First Salt Tank!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Otherone said:
850 gph is fine we don't usually count external mechanical filtration flow rates as they don't really circulate the entire volume of water in the tank thru out.

You do realize that macro rock is dry and sterile - no bacteria so do 50 lbs and get 15-25 lbs more of LR to seed the bacteria least your lookin at a real lengthy cycle that eels might not be able to handle. It takes a year or more for denitrifying bacteria to mature with LR let alone without. Also 1lb rock per gal is a guideline not law, 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 20ppm nitrate is a better law - stock low and your rock demand lessons eels only require food once to twice a week which lowers bio demand

Live sand isn't really alive it lacks oxygen that aerobic bacteria needs so it's basically a bag of ammonia that jump starts the cycle once it's subjected to oxygenated water - the cycle won't be as extreme as it is with your rocks but enuff that it might not be wise with eel's. Smaller damsel type fish are more suited for the initial cycling
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This is a good idea. Get the 50lb bag of roxk, then about 25lbs cured LR from your lfs. If morays are your main stock, you probably wont need all 50lb of the dry stuff, really its up to you on how many rocks you want in the tank. Dont add the moray until after the cycle is complete. Damsels like mentioned above are good (and cheap) to help kick start the cycle process. They will definitely disappear once you add the moray, so dont pick out any you plan on "trying to keep".
 
I will do as you guys suggested then with the rock. I plan on doing an order today for some of my items, I'm just debating between what to order. Either I order the rock or I order everything else, opinions? "Everything else" consists of the Skimmer, Extra heater for mixing salt, two Powerheads, and the salt mix. Both are going to be awful to pick up when they arrive as I don't have a car and will need to carry it all back to my apartment. So either I order the slightly lighter load of rocks at 50lbs or I order the heavier load at 62lbs for just the salt alone. Thoughts? haha

I also still need to go out and get the lumber and screws for me to make the stand for the tank and for a couple reptile enclosures, I need to start making racks to hold everyone as I'm running out of space :nilly:
 
Amaroq said:
I will do as you guys suggested then with the rock. I plan on doing an order today for some of my items, I'm just debating between what to order. Either I order the rock or I order everything else, opinions? "Everything else" consists of the Skimmer, Extra heater for mixing salt, two Powerheads, and the salt mix. Both are going to be awful to pick up when they arrive as I don't have a car and will need to carry it all back to my apartment. So either I order the slightly lighter load of rocks at 50lbs or I order the heavier load at 62lbs for just the salt alone. Thoughts? haha

I also still need to go out and get the lumber and screws for me to make the stand for the tank and for a couple reptile enclosures, I need to start making racks to hold everyone as I'm running out of space :nilly:
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I would buy the rock first so you can play with how you want it to look and because you won't need your skimmer until your tank is cycled and you won't need an extra heater until your tank is full. You won't have any livestock in your tank so it doesn't really matter what the water temp is. You won't be able to put water in the tank until you get your salt mix so I guess it doesn't really matter in which order you buy things.

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cichlid_king said:
I would buy the rock first so you can play with how you want it to look and because you won't need your skimmer until your tank is cycled and you won't need an extra heater until your tank is full. You won't have any livestock in your tank so it doesn't really matter what the water temp is. You won't be able to put water in the tank until you get your salt mix so I guess it doesn't really matter in which order you buy things.

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Yeah I was leaning towards the rock as well so I can play with aquascapes and what not. Would love to hear everyones thoughts though.
 
How would these guys sounds for tankmates with an eel? I understand that not all will fit in the tank but I'm just gonna throw out a few things and would love to hear your opinions on what would fit together/work.

Dragon Wrasse
Radiata or Russel's or Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish
One Spotted Foxface
 
All will co-hab fine with eels. The dragon wrasse would be my only concern. If you can find one at a decent size (too big for the eel to eat) you'll be fine. Lionfish will eat any small fish + clean up crew depending what you have.
 
Would a Dragon Wrasse would be okay in a 75 gallon for life though? I've read they can reach up to a foot? Do they typically stay smaller then that in captivity?

In regards to my stand I'm starting to waver on my design. First off, would something like this work when bolted to wood? ( http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/17161.ER48_4.jpg ) I don't want to purchase the legs for it as there aren't any that are short enough (all 72"+ tall) so could I make the legs out of 2x4 and bolt the steel beam to it? I would then bolt the legs together so they look the same as the metal ones ( http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/17161.ER1772_4.jpg ) The beam itself is rated to withstand 2000lbs so I'm not worried about the weight on the metal, more so if I can do it without the weight on the bolts causing them to bend or break. Hope this makes sense!
 
Quick Update:
I decided to just spend the extra money and grab a iron tube stand for the tank, I'll be making a skin for it out of some thin plywood and trim eventually. I'll likely make a canopy around the same time. I also placed my order for all my other stuff today. I went with;

50lbs of Key Largo Marco Rock
20lbs of LR (South Pacific?)
Coralife Super Skimmer 125
Two Hydor Korilia Evolution 425
200W Jager Heater
Instant Ocean Sea Salt 200 gallon box
48"x18" Iron tube stand

I also bought a couple pieces of driftwood for reptiles and my CA biotope 20gallon Long which I'll throw some pictures of up as well.

Hopefully everything will be here in the upcoming week.

In regards to the LR do I need to acclimate it at all to my tank? I still don't have any container to mix my salt in before hand so I was thinking I would just set up all my rock how I like the look of it then fill it with tap water (conditioned) and add the salt accordingly to get a proper salinity. Should I aim for anything specifically as far as salinity goes? Will this be alright or will I be risking killing my LR by putting it in freshwater temporarily?
 
Dont put the live rock in with just freshwater, it will kill the beneficial bacteria. You can use the macro rocks with fw, then after you've added salt, you can add in the LR. South Pacific is fine, alot of live stock comes from there. Typically for a fowlr setup you want a salinity of 1.024, personally I keep my tanks at 1.020. Equipment wise you seem ok. As for damsels and cycle, wait till the 2-3 week mark, or once your ammonia and nitrate levels start to drop. You could toss one in on day 1 if you want cuz They're so cheap, but it would probably die after a day or two.

Edit. If you plan on useing Seachem Stability, it will help speed up the cycle process and claims you can add fish on day 1. Id still wait a week after addind salt and LR before you try damsels.
 
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