Just setting up a 210 gal

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A

AnnieH

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 21, 2006
7
0
0
Edmonton AB
Hi

I'm pretty sure this is my first post on this site but I've been watching it awhile. I've been wanting a SW tank for a long time and finally got hold of this reef ready 210 gal. I started it up on Oct 1 and it's my first SW experience so please bear with any stupid questions I might ask for a bit LOL.
I'd like to stock it with some docile fish and some invertabrates if possible. I would welcome any suggestions on what does well in what I hope will be a colorful community tank.

Thanks
 
First thing is first... Cycle. SW tanks are so difficult because if you want the long lasting beauty of sw, it takes patience. I would recommend a fishless cycle for SW. This will be a long process, but the rewards are amazing. If you are doing a calm community, I would personally recommend doing a reef tank. That way you can have corals, and anemones that will add to the color. They will do fine with many species of fish, as well as inverts.
 
Clownfish, Lionfish, Gobies, Blennies, would all look amazing..and colorful:banhim:
 
I am definetly doing the cycle on this tank before adding fish, don't worry. I've cycled fresh water tanks with fish and I'm not sure who was more distressed, me or the fish LOL. I have the patience to do it no problem, I started it Oct. 1 and am not even looking at fish, well maybe a little, until at least November. I have 12 lbs of live rock in there, not alot for this size tank but I'm working on it. I just bought the tank, sump and pump for it so the money is starting to add up real fast. Next payday I will add more, my LFS for custom set-ups has Fuji live rock cured already. Is that ok to add more during the cycle?
 
Yeah, I'd add around 198 lbs of LR to your tank. Just get the cheap fiji and tonga LR, and get some nice pieces, with good color, for the top, that way they will seed the lower pieces with whatever is growing on them. It takes a long time to get the tonga and fiji to look as good, but it's worth the wait.
 
I would just save up and buy it all at once. I don't know how much you pay locally, but when you buy by bulk, you save.
 
We pay $10 a lb for it here, that's why all at once for 200 lbs of LR might be a bit much at once. I've found it on sale for $6 at my LFS, it's a custom aquarium place that specializes in SW. I must ask if I can get a discount since I'm buying so much of it. Should I get it online instead and can I trust it if I do?
 
I added 50 more lbs of LR yesterday, At least the tank is starting to look like there's something in there LOL. I was lucky enough to get the substrate from an established tank and also the filter media so cycling this tank should go faster than if everything was new. I tested the water and these are the readings from it. I had thought I wasn't supposed to see nitates just yet, is this true?
210 gal SW

Temp. 78
PH 8.5
Ammonia .1
Nitrates 110+
Salinity 1.024

Does that sound like everything is as it should be? The tank has been running since Oct. 1
 
Hey just a word of advice take it for what it's worth. What I'd do is get 1/2 dry corlaine rubble and put your l.r. on top of it . It'll turn into live rock as your tank cycles and grow sufficient bacteria for denitrification. It'll save you a bunch of money and work just as well with a little patience.

If you are useing curred l.r. adding a bit at a time isn't a problem but, if you're using uncurred you'll nuke a lot of your little hitch hikers etc.
hth
max
** edit the nitrates could come from one of two places at this point. Either from denitrification of the ammonia or from your water supply. If you aren't useing ro water it might be comming from your sink. Everything looks good so far just keep your ammonia at 1 ppm or lower to avoid killing of your little critters.
 
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