Tropic_john Can Taste The Salt

[tropic_john]

So.... The time has come...

John is going to turn to the salty side [whilst still having a livebearer tank and livebearer fry tank for my brother ]

I'm thinking, a rio 125 or rio 180 or if I really have to, a trigon corner
the tank will be a reef tank [with 1 or 2 fish] to start, keeping only reef safe fish and CUC, before moving on to corals, once I get into the flow of R.O Top ups, water changes etc...

I will start with some easy corals at first [no sun corals ]

so a few questions;

1. can a reef tank have a sump?
2. what are a few reef safe fish?
3. what types of coral should I start with [lps, sps etc...]


John.

 

[rabbut]

Softies are *generally* considered the easiest, but you need to decide if you are going on to the more *difficult* SPS corals now so you can plan your hardware around them

Sumps are actually recommended in reef tanks, the extra water volume increases system stability and allows you to hid all the equipment you need.

There are many reef safe fish. List the fish you like, and decide on your tank, and we can then tell you which will work

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tropic_john]

Well now that I have looked at the space and decided, I will definetly get a rio 125 or 180 [depending if I can fit a 180 in ]
I like all corals, and have looked at maybe having 1 main fish and a few anthias or gobies etc... so the stock could be;

1 dwarf angelfish or achilles tang
Clean up crew

I don't know, people try and stock for me

 

[tropic_john]

Why does everyone read the other journals but not mine

 

[rabbut]

Most angels will nip corals, and neither tank is big enough for an Achilles tang.

If you like all corals, you'll want to plan around getting SPS no doubt If so, you'll need really good flow and lights. Best check that the bank of mum+dad/the paper round can cover a £100-£200 bill for the light unit, with extra on top for new lamps, around £120-£180 for said tubes..., on top of the 13-18KG of live rock you'll need at about £5 a kilo (so another say £60-£100), and then extra water pumps (budget around £150) and a skimmer (budget £100) plus the tank itself if you don't have it and £100 for all the "junk" (read test gear and filter media for phosphate removal), plus salt costs of about £50 for a bucket and an RO unit at £200 (it's best not to use shop bought RO/salt RO, as the RO is usually poor quality and the salt will be the cheapest they can get, so the complete opposite of what you need for SPS corals) Basically, the set-up will be around £800 for all the essential gear on top of the tank

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tropic_john]

Don't worry, I've tapped into my dads brain As well as that, my dad is paying a designer to set up an english aquabid for me, as you know which should pick up... hopefully. And my mate who owns a lfs will be able to get me all of the stuff needed [and give me some handmedowns from his two 8ft marine tanks ]

I'm just thinking about the tank, as I can get everything from him, though I might need to get my own r.o unit

I might start off with some simpler corals than sps, maybe something a little easier like softies etc... and in sps corals one at a time so I get used to caring for them/ spot feeding if need be

Thanks for helping rabbut.

 

[rabbut]

You wouldn't generally spot feed SPS, it's usually LPS you need to spot feed. The SPS are mainly photosynthetic, but will take your "marine snow" out of the water also It would be a good idea to find out the exact equipment you'd be getting as "hand-me-down's" if you can, so we can check it's OK for your tank, some things may be overkill or too little, depending on the set-up's they will be coming off

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tropic_john]

I'm going to draw up a list now, and write next to it what model/type I can get for free, or cheap , then you can say if I need to tone down etc...;

Tank & Sump - Rio 125
Lighting - 2x T5 Lights
R.O Unit - R.O Man Unit
Salifert Test Kit - The full kit
Salt - Reef Crystals Or Red Sea
Live Rock - Fiji Grade A Or AA
Coral Sand - '' ''
Refractometer - '' ''
Powerheads - Koralias x3?
Airline - '' ''
Buckets - A few Buckets for acclimatising, water changes etc...
Foods - Frozen etc...
Rowaphos - '' ''
Chemical Dosers - Calc. Etc...
Skimmer - Will I need? I'm just looking at a reef with a centerpiece fish then a goby or 2. Won't the corals skim [kind of anyway?]

Any others I've forgotten that I can add [I'm tired lol ]

 

[Truck]

I'm going to draw up a list now, and write next to it what model/type I can get for free, or cheap , then you can say if I need to tone down etc...;

Tank & Sump - Rio 125
R.O Unit - R.O Man Unit
Salifert Test Kit - The full kit
Salt - Still deciding, opinions on salts anyone?
Live Rock - Fiji Grade A Or AA
Coral Sand - '' ''

Any others I've forgotten that I can add [I'm tired lol ]

i would go with reef crystals or H2ocean

power heads-koralias or tunze
buckets, containers, foods, lighting, return pumps, skimmer?

 

[tropic_john]

list is revised.

I'm looking at possible cuc;

3 red leg hermits
4 electric blue hermits
1 halloween hermit
5 turbo snails
4 nassarus snails
2 cleaner shrimp

 

[seffieuk]

john to the salty side, nice to see you over here

The 180 will make a nice reef set-up make sure you get the one with t5 lighting unless you bhave other plans for lighting. That lighting will allow you to have most softies and several lps (obviously with marine tubes)

your cuc is rather large for a new set-up, you can always add to it later, i would go for:

4 hermits at the very most
2 turbos
5 Nass or ceriths
1 blood shrimp

You will not need supplements for calcium etc until you have several hard corals - your water changes should take care of that

Remember, try to buy second hand - there are just so many bargains out there at the moment

Seffie x

 

[tropic_john]

Thanks everyone for the help. I want a rio 180 but I can't remember the measurments I can fit in [I'm in ireland atm ]

I actually prefer blood shrimp than cleaners, mainly due to colour
Another newb question; Are boxing shrimp classed as CUC? I can't remember if they are, all my books are at home and if they are, I would start off with one boxer, once the tank is settled give it to another friend who has a 24g set up and buy a pair for myself [I always see them at lfs with missing arms and legs lol ]

I have a friend who broke down his 125 which had t5's. He only has the lights left, so hopefully I can bag a bargain there. Did anyone start just buying the parts they will definetly need before their tank came, especially if the offer is really cheap [eBay etc..] if so, I might buy some of the essentials before I get the tank [a few weeks in advance maybe] if the offer is too good to miss.


John.

EDIT: 800th post yay!

 

[seffieuk]

Really good way to do it John, just make sure you are certain which tank you are going to get - if you have room for the 180, then defo go for that over the 125



Seffie x

 

[Luketendo]

A trigon 350 would be awesome imo I was only thinking the other day I could have got one instead of a rio 180. Also they need less light due to tank shape.

Anyway...

1. can a reef tank have a sump?
It's beneficial
2. what are a few reef safe fish?
Damselfish, Clownfish, Some Wrasses, Some Angelfish are half-reef safe, Blennys are normally ok
3. what types of coral should I start with [lps, sps etc...]
softies like leathers and zoas mushrooms and then lps like hammers, frogspawn, torch, bubbles and then favias and lobos and all the good stuff

 

[seffieuk]

Oh hang on - if you are thinking about a trigon talk to Ben first, he may not agree it's a good idea

seffie x