starting salt

[armthehomeless]

If you want to drop the money, then the Apex is damn sweet. We talking about remote access from your phone dude.

Only thing it's missing is a live-view camera which streams video to your smart phone. lol, but that can be set up later.

Maybe eventually. Let try to keep something alive first. :)

[mgarrido]

True, that would be even more beastly.

Miggy, which do you prefer more Apex or reef keeper?

Both are good ime but apex net interface is much better IMO. What I like about the RK is that you can start with a very basic configuration and upgrade according your requirements.

[reefling]

Reefkeeperlite is cheap and easy. Ph control, temp, and orp. Basic one is 120$. Ph package is an add-on and I forget the price.

[myjohnson]

Weak, who wants cheap and easy?

[armthehomeless]

Apex will be coming down the road... perhaps a Christmas present to myself.

I've hung the lights, installed an ATO (not the Tunze one yet), and been dosing bacteria for two weeks. What's next?

[makatak123]

A good beginner coral are mushrooms, they only need low lighting and easy to take care of.

[armthehomeless]

I haven't cleaned up the cords yet, but this is what I have.

[armthehomeless]

Tonight i added my first inhabitants... snails. How long should I have my light on? Should I get some simple corals now? I'm relying on y'all at this point to tell me what to do. Perhaps frogspawn?

I want to be extremely careful with adding new stuff. What types of tip and how many should I do?

[myjohnson]

Nice set-up, Tim!

This is how I would proceed.

1) test water condition to make sure cycle is complete.

2) add soft corals like zoas and mushrooms to tell is everything is on point.

3) Add one monthly colony of corals once a week. Start with softies and LPS first.

Re: light

This is my setting.

1pm-10pm blues only
2pm-9pm whites and blues
3pm-8pm whites and blues and 2x15w LED

[Andrew_B]

Be sure to dip everything you get! Flatworms are the devil! My tank wasn't mature enough for the treatment and pretty much crashed the tank, so be careful with where you get stuff from. I don't think it will be an issue for you though, you'll get some hookups I'm sure.

[Darbex]

You really dont need any lights on till you get some corals. Once you add corals then start lighting it up. Depending on the coral I would start with about 6-7 hrs a day and work up to about 10+ once you start getting a decent amount in there. Like Thai said I would do a coral every week or two.

[Darbex]

Oh and yes dip dip dip. Do not put anything in your tank without a bath in coral rx or seachems version. Those are the two I trust. And do a check for aiptasia or majano as well you may not be able to catch them every time but its worth a check.

[johnnytrinh]

does that door open towards the tank? make sure theres a stopper if it does -_-

[armthehomeless]

So just one dip?

[Darbex]

yeah you only need to dip once just follow the instructions on the bottle. I think coral rx kills more than seachems but its also less forgiving.