hey guys and girls,
just starting a saltwater setup and wanted to introduce myself.
from what i can tell, it will likely be a long and expensive road, but i can’t wait.
i’m trying to do things the correct way the first time (unlike how i started out with freshwater verdict_in ), so any advice or tips are more than welcome.
i have a 55 gallon set up just to keep the live rock that i got from a forum member, well… alive. over the course of the next few weeks the plan is to set up a 75 gallon corner flow with a 30 gallon built as a sump/fuge.
the lighting i currently have is a 4 bulb at 96w a piece 48 inch … wait for it… power compact (yeah, i know i probably made a few of you throw up in the back of your throat a little bit).
i was hoping i could use this for corals, as aquatraders.com (i have already been warned about their horrible customer service) has bulbs for $8 if you buy 4 or more. however, from what i have gathered over the past few days, this light will really only cut it while i am establishing the tank and will likely have to upgrade the lighting prior to making the final step to corals.
once i get setup, familiar with saltwater, and established, any suggestions on a good starter coral? or even fish for that matter?
any good information sources besides picking the brains of those who know more than me are also very welcome.
Hey Steve, theres nothing wrong with how your starting out. theres plenty of cool starter corals that will do fine in lower light, and fish, some will tolerate some pretty bad water conditions, when i started 8 months ago, and had not so good water conditions clowns, yellow watchman goby, yellow tang, all did well and still are! your set up so far sounds good… got a skimmer yet? how are you setting up your sump? what corals you planning on keeping? lps, sps, softies?
Hey Steve! Nice to see you on the board, ask plenty of questions and take it as slow as you can. To start out, get some mushrooms (buy singles, not whole colonies-they will spread quickly), maybe some zooanthids, green star polyps, all are very easy to care for and will do well under your PC’s. As far as fish go, start with a couple of hardy fish (clowns, gobies) and plan for the fish at their largest size. You could house three baby tangs in a 55, but in a few months all hell will break loose. Check out the marketplace section http://delreefclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&board=2.0 for fish and corals that our members are selling! Losing a coral that you get from a club member for $10 sucks, losing a coral that you paid $80 for at a fish store sucks much worse.
Oh, and don’t use any of those additives until you are comfortable with what they do, and can test their levels.
Hey Steve,
Welcome to the club and a great addiction…er…I mean hobby. Sounds like you’re starting off on the right foot. You’ve done some research but more importantly you’ve found a local club to hook up with. In my opinion there is no better place for information, and support. Most of us are a good source for corals too.
Your light will be fine for now. There are many corals you can start with under that light. Green Star Polyps, Kenya tree, colt coral, mushrooms, zoanthids, are all examples. Once you’re in it for a while then you can start upgrading equipment and get better lights so you can keep some of the more light demanding corals.
As far as fish I would not recommend a tang of any sort starting out. while some may have had success they are generally considered too sensitive an animal for a new tank. DO NOT add damsels of any kind. We call them satan fish for a reason. Trust me on this one. Adding them now will only result in a need to break down your tank a year from now to get the little bastard out because it’s harrassing any new fish you add in.
Start with clown fish, gobies, chromis, etc. They are generally the most inexpensive fish in the hobby. As you improve husbandry skills and the tank settles in then you can start looking at higher ticket items like purple tangs, flame angels and the likes.
Most importantly, go slow, read a lot, ask questions, don’t ever worry that you’re asking too many. Come to a meeting and meet people, you want friends in this hobby. You don’t ever want to go away on vacation and leave your tank in the care of the guy you only trust to let the dog out twice a day.
I agree with the prior advice about taking your time and asking questions. Learn from others mistakes. When I started with saltwater I too had a 55gal not reef ready. And I used the same lighting that you have to start.
Any soft corals like zoas and mushrooms will be fine to start. If you plan to eventually have SPS corals in your system, then make sure you buy only REEF SAFE fish. Ask the LFS about the particular fish you may want to buy and they should know if the fish is reef safe or not. The better way is to do some reasearch first about the fish and then decide if it is appropriate for your tank.
It would be beneficial for you to come to our monthly meetings to get to know everyone and be able to talk in person. And on my site in the market in the farmstand, I have 3 different mushrooms for only $1 each.
A bit late but today got a bit busy lol. Hope all went well getting the tank home and hopefully by the end of the week, you will have your sump made and your tank one step closer to running. Starting your first salt water fish tank is So much fun, but as we have talked about, and as many others have said, keep asking your questions, take your time, and read A LOT!
Bill did you mean to ask if I said hi yet? or can you define shang high-ing Jared LOL
@saltcreep
i have a seaclone 100 on the 55 gallon running now (more for extra circulation than anything else in addition to the koralia and the older powerhead), but i have an asm g2 on order for the 75gallon. the sump setup will be a 30gal long tank that will house the refugium and the skimmer. so, to paint a mental picture, it will go left to right:
overflow to filter sock, baffle, refugium, baffle, porous foam sponge block thing-a-ma-jig, high baffle, then the actual sump section with the skimmer and pump for return. maybe i should just find jared’s highly technical diagram and upload that lol. as far as the corals go, i will let my knowledge and wallet decide that as i go.
