibility year around.

Sorry to all for the long post!

Wade

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[Wreck-Diver]

Hi Reef_Monkey… Sorry it took so long to respond. THANKS for the compliments! It is a 60 gallon, but I am already on the prowl for a larger one… maybe early to mid next year.