Hello Everyone :)

[MoonWillow]

Hello everyone! My name is Heather. I am 30 and a single mom to a beautiful and wild little girl who is getting ready to turn 5! I own my own small busniness where I am a silversmith and create jewelry using sterling silver and natural stones.

One of my biggest passions is animals. I have had pets all of my life, from felines to reptiles. Currently we have 2 cats; 1 male black cat and 1 female siamese cat. I have a 55g fully stocked African Cichlid tank and a 4 month old 29g saltwater tank.

I am pretty new to the whole saltwater thing......and am in love! This definitely is one of my passions. I have always wanted to have a saltwater setup but was never sure if I could do it. I have had my 55g Cichild setup for qiute some time now and decided that now is the time to start on my saltwater adventure.

I spend many nights researching everything I can to learn more about the world of marine fish.....There is so much to learn! I also have purchased many books and have been reading up every night.

I'll go ahead and shorten this before I bore everyone to death ;) This is my current setup for my salt tank...

29gallon set up (wanting to go larger in the near future) , 3-4 inch depth live sand, tons of live rock, 4 month maturity, Rena Canister Filter, Sea Clone 100 Protein Skimmer, Saltwater heater, UV Sterilizer, 2 powerheads...Current lighting isn't that great, Single bulb Power Glow T8..."Just ordered a T5 High Output Lamp Fixture that includes two each 10,000K and Actinic, also with a lunar setup 124 watts total".

Temp 79 degrees
PH 8.3
Ammonia None
Nitrite None
Nitrates None
SG 1.025

Livestock:
Pair of Blue Damselfish
Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Sixline Wrasse
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish
1 Sleeper Gold Head Goby
1 GBTA
2 Red Legged Reef Hermit Crabs
1 Feather Duster
3 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail
1 Red Bali Star Fish

I know that this is a lot of fish for a 29 gallon. I am hoping to get a larger setup very soon. I also know I have lots more to learn :) And I am sure I left out some very important information.
I hope to meet many like minded people and learn a lot of useful information from this community! So glad to be here :)~Heather

[Sunshine]

Hi Heather, welcome to the forum.

[discus513]

Welcome to the site! there is alot of good info and good people that will help you along the way. "I know that this is a lot of fish for a 29 gallon" Yeah that may be a few too many, but I always have overstocked my tanks as well, I will just give you my opinion. You may have some issues with the damsels and the clowns, since they are both from the same family they both occupy the same spots in the tank, as they grow they will probably challange each other for dominance and territory. also you may want to think about upgrading the Skimmer to handle the high bioload. Is your GBTA up close to the light? with only a T-8 single bulb it is not going to get much light. I see where you say you are upgrading that so Hopefully he will hang around until you can get that change made, you may want to spot feed him, to make up for the lack of light. IMO. Pictures are always good! LOL

[MoonWillow]

Hello Sunshine and Thank You :)

discus 513, Thank you! Already some great info :) I appreciate the info on the damsels. I got the damsels to begin with because a local shop told me to get some to help my tank cycle when I first started my salt tank. They weren't actually fish I wanted to begin with but I am really attached to them now :) Also, after looking into things I feel bad about cycling with the poor little guys. I adore my clown pair though and will definitely consider taking the damsels back to the shop as a trade in or for them to keep. The same shop also reccomended the light. I figured they knew what they were talking about but after reading some books and looking up info online I realized real quick it wasn't sufficient. I ordered a Coralife Lunar Aqualight High Output T5 Fixture that includes four high output lamps (2, 10,000K and 2, Actinic) as well as directional LED moonlights. I hope that this was a good choice. My GBTA has moved over to a piece of live rock that sits real close to the light. I have been spot feeding him some silverslides and some Kent Microvert as well as doing some iodine supplements. The supplier told me that my lights should ship the first week of November, keeping my fingers crossed. Also my clown pair love the GBTA :) Is their a specific Protein Skimmer that you would recommend for my set up? Thanks so much. I will try to get some photos to put up here as well.

[chromiumlux]

Hello and welcome to Saltgeeks. You will find a host of friendly and knowledgeable people here as well as information you will find useful in your endeavor to keep and maintain a slice of the ocean in your home. Have fun and enjoy!

[aquatic mouse]

Hi! Welcome to SaltGeeks! I can't wait to see some pictures!

[marinelife]

:Welcome:

[UDGrad2010]

Welcome! As an owner of a 29 gallon tank, I'm looking forward to hearing more about yours and seeing some pictures :)

[Aquababe]

Welcome!! Can't wait to see some pics! :)

[bukish]

WELCOME!!! but what's the wait? on with the pics lol.

[Trini 2D Bone]

Welcome.

[ghurlag]

Welcome!

[jsuter]

Welcome to the site! Fire off any questions you have, there is a lot of information to wrap your head around in this hobby.

[muttley000]

Welcome to the forum Heather! I run a 29 also, I just have a pair of clowns and some corals in there now. Also looking forward to pics of your tank, and also of your work when you get a chance.

[ghurlag]

Heather, you and I have known each other since we were kids (Brian Alcorn)! Katie (my wife's cousin, your friend) was over here today and mentioned that she wanted to bring you over to see my tank, and said you had joined a club called Saltgeeks :) (I'm proud of her for getting the name 100% correct).

Once again welcome to the site! I'm not 5 minutes away from you if you ever need anything, or if you want to come over and see the tank some time.