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George Monnat Jr

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Hello All,

I had FW tanks growing up, and I never wanted the hassle of SW tanks. A little over a year ago my wife finally got her SCUBA certification. After we went blue water diving she got excited about a SW aquarium. That's when I ran across a LFS, Fishy Business, a few blocks from our previous residence. Shane there set us up with a 20 gal w/ 25 pounds of LR, and I was hooked.

At the beginning of this year we bought a house and moved out near 620 and Anderson Mill. I decided since we were moving it was a good time to upgrade. I did so to a 6' 125 gal DT w/ 33 gal sump and 190# LR (again, through Shane at Fishy Business), hoping to start getting coral and clams. I didn't realize what a huge undertaking that was from a simple FOWLR 20 gal to a reef 125 gal with the lights, skimmer, sump/refugium, etc. Now I'm hooked and spend too much time on it (a story I'm sure that you're all familiar with).

I've been reading a lot, mostly on the Reef Central forums. Last week I exchanged PMs with a guy on RC, and he asked if I was a member of ARC. I didn't, but I've joined up now. I guess SirReal63 deserves credit for a reference.

My DT is still fairly immature, and I'm trying to be patient. I have mostly CUC with ornamental shrimp and a couple of blennies.

3x small (1/2"-3/4") red-legged hermit crabs [waiting for these to die off, so my cerith may live]

1x small (1”) emerald crab (in sump/refugium)

1x small (1.5”) orange linckia star (in sump/refugium)

10x small bumblebee snails

30x nerite snails

~16x cerith snails (**** hermits)

1x large (2") pistol shrimp

12x small (1/4"-1/2") sexy shrimp

4x medium (1.5") scarlet/skunk cleaner shrimps

2x medium (1.5") blood red fire shrimp

1x medium/large (4" dia.) brown BTA

1x large (2" dia.) Hawaiian Feather Duster

3x medium (1/2", 3/4" & 1" dia.) purple feather dusters

1x yellowtail damselfish (1.5")

1x Randall's Prawn Goby (2.5")

1x bicolor blennie (2")

1x tailspot blennie (1.5")

3x clumps of Chaetomorpha in sump (floating around one piece of LR ~1-2#)

Almost all of the above have been great for a couple of months now, and all of the fish except the tailspot came over from the 20 gal. My skimmer's been working great and my parameters are good, so I'm starting to get antsy about adding zoas, rica, etc.

Aquarium_FireSexyPairs_23MAR2012.jpg

Aquarium_SexyHeartBTA_29MAR2012.jpg

That's my BTA shaped like a heart with a Sexy Shrimp on it. Too bad it wasn't Valentine's Day (which is also my anniversary), the wife would've loved that.

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Welcome! Looks like you've done your research and put a lot of thought into the tank setup already. You're plenty of steps ahead of your average beginner!

You're doing it right with the slowly adding. If you can maintain that speed of adding slowly, you can maintain that delicate balance you have already in the tank. Good luck and blast questions whenever you have them!

-Ty

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