Oxymoron

Im hoping to start off slow with just fish and lr probably a fish combo to start with, clown, tang, and royal gramma. Seems like they might be an easy combo to start with because of ease of feeding and higher survival rate. Once I can succesfully integrate them into the system I will perhaps take a look at upgrading the lights and heading for corals etc.

It almost seems that this hobby would work well with photography too. I found a website that helped me identify some of the little critters. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchhikers.html It looks like some tiny mantis shrimp along with a snail type guy (closest picture seems to be a Stomatella Varia, Snail ) Both are supposed to be a good thing by the looks of it. Hopefully I don't see any pests. Heres a pic of the snail thing.

First load of LR enters the mix. I feel a little bit violated as I paid $19.99 /lb ouch. I won;t be going back there any time soon. I have about another 2olbs coming in tommorow @ $5/lb so that will help ease the pain a bit.

Can you help to identify for a newbie:)

Thats an interesting problem that I never even put any thought into. For the time being I will dump my used water in the toilet unless a pro says otherwise.

The pics should come through im hoping now:)

Grabbed a new 90 gal w sump setup from Pisces in Calgary yesterday. A friend and I worked into the wee hours of the morning setting everything up. Most of the setup went smooth aside from a leaking bulkhead on the first fill. After a slight modification to the stand we were able to correctly assemble the bulkhead and eliminate the leak. We added substrate and water yesterday and this morning salt was added into the mix. Right now we are cycling the water in preparation for live rock. This is my first aquarium and I must say im a little intimidated by the whole process, I will be utilizing my buddy's expertize over the next few months to help me get everything going. The size of the aquarium seems big to me but from what I've researched I will be happy that I went with the bigger size down the road. Here are some pictures. Wish me luck:)

Thanks all for the welcome. Im very anxious to get started and am hoping that I will be able to wait for the perfect setup to become available. In the meantime I was wondering if anyone knows of a place that makes new custom setups. Im hoping to put together something similar looking to The plan is to go with around 120 gal setup drilled with sump/refug. Would something like this be possible to build with a max budget of $1500? I appreciate any input anyone might have. Thanks again for the warm welcome:)

Thanks for the offer :smokey: Im sure that I will be needing lots of advice in the coming months.

Way to get back in the sadlle. Good for you

welcome

Hi there, I live in Sylvan Lake, Ab. I've recently decided to begin a SW tank and wil be starting this project with little or no knowledge. I plan on working hand in hand with a local aquarium expert to help setup / maintain my new project. As well as to provide me with the training needed to maintain it myself. My hopes are to put together a 120 gal (or larger) reef tank and to host a wide variety of species. Thanks for your time.