I got all my LR off of someone with an established tank. If you can find someone getting out of the hobby or just looking to change up their aquascaping and thin it out some then you'll find the best deal on it. Craigslist and your local reef clubs will be your best bet for that.
Want to setup a large saltwater tank and I'm new to it
- Thread starter Mythic Figment
- Start date
I had initially said I wouldn't buy a used setup, but that is mostly because I am gun shy now. I bought a used freshwater setup for an unreal price. The tank and stand were good, but all the equipment that came with it didn't work. They had polished the equipment up so that it didn't appear to be too badly used. I paid more than I should have for just a tank and stand, but if it had all worked I would have had a great deal. I won't buy a used tank now unless I see it running either in person or through a video chat like Skype.
But if I can get a good deal on a tank with working lights, hood and maybe a stand, I could just replace any of the equipment i feel worried about with new stuff. Would save me a little money in the long run if I do it right.
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
But if I can get a good deal on a tank with working lights, hood and maybe a stand, I could just replace any of the equipment i feel worried about with new stuff. Would save me a little money in the long run if I do it right.
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Angels are generally only aggressive towards other angels however they are expensive and terrible fish to cycle thru with as are Tangs/surgeons - start with clowns, damsels or basselets. Before you go out and buy a bunch of crappy cheaper filtration and circulation devises be damn sure a year from now you won't want corals as the main issue with larger tanks is equipment cost. For corals all advice you've been given isn't the way you want to go - FOWLR much more forgiving.
Just for clarification, the terms 'live sand/rock' and 'cylced' get tossed around a LOT when setting up a tank.
The 'live' part just means they have aerobic/nitrifying bacteria growing on them. That colony is what you need to establish in your tank and break down the toxic ammonia. Just putting some in doesn't mean it's balanced or established right away. The colony size will need to level out with the ammonia levels being produced by the livestock in your tank. It will constantly change as your tank ages. That is why you'll want to add fish slowly. Let the colony have time to grow/catch up with the new increased biomass.
The 'cycled' part just means the bacteria colony you have is large enough to support the biomass of fish/livestock in the tank. It will take awhile, and nothing in ever instant - no matter what the writting on the packaging says.
The 'live' part just means they have aerobic/nitrifying bacteria growing on them. That colony is what you need to establish in your tank and break down the toxic ammonia. Just putting some in doesn't mean it's balanced or established right away. The colony size will need to level out with the ammonia levels being produced by the livestock in your tank. It will constantly change as your tank ages. That is why you'll want to add fish slowly. Let the colony have time to grow/catch up with the new increased biomass.
The 'cycled' part just means the bacteria colony you have is large enough to support the biomass of fish/livestock in the tank. It will take awhile, and nothing in ever instant - no matter what the writting on the packaging says.
I figure I am going to buy all the equipment I need and get everything setup and buy 2 clownfish with the live rock (which will of course be the last item I add to finish off the tank before adding fish). I will purchase my fish slowly as money becomes available. Since I only get paid every two weeks and marine fish are so expensive, the fastest I can see myself adding fish would be 1-2 small fish every two weeks, but more than likely it will be 1-2 every four weeks since having to pay bills sucks and all it does is gets in the way of my hobby. LOL
I know that a quarantine tank is important to have as I add fish (another reason to only buy 1-2 fish every four weeks), but if I were to setup my 20 gallon tank as a quarantine tank, would the same equipment be needed as the large display tank (protein skimmer, decorated with live sand/rock or bare bottom, or any other special needs)?
Now I know that my flame angel and many of the tangs are recommended to be added last for possible aggression issues, so they will be added last. So I have a rough stock list that isn't entirely complete, but I know marine tanks require lower bio loads than freshwater tanks would, so I don't want to over exert the tank I get.
So it would be a 125 (hopefully with sump for the extra water volume, but lets assume it will just be HOB filters) stocked with:
- 1 flame angel
- 1 tang (leaning towards a Mimic Ebili Tang. Can a 125 house another small tang or is their conspecifics too much?)
- 2 Ocellaris or Clarkii clownfish
- 5-6 Bangaii cardinals
- 1 butterflyfish (thinking Raccoon or Spotfin)
- 3-4 neon gobies (I know they clean in the wild, but will tank bred specimens also still have he instinct to clean or has that been bred out? I had read gobies can assist with cleaning and a little bit of disease control is why i am interested. I worked in a state aquarium years ago and loved this group of 5 or 6 neon gobies that would just sit and clean all the Goliath groupers in the tank as they came over.)
- I want some other small fish but am not sure what would work with my tank nor am I attached to any one idea. I like the looks of hawkfish, jawfish, hogfish, a puffer, dottybacks, dragonets (would love to keep a Mandarin goby) and several other species. So I am open to any and all suggestions. I just want to make sure I am not overloading my tank at all because I want my first saltwater and to be a success.
I may be interested in corals later on. What would I need to do differently if that is something that I might want to experiment with?
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
I know that a quarantine tank is important to have as I add fish (another reason to only buy 1-2 fish every four weeks), but if I were to setup my 20 gallon tank as a quarantine tank, would the same equipment be needed as the large display tank (protein skimmer, decorated with live sand/rock or bare bottom, or any other special needs)?
Now I know that my flame angel and many of the tangs are recommended to be added last for possible aggression issues, so they will be added last. So I have a rough stock list that isn't entirely complete, but I know marine tanks require lower bio loads than freshwater tanks would, so I don't want to over exert the tank I get.
