ok. ive been doing fresh water for 5 years now and want to start a 15g salt tank. the tank is 24'' long, 12'' high and 18'' wide. what kind of lighting do i need? filtration? how muck live rock? sand? i dont want to do any fish just shrimp. what kind of corals could i keep?
NOOB!!! andi have some Q's
- Thread starter arowana man
- Start date
lighting depends on what kind of coral you are keeping...I would def. make some kind of sump if it is your first sw.
why not any fish?
why not any fish?
most softies should be good to start with...like mushrooms and stuff. hammer coral is one of my favorites
hammers are going to need some decent lighting to stay vibrant and healthy for longer periods of times. Button polyps are very common, mushrooms, and certain lower light leathers are also common in low light setups.
For lights i would get a 24 inch T-5 HO setup. Low cost for running, very low heat, and will grow coral anywhere from mushrooms, to frogspawn, being about the highest in lighting thriving you would want to go.
For filtration i would do a small skilter, hang on filter skimmer combo. Not normally the best thing in the world, but easy to clean and you get a skimmer built right in. I would also recommend a very small fuge. They make them to hang on the back of the tank, and you could add a small light to grow macroalgae to get rid of nitrates/phosphates
I would also recommend about 20 lbs of LR and about 20-30 LBS of LS.
No fish sounds like a good idea. Anemone shrimp (sexy shrimp) skunk cleaner, peppermint would all be good choices. My favorite would be the blood or emperor shirmp. Very nice dark red color. All of these shrimp are also coral friendly. Feeding is very easy for these guys, just a very small pinch of flake with the filters off, so that they can get it off the ground and rocks would be a very easy way to feed.
For lights i would get a 24 inch T-5 HO setup. Low cost for running, very low heat, and will grow coral anywhere from mushrooms, to frogspawn, being about the highest in lighting thriving you would want to go.
For filtration i would do a small skilter, hang on filter skimmer combo. Not normally the best thing in the world, but easy to clean and you get a skimmer built right in. I would also recommend a very small fuge. They make them to hang on the back of the tank, and you could add a small light to grow macroalgae to get rid of nitrates/phosphates
I would also recommend about 20 lbs of LR and about 20-30 LBS of LS.
No fish sounds like a good idea. Anemone shrimp (sexy shrimp) skunk cleaner, peppermint would all be good choices. My favorite would be the blood or emperor shirmp. Very nice dark red color. All of these shrimp are also coral friendly. Feeding is very easy for these guys, just a very small pinch of flake with the filters off, so that they can get it off the ground and rocks would be a very easy way to feed.
thanks, that was very helpful!! i was thinking about skunk or sexy shrimp. as far as corals go i want something easy as this will be my first salt set-up. im liking the soft corals a lot.sweeTang21;1705450; said:hammers are going to need some decent lighting to stay vibrant and healthy for longer periods of times. Button polyps are very common, mushrooms, and certain lower light leathers are also common in low light setups.
For lights i would get a 24 inch T-5 HO setup. Low cost for running, very low heat, and will grow coral anywhere from mushrooms, to frogspawn, being about the highest in lighting thriving you would want to go.
For filtration i would do a small skilter, hang on filter skimmer combo. Not normally the best thing in the world, but easy to clean and you get a skimmer built right in. I would also recommend a very small fuge. They make them to hang on the back of the tank, and you could add a small light to grow macroalgae to get rid of nitrates/phosphates
I would also recommend about 20 lbs of LR and about 20-30 LBS of LS.
No fish sounds like a good idea. Anemone shrimp (sexy shrimp) skunk cleaner, peppermint would all be good choices. My favorite would be the blood or emperor shirmp. Very nice dark red color. All of these shrimp are also coral friendly. Feeding is very easy for these guys, just a very small pinch of flake with the filters off, so that they can get it off the ground and rocks would be a very easy way to feed.
lol, soft corals are a great choice. You can get a very large array of colors and species so you should have a good mix going.
make sure you stay away fomr the ones that like to play chemical warfare.. devil's hand, certain cabbages etc... in large tanks they are ok but in smaller ones (and your's is definately small) they can reak real havoc...
leather, carnation, toadstool, blastomussa, acans etc are all good ones. as are shrooms, rics and zoos..
leather, carnation, toadstool, blastomussa, acans etc are all good ones. as are shrooms, rics and zoos..
