Newsflash: Saltwater Rookie Takes On A RSM 130!

[Arcteryx]

I was a very lucky boy on my birthday: my brother (who is a SW nut) gave me an RSM 130 to turn me over to the Dark side. Seeing how I only have a single 8 gallon Fluval Ebi, and this is a 34 G saltwater tank, I am now forced to say that I'm more of a saltwater guy than a freshwater one. Well played, Darth Tonga, well played.





All cleaned up and ready to go! And this was when I was introduced to ... J&L, AKA the Dark Temple Of The Ocean. Got my salt, got a couple of bags of Special Seaflor Grade sand, borrowed a refractor and I was all good to go! Then he came over and donated some live rock to my cause. I'd say this was a pretty awesome start.





Close-up view.


Green trumpet (?). These are all new words to me, like macro algae, salinity, reef-safe and refugium. My head spins.




I knew I needed more live rock though, so I decided to get some base rock from The Dark Temple. Gave it a rinse, soaked it good and then I did some re-arranging. Bought a few small but nice chunks of goby rock, the big brainy looking one is marco rock.


Not sure if I did this right. Tried to set it up so that there was good flow, caves, nooks and crannies.


Brother warned about making sure the rock was really secure, so I gave it my best shot.


I think I need another 10 lbs or so... but that's as far as I've gotten. Planning to pick up some fish for it this weekend or next. Would seriously welcome comments on the layout of the rock, how much more I need (aiming to get at least another 10 lbs), livestock suggestions... fire away.

Teach me the awesome power of the Dark Side

[2wheelsx2]

Very nice start...wow, going from an Ebi to a sw. Big jump.

[target]

Looking good. Can't wait to see it getting fish and inverts

[gklaw]

Not sure why people call SW the dark side. My SW tanks is all brighter than my FW.

Colours of the SW also brighter. Even your bank account should get brighter red

So, I would say welcome to the bright side ! Super nice start.

[Arcteryx]

It's been a busy week - picked up another 5 or 6 lbs of Marco base rock to build up what I need, and I also grabbed the reef custodian package #1 from J&L - unfortunately my bag fell into the tank, wrecking any possibility of acclimating them, and I paid for it... lost a margarita snail a couple of hours later and I think half my hermit crabs aren't going to make it.

Sigh.

Anyways, got them to take on the expected outbreak of algae growth on the sand, and what I do have left are doing a decent job; I'll have to pick up reinforcements.

[Claudia]

Really nice start

[tang daddy]

Yah you're off to a speedy start, it's always enjoyment when starting a new tank. Although I go completely nuts and my head starts spinning for corals. I set up a 50g that was sitting empty for a year and it's completely full of corals now...This hobby is bad!

[Arcteryx]

Having my brother's seed rock really helped things along; I think the AIO nature of the RSM130 really helps too. But exciting times! Such a different beast from FW tanks...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Highly addictive. Especially the coral-buying/collecting. Dropped a lot of $$ in the last two months and sent up 2 big coolers of LPS, ricordeas and fancy zoas to my friend in Powell River. Crazy thing is my tank is still full after sending off all those corals.

That's why its called the "dark side". Once you start spending on your reef tank, its hard to stop.

[BaoBeiZhu]

Highly addictive. Especially the coral-buying/collecting. Dropped a lot of $$ in the last two months and sent up 2 big coolers of LPS, ricordeas and fancy zoas to my friend in Powell River. Crazy thing is my tank is still full after sending off all those corals.

That's why its called the "dark side". Once you start spending on your reef tank, its hard to stop.

Gordon and I have agreed its called the bright side now