marinehead
Well-Known Member
Hello all,
Just wanted to share the beginning of my reefing journey. Wanted to share all the lessons I learned and acknowledge the amazing people I met a long the way.
I started with an idea to get a small fish tank in my room in November 2020. I wanted a pet, and the least maintenance I could think of at the time was a fish (boy was I wrong). Maybe a small 10 gallon tank to hold a Betta fish inside a bookshelf.
I was nervous it would be too heavy for the bookshelf, and went ahead and reinforced a bookshelf to ensure that it doesn’t fall over and spill all over my carpet floor. Enter carpenter-mode
After doing some research on the type of fish the tank will have (royal gramma), I decided i needed a bigger tank. In order to seed my tank quicker w/ nitrifying bacteria, I purchase a canister filter and live rock from someone on craigslist who was breaking down their tank. He sold the live rock for much cheaper than what stores will give me bonus! An even bigger bonus is that he gave me a pistol shrimp (still have today) and learned about its symbiotic relationship with prawn gobys. Instead of getting a royal gramma, I decided that the pistol shrimp needed a partner in crime. This is how I got introduced my first fish and my first invert. Yellow watchman goby (Peaky) tiger pistol shrimp (blinder) IYKYK 
.
Fascinated by the symbiotic relationships of different species of fish/corals, My goals quickly changed to finding fish with symbiotic relationship with another creature/coral. Naturally the easiest start was towards getting a bigger tank for a clownfish/anemone combo. (Which I found not to be too easy) This relationship is a saltwater staple most people know all too well - thank you Pixar!
Naturally the goal moved towards getting a bigger tank to allow a clownfish/anemone combo. I then decided to do my first upgrade in December of 2020, a 29 gallon tank.
to be continued…
Just wanted to share the beginning of my reefing journey. Wanted to share all the lessons I learned and acknowledge the amazing people I met a long the way.
I started with an idea to get a small fish tank in my room in November 2020. I wanted a pet, and the least maintenance I could think of at the time was a fish (boy was I wrong). Maybe a small 10 gallon tank to hold a Betta fish inside a bookshelf.
I was nervous it would be too heavy for the bookshelf, and went ahead and reinforced a bookshelf to ensure that it doesn’t fall over and spill all over my carpet floor. Enter carpenter-mode
.Fascinated by the symbiotic relationships of different species of fish/corals, My goals quickly changed to finding fish with symbiotic relationship with another creature/coral. Naturally the easiest start was towards getting a bigger tank for a clownfish/anemone combo. (Which I found not to be too easy) This relationship is a saltwater staple most people know all too well - thank you Pixar!
Naturally the goal moved towards getting a bigger tank to allow a clownfish/anemone combo. I then decided to do my first upgrade in December of 2020, a 29 gallon tank.
to be continued…
Attachments
Last edited:
