He referred me to wild on pets where they had complete tank setups, i set off on my journey the same day to see what i was getting into. I landed up getting a Nano Cube 28g with sugar fine crushed coral, a couple of Kg's live rock, salt water and headed home.
i put it all together and waited for Dallas to arrive...
WOW, this dude knows his stuff! He arrived with some bacteria and a whole lot of advice and lessons. He explained what goes on under the hood from the nitrogen cycle to why we do what we do, what each component does and how to go forward.
Amazed at his knowledge i knew this was going to be a great adventure! and have much success with my tank.
Now we seeded the system and let it run for a week with just cured live rock and a wonderful smelling bacteria additive, Special Blend, which i still use today. All params in check i decided to add my first bit of life.
Next there was tragedy, another friend who had kept marines for years came past while i was doing a water change, not something most would believe Dallas to recommend, and suggested i mix my salt in my tank with my newly added livestock... bad idea! :eek:
so in the chaos i called Dallas and he arrived to assess the damage. Salinity at 1,038! my fish were dying, my zoas were shriveled and the fatalities started. With patience and stability we started dripping RO over the next few days to get the salt back to 1,024, 7 hectic days passed and we were there! Thanks again Dallas!
Now full steam ahead, all was going well then i got a call from my wife saying our daughter had fed the fish all the food, panic stations! :eek:
But now i had learned that there was only one place to go, thing to do, CALL DALLAS! got him on the line, told the story, and wham he was there same day. We did water changes, added bacteria, added some magic additives and all was good in the land of the reef.
Once everything had settled down we started adding more, dont we all??
I got a few corals from Dallas to add to my system, got a few from Wild on Pets and bam! my tank was looking awesome!
Next I researched lighting and came across TSR from his recommendation, where I got some great Vertex Illumina LED units, now i sit back and enjoy.
While I have had my ups and downs with this reef adventure I can only say that without Dallas' expertise, knowledge and selfless giving of support and advice I would never have achieved what you will see in the following pictures.
To show my appreciation I have named my thread An Ode to Dallas, one of the best resources we have in marines!!
Dallas a guy who gives everything freely, there are no strings, hidden agenda's etc. just plain straight forward advice to get the most out of the hobby for you! Somewhat difficult to get hold of at times, but when you do, be prepared to learn and get sage-like advice. The one thing I noticed is the straight to the point advice, each bit is given and explained why, how we do it, the pros and cons, what others suggest and always practiced in his systems. To keep it simple, you want a good looking reef, get hold of him! :thumbup:
Now on to the good stuff, here are the pics! :thumbup: :1:
