Starting Again

[flyboy367]

i havent kept salt in a long time. my last tank was a 25gal with a pair of clowns and a hawkfish. i have some knowledge about keeping sw fish but its been at least 9 years since i had a setup. this time around im converting my 125gal to sw. the filter i just got is a EHEIM Pro 2 Thermofilter. basically i want to set it up since my daughter wants some nemo fish and im down with anything cool and nasty loocking. suggestions please im going to start putting it together this weekend. i plan to run the tank with just water, salt, and a hang on filter with no media to mix it up. then start to add livesand and liverock. i did that in the 25 and had fish in it in 2 weeks. i had one dead a damsel but it was sickly looking to begin with.

 

[-Nemo-]

I think a shoal of anthias is calling your name outloud.

 

[seffieuk]

Sounds good, as you say you can set up a sw tank in days as long as you have good, fully cured live rock. Don't bother with live sand, how live do you think it can be kept in a bag on a shelf for months

The clowns will be all the terror you need - you try putting your hand in the tank close to where they are hosting ouch!

With a 125 gallon you have so many choices - is it going to be a reef?

Seffie x

Ps Anthias would be lovely but don't do so well in newly set-up tanks and need feeding several times a day

 

[-Nemo-]

Ps Anthias would be lovely but don't do so well in newly set-up tanks and need feeding several times a day

Really? I've never heard of that before.

 

[flyboy367]

well id love a shark lol, ill probably let my daughter pick what she wants and toss in a moray for myself. i used a protien skimmer on my old 25gal setup. how neccisary would it be on the 125. i only did it on the 25 for its small size. i dont think i have the patience for inverts or anything. probably just sculpt up rocks and a few shells

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Ps Anthias would be lovely but don't do so well in newly set-up tanks and need feeding several times a day

Really? I've never heard of that before.

Yep, Also there is no guarantee that a shoal will get along. I had one anthia's which I had for months. I added two smaller ones and but one of the new ones and the older one ganged up on the last new one and killed it (the remaining two get on fine however and the bigger one is turning into a male).

If you are planning on clownfish (assuming you are talking about perc or occ clowns) you wont be able to get any kind of eel as they are likely to eat them.

Yes a skimmer will help a lot. Also you will need powerheads for the waterflow around the LR as an external filter just wont give enough flow.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

if they had a big anenome .... would the eel still eat them ... ?

on the other hand, I've heard that it is not good to add an anenome to a new tank.

I have some other advice. If you have a lot of algae in your tank and plants, that will help remove nitrates and there will less need for a protein skimmer. I've had zero nitrates in my 10 gallon tank for more than a week, but I have no coral --- and only one juvenile clownfish and a very small sixline wrasse, and one small emerald crab that hides all day.

 

[flyboy367]

ok so i got some crushed coral im cleaning up as well as some regular rock. tank is set in the basement and leveled. i set in a powerhead and an auqualclear 500 (just to mix no media) still waiting or the real filter to show up. also got my salt. tommorrow morning ill start filling it and let it run wih a giant airstone the powerhead and 500. figure the weekend after thanksgiving depending on my paycheck and if my filter shows up add some liverock. mow my tank light has 2 bulbs. one i just replaced before i took the tank down the other looks like its going. any recomendations on a good sw light? im also thinking of keeping some mushrooms so its not just rocks but i dont have the time to devote to a full on coral tank. just something to add spice to the tank.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

I guess it depends on how big (dimensions) your tank is ..... it's good to get coverage over most of the rock. You probably need only about 3 watts per gallon if you have no coral. One book I have says that 5500k lights (daylight) are ok .... 6500k looks like daylight and can promote some life in your tank. 10000k still looks white but can be good for coral too. 14000k or 260nM (actinic)looks very blue and will make the colors of fish and plants appear muted, some people do like it however; because it is good for stony coral and does not promote algae growth as much as 6500k lighting (per watt)

You will definitely have to make it through a period of brown algae (nuisance algae) that will last one or two weeks. Then the green algae will start to grow. It may be a good idea to get some good algae or seaweed into the tank when you fist turn the lights on. This way, the good algae may compete with the nuisance algae.

 

[flyboy367]

where can i get seaweed? the only stuff availible to me is the freeze dried stuff to feed the fish. i have like 3 petcos, a petsmart, and then a really good shop but even they dont carry a lot of stuff

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

Petsmart does not carry much in the way of saltwater supplies, you may have to go to an aquarium with marine fish to find seaweed. You can also buy clumps of coarse algae that can compete with nuisance algae. I tried to buy some, but they were out of it where I go.

People with freshwater tanks talk about adding duckwead.

 

[flyboy367]

ok so i got my filter and im messing around with getting it to work. on the other hand my sg is off the charts. i followed the directions on the instant reef bucket. i took out 10 gallons this morning and added 10 of decholinated freshwater. so far it didnt do much. guess ill have to keep doing that.