So it would be a 125 (hopefully with sump for the extra water volume, but lets assume it will just be HOB filters) stocked with:
- 1 flame angel
- 1 tang (leaning towards a Mimic Ebili Tang. Can a 125 house another small tang or is their conspecifics too much?)
- 2 Ocellaris or Clarkii clownfish
- 5-6 Bangaii cardinals
- 1 butterflyfish (thinking Raccoon or Spotfin)
- 3-4 neon gobies (I know they clean in the wild, but will tank bred specimens also still have he instinct to clean or has that been bred out? I had read gobies can assist with cleaning and a little bit of disease control is why i am interested. I worked in a state aquarium years ago and loved this group of 5 or 6 neon gobies that would just sit and clean all the Goliath groupers in the tank as they came over.)
- I want some other small fish but am not sure what would work with my tank nor am I attached to any one idea. I like the looks of hawkfish, jawfish, hogfish, a puffer, dottybacks, dragonets (would love to keep a Mandarin goby) and several other species. So I am open to any and all suggestions. I just want to make sure I am not overloading my tank at all because I want my first saltwater and to be a success.
I may be interested in corals later on. What would I need to do differently if that is something that I might want to experiment with?
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
You'd also have to ditch the majority of that stock if you go the coral route. Also, there is no need for extra bio filtration with mature rock and sand. But let's say you went the fowlr route. You need a good clean up crew due to the detritus buildup that live rock can accumulate. Half of your stock list are known invert eaters, so shrimp will not due. Turbo snails are great cleaners, but they are also open to predation. Anytime I've had a fowlr tank, my go-to as always been spiny urchins. They can walk clear across your tank in a few minutes, and are not susceptible to the invert eating fish. Also remember that sw tanks are open top as a rule, and don't use any chemical filtration. Activated carbon will deplete the water column of key trace elements. Assuming you buy cured rock (around 7$/lb), you should be totally fine running only an oversized skimmer and a polishing pad inside of a hob. Good luck with it!
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
What fish would need to go in order to keep coral? There are some fish that are must haves, but others I am more flexible with. I haven't really gotten any pleasure out of keeping live plants in my freshwater setups because I have a black thumb. Give me a plant and take bets on how fast it dies. LOL Maybe coral will be different. Chances are I will start a smaller tank for coral if I decide to do that and if corals don't interest me, I can have another saltwater fish only tank.
I like the idea of urchins. They have always been interesting to me.
I avoid chemicals as much as possible and don't use them in my freshwater setups unless I absolutely have to, so no worries there, but thanks for the heads up none-the-less. Good to know.
Why are saltwater tanks generally left open? I have read that a tight fitting lid is necessary with some fish, so just curious. Don't think I have any of those types of fish in my stock list. Just curious.
Is there a difference between cured and live rock?
Fine running an oversized skimmer and one HOB or multiple HOBs? I kind of like the idea of a sump mostly because I want to keep Mandarin gobies after doing a lot of reading on them. They need lots of copepods, so the sump is the place many people seem to breed their pods. Also, do you think 125 gallons of space and live rock will be able to sustain enough pods for two Mandarin gobies without me having to add more? If I would need to add more, how often would I need to add?
Also wondering if two small (6-8") tangs can live happily in a 125 if I introduce them at the same time or is that asking for trouble?
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
By chemical filtration I meant running carbon in your filters.
They are open top because of the cooling effect of evaporation and gas exchange. Sw is a much better insulator than fw, and sw tanks have a lot more pumps running. Unless of course you have fish that are known jumpers.
I think you'll be fine with the 2 tangs, although I'm sure someone will chime in saying you need 500 gallons for a tang. (This is MFK)
As far as the copepods, I think you'll be able to sustain a colony in your 125 and sump for a couple mandarins. I was able to do it for seahorses. You may have to periodically add to it, but that's simple enough.
The only difference between live rock and cured rock is coralline algae. It's open to interpretation and every lfs may be different. Basically any rock containing a bacterial colony could be considered live rock. I would consider it cured when it has been in the tank long enough to grow coralline algae, mainly purple algae. I would start your live rock colony with one or two big pieces of big rock that are covered in purple coralline algae. The real expensive stuff. I would then stack the cheaper stuff all around it to be seeded. Youll have to hide it from your tangs tho. Tangs are known coral killers and will also pick coralline algae off the rock.
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
They are open top because of the cooling effect of evaporation and gas exchange. Sw is a much better insulator than fw, and sw tanks have a lot more pumps running. Unless of course you have fish that are known jumpers.
I think you'll be fine with the 2 tangs, although I'm sure someone will chime in saying you need 500 gallons for a tang. (This is MFK)
As far as the copepods, I think you'll be able to sustain a colony in your 125 and sump for a couple mandarins. I was able to do it for seahorses. You may have to periodically add to it, but that's simple enough.
The only difference between live rock and cured rock is coralline algae. It's open to interpretation and every lfs may be different. Basically any rock containing a bacterial colony could be considered live rock. I would consider it cured when it has been in the tank long enough to grow coralline algae, mainly purple algae. I would start your live rock colony with one or two big pieces of big rock that are covered in purple coralline algae. The real expensive stuff. I would then stack the cheaper stuff all around it to be seeded. Youll have to hide it from your tangs tho. Tangs are known coral killers and will also pick coralline algae off the rock.
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
