New To Marine Fish - Advice Please

[Sapphire15]

Hi, I have just ordered a Orca Nano Reef Aquarium TL450 and I would appreciate any advice anybody has. I have kept Tropical Fish in the past but would now like to give Marine Fish a go. Can anybody suggest which fish would be good ones to start with, I have seen a beautifuly Royal Gramma fish today but am not sure if this would be a wise move. Also I would love some corals so if anyone has any suggestions on these that would be great too! I would appreicate any advice that anybody has for a beginner to this hobby.
Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

How much water is in the tank?
Royal Grammas (Gramma loreto) do well in most marine tanks and look great. They eat well and if you get a couple of small ones they often form a pr and sometimes breed.
Small species of blenny and goby also do well in small marine tanks. Shrimp and some starfish can be kept too.

Corals require bright light so depending on what sort of lighting is on the tank will depend on whether or not you can keep any corals. Most corals need a couple of fluoros above the tank and the globes should have a temperature or Kelvin (K) rating between 6,000K & 14,000K. 10,000K is ideal if you can get them.
Most corals do best when they are attached to or sitting on limestone rock. Marine shops sell live rock, which is rock taken from a coral reef. This can be used to build up a reef in the tank and the corals can be put onto it. Limestone and sandstone from a beach can also be used to build up a reef and will become live rock over 6-12 months. If you collect the rock from a beach make sure there hasn't been any oil slicks or chemical spills in the area, and don't collect anything from a national/ marine park coz you get in trouble by the boys in blue
Corals need water movement so if you plan on keeping them then you might need a couple of water pumps/ powerheads to provide more water movement in the tank. They need water moving around them but not blowing directly at them. A company called Tunze do a programmable powerhead that works well. It is expensive tho and you have to buy the control box separately from the powerhead.

 

[Sapphire15]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your advice, it's really great to hear from somebody and what you've said has been a great help. I will look into the live rock, bit worried about collecting from the beach just in case there is anything bad on it but will try and find a local shop. Will have a look at the other fish you have mentioned - thanks very much.

 

[Earthling84]

I too sort of recently started getting into marine tanks. Marine tanks can become overstocked easier than freshwater. They also require more work.(it water changes are longer/harder with SG in the equation).

Live rock is VERY important. It is recommended to have at least 1 pound of live rock per gallon of water. I am not sure if you can have to much, Most things I read say between 1 and 1.75 lbs per gallon.

Most people recommend 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons of water. You can get away with a little more then that, but the more you push it, the more you need to watch your water quality.

Lighting is also very important as said above. Corals and plants especially need good lighting.

As for getting corals, you will need 'reef-safe' fish; this means the fish most likely won't hurt/bite your corals and other inverts. Check out this site, it is where I purchase most my fish now(www.liveaquaria.com). Their fish are labeled as 'reef-safe' or not. You can get some good ideas. They also have a marine compatibility chart so you can see what fish are ok together and which aren't. So having corals will limit your fish. My tank I can't put corals in because of the fish I have but that is why I started a nano reef

One 'cool predator' fish that i feel partially 'reef' safe is snowflake eels. Either the black "freshwater" eel which isn't truly a freshwater eel but a brackish eel that can live in SW. Also the snowflake eel. You can put eels with corals and other things like feather dusters(at least I have and they were fine). The eels also leave alone my urchins and seastars. But you throw in any type of crab(hermit, red claw) or crayfish and they will get eaten immediately. My eels also don't touch any of my fish. My 'FW" eel is over 17 inches long and in over 3 months hasn't touched any of my fish(some as small as 2" including half black angelfish, green mandarin, scooter bleenie, and others). I feed my eels mainly cocktail shrimp.

Sumps/Refugiums come into play also with SW tanks. They are purposefull on FW tanks also(I use them) but most people use them mainly for saltwater. I have some videos of my setups and some explaining refugiums/sumps/overflow boxes. Check them out at www.youtube.com/earthling1984.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or pm me

 

[Earthling84]

bit worried about collecting from the beach just in case there is anything bad on it but will try and find a local shop.

Collecting from the beach would actually probably be just fine. If you were scared it was contaminated you could clean it(boil it perhaps?).

You will need to cure the rock if you clean it or not. But after cured it should be just fine for your tank, and you will save TONS of money! Around here live rock is $5.50 or $7.50 per pound(depending on type you want - store by me has 2 types) - or you could buy online. You can find some cheaper rock online, and some more expensive rock; shipping will also add to price.

One benefit from buying from a store is you get fully cured ready to go live rock. This can help your aquarium get setup and cycled much faster. Real, from sea, live rock will also give you this benefit. Although many people probably will say it is a bad idea to use live rock from the sea, I've heard of many people doing it with no problems. Best thing to do is get the tank all setup and let it get all cycled and you should be fine with whatever rock you use. Once you know the water is all good, start putting in the first fish.

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks for all your help, tank should be here in the morning, getting very excited but want to make sure I do things right!! Will prob be asking alot of questions! Once the tank is put together, I am going to fill it with tap water - does this sound right and was then advised to add stress coat to remove the chlorine?? How do I mix in the salt? before I put the water in the tank or once the water is in the tank and how do I know how much to put in - sorry probably a really dumb question but I just want to get it right!! Then what do I do, is it a case of waiting a few days to test the water?