@jocephus
joe! it was good meeting you the other night! i got the tank home and set up that same evening, much to my wife’s dismay. i did end up picking up the 75gallon yesterday along with 95% of the stuff i will need to get it started. i was still trying to figure out a way to work the 55 gallon into my system as a super sump. ;D
i think this tank will likely only have a short stay at my house before it is passed on to the next loving owner, but the sand and the live rock are staying with me along with the hermits. they are officially my first saltwater inhabitants! trust me when i say i will ask plenty of questions. it is one of the best ways to learn, by far.
@cdangel0
local clubs are definitely a remarkable asset in any hobby. it is always nice to congregate with people who have the same sickness… errr… hobby as you. it gives you the chance to learn from those with experience and get ideas that you may never have thought of otherwise. i decided that the damsels would not be a part of my setup after reading some horror stories while doing some initial research about saltwater systems. i believe a pair of clowns will be in the future, though i am still unsure of which variety. what do you mean by husbandry skills. i’ve heard that term before, but my other questions and my A.D.D. prevented me from getting to that particular question. is that a reference to compatibility between different species or maybe between two or more of the same species?
@houndsbayman
i do 100% plan to do reef, so i will definitely keep that in mind. i am actually kind of concerned about the hermits in the tank with the live rock now, but i believe they are all blue legged which is ok… i think… ummmm… i hope. i do plan on coming to the meetings, it just depends on my work schedule that particular day, and i never really know how busy i’ll be until that day. $1 each? wow, maybe i should inquire about a layaway plan! i wish i was ready for them now, because that’s a steal.
@billrob71
haha what do you mean by shang-highed? glad i got to meet you yesterday! i look forward to asking you another 73123 questions the next time i see ya >LOL<
@jcling
i am super excited for the next few months worth of adventure. i really appreciate all your help and advice so far. any reference websites you can recommend?
p.s. you suck at emailing. it is official. i think you should just give up emailing altogether.
haha
Sounds like your on the right track, the only thing i can think though is putting the skimmer right next to the return pump might mean micro bubble in the display tank.
I have a 30g sump/fuge under my 125, and also a G2 skimmer. my first section is the filter sock and skimmer, then a bubble trap (3 baffles) , then 11’’ x 11’’ fuge section, baffle, then a 5’’ pump section. It works good for me, good pod population. i also did a smaller version on a 20L tank to go under a 30. I’m sure theres a million diff suggestions on how to set it up, but i just remember setting up my first big salt tank years ago, and only had room in the sump for the skimmer right near the return…the bubbles drove me crazy, and had to change it all up after weeks. Heres a pic of the 20g sump, it looks just like the 30, give or take an inch on the first section, that g2 is a monster. the skimmers not in this pic, but it would be right in front of the sock.
I just remembered also, that this setup has a constant 9’’ water level where the skimmer sits, so if you don’t have a consistent auto top off (for evaporating water) , that could be important for skimmer operation.
What is involved in an auto top off setup? Also, I went to the local home depot and lowes to find the pieces to join the hard pvc of the overflow and return to the soft tubing but could not find anything I was 100% thrilled with. It is the marineland 75 gallon corner flow plumbing that came with the tank. One inch inside diameter /one and a quarter outside I believe on the pvc coupling. Has anyone set one of these up before that can offer advice, part references or pictures? My brother swung by last night and suggested I just hardpipe the whole setup. Any drawbacks/advantages to that? Is there anything glue wise I should get or anything I should definitely steer clear of?
I have hard plumbed, and soft plumbed my systems. If it’s a simple plumb with a sump under the stand (as opposed to through a wall, in to another room, down 4 feet behind drywall, hard turn out and in to a closet) then I’d use soft plumbing.
Can you get a picture of the PVC on the bottome of the tank you’re trying to find fittings for? It may just be a matter of 1 1/4" OD flexible tubing and a hose clamp.
thank you cdangel0, i was going to upload a picture last night, but i managed to find the appropriate pieces today.
i used a glue-in fitting with a piece of 3/4in drinking water grade pvc that terminated with another glue-in fitting that was threaded inside to screw in a barbed piece that will fit into the soft plumbing. all held together with all purpose pvc/cpvc/abs glue (to accommodate the bottom of the marineland provided bulkhead, which i think is abs). convoluted, but functional.
can a stainless steel clamp be used for a submerged application such as the tubing-to-pump connection in the sump for the return?
I personally try to avoid adding any metals at all to my tank. This way I don’t have to try and remember what is safe and what isn’t. I’ve seen nylon / plastic hose clamps around soft plumbing to hold a return line on the pump, generally speaking though the fit should be tight enough to run without a hose clamp. I don’t know I’ve ever actually added a hose clamp…and (yes believe it or not) I’ve never had a wet mess from my return line coming off the pump.
i was trying to figure out what i wanted to do with the back of the tank. painting was not the path i wanted to take, nor did i want the traditional aquarium background with all the pretty pictures of things not in my tank, but i debated vinyl backing. finally, i remembered what someone said to me half jokingly: window tint.
I think it’s great idea if you plan to scrape back panel on regular basis. Or just leave it alone and it will be covered in coralline algae in no time. Lots public aquariums use removable backdrops and translucent panels with backlighting, but it requires lots maintenance.
didn’t plan on backlighting, but that could make for an interesting presentation.
i just wanted a clean black backdrop for now, until the coralline starts to do its thing.
love your tank by the way rosti. i was drooling a bit earlier looking at it. the skimmerless concept is fascinating. that setup is lightyears ahead of anything i can dream of as of now.
p.s. the asm and ro/di unit should be in thursday or friday! the real fun begins!
p.p.s. are there any reef keepers in the middletown area?