 

[shibby]

tap water would be okay for fish but if you want to keep corals and keep algae down i would use ro. then get salt levels right and temperature then you can add live rock, this should start your cycle dependign on how cured the live rock is and how much flow you have will depend on how long the cycle takes.

when first setting up the tank you can mix the salt in the tank just add the needed amount will state on the salt packet and the powerheads will help disolve it into the water quicker, your need to pre mix salt after this in a seperate containers for water changes.

you can usually buy ready made salt ro from aquatic shops that have marines.

ps a good small powerhead is a hydor koralia nano, since i dont think the orca comes with adequate flow.

 

[Earthling84]

Thanks for all your help, tank should be here in the morning, getting very excited but want to make sure I do things right!! Will prob be asking alot of questions! Once the tank is put together, I am going to fill it with tap water - does this sound right and was then advised to add stress coat to remove the chlorine?? How do I mix in the salt? before I put the water in the tank or once the water is in the tank and how do I know how much to put in - sorry probably a really dumb question but I just want to get it right!! Then what do I do, is it a case of waiting a few days to test the water?

Tap water is fine. This is a brand new tank and you are going to let it cycle so everything bad will come out before fish go in.

For salt, what I would recommend is... you said you had a nano reef, I'm going to say it is 10gallons. So you would want to go buy a 10gallon amount of salt. Now sometimes there is more salt than needed in these packages(even though they are marked for tank size your SG requirement may not be what they will give you)... So start by adding the majority of the bag, but don't put in about 1/6th of the bag. Let your tank circulate and let all the salt dissolve for some time, then test your SG level with a hydrometer. Then add more salt as needed(always give some time for dissolving as SG can continue to slowly raise for some time as salt dissolves off the bottom of the tank).

Add in salt before or after you put in water, doesn't matter. For a brand new tank, if you put it in before adding water, this would help it dissolve faster from all the water movement when you add the water. Other then quicker dissolving there is no difference.

You probably don't even need to use stress coat as you are going to let this tank cycle for some time, but if you have it handy go ahead and use it.

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks for all this help - its reasuring to hear from people who are experienced. The tank is 58 litres which I believe to be approx 13 gallons? I don't already have stress coat so wont rush out and buy it just yet. At least now I can make a start and see how things go. How long would you say the tank would need to cycle before I am able to add anything to it? Why do I need a powerhead to increase the flow? is this because of the corals? also probably really obvious but what does RO stand for?
Thanks again

 

[Earthling84]

Thanks for all this help - its reasuring to hear from people who are experienced. The tank is 58 litres which I believe to be approx 13 gallons? I don't already have stress coat so wont rush out and buy it just yet. At least now I can make a start and see how things go. How long would you say the tank would need to cycle before I am able to add anything to it? Why do I need a powerhead to increase the flow? is this because of the corals? also probably really obvious but what does RO stand for?
Thanks again

How long until you should add anything... I would wait at least two weeks(hard thing to do), and a couple days before you want to put in your first fish monitor the water quality by testing with paper strips or liquid tests(liquid tests are better but the strips will do what you need). As long as your levels are good(ammonia=0,nitrite=0,nitrate=less than 40) then you can put in your first fish. Start with a less expensive fish, and leave him in there for quite some time(a week or more). Continue to monitor water conditions during this time. After you get multiple days of good water quality tests, you can throw in your 2nd fish. Then continue to add fish/corals/other creatures slowly.

A powerhead of course if for water flow. Most fish, especially saltwater fish, like to have good water movement. And yes, it is more-so important for corals and other small coral-like creatures. If you are doing a fish only tank, you can get away with less/smaller powerheads, but if you want lots of corals, don't skimp on them.

"RO" water is Reverse Osmosis water. Basically 'super' purified water. I have never used RO water and I haven't had a problem, but I know some people do use it, so hopefully someone who does use it can explain it's benefits.

 

[shibby]

instead of a less expensive fish start with a hardy one, though i wouldnt recomend damsels since even though there hardy they have a habit of terrorising small tanks.

the clean up crew should be first in, you can add these once your cycle is complete. clean up crew will consist of crabs and snails, shrimp are mre sensitive so you should wait for these.

ro is good since it removes all the impurities of water leaving you with the good stuff, tap water usually contains alot of chemicals and usually has higher nitrates and phosphates which will lead to more algae problems, and tap water isnt great for corals.

just be patient thats always the key

 

[Sapphire15]

Ok thanks - the tank has just arrived - that's the rest of the day gone for me - can't wait to get started - watch this space - or don't if you don't want a zillion questions

 

[Earthling84]

higher nitrates and phosphates which will lead to more algae problems, and tap water isnt great for corals.

I must be lucky or something, my tap water tests 0 for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates

 

[Sapphire15]

Lets hope I am just as lucky as I am going to give it a go first with tap water and see what happens

 

[Earthling84]

show us a picture once u got it setup